
Class _UB_£J^^ 
Book ,1 N L _ T5 



G^tiglitls^ 



JO 



2SX^ 



COPYRIGHT DKPOSm 



<v^ 



CODE 



OF 



PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 



OP THE 



/ JH.^ 

STATE OF NEW YORK: ^n^l 

CONTAINING 

THE XiJ^-V^S J^lsriD IDEOISIOIsrS 

RELATING TO 

COMMON SCHOOLS, 

WITH COMMENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS. 




EDITED BY , 

JAMES E. KIRK, 

COUNSELLOR- AT-LAW. 
UNDER THE SUPERVISION OP 

ANDREW S. DRAPER, 

STATE SUPERINTENDENT OP PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 






ALBANY, N. Y.: 
WEED, PARSONS AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 

1887. 






i 



a ^ 



«* 



Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, 

BY WEED, PARSONS & COMPANY, 

In the oflBce of the Librarian in Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE. 



The Legislature of 1856 directed the publication of a revised 
edition of the school statutes, with the decisions of the Superin- 
tendents of Common Schools, in one volume, and entitled such 
book the " Code of Public Instruction." 

In 1864 an act was passed known as the " Consolidated School 
Act," which revised and brought together in compact and 
systematic form the laws relating to common schools. Copies of 
this act together with brief comments, forms and decisions of the 
Department and courts, were directed to be prepared and dis- 
tributed throughout the school districts of the State, but owing 
to a failure in making the necessary appropriation, it was not 
issued until 1868, and then as the Code of that year. The edition 
was again revised in 1879, but by private enterprise. 

Twenty years have elapsed since the Code was put in possession 
of the school districts. During that period very many of the sec- 
tions of the Consolidated School Act have been amended, in 
some cases several times, and additional acts have been passed 
by the Legislature. There have also been decisions bearing upon 
the subject, rendered by the various courts of the State, and a 
large body of opinions covering every phase of the school laws, 
written by the State Superintendents of Public Instruction. 
These progressive changes in the law made the use of former 
editions inadequate to the necessities of the present time, and 
created a general demand for a new Code. It has been the 
purpose of the editor in preparing this work to make such an 
arrangement that the law bearing upon a given subject may be 
easily ascertained and comprehended. To that end an en tirely new 
plan has been adopted, the principal feature of which is the division 



iv Preface. 

of Part II into chapters treating separately the more important sub- 
jects embodied in tlie law, in each of which every thing bearing 
upon a particular subject, either in the way of statute law, decis- 
ions of the courts, annotations, directions or forms, are gi'ouped 
under their proper headings. This book will be distributed 
among the school districts at the expense of the State, by the 
provisions of chapter 672, Laws of 1887. 

The editor in preparing this work has had in mind the wants both 
of the legal profession and of school officers throughout the State. 
While he has aimed to embrace within its limits the entire body 
of the law bearing upon the subject, it has also been his desire to 
present the matter in such a way that it can be comprehended by 
those who have not had a legal training. Its preparation has in- 
volved a great amount of labor, both of investigation and arranore- 
ment, in which he has received the valuable aid and advice of the 
Hon. Andrew S. Draper, State Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion. Realizing that he has probably fallen short of his intention, 
yet, if he is correct in believing, as he does, that the book will 
meet the demands of the public, he will feel amply rewarded. 

JAMES E. KIRK. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

Pages. 

Text of the general laws applytis^g to common schools 1-119 

PART TI. 

Appeals 120-129 

Blind 130-138 

Clerk of District 139-144 

Collector 145-146 

Deaf and Dumb 147-158' 

Fines and Penalties , 159-165 

Librarian and Libraries 166-179 

Meetlngs... 180-197 

Reports , 198-216 

Schools 217-224 

School Commissioners and Commissioner's Districts 225-248 

School Districts 244-257 

School-Houses and Appendages 258-272 

School-House Sites 273-287 

State School Moneys 288-311 

State Superintendent op Public Instruction 312-322 

Supervisors 323-327 

Taxes (assessment and collection) 328-377 

Teachers 378-405 

Teachers' Institutes 408-411 

Town Clerk 412-415 

Trustees 416-430 

Trust Funds 431-436 

Union Free Schools 437-461 

PART III. 

American Museum op Natural History 483-485 

Cornell University 486-488 

State Normal Schools 463-48?- 



71 Table of Contents. 

PART IV 
^ Pages. 

Digest of Decisions op State Superintendents 489-794 

. PART V. 
Special Local Acts 795-983 

Note.— Id Part II, the Roman characters denote the title of the Consolidated School 
Act, from which the sections following such characters have been taken. 



PART I 



THE COIiSOLIDATED SCHOOL ACT OF 1864, 
AS AMENDED, 



AND OTHER 



GENERAL SCHOOL LAWS 
NOW IN FOECE. 



Cliap. 555. 

AN ACT to revise and consolidate the General Act 
relating to Public Instruction. 

Passed May 3, 1864 ; tliree-fiftlis being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorh^ represented in 
Senate and Assembly y do enact as follows: 

TITLE L 

OF THE SUPERINTENDEXT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, HIS 
ELECTION AND GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES. 

* Section 1. The office of State Superintendent of Pub- state su- 
lic Instruction is contiiined and the term of said office J.^tl^hfr^' 
shall be three years^ commencing hereafter on the seventh a|f(i\eil,\i. 
day of April. Such Superintendent shall be elected byofoffice.- 
joint ballot of the senate and assembly on the second 
Wednesday of February next preceding the expiration 
of the term of the then incumbent of said office, and on 
the second Wednesday of February next after the occur- 
rence of any vacancy in the office, 

*As amended by sec. 1, chap. 75, Laws of 1883, and by sec. 1, chap. 501, 
Laws of 1886. 



TITLE 1 
Depuiy 
su[)erin- 
teudent. 



Vacancy. 



Salary. 



Clerk hire. 



Seal. 



Copies of 
papers on 
file under 
peal to be 
evidence. 



Superin- 
tendent's 
ex <^)ffi(;io 
duties. 



Superin- 
tendent's 
general 
supervis- 
ion. 



Institution 
for deaf 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

*§ 2. He shall appoint a deputy ; and in case of a 
vacancy in the office of Superintendent, the Deputy may 
perform all the duties of tlie office until the day herein- 
before fixed for the commencement of the term of said 
office. In case the office of both Superintendent and 
Deputy shall be vacant, the governor shall appoint some 
person to perform the duties of the office until the super- 
intendent shall be elected and his term of office com- 
mence, as hereinbefore provided. 

§ 3. The Superintendent's office shall continue to be in 
the state hall, and maintained at the expense of the state. 

f § 4. His salary shall be live thousand dollars a year, 
payable quarterly, by the treasurer, on the warrant of the 
comptroller. 

:{;§ 5. He may appoint as many clerks as he may deem 
necessary, but the compensation of such clerks shall not 
exceed in the aggregate the sum of nine thousand dollars 
in any one year, and shall be payable monthly by the 
treasurer, on the warrant of the comptroller, and the 
certificate of the Superintendent. 

§ 6. The seal of the Superintendent, of which a descrip- 
tion and impression are now on tile in the office of the 
secretary of state, shall continue to be his official seal, and 
when necessary, may be renewed from time to time. 
Copies of all papers deposited or filed in the Superintend- 
ent's office, and of all acts, orders and decisions made by 
him, and of the drafts or machine copies of his official 
letters, may be authenticated under the said seal, and 
when so authenticated, shall be evidence equally with and 
in like manner as the originals. 

||§ T. The Superintendent shall be, ex-officio, a trustee of 
Cornell University, and of the New York State Asylum 
for Idiots, and a Regent of the University of the State of 
New York. He shall also have general supervision over 
the state normal schools at Brock port, Buffalo, Cortland, 
Fi-edonia, Geneseo, Oswego and Potsdam, and over any 
other state normal schools which may hereafter be estab- 
lished ; and he shall provide for the education of the 
Indian children of the state, as required by chapter sev- 
enty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six. 

§ 8. The institution for the instruction of the deaf and 
dumb, the New York institution for the blind, and all 



* As arnerided by sec. 2, chap. 75, Laws of 1883. 
t As Hiiieiided by sec. 1, chap. 5fi7, Laws of 1875. 
$ As amended by sec. 2. chap. 5H7, Laws of 1875. 
II As amended by sec, 3, chap. 5ti7, Laws of 1875. 



Of Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



otlier similar institution?, incorporated, or that may be '^^'^^^ ^■ 
hereafter incorporated, shall be subject to the visitation brindl"Jt?' 
of the superintendent of public instruction, and it shall be 
his duty : 

1. To inquire, from time to time, into the expenditures superin- 
pf each institution, and the systems of instruction pursued duTilT.'^ ^ 
therein, respectively. 

2. To visit and inspect the schools belonging thereto, 
and the lodgings and accommodations of the pupils. 

3. To ascertain, by a comparison with otlier similar 
institutions, whether any improvements in instruction 
and discipline can be made ; and for that purpose to ap- 
point, from time to time, suitable persons to visit the 
schools. 

4. To suggest to the directors of such institutions and 
to the legislature, such improvements as he shall judge 
expedient. 

6. To make an annual report to the legislature on all f"Pj^^'"" 
the matters before enumerated, and particularly as to the report an- 
condition of the schools, the improvement of the pupils, ""^'^y- 
and their treatment in respect to board and lodging. 

*§ 9. All deaf and dumb persons resident in this state Tjrms of 
and upwards of twelve years of age, who shall have been 
resident in this state for three years immediately preceding 
the application, or, if a minor, whose parent or parents, or, 
if an orphan, whose nearest friend shall have been resident 
in this state for three years immediately preceding the 
application, shall be eligible to appointment as state pupils 
in one of the deaf and dumb institutions of this state, 
authorized by law to receive such pupils ; and all blind 
persons of suitable age and similar qualifications shall be 
elegible to appointment to the institutions for the blind 
ill the city of New York or in the village of Batavia, as 
follows : All such as are residents of the counties of New 
York, Kings, Queens, Suffolk and Eichmond shall be 
sent to the institution for the blind in the city of New 
York ; those who reside in other counties of the state shall 
be sent to the institution for the blind in the village of 
Batavia. All such appointments, with the exception of 
tiiose to the institution for the blind in the village of 
Batavia, shall be made by the superintendent of public 
instruction upon application, and in those cases in which, , 
in his opinion, the parents or guardians of the applicants 

*As amended by sec. 4, chap. 567, Laws of 1875, and bv sec. 1, chap. 615, Laws 
of 1886. 
Note.— See chap. 166, Laws of 1870. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864-. 



TITLE 1. 



are able to bear a portion of the expense, lie may impose 
conditions whereby some proportionate share of ex- 
pense of educating and clothing such pupils shall be paid 
by their parents, guardians, or friends, in such manner and 
at such times as the superintendent shall designate, which 
conditions he may modify from thme to time, if he shall 
deem it expedient to do so. 
state pu- § 10. Each pupil so received into either of the institu- 
commoda- tious aforesaid,shall be provided with board, lodging and 
1}Z":SJ^^' tuition ; and the directors of the institution shall receive 
etc. for each pupil so provided for, the sum of dollars 

per annum, in quartei-ly payments, to be paid by the 
treasurer of the state, on the warrant of the comptroller, 
to the treasurer of said institution, on his presenting a bill 
showing the actual time and number of such pupils attend- 
ing the institution, and which bill shall be signed by the 
president and secretary of the institution and verified by 
Jtruction." their oaths. The regular term of instruction for such 
pupils shall be five years; but the superintendent of pub- 
lic instruction ma}^ in his discretion, extend the term of 
any pupil for a period not exceeding three years. The 
pupils provided for in this and the preceding section of 
this title, shall be designated state pupils ; and all the 
existing provisions of law applicable to state pupils now 
in said institutions shall apply to pupils herein provided 
for. 
Time of §11. The Superintendent of public instruction may 

admission, j^^j.g g^-^^^}^ regulations and give such directions to parents 
and guardians, in relation to the admission of pupils into 
either of the above named institutions, as will prevent 
pupils entering the same at irregular periods. 
School § 12. The superintendent may, in his discretion, ap- 

point persons to visit and examine all or any of the com- 
mon schools in the county wherein such persons reside, 
and to report to him all such matters respecting their 
condition and management and the means of improving 
them as he shall prescribe ; but no allowance or com- 
pensation shall be m.ade to such visitors for their services 
or expenses, 
superin- § 13. So oftcn as he can, consistently with his other 
vStThe^" duties, he shall visit such of the common schools of the 
c<;mmoii State as he shall see fit, and inquire into their course of 
instruction, management and discipline, and advise and 
encouj'age the pupils, teaclicrs and officers thereof. 



Of Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



TITLE 1, 

* § 14. He shall submit to the legislature an annual re- Annual 
port containing : ^^^^^' ' 

1. A statement of the condition of the common schools 
of the state, and of all other schools and institutions 
under his supervision, and subject to his visitation as 
guperintendent. 

2. Estimates and accounts of expenditures of the 
school moneys, and a statement of the apportionment of 
school moneys made by him. 

3. All such matters relating to his office, and all sucli 
plans and sugo^estions for the improvement of the schools 
and the advancement of public instruction in the state 
as he shall deem expedient. 

t ^ 15. He may 2^rant under his hand and seal of office, state cer« 

^ . ,^ ,. ^ 1 . , . . 11 11 tificate. 

a certmcate oi quaJiiication to teach, and may revoke the 
same. Wliile unrevoked, such certificate shall be con- 
clusive evidence that the person to whom it was granted 
is qualified by moral character, learning and ability to 
teach any common school in the state. Such certificate 
may be granted by him only upon examination. He shall Examina- 
determine the manner in which such examination shall be state cer- 
conducted, and may designate proper persons to conduct tificate. 
the same, and report the result to him. He may also ap- 
point times and places for holding such examinations, at 
least once in each year, and cause due notice thereof to 
be given. He may also issue temporary licenses to teach, J'^enses^'^^ 
limited to any school commissioner district or school dis- 
trict, and for a period not exceeding six uionths, when- 
ever in his judgment, it may be necessary or expedient 
for him to do so. 

§ 16. Upon cause shown to his satisfaction, he may J^^lf ""^ 
annul any certificate of qualification granted to a teacher cates. 
by^ a school commissioner, or declare any diploma issued 
by the state normal school ineffective and null as a quali- 
fication to teach a common school within this state, and 
he may reconsider and reverse his action in any such 
matter. 

§ 17. He shall prepare and keep in his office alpha- ^^fg^Ss 
betical lists of all persons who have received, or shall re- holding 
ceive, certificates of qualification from himself, or diplo- theater" 
mas of the state normal school, with the dates thereof, ^"*-^ "*^^'" 
and shall note thereon all annulments and reversals of 

* Note.— Sec. IL chap. 315. Laws of 1881, as amended by sec. 1, chap. 621, 
Laws of 1881, provides that the annual report shall be presented to the 
legislature within ten days after the cominencenient of the session. 

t As amended by sec. 5, chap. 5b7, Laws of 1875. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



TITLK 2. 
mal school 
diplomas. 



Superin- 
tendent 
may re- 
move 
school 
commis- 
sioners or 
other 

school offi- 
cers. 



Shall pre- 
pare regis- 
ters, 
blanks, etc. 



such certificates and diplomas, witli the date and causes 
thereof, together with such other particulars as he may 
deem expedient. 

§ 18. Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, 
that any school commissioner, or other school officer, has 
been guilty of any willful violation or neglect of duty 
under this act, or any other act pertaining to common 
schools, or of willfully disobeying any decision, order or 
regulation of the superintendent, the superintendent may, 
by an order under his liand and seal, which order shall 
be recorded in his office, remove such school commissioner 
or other school officer from his office. 

§ 19. He shall ]:>repare suitable registers, blanks, forms 
and regulations for making all reports and conducting all 
necessary business under this act, and shall cause the 
same, w^ith such information and instructions as he shall 
deem conducive to the proper organization and govern- 
ment of the common schools, and the due execution of 
their duties by school officers, to be transmitted to the 
officers and persons intrusted with the execution of the 
same. 



TITLE II. 



School 
commis- 
sioners. 



School ■ 
commis- 
sioner dis- 
tricts. 



How 
elected. 



AND DUTIES. 

Section 1. The office of school commissioner is con- 
tinued, and the present incumbents shall continue in office 
in their respective districts, for the residue of the terms 
for which they were elected or appointed. 

^§ 2. The districts as organized under existing laws, 
and as recognized in the election of school commissioners 
at the annual election in eighteen hundred and sixty-three, 
shall continue to be held and regarded as the school com- 
missioner districts in this state, except as the same shall 
be altered or modified by the legislature. 

f § 3. The school commissioner for each school com- 
missioner district shall be elected by the electors thereof, 
by separate ballot, at the general election, in the year one 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-cix, and triennially 
thereafter, and the ballots shall be indorsed " school com- 



missioner. 



The 



laws regulating the election of and 



* NoTR.— Cities electinjr superintendents, etc., are not included in com- 
missioner districts. See chap. 179, Laws of 1856, as amended bj' sec. 1, chap. 
414, Laws of 18K:3. 

t As amended by sec. I, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 



Of School Commissioners. 



canvassing the votes for county officers shall apply to '^^^^^ -• 
such elections. And it shall further be the duty of county county 
clerks, and they are hereby required, as soon as they shall emiiy''to 
have official notice of the election or appointment of a J^PJ^^jJ^^.- 
school connnissioner, for any district in their county, totheeiec- 
forward to the superintendent of public instruction aappo?it- 
duplicate certificate of such election or appointment, at-^^"m^s- 
tested bv their signature and the seal of the county. sioner. 

§ 4. The term of office of such commissioner shall com- Term of 
inence on tlie first day of January next after his election, °^^®' 
and shall be for three years and until his successor quali- 
fies. Every person elected to the office, or appointed to 
fill a vacancy, must take the oath of office prescribed by omce. 
the constitution, before the county clerk, or a judge of a 
court of record, and file it with the county clerk, within 
ten days after the commencement of the term, or after 
notice of his appointment ; and if he omit so to do, the 
office shall be deemed vacant. 

§ 5. A commissioner may, at any time, vacate his office, commis- 
by filing his resignation with the county clerk. Bis resign, 
removal from the county, or his acceptance of the office 
of supervisor, town-clerk or trustee of a school district, ^^^f^^ 
shall vacate his office. 

*§ 6. The county clerk, so soon as he has official ornowva- 
other notice of the existence of a vacancy in the office of J^,5fflceof 
commissioner, shall s-ive notice thereof to the county s'-^'ooi 
]udge, or, it that olnce be vacant, to the superintendent sioner 
of public instruction. In case of a vacancy, tlie county *^^^*^^" 
judge, or, if there be no county judge, then the superin- 
tendent shall appoint a commissioner, who shall hold his 
office until the first of January succeeding tlie next gen- 
eral election, and until his successor, who shall be chosen Sioner S'ec- 
at such o^eneral election, shall have qualified. A person tecUofiii 

1 l'^^ 1 n 1 i i i /y> i r i vacancy to 

elected to nil a vacancy shall hold the otnce only lor the hold only 

. -I - "^ "^ for the 

unexpired term. unexpired 

t§ 7. After the first day of October, eighteen hundred ^^™- 
and eighty -five, every school commissioner shall receive school 
an annual salary of one thousand dollars, payable quarterly ^"^'"""s- 



sioner 
WO: 
.-able 



out of the free school fund appropriated to this purpose, ^^^^^^ 
or to the support of common schools. from free 

J§ 8. Whenever a majority of the supervisors from all fund*^ 
the towns .compo^ing a school commissioner district shall superv 



* As amended by sec. 1, chap. 647, Laws of 1865. 

+ As amended by sec. 1, chap. 84, Laws of 1867, and sec. 3, chap. 1, Laws of 
1881, and by sec. 5, chap. 340, Laws of 1885. 

$ As amended by sec. 6, chap. 567, Laws of 1875, and sec. 6, chap. 340, Laws 
of 1885. 



is- 
ors to in- 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



TITLE 2. 
crease 
salary of 
commis- 
sioner. 



How 

assessed. 
Commis- 
sioner's 
expenses 



Superin- 
tendent 
may with- 
hold com- 
mission- 
er's salary. 



Commis- 
sioner to 
serve for 
another. 



Not to act 
as agent 
for author 
or pub- 
lisher, etc. 



Duties of 
school 
commis- 
sioner. 

To define 

district 

boundaries, 



acloj)t a resolution to increase the salary of their school 
commissioner beyond the one thousand dollars payable 
to him from the free school fund, it shall be the duty of 
the board of supervisors of the county to give effect to 
such resolution, and they shall assess the increase stated 
therein upon the towns composing such commissioner 
district, ratably, according to the corrected valuations of 
the real and personal estate of such towns. 

^■§ 9. The board of supervisors shall annually audit and 
allow to each commissioner within the county the fixed 
sum of two hundred dollars for his expenses, and shall 
assess and levy tliat amount annually, by tax, upon the 
towns composing his district. 

§ 10. Whenever the superintendent of public instruc- 
tion is satisfied that a school commissioner has persistently 
neglected to perform his duties, he may withhold his 
order for the payment of the whole or any part of such 
commissioner's salary as it shall become due, and the sal- 
ary so withholdeu shall be forfeited ; but the superin- 
tendent may remit the forfeiture, in whole or in part, 
upon the commissioner disproving or excusing such 
neglect. 

§ 11. A commissioner, upon the written request of the 
commissioner of an adjoining district, may perform any 
of his duties for him, and upon requirement of the state 
superintendent of public instruction must perform the 
same. 

§ 12. No school commissioner shall act as agent for any 
author, publisher or bookseller, nor directly or indirectly 
receive any gift, emolument, reward or promise of reward, 
for his innuence in recommending or procuring the use 
of any book, or school apparatus, or furniture of any kind 
whatever, in any common school, or the purchase of any 
book for a district library. Any one who shall procure or 
solicit a violation of this provision, or of any part thereof, 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ; and any such violation 
shall subject the guilty commissioner to renioval from his 
ofiice by. the superintendent of public instruction. 

§ 13. Every commissioner shall have power, and it shall 
be his duty : - 

f 1. From time to time to inquire and ascertain whether 
the boundaries of the school districts within his district 
are definitely and plainlj^ described in the records of the 



* As amended by sec. 2, 
I- Aa amended by sec. 7 



chap. 84, Laws of 1867. 
chap. 567, Laws of 18T5. 



Of School Commissioneks. 9 



proper town clerks ; and in case tlie record of the bound- '^'^'^^^ 2. 
aries of any school district shall be found defective or 
indefinite, or if the same shall be in dispute, tlien to cause 
the same to be amended, or an amended record of the 
boundaries to be made. All necessary expenses incurred Expense of 
in establishing such amended records, shall be a charge JoSndX 
upon tlie district or districts affected, to be audited and ^ies. 
allowed by the trustee or trustees thereof, upon tlie certi- 
ficate of tlie school commissioner. 

2. To visit and examine all the schools and school dis-To visit 
tricts wdtliin his district as often in each year as shall be JJ^In?' 
practicable ; to inquire into all matters relating to the schools. 
management, the course of study and mode of instruction, 
and the text-books and discipline of such schools, and the 
condition of the school-houses, sites, out-buildings and 
appendages, and of the district generally ; to examine the 
district libraries ; to advise with and counsel the trus- Libraries, 
tees and other officers of the districts in relation to their f^'jJuses 
duties, and particularly in respect to the construction, etc 
warming and ventilation of school-houses, and the im- 
proving and adorning of the school grounds coimected studies, 
therewith ; and to recommend to the trustees and teach- 
ers the proper studies, discipline and management of the 
schools, and the course of instruction to be pursued. 

■^3. Upon such examination, to direct the trustees to To direct 
make any alteration or repair on the scliool-house or out-mak??l-^ 
buildings which shall, in his opinion, be necessary to theP^^^^- 
health or comfort of the pupils, but the expense of mak- 
ing such alterations or repairs shall, in no case, exceed the 
sum of two hundred dollars, unless an additional sum 
shall be voted by the district. He may also direct the '^\^y ^^"^^^^ 

-J . . ••' . abatement 

trustees to abate any nuisance m or upon the premises, of nuis- 
provided the same can be done at an exj)ense not exceed- ^^^®* 
ing twenty-five dollars. 

-fir. By an order under his hand, recitins: the reason or To con- 
reasons to condemn a school house, if he deems it wholly sciumi""^^ 
unfit for use and not worth repairing, and to deliver the -mouses, 
order to the trustees, or one of them, and transmit a copy 
to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Such order, 
if no time for its taking effect be stated in it, shall take 
effect immediately. He shall also state w4iat sum, not Mayesti- 
exceeding eight hundred dollars, will, in his opinion, be Jfe?e^ssar^ 
necessary to erect a school-house capable of accommodat-^^,)^^^;,'J.*^ 

• ■ — — — ■- house. 

* As amended bv sec. 2, ch. 406. Laws of 1867. 

t As amended by sec. 3, ch. 40&, Laws of 1807, and by ch. 592, Laws of 1887. 

2 



10 



TITLE 2. 
Trustees 
to call 
special 
lueetiug. 



Trustees 
to build 
school- 
house and 
levy tax 
for same 
if district 
neglect. 



To exam, 
ine and 
license 
teachers. 



Re-exam- 
ine. 



To exam- 
ine charges 
against 
teachers. 



Annul cer- 
tificates. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

ing tlie children of the district. Imniediately upon the 
receipt of said order, the trustee or trustees of such dis- 
trict shall call a special meeting of the inhabitants of said 
district for the purpose of considering the question of 
building a school-house therein. ISuch meeting shall have 
power to determine the size of said school-house, the 
material to be used in its erection, and to vote a fax to 
build the same ; but such meeting shall have no power to 
reduce the estimate made by the commissioner aforesaid 
by more than twenty -five per centum of such estimate. 
And where no tax for building such house shall have 
been voted by such district within thirty days from the 
time of holding the first meeting to consider the question, 
then it shall be the duty of the trustee or trustees of such 
district to contract for the building of a school-house 
capable of accommodating the children of the district, and 
to levy a tax to pay for the same, which tax shall not 
exceed the sum estimated as necessary by the commis- 
sioner aforesaid, and which shall not be less than such 
estimated sum by more than twenty-five per centum 
thereof. But such estimated sum may be increased by a 
vote of the inhabitants at any school meeting subse- 
quently called and held according to law. 

*5. To examine persons proposing to teach common 
schools within his district, and not possessing the superin- 
tendent's certificate of qualification or a diploma of the 
state normal school, and to inquire into their moral fit- 
ness and capacity, and, if he find them qualified, to grant 
them certificates of qualification, in the forms which are 
or may be prescribed by the superintendent. 

6. To re-examine any teacher holding his or his prede- 
cessor's certificate, and if he find him deficient in learn- 
ing or abihty, to annul the certificate. 

7. To examine any charge affecting the moral character 
of any teacher within his district, first giving such teacher 
reasonable notice of the charge, and an opportunity to 
defend himself therefrom ; and if he find the charge sus- 
tained, to annul the teacher's certificate, by whomsoever 
granted, and to declare him unfit to teach ; and if the 
teacher held a certificate of the superintendent, or a di- 
ploma of the state normal school, to notify the superin- 
tendent forthwith of such annulment and declaration. 



* For additional duties, see chapter 318, Laws of 1883, chap. 30, Laws oi 

1884. 



Of State and other School Moneys. 11 



8. And, generally, to use his utmost influence and 
most strenuous exertions, to promote sound education, 
elevate the character and qualitications of teachers, im- 
prove the means of instruction and advance the interests 
of the schools under his supervision. 

§ 14. Every school commissioner shall have power to ^jJne^sto 
take affidavits and administer oaths in all matters pertain- take affida- 
ing to common schools, but without charge or fee ; and, 
under the direction of the superintendent of public 
instruction, to take and report to him the testimony in ■ 
any case of appeal. 

■^§ 15. The commissioners shall be subject to such rules the "s^uper^ 
and regulations as the superintendent of public instruc- j^^/p^^ui^ 
tion shall from time to time prescribe, and appeals frominstruc- 
their acts and decisions may be made to him, as herein- 
after provided. They shall, whenever thereto required ^^ 
by the superintendent, report to him, as to any particular annually, 
matter or act, and shall severally make to him annually, ^^^* 
to the twentieth day of August in each year, a report in 
such form, and containing all such parficulars as he shall 
prescribe and call for ; and, for that purpose, shall pro- 
cure the reports of the trustees of the school districts 
from the town clerks' offices, and after abstracting the 
necessary contents thereof, shall arrange and indorse them 
properly, and deposit them with a copy of his own abstract 
thereof in the office of the county clerk ; and the clerk 
shall safely keep them* 



TITLE III. 

OF THE STATE AND OTHER SCHOOL MONEYS, THEIR AP- 
PORTIONMENT AND DISTRIBUTION, AND, HEREIN, OF 
TRUSTS AND GIFTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF COMMON 
SCHOOLS. 

FIRST ARTICLE. 

Of the state school moneys and their apportionment hy 
the superintendent of puhlic instruction, and payment 
to tlie county and city treasurers. 

f Section 1. There shall be raised by tax, in the present state tax 
and each succeeding year, upon the real and personal suppi^rt of 
estate of each county within the state, one mill and one- ®^^"^'^^^' 

*As amended by sec. I, chap. 413, Laws of 1883. 
+ As amended by sec. 3, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 



12 



TITLE 3. 



Clerk of 
board of 
supervis- 
ors may 
not omit t(» 
include 
the state 
school tax. 



How mon- 
ey to be 
deposited. 



Treasurer 
to report. 



Bank book. 



Warrants 
and re- 
ceipts; 
bow drawn 
and en- 
tered. 



Comptrol- 
ler may 
withhold 
moneys 
from 
counties. 



Treasurer 
and super- 
intendent 



Consolidated School Act of 1864 

fourth of a mill upon each and every dollar of the equal- 
ized valuation of such estate, for the support of common 
schools in the state ; and the proceeds of such tax shall 
be apportioned and distributed as herein provided. 

§ 2. No clerk of any board of supervisors, or other 
person vrho shall make out the tax list or assessment roll 
of any town, shall omit to include and apportion among 
the moneys to be raised thereby the amount hereby re- 
quired to be raised for the support of schools, by reason 
of the omission of the board of supervisors to pass a 
resolution for that purpose. 

■^ § 3. The moneys so raised shall be paid into the state 
treasury, and the treasurer may transfer them from one 
depository to another, by his draft, countersigned and 
entered by the superintendent of public instruction. On 
the first working day of each month the treasurer shall 
make to the superintendent of j^ublic instruction a writ- 
ten statement of the condition of the free school fund, 
showing the amount received and paid during the preced- 
ing month, and the balance remaining on hand. The 
bank in which such moneys are deposited shall furnish 
the superintendent of public instruction a book, in which 
the officers of such banks shall make entries of all sums 
deposited therein by the treasurer, from time to time, to 
the credit of said free school fund. No such money shall 
be paid out of the treasury except upon such warrant of 
the superintendent, countersigned by the comptroller, 
referring to the law under which it is drawn. The super- 
intendent shall countersign and enter all checks drawn 
by the treasurer in payment of his warrants, and all 
receipts of the treasurer for such money paid to the treas- 
urer, and no such receipt shall be evidence of payment 
unless it be so countersigned. 

f § 4. The comptroller may withhold the payment of 
any moneys, to wdiich any county may be entitled, from 
the appropriation of the incomes of the school fund and 
the United States deposit fund for the support of com- 
mon schools, until satisfactory evidence shall be furnished 
to him that all moneys required by law to be raised by 
taxation upon ^such county, for the support of schools 
throughout the state, have been collected and paid, or 
accounted for to the state treasurer; and whenever, after 
the first day of March in any year, in consequence of tlie 



*As amended by sec. 8, chap. 56V, Laws of 18T5. 
+As amended by sec. 3, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 
tAs amended by sec. 4, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 



Of State and other School Moneys. 13 



failure of any county to pay such moneys on or before j^ay^or-^" 
that day, there shall be a deficiency of moneys in therowmoa- 
treasury applicable to the payment of school moneys, to^^^' 
Vvliich an 3^ otlier county may be entitled, the treasurer and 
superintendent of public instruction are hereby authorized 
to make a temporarj^ loan of the amount so deficient^ and 
such loan, and the interest thereon at the rate of twelve 
per cent per annum, until payment shall be made to the 
treasury, shall be a charge upon the county in default, 
and shall be added to the amount of state tax, and levied 
upon such county by the board of supervisors thereof at 
the next ensuing assessment, and shall be paid into the 
treasury in the same manner as other taxes. 

S 5. The moneys raised by the state tax or borrowed state 
as aforesaid to supply a deficiency thereof^ and such moneys, 
portion of the income of the United States deposit fund 
as shall be appropriated^ and the income of the common 
school fund, when the same are appropriated, to the sup- 
port of common schools^ constitute the state school moneys, Apportioa- 
and shall be divided and apportioned by the superintend- ™p"rin- 
ent of public instruction, on or before the twentieth day tendent. 
of January in each year as follows: and all moneys soAppHe^dto 
apportioned, except the library moneys, shall be applied wages, 
exclusively to the payment of teachers' wages. 

* § 6. He shall apportion and set apart from the in-Tncomeo£ 
come of the United States deposit fund so appropriated, states de- 
the amounts required to pay the annual salaries of the p°^^* ^^"**' 
school commissioners elected or elective under this actj to 
be drawn out of the treasury and paid to the several 
commissioners, as hereinbefore provided ; and he shall 
also apportion to each of the cities of the state, and to 
each of the incorporated villages of the state having a 
population of five thousand and upwards, w^iich, under a^„^ .., 
special act, employs a supermtendent oi common schools, tioned ; 
or a clerk of the board of education, who does the duty viKeT^ 
of supervision, out of the income of the said fund, and |^Jpe^.|"? 
if insufficient the deficiency out of the free school fund tendent of 
so appropriated, the sum of eight hundred dollars, and ^^ 
in case any city is entitled to more than one member of 
assembly according to the unit of representation adopted 

* As amended by chap. 3T4, Laws of 38T6, and by sec. 1, chap. 340, Laws 
1885. This section Was changed by sec. 3, chap. 1, Laws of 1881, which reads 
as follows: 

§ 3. In fnaking the annual apportionment of school moneys, the superin- 
tendent of public instruction shall hereafterset apart asum sufficient to pay 
the salaries of the several school commissioners from the free school fund, 
iustead of from the United States deposit fund as heretofore. 



u 



TITLE 3. 
To cities 
having 
more than 
one mem- 
ber of as- 
sembly. 

Library 
moneys. 



Indian 
schools. 



To divide 
the re- 
mainder in 
two equal 
parts. 

One-half 
apportion- 
ment. 



What 
districts 
to receive 
district 
quota. 



One quota 
for each 
qualified 
teacher. 



Terra of 
school. 



Teacher's 
attendance 
at insti- 
tute. 



The re- 
maining 
half to be 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

bj the legislature, five hundred dollars for each additional 
member of assembly, to be expended according to law, 
for the support of the common schools of the city. He 
shall then set apart, from the income of the United States 
deposit fund, for and as library moneys, such sum as the 
legislature shall appropriate for that purpose. He shall 
also set apart from the free school fund a sum not. exceed- 
ing four thousand dollars for a contingent fund. He shall 
then set apart and apportion, for and on account of the 
Indian schools under his supervision, a sum which will 
be equitably equivalent to their proportion of the state 
school money, upon the basis of distribution established 
by this act, such sum to be wholly payable out of the 
proceeds of the state tax for the support of common 
schools. After deducting the said amounts, he shall di- 
vide the remainder of the state school moneys into two 
equal parts, and shall apportion them as hereinafter 
specified. 

'^§ 7. He shall apportion one-half of such remainder 
equally among the school districts and cities from which 
reports shall have been received in accordance with law 
as follows : 

To entitle a district to a distributive portion or district 
quota, a qualified teacher, or successive qualified teachers 
mtist have actually taught the common school of the dis- 
trict, for at least the term of time hereinafter mentioned, 
during the last preceding school year. For every addi- 
tional qualified teacher and his successors who shall have 
actually taught in said school during the whole of said 
term, the district shall be entitled to another distributive 
portion or quota; but pupils employed as monitors, or 
otherwise, shall not be deemed teachers. The aforemen- 
tioned term, during the current school year shall be six 
months, and thereafter shall be twenty-eight weeks of five 
school days each, inclusive of New Year's day, Washing- 
ton's birthday, tlie fourth day of July, Christmas day, 
and any other day which shall be, by law, declared a holi- 
day, which shall occur during the term. A deficiency not 
exceeding three weeks diiring the current year, or in any 
subsequent yeaj-, caused by a teacher's attendance upon a 
teachers' institute within the county, shall be excused. 

f § 8. Having so apportioned and distributed the said 
one-half, the Suj)erintendent shall apportion the other 

* As amended by sec. 2. chap. 340, Laws 1885. 

For other days declared by law to be holidays, see chap. 3/, Laws 1873, as 
amended. 
t As amended by sec. 3, chap. 340, Laws 1885. 



Of State and other School Moneys. 15 



half of said remainder, and also the library moneys sepa- appor. 
rately, among the counties of the state, according to their ^^^^®^- 
respective population, excluding Indians residing on their 
reservations, as the same shall appear from the last pre- 
ceding state or United States census ; but as to counties 
in which are situated cities having special school acts, he 
shall apportion to each city the part to which it shall so Apportion- 
appear entitled, and to the residue of the county the part J^^^^P^g^t^ 
to which it shall appear to be so entitled. If the census to cities, 
according to which the apportionment shall be made does 
not show the sum of the population of any county or 
city, the superintendent shall, by the best evidence he 
can procure, ascertain and determine the population of 
such county or city at the time the census was taken, and 
make his apportionment accordingly. 

§ 9. The superintendent shall apportion to each separate neSTbor- 
neighborhood which shall have duly reported, such fixed hoods, 
sum as will, in his opinion, be equitably equivalent to its 
portion of all the state school moneys upon the basis of 
distribution established by this act ; such sum to be pay- 
able ont of the contingent fund hereinbefore established. 

'^§ 10. Whenever any school district or separate neighbor- ^J^r/Jts 
hood shall have been excluded from participation in any have beea 
apportionment made by the superintendent, or by the from the 
school commissioners, by reason of its having omitted toSS^^^'^* 
make any report required by law, or to comply with ai^y fntendent 
other provision of law, or with any rule or regulation can make 
made by the superintendent under the authority of law, tbie^aiiow- 
and it shall be showm to the superintendent that such omis- ^"^®' 
sion was accidental or excusable, he may, upon the applica- 
tion of such district or neighborhood, make to it an equit- 
able allowance ; and if the apportionment, was made by 
himself, cause it to be paid out of the contingent fund ; ^^at^fuQ^j 
and, if the apportionment was made by the commissioners, 
direct them to apportion such allowance to it, at their 
next annual apportionment, in addition to any apportion- JJJ|"by 
ment to which it may then be entitled. And the super- thecom- 
intendent may, in his discretion, upon the recommendation 
of the school commissioner having jurisdiction over the the pay- 
district in default, direct that the money so equitably ap-J"|chers' 
portioned shall be paid in satisfaction of teachers' w^ages J'^j^oJ^' 
earned by a teacher not qualified in accordance w^ ith the teacher 
provisions of the law as hereinafter set forth. a duly 

. qualified 

teacher. 
*As amended by sec. 1, chap. 37, Laws 1880. 



10 Coi>rSOLTt)ATED SCHOOL AcT OF 1864. 



Moneysap. § H. If inonc}^ to wliicli it is Hot entitled, or a larger 
Fn%xce6s^ sum tliaii it is entitled to, shall be apportioned to any 
may be re- countj, or part of a countj, or school district, and it shall 
the'sifper-^not have been so distributed or apportioned among the 
intendect. (districts, or expended, as to make it impracticable so to do, 
the superintendent may reclaim such money or excess, by 
directing any officer in whose hands it may be to pay it 
into the state treasury, to the credit of the free school 
fund ; and the state treasurer's receipt, countersigned by 
the superintendent, shall be his only voucher ; but, if it be 
When im- i^ipi'^cticable SO to reclaim such money or excess, then the 
practicabFe superintendent shall deduct it from the portion of such 
moneys'" couuty, part of a county or district, in his next armual 
apportionment, and distribute the sum thus deducted, 
equitably among the counties and parts of counties, or 
among the school districts in the state entitled to participate 
m such apportionment, according to the basis of appor- 
tionment in which such excess occurred. 
Deficien- § 12. If a less sum than it is entitled to shall have been 
sifppHed^ apportioned by the superintendent to any county, part of 
memai^ap- ^ county or school district, the superintendent may make 
Sien t°^" ^ supplementary apportionment to it, of such a sum as 
shall make up the deficiency, and the same shall be paid 
out of the contingent fund, if sufficient, and, if not, then 
the superintendent shall make up such deficiency in his 
next annual apportionment. 

§ 13. As soon as possible after the making of any an- 
t(?counfy nual or general apportionment, the superintendent shall 
clerk, certify it to the county clerk, countv treasurer, school 

treasurer, ./. . 1 '■ / i " i i • • 

commis- commissioUers and city treasurer or ehamberlam m every 
Bioner, e c. ^^^j^j-y j^ ^j-^g q\2^iq • ^nd if it be a supplemental apportion- 
ment, then to the county clerk, county treasurer and school 
commissioners of the county in which the neighbor- 
hood or the school-house of the district concerned is 
situate. 
Moneys ^'§ 14. The moneys so annually apportioned by the 

appor ^ superintendent shall be payable on the first day of April 
payifbie on ^^^^ after the apportionment, to the treasurers of the 
the first several counties and the chamberlain of the city of New 
ApriY. York, respectively; and the said treasurers and cham- 
berlain shall apply for and receive the same as soon as 
payable. 

■^ As amended by sec 10, chap. 567, Laws of 1875. 



Of State and othek School Moneys; Trusts, etc. 17 



TITLE 3. 



SECOND ARTICLE. 

Of trusts for the 'benefit of common schools^ and of 
toioii school finds ^ fines, penalties and other moneys 
held or given for their benefit, 

§15. Real and personal estate maybe granted, con- Real and 
veyed, devised, bequeathed and given in trust and ineSe"'^ 
perpetuity or otherwise, to the state, or to the snperin- f,!^,gj' j-"^ , 
tendent of public instruction, for the support or benefit the be neat 
of the common schools within the state, or within any mon ' 

part or portion of it, or of any particular common school ^^'^°^^^- 
or schools within it ; and to any county, or the school 
commissioner or commissioners of any county, or to any 
city or any board or officers thereof, or to any school 
commissioner district or its commissioner, or to any town 
or supervisor of a town, or to any school district or its 
trustee or trustees, for the support and benefit of common 
schools witliin such county, city, school commissioner 
district, town or scliool district, or within any part or 
portion thereof respectively, or for the support and benefit 
of any particular common school or schools therein. 

§ 16. No such grant, conveyance, devise or bequest ?^^^d ^^^ 
shall be held void for the want of a named or competent want of 
trustee or donee, but where no trustee or donee or an in- dSneef ^^ 
competent one is named, the title and trust shall vest in 
the people of the state, subject to its acceptance by the 
legislature; but such acceptance shall be presumed. 

§ 17. The legislature may control and regulate the J^ifr^'fo** 
execution of all such trusts ; and the superintendent of control 
public instruction shall supervise and advise the trustees, late trusts. 
and hold them to a regular accounting for the trust prop- superin- 
erty and its income and interest, at sucli times, in such rlqufre *^ 
forms and with such authentications as he siiall f rom t^^tees to 

. . , . ., account. 

time to time prescribe. 

§ 18. The common council of every city, the board of certain 
supervisors of every county, the trustees of every village, and Sonrda 
the supervisor of every town, the trustee or trustees of \^ ^^^^Jl 

■T, -j^.. *^i 1 /v» truots. etc.,. 

every school district, and every other oincer or person to superiut 
who shall be thereto required by the superintendent of 
public instruction, shall, on or before the thirtieth day of 
September next, report to him whether any, and if any, 
what, trusts are held by them respectively, or by any other 
body, officer or person, to their information or belief, for 

3 



Consolidated School Act of 1864, 



TITLE 3. 



school purposes, and shall transmit therewith an authen- 
ticated copy of every will, conveyance, instrument or 
paper embodying or creating the trust ; and shall, in like 
manner, forthwith report to him the creation and terms 
of every such trust subsequently created, 
and^schooi § ^^- ^vcry supervisor of a town shall, by the thirtieth 
lots. day of September next, report to the superintendent 

whether there be, within the town, any gospel or scliool 
lot, and if any, shall describe the same, and state to what 
use, if any, it is put by the town ; and whether it be 
leased, and if so, to whom, for what term and upon what 
rents ; and whether the town holds or is entitled to any 
land, moneys or securities arising from any sale of such 
gospel or school lot, and the investment of the proceeds 
thereof, or of the rents or income of such lots and in- 
vestments, and shall report a full statement and account 
of such lands, moneys and securities. 

§ 20. Every supervisor of a town, shall in like manner 
the^ands by the thirtieth day of September next, report to the 
seeraof Superintendent whether the town has a common school 
the poor, fund Originated under the " act relative to moneys in the 
hands of overseers of the poor," passed April 27, 1829, 
and, if it have, the full particulars thereof, and of its in- 
vestment, income and application, in such form as the 
superintendent may prescribe. 
Superin- § 21. In rcspect to the property and funds in the two 
report"to*° ^^^^ scctious mentioned, the superintendent shall, at the 
the legis- next session of the legislature, and annually thereafter, 
include in his annual report a statement and account 
Superin- thereof. And to these ends, he is authorized, at any time 
t|°<^ejit^.^ and from time to time, to require from the supervisor, 
report board of town auditors, or any officer of a town, a report 
p'?r'?isor or as to any fact, or any information or account, he may 
officer^^^^ deem necessary or desirable. 

§ 22. Whenever, by any statute, a penalty or fine is 
and fines, imposcd for the benefit of common schools, and not ex- 
and appor-P^essly of the common schools of a town or school dis- 
tioned. trict, it shall be taken to be for the benefit of the common 
schools of the county within which the conviction is had ; 
and the fine or penalty, when paid or collected, shall be 
paid forthwith. into the county treasury, and the treasurer 
shall credit the same as school moneys of the county, 
unless the county comprise a city having a special school 
act, in which case he shall report it to the superintend- 
ent, who shall apportion it upon the basis of population 



Of State and other School Moneys; Tkusts, etc. 19 



by the last census, between the city and the residue of '^^^^^ ^' 
the county, and the portion belonging to the city shall be 
paid into its treasury. 

§ 23. Every district attorney shall report, annually to District 
the board of supervisors, all such fines and penalties ira- repon^^ ^ 
posed in any prosecution conducted by him during thep"n|i^gg 
previous year ; and all moneys collected or received by ^9 super- 
him or by the sheriff, or any other officer, for or on account 
of such fines and penalties, shall be immediately paid 
into the county treasury, and the receipt of the county 
treasurer shall be a sufficient and the only voucher for 
such moneys. 

§ 24. Whenever a fine or penalty is inflicted or imposed Fines and 
for the benefit of the common schools of a town or school tou±iom 
district, the magistrate, constable or other officer, collect- ^^^^' 
ing or receiving the same, shall forthwith pay the same 
to the county treasurer of the county in which the school- 
house is located, who shall credit the same to the town or 
district for whose benefit it is collected. If the fine or 
penalty be inflicted or imposed for the benefit of the com- 
mon schools of a city having a special school act, or of 
any part or district of a city, it shall be paid into the city 
treasury. 

§ 25. Whenever, by this or any other act, a penalty or Penalties 
fine is imposed upon any school district officer for a \do- distSs. 
lation or omission of official duty, or upon any person for 
any act or omission within a school district, or touching 
property or the peace and good order of the district, and 
such penalty or fine is declared to be for, or for the use 
or benefit of the common schools of the towm,or of the 
county, and such school district lies in two or more towns 
or counties, the town or county intended by the act shall 
be taken to be the one in which the school-house, or the 
school-house longest owned or held by the district is, at 
the time of such violation, act or omission. 

§ 26. Any district attorney, sheriff, justice of the peace, m^nt,%% 
police justice or other magistrate or officer, who shall ^''^^ ^o"^* 
embezzle, or willfully withhold from or omit 'to pay into 
the county treasury any money received or collected in 
payment or satisfaction, in whole or in part, of any fine 
or penalty in the four last preceding sections mentioned, 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ; and any fine imposed 
upon a conviction thereof shall be for the benefit of the 
common schools of the county. 



2n 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



TITLE 3. 



THIRD ARTICLE. 



Apportion- 
ment of 
school 
moneys by 
commis- 
sioners. 

Library 
moneys. 



Shall set 
apart mon- 
eys speci- 
ally appor- 
tioned by 
the super- 
intendent. 



Return of 
unexpend- 
ed moneys 
by super- 
visors. 



Returns 
from treas- 
urer of 
fines and 
penalties . 



How ap- 
portioned. 



Of the apportionment of the state school moneys^ and 
of other school moneys hy the school commissioners, 
and their paym^ent to the supervisors, 

§ 27. The school commissioner, or commissioners of each 
county, shall proceed, at the county seat, on the tliird 
Tuesday of March in each year, to ascertain, apportion 
and divide the state and other school moneys, as follows : 

1. They shall set apart any library moneys apportioned 
by the superintendent. 

2. From the other moneys apportioned to the county, 
they shall set apart and credit to each separate neighbor- 
hood and school district the amount apportioned to it by 
the state superintendent, and to every district which did 
not participate in the apportionment of the previous year, 
and which the superintendent shall have excused, such 
equitable sum as he shall have allowed to it. 

3. They shall procure from the treasurer of the county 
a transcript of the returns of the supervisors hereinafter 
required, showing the unexpended moneys in their hands 
applicable to the payment of teachers' wages and to library 
purposes, and shall add the whole sum of such moneys to 
the balance of the state moneys to be apportioned for 
teachers' wages. The amounts in each supervisor's hands 
shall be charged as a partial payment of the sums appor- 
tioned to the town for library moneys and teachers' wages 
respectively. 

4. They shall procure from the county treasurer a full 
list and statement of all payments to him of moneys for 
or on account of lines and penalties, or accruing from any 
other source, for the benefit of schools and of the town or 
towns, district or districts for whose benefit the same were 
received. Such of said moneys as belong to a particular 
district, they shall set apart and credit to it ; and such as 
belong to the schools of a town, they shall set apart and 
credit to the schools in that town, and shall apportion 
them together with such as belong to the schools of the 
county, as hereinafter provided, for the payment of teach- 
ers' wages. 



Of Appoktionment by School Commissioners. 21 



TIT I P '^ 

*5. Tliej shall apportion library monej^s to the school Apponion- 
districts, and parts of school districts, joint with parts in ifbi-arj^^ 
anj citv or in any adjoining county, which shall be enti- '^'""^ys ac- 
tied to participate therein as hereniafter specilied, in pro- aggre'iate* 
portion to the aggregate number of days of attendance of Sfchu^"^® 
children in each between the ages of live and twentj-one *^^®^' 
years, as the same shall appear from the reports of the 
trustees for the last preceding school year. 

6. They shall apportion in like manner and upon the Remainirg 
same basis, until the apportionment of the yeai* eighteen ™^'^''-^^' 
hundred and sixty-six, the remaining unapportioned 
moneys among such school districts and parts of school 
districts. 

t7. In the apportionment of eio:hteen hundred and ^ew basis 

. \ . . / r , p . , ,, in 1889. 

eiglity-nme, and m every subsequent apportionment, they 
shall apportion all of such remaining unapportioned 
moneys, in like manner and upon the same basis, among 
such school districts and parts of districts in proportion 
to the aggregate number of days of attendance of the According 
pupils resident therein, between the ages of five and ^ate^mim- 
twenty-one years, at their respective schools during the ^1^°^^^^^^/ 
last preceding school year. The aggregate number ofanc©. 
days of attendance of the pupils is to be ascertained from 
the records thereof kept by the teachers as hereinafter 
prescribed, by adding together the whole number of days' 
attendance of each and every such pupil in the district or 
part of a district. 

8. They shall then set apart to each town the moneys 
so set apart and apportioned to each separate neighbor- 
hood ; to each district the school house of which is therein, 
and to each part of a, joint district therein the school 
house of which is located in a city or in a town in an ad- 
joining county. 

9. They shall sign, in duplicate, a certificate, showing certificate 
the amounts apportioned and set apart to each separate ^q^p^^^j 
neighborhood, school district and part of a district, and 

the towns in which they are situated, and shall designate 
therein the source from which each item of the ao:o^reo:ate 
to each district and town was derived; and shall forthwith 
deliver one of said duplicates to the treasurer of the 
county and transmit the other to the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. 

10. They shall certify to the supervisor of each town certify to 

* As amended by chap. 602, Laws of 1887. 

+ As amended by seo. 1, chap. 492, Laws of 1881, and sec. 4, chap. 340, Laws 
of 1885, and claap. 60^ Laws of 1887. 



22 Consolidated School Act of 1^)64:. 



TITLE 3. 



thesupei^ the amount of school moneys so apportioned to his town, 
visor. and the portions thereof to be paid by him for library 
purposes and for teachers' wages, to each such distinct 
separate neighborhood, district and part of a district. 
Erroneous g 28. If in their apportionment, through any error of 
nieiit'ihow the Commissioners, any district shall have apportioned to 
remedied. ^^ ^ larger or a less share of the moneys than it is entitled 
to, the commissioners may in their next annual apportion- 
ment, with the approbation of the superintendent, correct 
the error by an equitable deduction from or augmentation 
of the share of such district. 
What dis. g 29. No district or part of a district shall be entitled 
tied to to any portion of such school moneys on such apportion- 
moneys. mcut uulcss the report of the trustees for the preceding 
school year shall show that a common school was sup- 
ported in the district and taught by a qualified teacher 
for such a term of time as would, under section seven of 
this title, entitle it to a distributive share under the appor- 
tionment of the superintendent, 
fo mlS°^ § 30. On receiving the certificate of the commissioners, 
apportion- each supcrvisor sliall forthwith make a copy thereof for 
fiie^he" his own use, and deposit the original in the oftice of the 
ongmai. (^jerl^ of his town ; and the moneys so apjDortioned to 
his town shall be paid to him immediately on his com- 
phance with the requirements of the next section, and not 
before, 
fogfv?^^^ ^§ ^1- Immediately on receiving the commissioners' 
bonds. certificate of apportionment, the county treasurer shall 
require of each supervisor, and each supervisor shall give 
to the treasurer, in behalf of the town, his bond, with two 
or more sufficient sureties, approved by the treasurer, in 
the penalty of at least double the amount of the school 
moneys set apart or apportioned to the town, and of any 
such moneys unaccounted for by his predecessor, condi- 
tioned for the faithful disbursement, safe-keeping and 
accounting for such moneys, and of all other school 
moneys, that may come into his hands from any other 
source. If the condition shall be broken, the county 
treasurer shall sue the bond in his own name, in behalf of 
the town, and the money recovered shall be paid over to 
the successor of the supervisor in default, such successor 
lacTnJyiD having first given security as aforesaid. Whenever the 
office o£ office of a supervisor shall become vacant, by reason of 
. ^^^^ exph'ation of his term of service or otherwise, the 

*A3 amended by sec. 11, chap. 567, Laws of 1875. 



Of Apportionment by School Commissioners. 23 



county treasurer shall require the person elected or ap- 
pointed to fill such vacancy to execute a bond, with two 
or more sureties, to be approved by the treasurer, in the 
penalty of at least double the sum of the school moneys 
remaining in the hands of the old supervisor, when the 
ofiice became vacant, conditioned for the faithful disburse- 
ment, safe-keeping and accounting fur such moneys. 
But the execution of this bond shall not relieve the super- 
visor from the duty of executing the bond first above 
mentioned. 

§ 32. The refusal of a supervisor to give such security ^f "IJcJ? 
shall be a misdemeanor, and any fine imposed on his con- rityamis- 
viction thereof shall be for the benefit of the common 
schools of the town. Upon such refusal, the moneys so jvu^emay 
set apart and apportioned to the town shall be paid to and p5S!n\o 
disbursed by some other ofiicer or person to be designated Jj^^om the 
by the county judge, under such regulations and with set apart 
such safeguards as he may prescribe, and the reasonable tioned^to^' 
compensation of such officer or person, to be adjusted by ^^jl/ib"^"^ 
the board of supervisors, shall be a town charge. paid. 



TITLE TV, 

OF THE DISBURSEMENT OF THE SCHOOL MONEYS BY THE 
SUPERVISORS, AND OF SOME OF THEIR SPECIAL POWERS, 
DUTIES AND LIABILITIES UNDER THIS ACT. 

Section 1. The several supervisors continue vested with supervis- 
the powers and charged with the duties formerly vested trustees^of 
in and charged upon the trustees of the gospel and school fchooi^^^ 
lots, and transferred to and imposed upon town super- ^^^^s. 
intendents of common schools by chapter one liundred 
and eighty-six, of the laws of one thousand eight hundred 
and forty -six. 

§2. The several supervisors continue vested with the Powers 
powers and charged with the duties conferred and im- mer acts, 
posed upon the connnissioners of common schools by the 
act of eighteen hundred and twenty-nine, entitled "An 
act relative to mone3^s in the hands of overseers of the 
poor." 

§ 3, A. supervisor who shall embezzle or apply to his Embezzie- 

" . -"^ ., ' ^ K '^1 ^ ' merit of 

own private use any money or security received by him moneys by 
under any provision of this act, including the two preced- Jrs.^^^^^' 
inijr sections of this title, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 



24- Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



and any fine imposed upon a conviction thereof shall be 
for the benefit of the common schools of the town. 
To make a §4. On tlic first Tucsdav of March in each year, each 

return of " . in i '' . .^. . .1 , 

moneys iu supci'visor sliali make a retm^n in wntmg to the county 
hands. treasurer for the use of the school commissioners, 
showing the amounts of school moneys in his hands not 
paid out on the orders of trustees for teachers' wages, nor 
drawn by them for library purposes, and the districts to 
which they stand accredited (and if no such money, remain 
in his hands, he shall repoi't that fact) ; and thereafter he 
shall not pay out any of said moneys until he shall have 
received* the certificate of the next apportionment; and 
tlie moneys so returned by him shall be re- apportioned as 
hereinbefore directed. 
FoTnegiect. § ^' ^^^J Supervisor who neglects to make the said re- 
* turn, or shall make a false return, shall forfeit twenty -five 
dollars, to be recovered by his successor in ofiice, or if he 
be re-elected, by the county treasurer of the county in 
which the town lies, for the benefit of the common 
schools of the county. 
oI^dTtfes § ^' ^^ ^^ *^® ^^^*y ^^ every supervisor : 
How to *1. To disburse the school moneys in his hands, appli- 

thi^slfhooi cable to the payment of teachers' wages, upon and only 
nioiieys, upon the writttn orders of a sole trustee, or of a majority 
ers' wages, of the trustees, in favor of qualified teachers, or upon the 
order of the trustee of a separate neighborhood in favor of 
any teacher of a school in an adjoining state, reconnized 
by hitn and patronized by the inhabitants of such neigh- 
borhood. Such teacher shall be deemed a qualified 
teacher. 
Library t2. To dlsbursc the library moneys upon, and only 

money. upoii, the Written orders of a sole trustee, or of a majority 

of the trustees. 
To pay to 3. In the case of a union free school district, to pay 
S-er'^o^T over all the school money apportioned thereto, whether 
""hoo/'^^^ for the payment of teachers' wages, or as library moneys, 
district. to the treasurer of such district, upon the order of its 

board of education. 
accoun?o" '^- '^^ keep a just and true account of all the school 
all school moneys received and disbursed by him during each year, 
Scei^\?d and to lay the same, with proper vouchers, before the 
burse-^ board of town auditors at each annual meeting thereof, 
ments. 5^ To have a bound blank book (the cost of which shall 

* As amended by sec. 12, chap. .567, Laws of 1875. 
t As amended by sec. lU, chap. 5t57, Laws of 1875. 



Of the Duties of the Town Clerk.. 25 



be a town charge), and to enter therein all his receipts and 
disbursements of school moneys, specifying from whom 
and for what purposes they were received, and to whom 
and for what purposes they were paid out ; and to deliver 
the book to his successor in office. 

6. Within fifteen days after the termination of his^^^j^unt 
office, to make out a just and true account of all school y^'^^^ the 
moneys theretofore received by him and of all disburse- and notify 
ments thereof, and to deliver the same to the town clerk, cessor^ 

to be filed and recorded, and to notify his successor in thereof, 
office of such rendition and filing. 

7. So soon as the bond to the county treasurer, by the 
third article of the third title of this act required, shall 
have been given by him and approved by the treasurer, 

to deliver to his predecessor the treasurer's certificate of p?edeces-''^ 
these facts, to procure from the town clerk a copy of his ?SuntTand 
predecessor's account, and to demand and receive from demand 

e- ' unci rGCGivo 

him any and all school moneys remaining in his hands, moneys. 

8. Upon receiving such a certificate from his successor, ^^^^ l^^, 
and not before, to pay to him all school moneys remain- cesser 
ing in his hands, and to forthwith file the certificate in ?emam!ng 
the town clerk's office. J^^^^^g 

9. By his name of office, when the duty is not elsewhere to sue for 

imposed by law, to sue for and recover penalties and for- Jover^pen- 

f eitures imposed for violations of tins act, and for any de- ^^ties and 

fault or omission of any town officer or school district ures/ ' 

board or officer under this act; and after deducting his To^^eport^ 

costs and expenses, to report the balances to the school commis- 
sioner, 
commissioner. 

10. To act, when thereto lea^ally required, in the erec- Erection 

1 ' . /. 1 1 1 • • • 1 - ^ ' t '^^ altera- 

tion or alteration of a school district, as m the sixth title tion of a 

of this act provided, and to perform any other duty which district. 

may be devolved upon him by this act, or any other act 

relating to common schools. 



TITLE T. 

OF THE DUTIES OF THE TOWN CLERK UNDER THIS ACT. 

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the town clerk of duties of 

, «/ town 

each town : cierk. 

1. Carefully to keep all books, maps, papers, and rec- 
ords of his office touching common schools, and forth- 
with to report to the supervisor any loss of or injury to 
any of them which may happen. 

4 



26 



Town 
clerk to 
report 
names of 
district 
oflBcers to 
commis- 
sioners. 

To distrib- 
ute blanks 
and circu- 
lars from 
superin- 
tendent of 
public in- 
struction. 

Account 
to be kept 

by- 



To record 
descrip- 
tions of 
school 
district. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

2. To receive from the supervisor the certificates of 
apportionment of school moneys to the town, and record 
them in a book to be kept for that purpose. 

3. Forthwith to notify the trustees of the several school 
districts and separate neighborhoods of the filing of each 
such certificate. 

*4. To see that the trustees of the school districts and 
separate neighborhoods make and deposit with him their 
annual reports within the time prescribed by law, and to 
deliver them to the school commissioner on demand; and 
to furnish the school commissioner of the school commis- 
sioner district in which his town is situated the names 
and post-ofiice address of the school district officers re- 
ported to him by the district clerks. 

5. To distribute to the trustees of the school districts 
and separate neighborhoods all blanks and circulars which 
shall be dehvered or forwarded to him by the state super- 
intendent or school commissioner for that purpose. 

6. To receive from the supervisor, and record in a book 
kept for that purpose, the annual account of the receipts 
and disbursements of school moneys required to be sub- 
mitted to the town auditors together with the action of 
the town auditors thereon, and to send a copy of the ac- 
count and of the action thereon, by mail, to the superintend- 
ent of public instruction, whenever required by him, and 
to tile and preserve the vouchers accompanying the ac- 
count. 

7. To receive and to record, in the same book, the super- 
visor's final account of the school moneys received and 
disbursed by him, and deliver a copy thereof to such 
supervisor's successor in office. 

8. To receive from the outgoing supervisor, and file 
and record in the same book the county treasurer's certi- 
ficate that iiis successor's bond has been given and ap- 
proved. 

9. To receive, file and record the descriptions of the 
school districts and neighborhoods, and all papers and pro- 
ceedings dehvered to him by the school commissioner pur- 
suant to the next title of this act. 

10. To act^ when thereto legally required, in the erec- 
tion or alteration of a school district, as in the next title 
of this act provided. 

f 11. To receive and preserve the books, papers and 

♦As amended by sec. 5, chap. 647, Laws of 1&65. 

+ Original sub-division 11 stricken out by sec. 18, chap. 647, Laws of 1865. 



Formation and Alteration of School Districts. 27 



records of any dissolved school district, which shall be rp^ p^.^. ^' 
ordered, as hereinafter provided, to be deposited in his serve 

nc r ^ X records of 

Omce. dissolved 

12. To perform any other duty which may be devolved *^*^^"c<^- 
upon him by this act, or by any other act touching common 
schools. 

§ 2. The necessary expenses and disbursements of the charges 
town clerk, in the performance of said duties, are a town^^^^^^- 
charge, and shall be audited and paid as such. 

TITLE YI. 

OF THE FORMATION, DISSOLUTION AND ALTERATION OF 
SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND SEPARATE NEIGHBORHOODS. 

Section 1. It shall be the duty of each school commis- ^o™e™s^' 
sioner, in respect to the territory within his district : duties in 

^ T^^ !• •! ' f • 1 1 • ' respect to 

1. lo divide it, so tar as practicable, into a convenient school dis- 
number of school districts, and alter the same as herein ^^^^^^' 
provided. 

2. In conjunction with the commissioner or commis- T? ^et off . 
sioners of an adjoining school commissioner district ortricts/^' 
districts, to set on joint districts composed of adjoining 

parts of their respective districts. 

3. To set oft by itself any neighborhood adjoining any To set off 
other state of the Union, where it shall be found most hoS^^^' 
convenient for the inhabitants to send their children to a 
school in such adjoining state. 

4. To describe and number the school districts, and To number 
joint districts, and to deliver, in writing, to the town s?dbt^dis. 
clerk the description and number of each district lying tricts. 

in whole or in part in his town, together with all notices, 
consents, and proceedings relating to the formation or 
alteration thereof, immediately after such formation or 
aJteration. Every joint district shall bear the same number 
in every school commissioner district of whose territory 
it is in part composed. 

5. To deliver to the town-clerk of the town in which |o deliver 
it lies, in whole or in part, a description of each such tion of 
separate neighborhood. ' Sghbor- 

* § 2. With the written consent of the trustees of all ^^^d- 
the districts to be affected thereby, he may, by order, dS-ict?'^ 
alter any school-district within his jurisdiction, and fix, ^^J^^^""' 
by said order, a day when the alteration shall take effect, trustees. 

* As amended by sec. 5, chap. 406, Laws of 186T. 



28 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



When trus- * § 3- If the trustee^ of any such district refuse to con- 
[ees refuse sent, he may make and file with the town-clerk his order 
consent, making the alteration, but reciting the refusal, and direct- 
ing that the order shall not take effect, as to the dissent- 
ing district or districts, until a day therein to be named, 
and not less than three months after the notice in the 
next section mentioned. 
Procedure +§ 4, Within ten days after makino: and filino: such order, 

on the re- , ' V ,, . , *' , , . & . . . o > 

fusaiof he shall give at least a week's notice m writing to one or 
the^ak?rl° more of the assenting and dissenting trustees of any dis- 
schoofdis- ^^'^^ ^^' districts to be affected by the proposed alterations, 
trict. that at a specified time, and at a named place within the 

town in which either of the districts to be affected lies, 
he will hear the objections to the alteration. The trus- 
tees of any district to be affected by such order may 
request the supervisor and town clerk of the town or 
towns within which such district or districts shall wholly 
or partly lie, to be associated with the commissioner. At 
the time and place mentioned in the notice, the com- 
missioner or commissioners, with the supervisors and 
town-clerk, if they shall attend and act, shall hear and 
decide the matter ; and the decision shall be final unless 
duly appealed from. Such decision must either confirm 
or vacate the order of the commissioner, and must be filed 
with and recorded by the town clerk of the town or towns 
in which the district or districts to be affected shall lie. 
Fees of § 5^ The Supervisor and town clerk shall be entitled 

supervisor " tit i n c 

and town each to ouo dollar and nity cents a day, lor each day s 
service in any such matter, to be levied and paid as a 
charge upon their town. 
Forniation § 6. Whenever it may become necessary or convenient 
districts, to form a school district out of parcels of two or more 
school commissioner districts, the commissioners of such 
districts, or a majority of them, may form such district ; 
and the commissioners within whose districts any such 
school district lies, or a majority of them, may alter or 
dissolve it. * 

or^dussoh^ § T. If a school commissioner, by notice in writing, 
^io"o^a shall require the attendance of the other commissioner or 
iistrict. Commissioners, at a joint meeting for the purpose of alter- 
ing or dissolving such a joint district, and a majority of 
all the commissioners shall refuse or neglect to attend, 
the commissioner or commissioners attending, or any one 

* As amended by sec. 6, r.ha.p. 406, Laws of 1867. 
t As amended by sec. 6. chap. 647, Laws of 1805. 



Formation and Alteration of School Districts. 29 



of them, may call a special meeting of such school district, '^^'^^^ ^' 
for the pm-pose of deciding whether or no snch district 
shall be dissolved; and its decision of that question shall 
be as valid as though made by the commissioners. 

§ 8. When two or more districts shall be consolidated SSS^of'"^*' 
into one, the new district shall succeed to all the rights of districts. 
property possessed by the annulled districts. 

*<i 9. When a district is parted into portions, w^hich are supervisor 

1 T • • Till 11*° ^^^^ 

annexed to other districts, its property shall be sold propertyof 
by the supervisor of the town within which its school- dfstrict^ 
house is situate, at public auction, after at least five days' 
notice, by notices posted in three or more public places 
of the town in which tlie school-house is, one of which 
shall be posted in the district so dissolved. The supervi- 
sor, after deducting the expenses of the sale, shall apply 
its proceeds to the payment of the debts of the district, 
and apportion the residue, if any, among the owmers or 
possessors of taxable property in the district, in the ratio 
of tlieir several assessments on the last corrected assess- 
ment-roll or rolls of the town or towns, and pay it over 
accordingly. 

§ 10. The supervisor of the town within which the supervisor 
school-house of the dissolved district was situate may fSr^out- 
demand, sue for, and collect, in his name of office, any mo'neys^ 
money of the district, outstanding in the hands of any of 
its former officers, or any other person ; and after deduct- 
ing his costs and expenses, shall report the balance to the 
school commissioner, who shall apportion the same equit- 
ably among the districts to ^vhicli the parts of the dis- 
solved district, ^vere annexed, to be by them applied as 
their district meetings shall determine. 

§ 11. Though a district be dissolved, it shall continue J^^^^^Y^.^ 
to exist in law, for the purpose of providing for and pay- exist in 
ing all its just debts ; and to that end, the trustees and settlement 
other officers shall continue in office, and the inhabitants asafrs 
may hold special meetings, elect officers to supply vacan- 
cies, and vote taxes ; and all other acts necessary to raise 
money and pay such debts shall be done by the inhabit- 
ants and officers of the district. 

§ 12. The commissioner, or a majority of the commis- ^t^^^J^^^Q 
sioners in whose district or districts a dissolved school dis- deposited 
trict was, shall, by his or their order in writing, delivered Serk.^^^^ 
to the clerk of the district, or to any person in whose pos- 
session the books, papers and records of the district, or 

* As amended by sec. 14, chap. 567, Laws of I8t5. 



30 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



TITLE 7. ^^y. ^£ them, may be, direct such clerk or other person 

to deposit the same in the clerk's office in a town in the 

refutauo ^ Order named. Such clerk or other person, by a neglect or 

^^^yjCom;^ refusal to obey the order, shall lorfeit fifty dollars, to be 

order. applied to the benefit of common schools of said town. 

The commissioner or commissioners shall file a duplicate 

of the order with such clerk. 



TITLE YII. 

OP SCHOOL DISTRICT AND NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS, AND OF 
THE CHOICE, DUTIES AND POWERS OF SCHOOL DISTRICT 
AND NEIGHBORHOOD OFFICERS. 

FIRST ARTICLE. 

Of school district and neighborhood meetings^ the voters 
and their powers generally. 

commis- SECTION 1. Whenever any school district or separate 
describe neighborhood shall be formed, the commissioner or any 
newdis- One or morc of the commissioners within whose district 

trict and -,... -iin •i«t« 

appoint a or districts it may be, shall prepare a notice descnbmg 
flSt^meet- such district or neighborhood, and appointing a time and 
^°^- place for the first district or neighborhood meeting, and 

deliver such notice to a taxable inhabitant of the district 
or neighborhood. 
Notice of § 2. It shall be the duty of such inhabitant to notify 
fng.^ ^^^^' every other inhabitant of the district or neighborhood, 
qualified to vote at the meeting, by reading the notice in 
his hearing, or in case of his absence from home, by leav- 
ing a copy thereof, or so much thereof as relates to the 
time, place and object of the meeting, at the place of his 
abode at least six daj^s before the time of the meeting. 
Notice of , § 3. In case such meeting shall not be held, and in the 
ing.^ ^^^^ opinion of the commissioner, it shall be necessary to hold 
such meeting before the time herein fixed for the first 
annual meeting, he shall defiver another such notice to a 
taxable inhabitant of the district or neighborhood, who 
shall serve it as hereinbefore provided. 
When § 4. When the clerk and all the trustees of a school 

sioner'may district shall have removed from the district, or their office 
fng.°^^^* shall be vacant, so that a special meeting cannot be called, 
as hereinafter provided, the commissioner may in like 
manner give notice of and call a special district meeting. 



Of School Districts, Meetings, etc. 31 



TITLE 



§ 5. Every taxable inhabitant to whom a notice of penalty 
any district meeting shall be delivered for service, pur- for refusal 
suant to any provision of this article, who shall refuse or nouce^ 
neglect to serve the same, as hereinbefore prescribed, 
shall forfeit five dollars for the benefit of the district. 

■^ § 6. A special district meeting shall be held when- special 
ever called by the trustees. The notice thereof shall "^^^"^^"^^ 
state the purpose for which it is called, and no business 
shall be transacted at such special meeting, except that 
which is specified in the notice ; and the district clerk, or 
if the office be vacant, or he be sick or absent, or shall 
refuse to act, a trustee or some taxable inhabitant, by 
order of the trustees, shall serve the notice upon each, 
inhabitant of the district qualified to vote at district 
meetings, at least five days before the day of the meet- 
ing, in the manner prescribed in the second section of this 
title. But the inhabitants of any district may, at any Annual 
annual meeting, adopt a resolution prescribing some other Say p're- 
mode of giving notice of special meetings, which resolu- ne? 'S gw^ 
tion and the mode prescribed thereby shall continue ini°gnotice 
force until rescinded or modified at some subsequent an- meetings. 
nual meeting. 

§ 7. The proceedings of no neighborhood or district i^s^wai 
meeting, annual or special, shall be held illegal for want except in 
of a due notice to all the persons qualified to vote thereat, ffauduient 
unless it shall appear that the omission to give such notice ^®^^^^^- 
was willful and fraudulent. 

f § 8. The annual meeting of each neighborhood shall ai^ua^^ 
be held on the last Tuesday of August in each year, at ^^^jjJor-^^ 
the hour and place fixed by the last previous neighbor- hood, 
hood meeting, or, if such hour and place has not been so 
fixed, then at the hour and place of such last meeting ; 
or, if such place be no longer accessible, then at such 
other place as the trustees, or if there be no trustees, the 
clerk shall in the notices designate. 

J § 9. An annual meeting of each school district shall pi^eof*^ 
be held the last Tuesday of Aus^ust in each year, and ^^oi^iof 

I'll 111 1 /»iiii 1 annual 

unless the hour and the place thereoi shall have been meeting, 
fixed by a vote of a previous district n^eeting, the same 
shall be held in the school-house at seven o'clock in the 
evening. If a district possesses more than one school- 



* As amended by sec. 15, chap. 56T, Laws of 1875. 

+ As amended by sec. 7, chap. 647, Laws of 1865, and by sec. 3, chap. 413, 
Laws of 1883. 

% As amended by sec. 16, chap. 567, L^ws of 1875, and by sec. 3, chap. 
413, Laws of 1883. 



32 Consolidated School Act of 1864 



house it shall be held in the one usually employed for 
that purpose, unless the trustees designate another. If 
the district possesses no school-house, or if the school- 
house shall be no longer accessible, then the annual meet- 
ing shall be held at such place as the trustees, or if there 
be no trustee, the clerk shall designate in the notice. 
Procedure § 10. Whenever the time for holding the annual meet- 
annuai iug iu school distncts shall pass without such meeting 
haYnof being held in any district, a special meeting shall there- 
been held, after be Called by the trustees or by the clerk of such 
district, for the purpose of transacting the business of the 
annual meeting ; and if no such meeting be called by the 
trustees or the clerk within twenty days after such time 
shall have passed, the supervisor or the superintendent of 
public instruction may order any inhabitant of such dis- 
trict to give notice of such meeting in the manner pro- 
vided in the second section of this title, and the officers 
of the district shall make to such meeting the reports re- 
quired to be made at the annual meeting, subject to the 
same penalty in case of neglect ; and the officers elected 
at sucli meeting shall hold their respective offices only 
until the next annual meeting and until their successors 
are elected and shall have qualified as in this act pro- 
vided. 
Duty of in § 11. Whenever any district or neighborhood meeting 
wh'enmelt- ^^^^^^ ^® duly Called, it shall be the duty of the inhabitants 
ins is qualified to vote thereat to assemble at the time and place 

called. 2 1 p xt, ^' ^ 

fixed for the meeting. 
Voters: *§ ^^' Every person of full age residing in any neigh- 

*^|^^.^^g^"' borhood or school district, and entitled to hold lands in 
this state, who owns or hires real property in such neigh- 
borhood or school district liable to taxation for school pur- 
poses, and every resident of such neighborhoood or district 
who is a citizen of the United States above the age of 
twenty-one years, and who is the parent of a child or 
children of school age, some one or more of whom shall 
have attended the district school for a period of at least 
eight weeks within one year preceding, and every such 
person not being the parent who shall have permanently 
residing with him or her such child or children, and every 
6ueh resident- and citizen as aforesaid, who owns any per- 
sonal property assessed on the last preceding assessment 
roll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in value, exclusive 

* As amended by sec. 7, chap. 406, Laws of 1867, and by sec. 2, chap. 492, 
Laws of 1881, and by sec. 1, chap. 665, Laws of 1886. 



Of School Districts, Meetings, etc. 33 



of such as is exempt from execution, and no others, shall '^^^^^ ^• 
be entitled to vote at any school meeting held in such 
neighborhood or district. 

§ 13. If any person offering to vote at any neighbor- fJJJi^jJ^^^g 
hood or school district meeting shall be challenged as un- Q^iaiienge ' 
qualified, by any legal voter in such neighborhood or 
district, the chairman presiding at such meeting shall re- 
quire the person so ofiering, to make the following dec- 
laration : " I do declare and affirm that I am an actual 
resident of this school district (or separate neighborhood), 
and that I am qualified to vote at this meeting.'' And 
every person making such declaration shall be permitted JJo^s^^^* 
to vote on all questions proposed at such meeting ; but if 
any person shall refuse to make such declaration, his vote 
shall be rejected. 

§ 14. Any person who, upon being so challenged, shall inegai vot- 
willfully make a false declaration of his right to vote at 
any such meeting, shall be deemed guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and punished by imprisonment in the county 
jail for not less than six months nor more than one year. 
And any person not qualified to vote at any such meeting 
Avho shall vote thereat, shall thereby forfeit five dollars, 
to be sued for by the supervisor for the benefit of the 
common schools of the town. 

§ 15. The inhabitants of any neighborhood entitled to nej^J^o?-^ 
vote, when assembled in any annual meeting or any other hood meet- 
neighborhood meeting duly called by the commissioner, ^"^' 
pursuant to the first or third sections of this title, shall have 
power by a majority of the votes of those present : 

1. To appoint a chairman for the time being. 

2. To choose a neighborhood clerk and one trustee, and 
to fill vacancies in otiice. 

§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly Powers of 
assembled in any district meeting, shall have power, by a mlSing. 
majority of the votes of those present : 

1. To appoint a chairman for the time being. 

2. If the district clerk be absent, to appoint a clerk for 
the time. 

3. To adjourn from time to time, as occasion may re- 
quire. 

*4. To choose one or three trustees as hereinafter pro- 
vided, a district clerk, a district collector, a librarian, at their 

*NoTE — In relation to election of trustees in districts having over 300 
children of school age, see chapter 248, Laws of 3878. . 



Srt Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



first meeting, and so often as such offices or any of them 
become vacated, except as hereinafter provided. 
Amount of 5. To fix the amount in wliich the collector shall give 
collectors -j^^ij £^j, ^^iq due and faithful performance of the duties of 

his office. 
Sites. 6. To designate a site for a school-house, or, with the 

consent of the commissioner or commissioners within 
whose district or districts the school district lies, to desig- 
nate sites for two or more school-houses for the district. 
Tax for *7. To vote a tax upon the taxable property of the disti-ict 

sites, etc .j.^ purchase, lease or improve such site or sites, and to 
hire, build or purchase such school-houses, and to keep in 
repair and furnish the same with necessary fuel and ap- 
pendages. 
pa?atSs^^' ^' ^^ ^'^^^ ^ ^^-^> ^^^^ exceeding twenty-five dollars in 
and text- any ouo year, for the purchase of maps, globes, black- 
boards, and other school apparatus, and for the purchase 
of text-books and other school necessaries for the use of 
poor scholars of the district. 
dSrict ^* ^^ ^'^^^ ^ ^^-^J ^^^ exceeding ten dollars in any one 

library, year, for tlio purchase of such books as they shall direct 
for the district library, and such further sum as they may 
deem necessary for the purchase of a book-case. 
For defl- 10. To vote a tax to supply a deficiency in any former 

cighcv • 

tax, arising from such tax being, m whole or in part, un- 
collectible, 
on^schooi- 11- To authorize the trustees to cause the school-house 
house. QY school-houses, and their furniture, appendages and 
school apparatus to be insured by any insurance company 
created by or under the laws of this state. 

12. To alter, repeal and modify their proceedings from 
time to time, as occasion may require. 

13. To vote a tax for the purchase of a book for the 
purpose of recording their proceedings. 

To replace 14. To Yote a tax to replace moneys of the district, lost 
SSbSied; or embezzled by district officers ; and to pay the reasona- 
coSs^of^^ ble expenses incurred by. district officers in defending 
suits and suits or appeals brought against them for their official 
appea s. ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ prosecuting suits or appeals by direction of the 

district against other parties. 
cSftin°|en- ^^' ^^ ^^^^ ^ *^^5 "^* exceeding twenty-five dollars in 
cies. each year, for anticipated deficiencies or contingencies, or 

to pay the wages of teachers in anticipation of the ordi- 

* As amended by sec. 17, chapter 567, Laws of 1875. 



Of School Districts, Mepztixgs, etc. 35 



nar J collections for that purpose, to be replaced by siicli 
collections when made. 

^16. To vote a tax to pay whatever deficiency there Tax for ^ 
may be in teaclicrs' wages after the public money appor- wages, 
tioned to the district shall have been applied thereto ; but 
if the inhabitants shall neglect or refuse to vote a tax for 
this purpose, or if they shall vote a tax which shall prove 
insufficient to cover such deficiency, then the trustees are 
authorized, and it is hereby made their duty, to raise by 
district tax, any reasonable sum that may be necessary to 
pay the balance of teachers' wages remaining un|)aid, the 
same as if such tax had been authorized by a vote of the 
inhabitants. 

f IT. To vote a tax to pay and satisfy of record any Tax to pay 
judgment or judgments of a competent court which may for feach- 
have been or shall hereafter be obtained in an action ^^^' ^^^^^• 
against the trustees of the district for unpaid teachers' 
wages, aojainst the trustees of the district where the time 
to appeal from said judgment or judgments shall have 
lapsed, or there shall be no intent to appeal on the part of 
such district, or the said judgment or judgments is or are 
or shall be of the court of highest resort ; but if the in- 
habitants shall neglect or refuse to vote a tax for this pur- Trustees to 
pose, or if they vote a tax which shall prove insufficient leyy tax 
to fully satisfy said judgment or judgments, then the trus- vote of 
tees are authorized and it is hereby made their duty to ^^*"^^- 
raise by district tax the amount of said "judgment or 
judgments or the deficiency which may exist in any tax 
voted by said inhabitants to 'p2iy said judgment or judg- 
ments, the same as if such tax had been authorized by a 
vote of the inhabitants, and the trustees are hereby au- 
thorized and it is hereby made their duty forthwith, after Trus_tees to 
the expiration of thirty days from notice of any judg- "" ' 
ment or judgments having been entered against the dis- 
trict or the trustees thereof for unpaid teachers' wages, to 
call a meeting of the inhabitants of said district, who 
shall have power as aforesaid to vote a tax to pay said 
judgment or judgments, and in case they refuse or neglect 
to do so, the trustees are authorized and it is hereby made 
their duty, unless said judgment or judgments are ap- 
pealed from, to raise by district tax the amount of said 
judgment or judgments as hereinbefore provided. 

* This sub-division added by sec. 8, chapter 406, Laws of 1867. 
t This sub-di vision added by sec. 1, chap. 632, Laws of 1881. 



call meet- 
ing. 



36 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



TITLE 7. 



SECOND ARTICLE. 



School- 
house, 
location of. 

Cannot 
levy tax 
for build- 
ing school 
house 
exceeding 
$500 with- 
out ap- 
proval of 
school 
commis- 
sioner. 

Plans to be 
approved. 



Tax may 
be levied 
in install- 
ments. 



Trustees 
may bor- 
row. 



Of district school-houses and sites. 

§ 17. '^0 scliool-house shall be built so as to stand, in 
whole or in part, upon the division line of any two towns. 

"^g IS. Xo tax voted by a district meeting for building, 
liiring or purchasing a school-house, exceeding the sum of 
five hundred dollars, shall be le\ded by the trustees unless 
the commissioner in whose district the school-house of 
said district is situated shall certify in writing his approval 
of such larger sum. And no school-house shall be built 
in any school district of this state until the plan of such 
school-house, so far as ventilation, heat and hghting is con- 
cerned, shall be approved in writing by said school com- 
missioner. But nothing herein contained shall invalidate 
any tax that shall or may be hereafter levied for building 
or repau'ing school-houses which in other respects comply 
with existing statutes. 

f § 19. TT hen ever a majority of all the inhabitants of 
any school district entitled to vote, to be ascertained by 
taking and recording the ayes and noes of such inhabi- 
tants attending at any annual, special, or adjourned school 
district meeting, legally called or held, shall determine 
that the sum proposed and provided for in the next pre- 
ceding section shall be raised by installments, it shall be 
the duty of the trustees of such district, and they are 
hereby authorized to cause the same to be raised, levied 
and collected in equal installments in the same manner and 
with the like authority that other school taxes are raised, 
levied and collected, and to make out their tax list and 
warrant for the collection of such installments, with in- 
terest thereon as they become payable according to the 
vote of the said inhabitants ; but the payment or collec- 
tion of the last' installment shall not be extended beyond 
ten years from the time such vote was taken ; and no vote 
to levy any such tax shall be reconsidered except at an ad- 
journed, general or special meeting to be held within thirty 
days thereafter, and the same majority shall be required 
for reconsideration that was had to impose such tax. 
For the purpose of giving effect to these provisions, the 
trustees are hereby authorized, whenever a tax shall have 

*As amended by sec. 9, chap. 406, Laws of 1867, and by sec. 1, chap. 528, 
Laws of 1881 , and by sec. 1. chap. 294, Laws of 1883. 

tAs amended by sec. 18, chap. 5C7, Laws of 1875, and by sec. 2, chap. 528, 
Laws of 1881. 



Of District School- houses and Sites. 37 



been voted to be collected in installments for the purpose 

of building a new school-house, to borrow so much of 

the sum voted as may be necessary at a rate of interest 

not exceeding six per cent, and to issue bonds or other ^^^^s^^"^ 

evidences of indebtedness therefor, which shall be a 

charge upon the district and be paid at maturity, and 

which shall not be sold below par ; due notice of the 

time and place of the sale of such bonds shall be given 

at least ten days prior thereto. 

*^ 20. So loner as a district shall remain unaltered, the Provisions 

f 111 11' 1 • ^ ^ ' ^^ regard 

Site of a school-house owned by it, upon which there is a to change 

school-house erected or in process of erection, shall not house *s?te. 

be changed, nor such school-house be removed, unless by 

the consent, in writing, of the supervisor or supervisors • 

of the town or towns within which such district shall be 

situated, stating that in his or their opinion such removal 

is necessary ; nor with such consent, unless a majority of 

all the legal voters of said district present and voting, to 

be ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and noes, 

at a special meeting called for that purpose, shall be in 

favor of such new site. 

§ 21. Whenever the site of a school-house shall have Proceed- 
been changed, as herein provided, the inhabitants of ath?sa?eof 
district entitled to vote, lawfully assembled at any district app^^te- 
meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of "^nces. 
those present, to direct the sale of the former site or lot, 
and the buildings thereon and appurtenances, or any part 
thereof, at such price and upon such terms as they shall 
deem proper ; and any deed duly executed by the trustees 
of such district, or a majority of them, in pursuance of 
such direction, shall be valid and effectual to pass all the 
estate or interest of such school district in the premises, 
and ^vhen a credit shall be directed to be given upon such 
sale for the consideration monev, or anv part thereof, the ?®^"f ^*^^' 

.•^' "/.i. ' for the con 

trustees are hereby authorized to take,in their corporate sideration 
name, such security, by bond and mortgage or otherwise, ^^"^^ ' 
for the payment thereof as they shall deem best, and shall 
hold the same as a corporation and account therefor, to 
their successors in office and to the district, in the manner 
they are now required by law to account for moneys re- 
ceived by them ; and the trustees of any such district for 
the time being may, in their name of office, sue for and 
recover the moneys due and unpaid upon any security so 
taken by them or their predecessors. 

* As amended by section 8, chap. 647, Laws of 1865. 



38 



TITLE 7. 
Moneys 
arising 
from the 
sale to be 
applied to 
new 
houses, 
etc. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

§ 22. All moneys arising from any sale made in pur~ 
suance of tlie last preceding section, shall be applied to 
the expenses iiicurred in procuring a new site, and in 
removing or erecting thereon a school-house, and improv- 
ing and furnishing such site and house, and their appen- 
dages, so far as such application shall be necessary ; and' 
the surphis, if any, sliall be devoted to the purchase of 
school apparatus and the support of the school, as the 
inhabitants at any annual meeting shall direct. 



THIRD ARTrCLE. 



Of the qualification^ election^ choice and terms oi^ office 
of district and 7ieigh'borhood officers^ and of vacancies 
in such oifices. 



Trustee, 
who may 
not hold 
the office 
of. 



District 
officer 
must reside 
in the dis- 
trict. 

Terms of 
office. 



Officers 
of new 
districts. 



People to 
select one 
or three 
trustees. 



§ 23. No school commissioner or supervisor is eligible 
to the office of trustee, nor can either be a member of 
any board of education within his district or town ; and 
no trustee can hold the office of district clerk, collector 
or librarian. 

^§ 24. Every district and neighborhood officer must be 
a resident of his district and neighborhood, and qualified 
to vote at its meetiuo-s, 

§ 25. From one annual meeting to the next is a year, 
within the meaning of the following provisions : The 
term of office of a trustee of a neighborhood, and a sole 
trustee of a district, is one year. The full term of a joint 
trustee is three years, but a joint trustee may be elected 
for one or for two years, as herein provided. The term 
of office of all other district and neighborhood officers is 
one year. Every district and neighborhood officer shall 
hold his office, unless removed, during his terra of office 
and until his successor shall be elected or appointed. 

-f-§ 26. The term of all officers elected at the first meet- 
ing of a newly erected neighborhood or distiict, except of 
a union free school district, shall expire on the last Tues- 
day of August, next thereafter. 

:j:§27. On the last Tuesday of August next after the 
erection of a district, at its first annual meeting, the 
electors shall determine, by resolution, whether the dis- 

*See, also, chapter 9, Laws of 1880. 
+ As amended hy sec. 4, chap. 413, Laws of 1883. 

t As amended by chap. 173, Laws of 1878, and by sec. 5, chap. 413, Laws of 
1883. 



Of the Qualification, etc., of School Officers. 39 



TITLE 7. 

tiTct shall Jiave one or three trustees, and if thej resolve 
to have three trustees, shall elect the three for one, two 
and three years respectively, and shall designate by their 
votes for which term each is elected ; thereafter in such 
district, one trustee shall be elected at each annual meet- 
ing to fill the office of the outgoing trustee. The electors J^^ „ 
of any district having three trustees shall have power to number of 
decide by resolution, at any annual meeting, whether the ^^"^^*^^^* 
district shall have a sole trustee or three trustees, and if 
they resolve to have a solo trustee, the trustee or trustees 
in office shall continue in office until their term or terms 
of office shall expire, and no election of a trustee sliall be 
had in the district until the offices of such trustee or trus- 
tees shall become vacant by the expiration of their terms 
of office or otherwise, and thereafter but one trustee shall 
be elected for said district, until the electors of a district 
having one trustee shall determine at an annual meeting, 
by a two-thirds vote of the legal voters present thereat, to 
have three trustees ; in which case they shall, upon the 
adoption of such resolution, proceed to elect three trus- 
tees in the same manner as provided in this section for 
the election of three trustees at the first annual meeting 
after the erection of a district ; and thereafter in such 
district, one trustee shall be elected for three years, at 
each annual meeting, to fill the office of the outgoing 
trustee. 

*§ 28. It shall be the duty of the district clerk, and of J^J^^jg^^o 
the neighborhood clerk, or of any person who shall act as persons 
clerk at any district or neighborhood meeting, when any office, 
officer shall be elected, forthwith to give the person 
elected notice thereof in writing ; and such person shall 
be deemed to have accepted the office, unless within five Accept- 
days after the service of such notice, he shall file his?efSa1"^ 
written refusal of it with the clerk. The presence of any 
such person at the meeting which elects him to office, 
shall be deemed a sufficient notice to him of his election. 

§ 29. The collector vacates his office by not executing vacates his 
a bond to the trustees, as hereinafter required, and the office 



by 



not execut- 



trustees may supply the vacancy. ing bond. 

§ 30. In case the office of a trustee shall be vacated by vacancy 
his death, refusal to serve, incapacity, removal from the Su^stee! ° 
district or neighborhood, or by his being removed from ^°^^ ^^®'^- 
the office, or in any other manner, and the vacancy be 

♦As amended by sec. 11, chap. 406, Laws of 1867 



40 



TITLE 7. 



Neglect of 
duty or 
refusal to 
serve 
vacates 
office. 



Trustees 
may fill 
vacancies 
in other 
offices. 



Appoint- 
ment to be 
filed with 
district 
clerk . 



Penalty for 
refusal to 
serve or 
neglect of 
duty. 



Supervisor 
may ac- 
cept the 
resigna- 
tion. 



It may be 

made to 
a district 
meeting. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

not supplied by a district or neigliborliood meeting within 
one month thereafter, the supervisor of the town within 
which the school-house, or principal school-house, of the 
district is, or within which the neighborhood or any part 
thereof is, may, by a writing under his hand, appoint a 
competent person to fill it. 

§ 31. A trustee who publicly declares that he will not 
accept or serve in the office of trustee, or who refuses or 
neglects to attend three successive meetings of the board, 
of which he is duly notified, without rendering a good 
and valid excuse therefor to the other trustees, or trustee, 
where there are but two, vacates his office by refusal to 
serve. 

§ 32. Any vacancy in the office of district clerk, col- 
lector, or librarian, may be supplied by appointment under 
the hands of the trustees of the district, or a majority of 
them, and the appointees shall hold their respective offices 
until the next annual meeting of the district, and until 
others are elected and take their places. 

§ 33. Every appointment to fill a vacancy shall be forth- 
with filed by the supervisor or trustees making it in the 
office of the district clerk, w^ho shall immediately give 
notice of the appointment to the person appointed. 

§ 34. Every person chosen or appointed to a school 
district office, who, being duly qualified to fill the same, 
shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit five dollars ; 
and every person so chosen or appointed, who, not hav- 
ing refused to accept the office, shall willfully neglect or 
refuse to perform any duty thereof, shall by such neg- 
lect or refusal vacate liis office and shall forfeit the sum 
of ten dollars. These penalties are for the benefit of 
the common schools of the town. 

§ 35. But the supervisor of the town wherein any 
such person resides, may accept his written resignation of 
the office, and the filing of such resignation and accept- 
ance in the office of the district clerk shall be a bar to the 
recovery of either penalty in the last preceding section 
mentioned ; or such resignation may be made to and ac- 
cepted by a district meeting. 



Of Duties of District Clerk and Librarian. 41 



TITLE 7. 
FOURTH ARTICLE. 

Of the duties of the neighhorhood cleric , and of the dis- 
trict clerk and librarian. 

§ 36. The neigborhood clerk shall keep a record of the Duty of 
proceedings of his neighborhood, and of the reports ofho^dcSrk. 
the trustee, and deliver the same to his successor. In 
case such neighborhood shall be annexed to a district 
within the state, its records shall be filed in the office of 
the clerk of such district. 

§ 37. It shall be the dntj of the clerk of each school g£^i°iis. 

district : trict, his 

1. To record the proceedings of his district in a book ^o record 
to be provided for that purpose by the district, and to P^'^^^^^^^J"? 
enter therein true copies of all reports made bv the reports in 
trustees to the school commissioner. book?^^ 

2. To give notice, in the manner prescribed by the To give 
sixth section of this title, or by the inhabitants, pur- meetfngl 
suant to such section, of the time and place of holding 
special district meetings called by the trustees. 

3. To affix a notice in writing of the time and place of nStfc^of 
any adjourned meeting, when the meeting shall have been adjourned 
adjourned for a longer time than one month, in at least ^^^ "^^ 
four of the most public places of such district, at least 

five days before the time appointed for such adjourned 
meeting. 

4. To give the like notice of every annual district 
meeting. 

■^5. To 2\vQ notice immediately to every person elected To notify 
or appointed to office of his election or appointment; and elected and 
also to report to the town clerk of the town in which the nlmes aiid 
school-house of his district is situated, the names and J^J^'g^gJ 
post-office address of such officers, under a penalty of five of such 
dollars for neglect in each instance. town clerk. 

6. To notify the trustees of every resiscnation duly ac- Notice of 

L ^ y ±.^ • ./ o d resigna- 

ceptea by the supervisor. tions. 

7. To keep and preserve all records, books and papers To keep all 
belongmg to his office, and to deliver the same to his and peri- 
successor. For a refusal or a neglect so to do, he shall Neglect, 
forfeit fifty dollars for the benefit of the district, to be 
recovered by the trustees. 

8. In case his district shall be dissolved, to obey the 

* As amended by sec. 10, chap. 647, Laws of 1865. 

6 



-A2 



TITLE 7. 



To attend 
all meet- 
ings of 
trustees. 

To call 
special 
meetings. 



Librarian. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

order of the commissioner or commissioners as to deposit- 
ing the books, papers and records of his office in the town 
clerk's office. 

9. To attend all meetings of the board of trustees when 
notified and keep a record of their proceedings in a book 
provided for that purpose. 

10. To call special meetings of the inhabitants when- 
ever all the trustees of the district shall have vacated 
their office. 

§ 3S. The librarian, subject to the provisions of this 
act, shall have the charge and supervision of the district 
library. 



FIFTH ARTICLE. 



Schools 
free to 
pupils over 
five and 
under 
twenty- 
one years. 

Non-resi- 
dents may 
be admit- 
ted. 

Tuition of 
non-resi- 
dent pupils. 



No Indian 
pupils ad- 
mitted. 



Qualified 
teachers, 
what con- 
stitutes. 



Of the pujpils and teachers, 

*§ 39. Common schools in the several school districts of 
this state shall be free to all persons over five and under 
twenty-one years of age residing in the district as herein- 
after provided ; but non-residents of a district, if other- 
wise competent, may be admitted into the school of a 
district, with the written consent of the trustees, or of a 
majority of them, upon, such terms as the trustees shall 
prescribe; provided that if such non-resident pupils, 
their parents or guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for 
the support of said schools in the district, on account of 
owning property therein, the amount of any such tax 
paid by a non-resident pupil, his j)arent or guardian, dur- 
ing the current school year, shall be deducted from the 
charge for tuition. 

§ 40. If a school district include a portion of an Indian 
reservation, Avhereon a school for Indian children has been 
established by the superintendent of public instruction, 
and is taught, the school of the district is not free to In- 
dian children resident in the district or on the reservation, 
nor shall they be admitted to such school except hy the 
permission of the superintendent. 

t§ 41. No teacher is a qualified one, within the mean- 
ing of this act, unless he possesses an unannulled diploma 
granted to him by the state normal school or an unre- 
voked and unannulled certificate of qualification given to 
him by the superintendent of public instruction, or an 



*As amended by sec. 3, chap. 528, Laws of 1881. 
Note — See chap. 413, Laws of 1884. 

tNOTE — bee chap. 3,o3, Laws of 1875. As amended by sec. 
Laws of 1885. 



chap. 340, 



Of the Trustees, THEm Powers and Duties. 43 



TTTT F* 7 

unexpired certificate of qualification given to him by the 
school commissioner within whose district he is employed, 
or by the school officer of the city or village in which he is 
employed, authorized by special act to grant such certifi- 
cate. After August twentieth, eighteen hundred and 
eighty -five, no person shall be deemed to be qualified who 
is under the age of sixteen years. 

■^§ 42. No part of the school moneys apportioned to Unquaii- 
a district can be applied or permitted to be applied to the ersVannot 
payment of the wages of an unqualified teacher; nor can pufif^^ "^^ 
his wages, or any part of them, be collected by a district money or 

tax. tax. 

§ 43. Any trustee who applies or directs or consents Their 
to the application of any such money to the payment of Fo u^quiu. 
an unqualified teacher's waffes, thereby commits a misde- £^„^i^P^^ 
meanor; and any nne nnposed upon nim tliereior shall demeanor, 
be for the benefit of the common schools of the county. 

§ 44. Teachers shall keep, prepare and enter in the "^^^^^^^ 
books provided for that purpose the school lists and ac- iists of 
counts of attendance hereinafter mentioned, and shall beamS! ' 
responsible for their safe keeping and delivery to the 
clerk of the district at the close of their engagements or 
terms. 

SIXTH ARTICLE. 

Of the trustees^ their poioers and duties j and, herein^ of 
school taxes and, annual rejports. 

§ 45. All property which is now vested in, or shall hoid*ifiT 
hereafter be transferred to the trustee or trustees of a trict prop- 
district, for the use of schools in the district, shall be held corpora- 
by him or them as a corporation. ^^°"- 

§ 46. A sole trustee of the district shall have all the ^^J^le 
powers and be subject to all the duties, liabilities and i^^s the 
penalties conferred and imposed by law upon or against power as 
any trustee or trustees, or the majority of the trustees of ^ ^^^^^ 
a district. 

§ 47. The trustees of a district compose a board, and ^fust mlet 
when two only meet to deliberate upon a matter, and the for official 
third, if notified, does not attend, or the three meet and^^ ^°"* 
deliberate thereon, the conclusion of two upon the matter, 
and their order, act or proceeding in relation thereto shall 
be as valid as though it were the conclusion, order, act or 

*As amended by sec. 13, chap. 406. Laws of 1867. 



44 



TITLE 



Any mem- 
ber of the 
board may- 
call a 
meeting. 

When 
there are 
vacancies 
in the 
board, the 
remaining 
trustee or 
trustees 
may act. 

Powers 
and duties 
of trustees. 

To call 

special 

meetings. 

To give 

notice in 

certain 

cases. 



To make 
out tax 
lists. 



To issue 
warrant 
for collec- 
tion. 

To pur- 
chase or 
lease sites, 
etc. 



To have 
custody of 
the school- 
house. 

To insure 
school- 
house, etc. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

proceeding of the three ; and a recital of the two in their 
minute of the conchision, act or proceeding, or in their or- 
der, act or proceeding of the fact of such notice, or of such 
meeting and deliberation, shall be conclusive evidence 
thereof. A meeting of the board may be ordered by any 
member thereof, by giving not less than twenty-four hours' 
notice of the same. 

§ 48. While there is one vacancy in the office of trustee, 
the two trustees have all the powers and are subject to all 
the duties and liabilities of the three. And while there 
are two such vacancies, the trustee in office shall have all 
the powers and be subject to all the duties and liabilities 
of the three, as though he were a sole trustee. 

^^§ 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school 
district, and they shall have power : 

1 To call special meetings of the inhabitants of such 
districts whenever they shall deem it necessary and proper. 

2. To give notice of special, annual and adjourned 
meetings in the manner prescribed in the sixth section 
of this title, if there be no clerk of the district, or he be 
absent or incapable of acting, or shall refuse to act. 

3. To make out a tax list of every district tax voted 
by any such meeting, oj* authorized by law, containing the 
names of all the taxable inhabitants residing in the dis- 
trict at the time of making out the list, and the amount 
of tax payable by each inhabitant, set opposite to his 
name. 

4. To annex to such tax list a warrant, directed to the 
collector of the district, for the collection of the sums in 
such list mentioned. 

f5. To purchase or lease a site for the district school - 
house or school-houses, as designated by a meeting of the 
district, and to build, hire or purchase such school-house 
as may be so designated, and to keep in repair and fur- 
nish such school-house with necessary fuel and append- 
ages, and to pay the expense thereof by tax, but such 
expense shall not exceed - fifty dollars in any one year, 
unless authorized by the district or by law. 

6. To have the custody and safe keeping of the dis- 
trict school-house or houses, their sites and appurten- 
ances. 

7. When thereto authorized, by a meeting of the dis- 
trict to insure the school-house or school-houses, and their 

* As amended by sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 
t As amended by sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 



Of the Trustees, their Powers and Duties. 45 



furniture, and the school apparatus, in some company ^^^^^ ^• 
created by or under the laws of this state, and to comply 
with the conditions of the policy, and raise the premiums 
by a district tax. 

8. To insure the district library in such a company,inTg insure 
a sum fixed by a district meeting, and to raise the pre- * ^^^^* 
miuQi by a district tax, and comply with the conditions 
of the policy. 

*9. To contract with and employ all teachers in the Jf^g^t^^^^t 
district school or schools, but no person who is within be within 
two degrees of relationship by blood or marriage to any grebes of 
such trustee shall be so employed, except with the ap- ship^tS"' 
proval of two-thirds of the voters of such district pres- trustees. 
ent,and voting upon the question, at an annual or special 
meeting of the district, nor shall any sole trustee of afee^no^t\^~ 
district make any contract for the employment of af^pjoy 
teacher in and for said school district beyond the close of for more 
the school term commencing next preceding the expiration {emi ^e-^ 
of his term of office, except with the approval of a J'^e^s term 
majority of the voters of such district present, and voting of office. 
upon the question at an annual or Special meeting of the Trustees 
district ; nor shall the trustees of any. school district make^oon- 
having three or more trustees make any contract emp^ij-"^ 
for the employment of a teacher or teachers for more inent of 
than one year in advance. Any person employed in dis- longer than 
regard of the foregoing provisions shall have no claim for ^J^V^^J' 
wages against the district, but may enforce the specific the persons 
contract made against the trustee or trustees consenting f ™disre^^ 
to such employment as individuals. Fot^oL?^ 

f 10. , To pay toward the wages of such teachers as are Payment 
qualified, the public moneys apportioned to the district ers^ wages. 
and legally applicable thereto, by giving them orders on 
the supervisor therefor, and to collect as herein provided, 
the residue of such wages by district tax. 

f 11. To divide such public moneys apportioned to the Jjfe pubifc 
district, whenever authorized by a vote of their district, into money 
two or more portions for each year ; to assign and apply one Jfarts tor 
of such portions to each term during which a school shall ®^^^^ ^^^^' 
be kept in such district, for the payment of teachers' 
wages during such term ; and to collect the residue of 
such wages not paid by the proportion of public money 
allotted for that purpose, by district tax as herein pro- 
vided. 

* As amended by sec. 9, chap. 647, Laws of 1865, and by chap. 264, Laws 
of 1879. 
+ As amended by sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 



46 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



rpop^y " 12. If tlie library money apportioned to the district be 
library Jess tlian three dollars, to apply it to the payment of 

money for , , , ' rr ./ i j 

teachers' tcachcrS wagCS. 

whffness 13- To draw upon the supervisor for the school and 
than $3. library moneys, in the manner and form prescribed by 
subdivisions one and two of section six of title four of 
this act. 
^ax^^fllr* "^ 14. After having paid toward the wages of such 
teacher's tcachcrs as are qualified, the public moneys of the district 
to^Sve ^" legally applicable thereto, by giving them orders on the 
therefor, supcrvisor thcrcfor, to collect the residue of such wages 
by a district tax, or, if the same shall have been already 
collected, to give such teacher an order on the district 
collector for the balance of his or her wages still remain- 
ing unpaid. 
Moneys fl 50. The trustccs may expend in necessary and proper 

can e^X'^ repairs of each school-house under their charge a sum not 
Sut vote ^f exceeding twenty dollars in any one year ; and they may 
district also expend a sum, not exceeding fifty dollars, in the 
Repairs' erection of necessary outbuildings, when the district is 
Outbuild- wholly unprovided with such buildings, upon the direction 
ings. ^£ ^Yie school commissioner in whose district such school- 

house is situated, or of the state superintendent of public 
instruction. They may also make any repairs, and abate 
Ninsances. any nuisauccs, pursuant to the direction of the school 
commissioner as hereinbefore provided, and provide fuel, 
pails, brooms and other implements necessary to keep the 
school-house or houses clean and make them reasonably 
comfortable for use, and not provided for by a vote of 
Fuel, etc the district ; and may also provide for building fires and 
Cleaning cleaning the school-room by arrangement with the teacher 
roSSJ!' c>r otherwise. They shall provide the bound blank-books 
Books for for the entering of their accounts and the keeping of the 
counts!^ school lists, the records of the district, and the proceedings 
of district and trustee meetings, and they may expend in 
Dictionar3% the purchasc of dictionary, maps, globes or other school 
apparatus, apparatus, a sum not exceeding fifteen dollars in any one 
Temporary year. Whenever it shall be necessary for the due accom- 
schooi- modation of the children of the district, they may hire 
temporarily any room or rooms for the keepmg of schools 
therein. Any expenditure made or liability incurred in 
pursuance of this section shall be a charge upon the dis- 
trict. 

*As amended by sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 

t As amended by sec. 14, chap. 406, Laws of 1867; by sec. 19, chap. 567, Laws 
of 1875; by sec. 1, chap. 179, Laws of 1884, and sec. 1, chap. 293, Laws of 1886. 



rooms. 



Of the Trustees, their Powers and Duties. 47 



§ 51. When trustees are required or authorized by law, ^ay raise 
or 137 a vote of tlieir district, to incur any expense "foi' gj^^^^^^ 
such district, and when any expenses incurred by them tax. 
are made, by express provision of law, a charge upon such 
district, they may raise the amount thereof by tax in the 
same manner as if the definite sum to be raised had been 
voted by a district meeting. 

§ 52. The trustees, or any one of them, if not forbidden hSuse by 
by another, may freely permit the school-house, when not JJ'^^g^^lJ^ o^ 
in use for the district school, to be used by persons assem- may be 
bling therein for the purpose of giving and receiving "nltruc- 
instruction in any branch of education or learning, or iubranihof^ 
the science or practice of music. learning or 

* § 53. They shall procure two bound blank books for Trustees to 
the district, and when necessary, others in their place. ^^^0^^® 
In one of them, at or before each annual district meeting, books, etc. 
they shall enter at large, and sign a statement of all mov- 
able property belonging to the district, and their accounts 
of all moneys received or drawn for or paid by them, and 
they shall deliver this book to their successors. In the 
other, the teachers shall enter the names of the pupils 
attending school, tlieir ages, the names of the persons 
who send them, and the number of days each pupil at- 
tends ; and also the facts and the dates of each inspection 
of the school by the school^ commissioner or other official 
visitor, and any other facts and in such form as the super- 
intendent of public instruction shall require ; and each 
teacher shall, by his oath or affirmation, verify his entries rpp3(.j^gj. 
in such book, and the entries shall constitute the school J^g^fand^^ 
lists from which the average daily attendance shall be verify rec- 
determined ; and such oath or affirmation may be taken ^rustees^ 
by the district clerk, but without charge. Until the ^^^^"^^^^4- 
teacher shall have so made and verified such entries, the er until 
trustees shall not draw on the supervisor for any portion verified, 
of his wages. 

§ 54. If any portion of the moneys apportioned to the^o^^o^^^^y 
district shall not be paid, by the supervisor, upon the due urer and 
requirement of the trustees, they shall f ortliwith notify tenlenTof 
the treasurer of the county, and the superintendent of ^/Jj^gj^j 
public instruction, of the fact. by super- 

§ 55. The trustees shall, once in each year, render to to render 
the district, at its annual district meetino^, a iust, full and ^^ ^p^^"!?' 

' . . . T 1 ' ^ 1 ' f 11 of all mon- 

true account m writmg, under their hands, 01 all moneys eys reeeiv- 
received by them respectively for the use of the district, paid" etc. 

*As amended by sec. 15, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 



48 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



to render 
account 



TITLE ,. ^j-^^ q£ ^YiQ manner in whicli the same shall have been ex- 
pended, and showing to which of them an unexpended 
balance, or any part thereof, is chargeable ; and of all 
drafts or orders made by them upon tlie supervisor, col- 
lector, or other custodian of moneys of the district ; and a 
full statement of all suits and proceedings brought by or 
against them, and of every special matter touching the 
condition of the district. 
S-uttle'tf § ^^' ^° outgoing trustee shall forthwith pay, to his 
pay any succcssor or any other trustee of the district in office, any 
hfstuc^^^ such unexpended balance, or part of such balance, re- 
cessor. maining in his hands. 

Penalty § 57. Every trustee who shall refuse or neglect to 

o^^negiSft render such account shall forfeit twenty-five dollars. 

Every trustee who shall neglect or refuse to pay over any 

balance so found in his hands, shall forfeit twenty-five 

dollars. These penalties are for the benefit of the schools 

of the district, and shall be sued for by the supervisor of 

the town in which the school-house or school-house 

longest owned or held by the district is. 

Forfeits § 58. By a willful neglect or refusal to render such 

his office, j^ggQ^j^j-^ a trustee also forfeits any unexpired term of his 

office, and becomes liable to the trustees for any district 

moneys in his hands. 

Trustees § 59. The trustccs in office shall sue for and recover 

forme/'"^ any district moneys in the hands of any former trustee, 

trustee, q^. Qf j-^jg personal representatives, and apply them to the 

use of the district. 
To report "^§60. The trustccs of each school district shall, be- 
fo commis- twccu the twentieth day of August and the last Tuesday 
tween the ^^ August, in cach year, make and direct to the school 
twentieth commissioner a report in writing, dated on the twenty- 
gust and*^ first day of August of the year in which it is made, and 
Tifesday of shall sigu and certify it, and deliver it to the clerk of the 
August, town in which the school-house of the district is situated; 

and every such report shall certify. 
Items in 1. The wliolc time any school has bccn kept in their 

report. district during the year ending on the day previous to the 
date of such report, and distinguishing what portion of 
the time such- school has been kept by qualified teachers, 
and the whole number of days including holidays, in 
which the school was taught by qualified teachers. 

* As amended by sec. 16, chap. 406, Laws of 1867, by chap. 413, Laws of 
1883, and sec. 1, chap. 49, Laws of 1884. 

Note — Trustees to report annually number of children of school age 
vaccinated. See, chap. 438, Laws of 1860. 



Of the Tkls'jees, their Poaveks and Duties. 49 



2. The amount of tlieir drafts upon the si'jp^^'^'^-^^'j ^'^^^' An"unt of 
the payment of teacliers' wages during such year, and the drafts 
amount of tlieir drafts upon him for tlie purchase of books emsor?^* 
and school apparatus during such year, and the manner 
in which such monej's have been expended. 

'"3. The number of children taught in the district Attend- 
school or schools during sucli year by (|ualiiied teacliers, JhTidren. 
and the sum of the days' attendance of all, such children 
upon the school. 

f4. The number of children residing in the district on Number of 
the thirtieth day of June previous to the making of such residing in 
report, and the names of the parents or other j^ersons ^^^^^^Jj^sti-ict 
with whom such children did respectively reside, and tlie thirtieth of 
number of children residing with each. v^oisto*^' 

5. The amount of money paid for teachers' wages, iu^p^j^^^^^^ 
addition to the public money paid therefor, the amount Amount 
of taxes levied in said district for r>urchasing school- f^j^^^ifjrg. 
house sites, for building, hiring, purchasing, repairing j^^ages, and 
and insm'ing school-houses, for fuel, for district libraries, expenses. 
or for any other purpose allowed by law, and such other 
information in relation to the schools and the district as 
the superintendent of public instruction may, from time 
to time, require. 

:{:§ 61. The annual reports of trustees of school dis- ?'"/^^^^" 
tricts, of children residing in their district, shall include in tru^ees' 
all over ^ve and under twenty -one years of age, who shall ^^^^^"^ 
have been, on the thirtieth day of June last preceding the 
date of such report, actually in the district, comprising a 
part of the family of their parents or guardians or em- 
ployers, if such parents, guardians or employers reside af 
the time in such district, although such residence was 
temporary ; but such report shall not include children be- 
longing to the family of any person who shall be an in- 
habitant of any other district in this state, in which such 
children may by law be included in the reports of its 
trustees ; nor any children who are supported at a county 
poor-house or an orphan asylum; nor any Indian children 
residing on reservations where schools provided by law 
for their education are taught. 

§ 62. "Where a school district lies in two or more Joint dis. 
counties, its trustees shall make such an annual report for port to ^^ 
each part of it lying in a different county, and iile each ^ggjoJ^r'. 

* As amended by sec. 11, chap. 64T, Laws of 1865. 
t As amended by sec. 7, chap 413, Laws of 1883. 
t As amended by sec. 8, chap. 413, Laws of 1883, 

7 



50 



TITLE 7. 



Separate 
neighbor- 
hood, re- 
port of its 
trustees. 



False re - 
I)ort, and 
penalty 
Jor, 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

in the office of the clerk of the town in which the part 
of the district to which it especially relates lies; and such 
reports shall be in the form and contain all such special 
matters as tlie superintendent of public instruction shall 
from time to time prescribe. 

" G3. The trustee of every separate neighborhood shall, 
every year, within the time aforesaid, in like manner make 
his annual report to the school commissioner, and file it in 
the office of the clerk of the town of which the neigh- 
borhood is a part. Such report shall specify the whole 
amount of public luoneys received during the year, and 
from what public officer, and the manner in which it was 
expended ; the whole number of such children as can be 
included in the district trustees' report residing in the 
neighborhood on the thirtieth day of June previous to the 
making of the I'eport ; and any other matters which the 
superintendent of public instruction may require. 

§ 64:. Every trustee of a school district or separate 
neighborhood, who shall willfully sign a false report to a 
school commissioner, with the intent of causing such 
school commissioner to apportion to his district or neigh- 
borhood a larger sum than its just proportion of school 
moneys ; or in tlie case of a trustee of a separate neigh- 
borhood, with intent to procure from the state superin- 
tendent of public instruction a -larger allowance to the 
neighborhood, shall for each offense forfeit the sum of 
twenty-five dollars, and shall also be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor. Such penalties, and any fines which shall 
be imposed for the misdemeanor, are for the benefit of 
the common schools of the county. 



SEVENTH ARTICLE. 



Of the assessment of district taxes^ and the collection of 
such taxes ; and herein of the collector^ his j^owers^ 
duties and liability, 

§ 65. Within thirty days after a tax shall have been 
voted by a district meeting, the trustees shall assess it, 
and make out the tax list therefor, and annex tliereto their 
Two or warrant for its collection. But they may at the same 
mayVe^^^ time assess two or more taxes so voted, and any tax or 
included taxes they are authorized to raise without such vote, and 
make out one tax list and one warrant for the collection 



Assess- 
ment of 
taxes by 
trustees. 



under one 
warrant 



♦ As amended by sec. 9, chap. 413, Laws of 1883, 



Of the Assessment of District Taxes. 51 



of the whole. They shall also prefix to their tax list a 
heading showing for wliat purpose the different items of 
the tax is levied. 

* § 66. School district taxes shall be apportioned by the 
trustees upon all real estate within the boundaries of the 
district which shall not be by law exempt from taxation, 
except as hereinafter provided, and such property shall be 
assessed to the person or persons or corporation owning 
or possessing the same at the time such tax list shall be 
made out; but land lying in one body and occupied by 
the same person, either as owner or agent for the same hJ^ made 
principal, or as tenant under the same landlord, shall, o"^- 
though situated partly in two or more school districts, be 
taxable in that one of thetn in which such occupant re- Jnlnd*^'^ 
sides. This rule shall not apply to land owned by non-resi- {jJSy ^"'^"^ 
dents ot the district, and which shall not be occupied by 
an agent, servant or tenant residing in the district. Such 
unoccupied real estate shall be assessed as non-resident, Non-resi. 
and a description thereof shall be entered in the tax list, dent lands. 
The trustees shall also apportion district taxes upon all 
persons residing in the district, and upon all corporations 
liable to taxation therein, for the personal estate owned personal 
by them and liable to taxation. They shall also appor- estate, 
tion the same upon non-resident stockholders in banks or 
banking associations situated in their districts for the ^^"^^^'^^^ 
amount of stock owned by them therein, and upon indi- 
vidual bankers doing business in their district in accord- 
ance with the provisions of chapter seven hundred and 
sixty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six. 

§ 67. The valuations of taxable property shall be ascer- valuation, 
tained, so far as possible, from the last assessment-roll of ^ai^ed!*^^^ 
the town, after revision by the assessors ; and no person 
shall be entitled to an}^ reduction in the valuation of such 
property, as so ascertained, unless he shall give notice of his 
claim to such reduction to the trustees of the district be- 
fore the tax list shall be made out. 

§ 68. Where such reduction shall be "duly claimed, and of reduc- 
where the valuation of taxable property cannot be ascer- ^^^°^ ^^^' 
tained from the last assessment roll of the town, the trus- 
tees shall ascertain the true value of the property to be 
taxed from the best evidence in their power, giving notice 
to the persons interested, and proceeding in the same man- 

* As amended by sec. 20, chap. 567, Laws of 1875. 



52 



TITLE 7. 



Equaliza- 
tion of 
valua- 
tions. 



Person 
working 
land on 
shares lia- 
ble. 



Taxable in- 
habitants. 



OC tenant 
at will, 
etc., liabil- 
ity of til© 
owner, ^ 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

neras the town assessors are required by law to proceed in 
the vahiation of taxabl ijroperty- 

*" § 69. Wlien a district embraces parts of more tlian 
one town, it shall be the duty of the supervisors of such 
towns so in part embraced, upon receiving a written notice 
from the trustee or trustees of such district, or from three 
or more persons liable to pay taxes upon real estate 
therein, to meet, at a time and place to be named in such 
notice, which time shall not be less than five or more than 
ten days from the service thereof, and a place within the 
bounds of the towns so in part embraced, and proceed to 
inquire and determine whether the valuation of real prop- 
erty upon the several assessment rolls of said towns are 
substantially just as compared with each other, so far as 
said districts are concerned, and if ascertained not to be so, 
they shall determine the relative proportion of taxes that 
ought to be assessed npon the real property of the part* 
of such district lying in different towns, and the tmstees 
of such district shall thereupon assess the projDortion of 
any tax thereafter to be raised^ according to the determina- 
tion of such super\'isors, nntil new assessment rolls of the 
toW'n shall be perfected and filed, using the assessment 
rolls of the several towns to distribute the said proportion 
among the persons liable to be assessed for the same. In 
cases when such supervisors shall be unable to agree, they 
shall summon a supervisor from some adjoining town, 
who shall unite in such inquiring, and the finding of a 
majority shall be the determination of such meeting. 

§ 70. Any person working land, under a contract for a 
share of the produce of such land, shall be deemed the 
possessor, so far as to render him liable to taxation there- 
for in the district where such land is situate. 

§ 71. Every person owning or holding any real property 
within any school district, who shall improve and occup}^ 
the same by his agent or servant, shall, in respect to the 
liability of such property to taxation, be considered a tax- 
able inhabitant of such district, in the same manner as if he 
actually resided therein. 

§ 72. Where any district tax, for the |)nrpose of pur- 
chasing a site for a school-house, or for purchasing 
or building, keeping in repair, or furnishing such school- 
house with necessary fuel and appendages, shall be law- 
fully assessed, and paid by any person on account of 
any real property whereof he is only tenant at will, or for 

"* As amended by sec. 21, chap. 567, Laws of 18T5. 



Of THE Assessment of District Taxes. 53 



TITI F 7 

three years, or for a less period of time, such tenant may 
•charsre the owner of sucli real estate with the amount of 



•to' 



the tax so paid "by him, unless some agreement to the con- 
trary shall have been made by such tenant. 

§ 73. Every taxable inhabitant of a district who shall when ex- 
have been, within four years, set off from any other dis-tS^fo/^'^ 
trict without his consent, and shall, within that period, have hou^el' 
actually paid in such other district, under a lawful as- 
sessment therein, a district tax for building^ a school-house, 
shall be exempted by the trustees of the district where he 
shall reside from tlie payment of any tax for building a 
school-house therein. 

§ 74. When any real estate within a district, so liable to on pon- 
taxation, shall not be occujDied and improved by the owner, fanlfs!"^^ 
his servant or agent, and shall not be possessed by any ten- 
ant, the trustees of any district, at the time of making ont 
any tax list by which any tax shall be imposed thereon, 
shall make and insert in such tax list a statement and de- 
scription of every such lot, piece or parcel of land so owned 
by non-residents therein, in the same manner as required 
by law from town assessors in making out the assessment 
roll of their towns ; and,if any such lot is known to belong: t 

1 I'll,; • . 11 ^.Iiicorpo- 

to an mcorporated company liable to taxation in such dis- rated com- 
trict, the name of such company shall be specilied, and the p^°^^^' ^^^ 
value of such lot or piece of land shall be set down oppo- 
site to such description, which value shall be the same that 
was affixed to such lot or piece of land in the last assessment 
roll of the town ; and if the same was not separately valued 
in such roll, then it shall be valued in proportion to the 
valuation which was affixed in the said assessment roll to 
the whole tract of wliich such lot or piece shall be part. 

* § 75. If any tax on real estate placed upon the tax tJl-ltum 
list and duly delivered to the collector, or the taxes upon ^^'^^.o^^^^Cg*- 
non-resident stockholders in banking associations organ- method of 
azed under the laws of congress, shall be unpaid at the^*^^^^ "^^ 
time the collector is required by law to return his war- 
rant, he shall deliver to the trustees of the district an ac- 
count of the taxes remaining due, containing a descrip- 
tion of the lands upon which such taxes were unpaid as 

the same were placed upon the tax list, together with the 
amount of the tax so assessed, and upon making oath 
before any justice of the peace or judge of court of 
Tecord that the taxes mentioned in any such account re- 

* As amended by sec. 23, chap. 567, Laws of 1875, and by sec. 1, chap. 250, 
Laws of 1883. 



54 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



main unpaid, and that, after diligent efforts, he has been 

unable to collect the same, he shall be credited by said 

trustees with the amount thereof. 

Trustees § 76. Upou receiving any such account from the col- 

f?tot1-eas- lector, the trustees shall compare it with the original tax 

Sounty^. ^'^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ *^^^.y ^^^ i^ *^ ^^ ^ *''^^6 transcript, they shall 

add to such account their certificate, to the effect that tiiey 

have compared it with the original tax list and found it 

to be correct, and shall immediately transmit the account. 

affidavit, and certificate, to the treasurer of the county. 

Treasurer *| 77. Outof any moneys in the county treasury raised 

the ta^x^es, for Contingent expenses, the treasurer shall pay to the 

Account ^^ collector the amount of the taxes so returned as unpaid. 

before the and if there are no monevs in the treasurv applicable to 

board of , ,^ ■, t '^ r • "^ i • ,' 

supervis- such purposc, the board ol supervisors at the tnne of 
shainevy levying Said unpaid taxes, as j^rovidedin the next section, 
tax, etc. gi^r^u p^y i^ -(-j^g collector of the school district the amount 
thereof by voucher or draft on the county treasurer in 
the same manner as other county charges are paid, and the 
collector shall be again charged therewith by the trustees. 
t?e'i^urer '^ § '^S' ^uch account, affidavit and certificate shall be 
to lay the laid by the county treasurer before the board of super- 
before^the visofs of the couutv, wlio shall causc the amount of such 
Jr?:^the^r "i^npaid taxcs, with seven per cent of the amount in addi- 
po^ers tion thereto, to be levied upon the lands on which the 
thereou, " same were imposed; and if imyjosed upon the lands of 
any incorporated company, then upon such company ; 
and when collected the same shall be returned to the 
county treasurer to reimburse the amount so advanced, 
v\dth the expenses of collection ; and if imposed npon the 
stock of a non-resident stockholder in a banking associa- 
tion organized under the laws of congress, then the same, 
with seven per cent of the amount in addition thereto, 
shall be a lien upon any dividends thereafter declared 
upon such stock, and upon notice by the board of super- 
visors to the president and directors of such bank, of such 
charge upon such stock, the president and directors shall 
thereafter withhold the amount so stated from any future 
dividends upon such stock, and shall pay the same to the 
collector of the town duly autliorized to receive the same, 
raav m3[*e § '^^^ ^^J pcrsou whose lauds are included in any such 
payment, account may pay the tax assessed thereon to the county 

* As amended bvsec. 1, chap. i55, Laws of 1880, and by sec. I, chap. 333- 
Laws of 1887. 

+ As amended by sec. 23, chap. 567, Laws of 1875, and by sec. 3, chap. 250, 
Laws of 1883. 



Of the Assessment of District Taxes. 55 



treasurer, at any time before the board of supervisors ^efo^.^ g^^'f^ 
sliall have directed the same to be levied. le^y. 

§ 80. The same proceedings iu all respects shall be ]iad Proceed- 
for the collection of the amount so directed to be raised county ^^'^ 
by the board of supervisors as are provided by law in re-^^^®^- 
lation to county taxes ; and, npon a similar account, as in 
the case of county taxes of the arrears thereof uncol- 
lected, being transmitted by the county treasurer to the 
comptroller, the same shall be paid on his Avarrant to the 
treasurer of the county advancing the same ; and the 
amount so assumed by the state shall be collected for its 
benefit, in the manner prescribed bylaw in respect to the 
arrears of county taxes upon laud of non-residents ; or if 
any part of the amount so assumed consisted of a tax 
upon any incorporated company, the same proceedings 
may also be had for the collection thereof as provided by 
law in respect to the county taxes assessed upon sucli com- 
pany. 

"'§ 81. The warrant for the collection of a district tax JJi^mSd 
shall be under the hands of the trustees, or a majority of ^^^'^^ ^^' 
them, with or without their seals ; and it shall have the 
like force and effect as a warrant issued by a board of 
supervisors to a collector of taxes in the town ; and the 
collector to whom it may be delivered for collection shall 
be thereby authorized and required to collect from every 
l^erson in such tax list named, the sum set opposite to his 
name, or the amount due from any person or persons spe- 
cified therein, in the same manner that collectors are 
authorized to collect town and county charges. 

t§ 82. A warrant for the collection of a tax voted' by ^fj.ijj^5^ 
the district shall not be delivered to the collector until the warrant, 
thirty-first day after the tax was voted. A warrant for 
the collection of any tax not so voted may be delivei-ed 
to the collector whenever the same is completed. 

i § 83. Within such time, not less than ten davs, as the F^"^^*i?f* 

r T 11 m 1 • J" 1 1 " n to execute 

trustees snail allow mm lor the purpose, the collector, a bond, 
before receiving the first warrant for the collection of 
money, shall execute a bond to the trustees, with one or 
more sureties, to be approved by a majority of the trustees, 
in such amount as the district meeting shall have fixed, 
or if such meeting sliall not have fixed the amount, then 
in such amount as the trustees sliall deem reasonable, con- 

* As amended by sec. 18, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 
t As amende* by sec, 19, chap. 406, Laws of 186T. 

t As amended by sec. 24, chap. 567, Laws of 18T5, and by sec. 1, chap. 334, 
Lawsof 188T. 



5G Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

ditioned for the due and faithful execution of the duties 
of his office. The trustees upon receiving said bond, shall 
Bond to ^^ ^^^^y approve thereof, indorse their approval thereon, and 
be filed forthwith deliver the same to the town clei'k of the town 
Serk!^^" in which said collector resides, and said clerk shall file the 
same in his office and enter in a book to be kept by him 
for that purpose, a memorandum showing the date of said 
bond, the names of the parties and sureties thereto, the 
amount of the penalty thereof, and the date and time of 
filing the same, and said town clerk is authorized to receive 
cierk;s fee as a fee for such filing and memorandum, the sum of twenty- 
bond.^"^ five cents, which sum is hereby made a cliarge against the 

school district interested in said bond. 
CoU|ctor^ '^ § ^^- ^^^^ collector, on the receipt of a warrant for 
give cer- the Collection of taxes, shall give notice to the tax payers 
tfces"°" of the district, by publicly posting written or printed, or 
partly written and partly printed, notices in at least three 
public places in such district, one of which shall be on 
the outside of the front door of the school-house, stating 
that he has received such warrant and w^ill receive all 
such taxes as may be voluntarily paid to him, within two 
weeks from the time of posting said notice. Such col- 
lector shall also give a like notice, either personally or by 
mail, at least ten days previous to the expiration of the 
two weeks aforesaid, to the ticket agent at the nearest 
station of any railroad corporation assessed for taxes, upon 
the tax list delivered to him with the aforesaid warrant, 
and no school collector shall be entitled to recover from 
any railroad corj^oration more than one per cent fees on 
the taxes assessed against such corporations, unless notice 
shall have been given as aforesaid, and in case the whole 
amount of taxes shall not be so paid in, the collector shall 
Fees. forthwith proceed to collect the same. He shall receive 
for his services on all sums paid in as aforesaid, one per 
cent, and upon all sums collected by him after the expi- 
ration of the time mentioned, five per cent, except as 
hereinbefore provided, and" in case a levy and sale shall be 
necessarily made by such collector, he shall be entitled to 
traveling fees, at the rate of ten cents per mile, to be 
computed from the school-house in such district. 
ma"b?ex- t § 8^- ^^y collector to whom any tax list and warrant 
ecuted in ^^ay be delivered for collection, may execute the same in 
fown, etc', any other district or town in the same county, or in any 
other county where the district is a joint district and com- 
posed of territory from adjoining counties, in the same 

♦ As amended by chap. 33, Laws of 1877. 

Note — For the collection of taxes against railroad companies, see chap. 
675, Laws of 188L as amended by sec. 1, chap. 319, Laws of 1882. 
t As amended by sec. 20, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 



Of the Assessment of District Taxes. 57 



..,!., 1 . •IT.- TITLE 7. 

manner and with the hke authority as in the district m 
whicli tlie trustees issuing the said warrant may reside, 
and for the benefit of wliich said tax is intended to be 
collected ; and the bail or sureties of any collector, given 
for the faithful performance of his official duties, are 
hereby declared and made liable for any moneys received 
or collected on any such tax list and warrant. 

*§ 86. If the sum or sums of money, payable by any Trustees 
person named in such tax list or rate bill shall not be paid Sr^npaid 
by him or collected by such warrant within the time therein clfSa^ 
limited, it shall and may be lawful for the trustees to renew cases. 
such warrant in respect to such delinquent person ; or in 
case such person shall not reside within their district at 
the time of making out a tax list, or shall not reside therein 
at the expiration of such warrant, or in case the property 
assessed be real estate belonging in an incorporated com- 
pany, and no goods or chattels can be found whereon to 
levy the tax, the trustees may sue for and recover the 
same in their name of office. 

t § 87. Whenever the trustees of any school district Trustees 
shall discover any error in a tax list made out by them, JS^^eiror 
they may, with the approbation and consent of the super- in tax list 
intendent of public instruction, after refunding any amount of superin- 
that may have been improperly collected on such tax list, *®^^®°*- 
if the same shall be required by him, amend and correct 
such tax list, as directed by the superintendent, in con- 
formity to law ; and whenever more than one renewal of 
a warrant for the collection of any tax list may become J^S^one 
necessary in aii}^ district, the trustees may make such renewal 
further renewal, with the written approbation of the super- S)nsent of 
visor of any town in which a school-house of said district supervisor, 
shall be located, to be indorsed upon such warrant. 

:(:§ 88. The collector shall keep in his possession all Custody of 
moneys received or collected by him by virtue of any the°Siie*c^ 
warrant, or received by him from the county treasurer or*®^- 
board of supervisors for taxes returned as unpaid, to be 
by him paid out upon the order of a majority of the trus- 
tees; and he shall report in writing at the annual meet- port^at^' 
ing, all his collections and disbursements, and shall pay ^""JJfjJ^ ^ 
over to his successor in office, when he has duly qualified 
and given bail, all moneys in his hands belonging to the 
district. c ii t r 

§ 89. If by the neglect of any collector any moneys to make 
shall be lost to any school district, which might have been U)ss^°^ 

♦As amended by sec. 25, chap. 567, Laws of 1875. 
+ As amended by sec. 23, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 
1: As amended by sec. 2, chap. 333, Laws of 1887. 

8 



58 



TITLE 8. 



Trustees 
to sue for 
recovery 
of money 
in collect- 
or's hands. 



Trustee to 
lile tax list 
and war- 
rant when 
returned. 



Consolidated School Act of 1861. 

collected within the time limited in the warrant delivered 
to him for their collection, he shall forfeit to snch district 
the amount of the moneys thus lost, and shall account for 
and pay over the same to the trustees of such district, in 
the same manner as if they had been collected. 

§ 90. For the recovery of all such forfeitures, and of all 
balances, in the hands of the collector, which he shall have 
neglected or refused to pay to his successor, the trustees, 
in their name of office, shall have their remedy upon the 
official bond of the collector, or any action and any remedy 
given bylaw ; and they shall apply all such moneys, when 
recovered, in the same manner as if paid without suit. 

■" § 91. Within fifteen days after any tax list and war- 
rant shnll have been returned by a collector to the trustees 
of any school district, the trustees shall deliver the same 
to the town clerk of the town in which tlie collector resides, 
and said town clerk shall file the same in his office. 



TITLE VIII. 



OF SCHOOL DISTRICT LIBRARIES, AND THE APPLICATIOX OF 
LIBRARY MONEYS. 



Taxable in- f SECTION 1. Tlic taxable inhabitants of each school 
liTayvote^ district in the state shall have power, when lawfully as- 
for d^istr?ct sembled in any district meeting, to levy a tax on the dis- 

one vear the sum of fiftv 



library and trict, uot cxceedino^ in 

book-cases ' -^ 



any 



Public 
money for 
district 
libraries . 



dollars, for the purchase of such books as tliey shall direct 
for the district library, and such further sum as they may 
deem necessary for the purchase of a book-case. All 
books and cases which may have been or shall be pur- 
chased with moneys raised by such taxes, or with moneys 
apportioned to the district for library purposes, and all 
books which have been given to and accepted by the 
trustees for the library, shall compose the library of the 
district. 

:(; § 2. The sum of fifty thousand dollars, directed to be 
distributed to the several school districts of this state, by 
the fourth section of chapter two hundred and thirty- 
seven of tlie laws of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, 
shall continue to be applied to the purchase of books for 
the district libraries. 

§ 3. But whenever the number of volumes in the dis- 
trict library of any district numbering over fifty children* 
ages of five and sixteen, shall exceed one 



Library 

money 

rppded'to' between the 



* As added by sec. 2, chap. 334, Laws of 1887. 
+ As amended by sec. 26, chap, 567, Laws of 1875. 
% As amended by sec. 27, chap. 567, Laws of 1875. 



Of ScHnOL District Libraries. 5& 



hundred and twenty-five, or of any district numbering apparatus 
fifty children or less between the said ages, shall exceed aud when 
one hundred volumes, the inhabitants of the district ers' wages, 
qualified to vote therein may, at a special or annual meet- 
ing duly notified fur that purpose, by a majority of votes, 
appropriate the whule or s.uj part of the library money 
belonging to the district tor the current year to the pur- 
chase of maps, globes, blackboards, or other scientific 
apparatus for the nse of the school ; and in every district 
having the required number of volumes in the district 
lil)rarv, and the maps, globes, blackboards and other appa- 
ratus aforesaid, the said moneys, with the approbation of 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, may be applied 
to t le payment of qualified teachers' wages. 

§ 4. \Vhen the library money aj)portioned to a district if lessthaa 
iu any year shall be less than three dollars, the trustees paid^for^^ 
may apply it in payment of qualified tercliers' wages. wa|es^.^*' 

§ 5. The trustees ot every school district shall be tras- Trustees 
tees of the library of such district, and the property of all custody of. 
books therein, and of the case and other appurtenances iit>rary. 
thereof, shall be deemed to be vested in such trustees so 
as to enable them to maintain any action in relation to 
the san:ie. It shall be their duty to preserve such books 
and keep them in repair ; and the expenses incurred for 
that purpose may be included in any tax list to be made 
out by them as trustees of a district, and added to any tax 
voted by a district meeting, and shall be collected and 
paid over in the same manner. The librarian of any dis- Duty of 
trict library shall be subject to the direction of the trus- 
tees thereof, in all matters relating to the preservation of 
the books and appurtenances of the library, and may be 
removed from office by them for willful disobedience of 
such directions or for any willful neglect of duty. 

§ 6. Trustees shall be liable to their successors, and the Liability 
librarian shall be liable to the trustees, for any neglect oriostor* 
omission of their respective duties, by which any book i"J^i"^'i- 
shall be lost, destroyed ordamaured, to the amount of such 
damage and the value of the book so destroyed or lost. 

^7. All moneys recovered under the last preceding: ^Joi^eysre- 

*^. in •! ^' c • ceivedas 

section, and all moneys received upon any policy ot msur- penalties 
atice procured upon the library, and all fines and penalties sumncVto 
iui posed by or in pursuance of this title, shall be applied, f„®the^^ur^ 
by the trustee-, in the purchase of books for and in the chase of 
reparation and care of the library. library .^'^ 

§ S. Any two or more adjoining districts, with the con- Districts 
sent of all the commissioners of the school commissioner "Jefj.^^^^^ 
districts within which they lie, may, by a majority of libraries. 



60 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



TITLES. 



votes in tlieir sev^eral districts, unite their libraries, and 
apply their library moneys and funds to the care, repara- 
tion and augmentation of their joint library so formed. 
IndYibra- ^^^ *^^^ trustees of sucli districts shall be trustees of such 
rian of library, with all the powers, duties and liabilities conferred 
library. and imposed by this title upon the trustees of a library of 
a district, and the librarian shall be appointed by them, 
and have the powers and be subject to the duties and 
liabilities conferred and imposed by this title upon the 
librarian of a distiict ; but upon the question of his ap- 
pointment or removal, and upon any other question which 
may arise in the board of trustees, the trustee or trustees 
of each district shall have one vote only. All the districts 
owning such library shall be considered as a school dis- 
trict, and the library as a school district library, within 
the meaning of the subsequent provisions of this title. 
fo?fonn-^ § 9. The agreement forming a joint library may be 
dug joint terminated by the votes of all the several districts that 
1 rary. jj^^^q {^^ qy \)y i\^q yotes of any one or more of them less 
than the whole, provided a majority of the school com- 
missioners, within whose districts the school districts lie, 
advise and consent thereto, or the Superintendent of Pub- 
lic Instruction so order. 
Yni^divis-^ § ^^' ^^^©^1 sucli an agreement shall be dissolved, the 
son of joint trustecs of the several districts (the trustee or trustees of 
each district having only one vote) shall divide the library 
and all the joint funds on hand, including all tines and 
penalties incurred, among the several districts ; and if 
they cannot agree, then such division shall be made by 
the commissioners within whose districts the school dis- 
tricts lie, or by some officer or person selected by the Su- 
perintendent of Public Instruction. 
Tormer § 11. The general regulations respecting the preserva- 

inSo?ce?°^ tion of school district libraries, the delivery of them by 
gad may^ librarians and trustees to their successors in office, the 
^tc, by ' use of them by the inhabitants of the district, the number 
Pendent, of volumes to be taken by any one person at any one 
time or during any term, the periods of their return, the 
fines and penalties that may be imposed by the trustees 
of such libraries for not returning, for losing or destroy- 
ing any of the books therein, or for soiling, defacing or 
injuring them, heretofore framed by the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, are continued in force, and he may, 
from time to time, amend, annul or add to them, and 
shall, from time to time, furnish printed copies of the reg- 
ulations in force, and of such amendments, annulments 
and additions, to the trustees of such libraries ; and all 



Of School District Libraries. 01 



such regulations shall be obligatory upon all persons and ^^^^^ "^ 
officers having charge of such libraries, or using or pos- 
sessing any of the books thereof. Such hues may be re- of minors 
covered in an action of debt, in the name of the trustees llbrafy 
of any such library, of the person on whom they are im- 
posed, unless such person be a minor ; in which case they 
may be recovered of the parent or guardian of such 
minor, unless notice in writing shall have been given by 
such parent or guardian to the trustees of such library, 
that they will not be responsible for any books delivered 
to such minor. And persons with whom such minors re- 
side shall be liable, in the same manner and to the same 
extent, in cases where the parent of such minor does not 
reside in the district. 

§ 12. The superintendent of public instruction, when- superin- 
ever he may deem proper, may require the trustees of ^ay re! 
any such library to make to him or to the school commis- gjj.^^® ^'^ 
sioner, a report showing the contents and condition of the 
library, the fines imposed, and any other information 
which he may deem proper touching the library, or its 
management, and shall prescribe the form, contents and 
authentication of such report. And may impose it as a may be 
duty upon the teacher employed in any district, under the Spolf to 
direction of the trustees, to assist them in making such assist. 
examination, and when such direction is given, the 
teacher may close the school one day for the purpose of 
making such examination, and the same shaR not be ac- 
counted as lost time. 

§ 13. If any such trustees willfully neglect or refuse to Penalty ^or 
make any such report, the superintendent shall cause all Sake re^ 
library moneys to be withholden from the district until p<^^*^- 
the report be made and considered by him, and such 
moneys shall, if he see cause, be forfeited by the district, 
in which case they shall be apportioned among the school 
districts of the county in which the library is situated, 
other than such school district. And any trustee or 
trustees, through whose neglect or refusal such moneys 
shall be lost to the district, shall forfeit and pay to the 
district twice the amount of such moneys, for the benefit 
of the hbrary of the district, and such forfeiture may be 
recovered by his or their successors in office. 

§ 14. The superintendent, whenever thereto requested fg^jPg'jJJ* 
by the trustees of any district school library, may select may select 
the library, or books for the library of the district, and/^ ^'^^^' 
cause the same to be delivered to the clerk of the county. 



62 



TITLE 9. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

§ 15. The act entitled " An act to provide for the dis- 
tribution of standard works of American authors among 
the libraries of district schools," passed April twelfth, 
eighteen hundred and tiftj-six, is hereby repealed. 



TITLE IX. 



OF UNION FREE SCHOOLS. 



Call for 
special 
meeting 
to form 
district. 



When 
superin- 
tendent 
may give 
notice. 



Qualifica- 
tion of 
voters. 



Formation 
of union 
free 

schools in 
incorpo- 
rated vil- 



In other 
districts. 



Section 1. Whenever fifteen persons entitled to vote 
at any meeting of the inhabitants of any school district in 
the state, shall sign a call for a meeting, to be held for the 
purpose of determining whether a union free school 
shall be established therein, in conformity with the pro- 
visions of this title, it shall be the duty of the trustees 
of such district, within ten days after such call shall have 
been presented to them, to give public notice that a meet- 
ing of the inhabitants of such district, entitled to vote 
thereat, will be held for such purpose as aforesaid, at the 
school-house, or other more suitable place, in such dis- 
trict, on a day and at an hour in such notice to be speci- 
fied, not more than twenty days after the publication of 
such notice. If the trustees shall refuse to give such 
notice, or shall neglect to give the same for twenty days, 
the superintendent of public ins^truction may authorize 
and direct any inhabitant of said district to give the same. 
The qualifications of the inhabitants, entitled to vote at 
such meeting as now by law expressed, shall be suffici- 
ently set forth in the notice aforesaid. 

■^§ 2. Whenever such district shall correspond wholly or 
in part with an incorporated village, in which there shall 
be published a daily or weekly newspaper, the notice afore- 
said shall be given by posting at least five copies thereof, 
severally, in various conspicuous places in said district, at 
least twenty days prior to such meeting, and by causing 
the same to be published once a week for three consecutive 
weeks before such meeting, in all the newspapers pub- 
lished in said district. In other districts the said notice 
shall be given by posting the same as aforesaid, and in 
addition thereto, the trustees of such district shall author- 
ize and require any taxable inhabitant of the same, to 
notify every other inhabitant (qualified to vote as afore- 
said), of such meeting, to be called as aforesaid, who shall 



♦ As amended by sec. 1, chap. 50, Laws of 1876. 



Of Union Free Schools. 03 



TITLE 9 

give such notification in the manner and subject to the 
penalty prescribed in the case of the formation of a new 
school district by title seven of this act. 

§ 3. The reasonable expense of such notices, and oi^^^^^^^^^^ 
their publication and service, shall be chargeable upon iiow paid, 
the district, in case a union free school is established by 
the meeting so convened, to be levied and collected by 
the trustees, as in cases of taxes ' now levied for school 
purposes ; but in the event that such union free school 
shall not be established, then the said expense shall be 
chargeable upon the inhabitants signing the call^ jointly 
and severally, to be sued for if necessary in any court 
having jurisdiction of the same. 

*§ 4. Whenever fifteen persons, entitled as aforesaid, Union free 
from each of two or more adjoining districts, shall unite two o/ ° 
in a call for a meeting of the inhabitants of such districts, Sstricts. 
to determine whether such districts shall be consolidated 
by the establishment of a union free school therefor and 
therein, it shall be the duty of the trustees of such dis- 
tricts or a majority of them, to give like public notice of 
such meeting, at some convenient place within such dis- 
tricts, and as central as may be, within the time, and to 
be published and served in the manner set forth in the 
second section of this title, in each of such districts. The 
reasonable expenses of preparing, publishing and serving 
such notices shall be chargeable upon the union free 
school district, and be collected by tax, if a union free 
school shall be established pursuant to such call ; but other- 
wise the signers of the call shall be jointly and severally 
liable for such expenses. The superintendent of public 
instruction may order such meeting, under the conditions 
and in the manner prescribed in the first section of this 
title. 

t § 5. Any such meeting, held as aforesaid, shall be J-o^^anT* 
organized by the appointment of a chairman and secre- adjourn- 
tary, and may be adjourned from time to time by a Meeting, 
majority vote; provided that such adjournment shall not 
be for a longer period than ten days ; and whenever any 
such meeting, at which not less than fifteen persons enti- 
tled to vote thereat shall, by the affirmative vote of a Majority 
majority present and voting, determine to establish a ^p^^mi^ne^as 
union free school in said district, pursuant to such notice, f^ ""'^n 
it shall thereupon be lawful for such meeting to proceed 

* As amended by see. 15, chap. 647, Laws of 1865. 
^ + As amended by sec, 3, chap. 50, Laws of 1876; by sec. 10, chap. 413, 
liaws of 1883, and sec. 2, chap, 49, Laws of 1884. 



64 Consolidated School Act of 1S64. 



Election of *<^ the electioii, by ballot, of not less than three, nor inoi-e 
trustees than nine trustees, Avho shall, by the order of such meet- 
of service, ing, be divided into three several classes ; the first to hold 
until one, the second until two, and the third until three 
years from the last Tuesday in August coincident with 
or following, except in the cases in the next section pro- 
* vided for ; and when the trustees so elected shall enter 

upon their office, the office of any existing trustee or 
trustees shall cease, except for the purposes stated in 
section eleven of title six of this act. The said trustees, 
Board of and their successors in office, shall constitute the board of 
e ucation. g^j^^^jj^tjon of and for the union free school district for 
SS^e^to ^vhich they are elected, and the designation of such dis- 
desi^nate trict as unlou free school district number , of the town 
district, of , shall be made by the school com.missioner hav- 

ing jurisdiction of the district ; and the said board shall 
have the name and style of the board of education of 
Copies of (adding the designation aforesaid) ; copies of said 

fngsTo^b? * call, minutes of said meeting or meetings, duly certified 
and filed. ^Y ^^^^ chairman and secretary thereof, shall be by them, 
or either of them, transmitted and deposited, one to and 
with the town clerk, one to and with the school commis- 
sioners, in whose jurisdiction said districts are located, 
and one to and with the superintendent of public instruc- 
tion ; but when at any such meeting, the question as to 
the establishment of a union free school shall not be de- 
cided in the affirmative, as aforesaid, then all further pro- 
ceedings at such meeting, except a motion to reconsider 
or adjourn, shall be dispensed -with, and no such meeting 
shall be again called within one year thereafter. 
Where dis- * § ^- Whenever said board of education shall be con- 
tricUimits stitutcd f or any district or districts whose limits corre- 
with those spond witli those of any incorporated village or city, the 
poJated" trustees so elected shall, by the order of such meeting, be 
IvbyfiiBQ' <ii^'icled into three several classes : the first class to serve 
tion*of until one, the second until two, and the third until three 
^' years after the day of the next charter election in such 
village or city, and their regular term of service shall be 
computed from the seA^eral days of sucli charter elections, 
and not from the second Tuesday in October. And there- 
after there shall be annually elected in such villages and 
cities, by separate ballot, to be indorsed " school trustees,'^ 
in the same manner as the charter officers thereof, tru*- 

* Note. —In relation to election of officers in districts having more than, 
800 children of school age, see chap. 248, Laws of 1878. 



Of Union Free Schools. 65 



tees of the said union free scliools, to supply the places of 
those whose terms by the classification aforesaid are about 
to expire. 

* § 7. The said boards of education are hereby severally Boards of 
created bodies corporate, and each shall, at its first meet- created 
ing, and at each annual meeting thereafter, elect one of cJr'pmate. 
their number president. Tiiey may, with the advice and 
consent of a majority of the legal voters entitled to vote 
on questions of taxation, to be had at an annual meeting 
of the inhabitants, appoint a clerk to the board. Suchcierk,ap- 
appointed clerk must bo a resident of the district, and aj^^^et^^"^ 
person other than a trustee or a teacher in the employ of 
the board. The clerk so appointed shall be the general 
librarian of the district, and also perform all the clerical 
and other duties pertaining to his office. For his services ^^^^^^* 
he shall be entitled to receive a salary, which shall not be 
greater than twenty-five cents a year for each scholar, to 
be computed from the actual average daily attendance for 
the previous year, as set forth in the annual report to the 
scliool commissioner, or less, as in the best judgment of 
SMid legal voters to be had at such annual meeting; such 
consent and approval not to be for a longer period of time Districts 
than one year. In case no provision is made at an an-optside' 
nual meeting of the inhabitants for the appointment and villages, 
payment of a clerk, then and in that case the board wi!l^^Pr?t"!f 
appoint one of their own number to act as clerks In dis- *'',f^^JJ)'|®^ 
tricts other than those whose limits correspond with lector tor. 
those of any city or incorporated village, said board 
shall have power to appoint one of the taxable inhabitants 
of their district treasurer, and another collector of the 
moneys to be raised within the same for school purposes, 
who shall severally hold such appointments during the 
pleasure of the board. Such treasurer and collector shall 
each, and within ten days after notice in writing of his ap- 
pointment, duly served upon him, and before entering upon 
the duties of his office, execute and deliver to the said board SS?'^^ ^^' 
of education a bond, with such sufficient penalty and 
sureties as the board may require, conditioned for the^ ^ .^^ 
faithful discharge of the duties of his office. And in etc. 
case such bond shall not be given within the time spe- 
cified, such office shall thereby become vacant, and said 
board shall thereupon, by appointment, supply such va- 
cancy. 

* As amended by chap. 161, Laws of 1877. This section (7) does not apply 
to the towns of Cortlandt and White Plains, Westchester county. 



66 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



TITLE 9- rt o mi ^ • ' c 

Corporate § o. The Corporate authorities of any incorporated vil- 
co ra?ii*bT lage or city, in Avliich any such union free school shall be 
tax, etc. established, shall have power, and it shall be their duty, 
to raise from time to time by tax, to be levied upon all 
the real and personal property in said city or village, as 
by law provided for the defraying* of the expenses of its 
municipal government, such sum or sums as the board of 
education established therein shall declare necessary for 
the furtherance of any of the powers vested in them by 
law. The sums so declared necessary shall be set forth 
submit in a detailed statement in writing, addressed to the cor- 
to corpo"*^ porate authorities by the board of education, giving the 
thSities ^^^'''^'ious purposcs of anticipated expenditure, and the 
amount necessary for each ; and the said corporate au- 
thoiities shall have no power to withhold the sums so 
declared to be necessary for teachers' wages and the ordi- 
nary contingent expenses of supporting the school or 
schools of said district. 
When the '" § 9. In casc the corporate authorities shall refuse to 
authorities pro"\dde for any or all of the other purposes of expendi- 
levy^t^x^de- tiirc declared necessary in the statement aforesaid, they 
eiS'Vln'^ shall commuuicatc in writing to the said board of educa- 
statement. tion their objections to each and every expenditure which 
they refuse to allow, and thereupon the said board of edu- 
cation shall cause the said communication to be published 
six times in at least one papei* published or circulating in 
sucli district, and the said corporate authorities may, at 
any time, reconsider their action in refusing to allow such 
expenditures, or any of them, or may allow such other 
sums for any or all of such expenditures as the board of 
education in any subsequent or modified statement maj' 
^gj"ng of recommend. The annual meeting of the board of edu- 
^ducatf n <^^^i^^ ^^ cvciy unioii free school district shall be held 

on the first Tuesday of September in each year. 
rnnJafand t § 1^- ^ majority of the voters of any union free school 
special district, other than those whose limits correspond with 
mee ings. ^^ incorporated city or village, present at any annual or 
special district meeting, duly convened, may authorize 
such acts, and vote such taxes as they shall deem expedi- 
ent for making additions, alterations or improvements to 
or in the sites or structures belonging to the district, or 
for the purchase of other sites or structures, or for a change 

* As amended by sec. 11, chap. 413, Laws of 1883. 

+ As amended by sec. 3, chap. 49, Laws of 1884, and by sec. 1, chap. 595, 
Laws of 1886. 



Of Union Feee Schools. 67 



meuts. 



of siteSj or for the erection of new bnildings, or for buy- ^' 

ing apparatus or fixtures, or for paying the wages of teach- 
ers and the necessary expenses of the schools, or for such 
otlier purpose relating to the support and welfare of the 
school as they may, by resolution approve ; and they may 
direct the moneys so voted to be levied in one sum, or' by be^afid^ 
installments, but no addition to or change of site or pur- J" Jnstaii- 
chase of a new site or tax for the purchase of any new 
site or structure, or for the purchase of an addition to 
the site of any school-house, or for building any new 
school-house or for the erection of an addition to any 
school-house already built, shall be voted at any such meet- 
ing unless a notice by the board of education" stating that J^^^^^^^^j.^^ 
such tax will be proposed, and specifying the amount and posed ac- 
object thereof, shall have been pubhshed once in each be^Ui^enf 
week for the four weeks next preceding such district g^^'g^ °^" 
meeting, in two newspapers if there shall' be two, or in notice. 
one newspaper if there shall be but one, published in such 
district. But if no newspaper shall then be published 
therein, the said notice shall be posted up in at least ten of 
the most public places in said district twenty days before 
the time of such meeting. And whenever a tax for any 
of the objects hereinbefore specified shall be legally voted 
the boai'd of education shall make out their tax list, and 
attach their warrant thereto, in the manner provided in 
article seven of title seven of this act, for the collection 
of school district taxes, and shall cause such taxes or such 
installments to be collected at such tunes as they shall 
become due. 'No vote to raise money shall be rescinded, Rescinding 
nor the amount thereof be reduced at any subsequent meet- Jaffe^° 
ins;, unless the same be done within ten days after the same money, or 
shall have been first voted. For the purpose of giving effect the amount 
to these pro^dsions, trustees, or boards of education are^^*^^*^" 
hereby authorized, whenever a tax shall have been voted 
to be collected in installments for the purpose of buildmg 
a new school-house or for the purchase of a new site or 
for an addition to a site, to borrow so much of the sum 
voted as may be necessary, at a rate of interest not ex- 
ceeding six per cent, and to issue bonds or other evidences when 
of indebtedness therefor, which shall be a charge upon hV^is ^^ 
the district, and be paid at maturity, and which shall not 
be sold below par ; due notice of the time and place of 
the sale of such bonds shall be given at least ten days 
prior thereto. 

§ 11. Any moneys required to pay teachers' wages in au moneys 



68 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



to be raised^ 11111011 free scliool, OF in tliG academical department 
aJd nSt by ^iiereof , after the due appKcation of the school moneys 
rate bill, thereto, shall be raised by tax, and not by rate bill. 
Every such § 12. Every union free school district shall, for all the 
sSoSdts- purposes of the apportionment and distribution of school 
tnct. moneys, be regarded and recognized as a school district, 
education, §1'^' "^^^^ ^^^^ board of education of every union free 
their povv- scliool district sliall severally have power : 
To make ^' To ])ass sucli by-laws as they may deem proper for 
by-laws, the regulation and exercise of their lawful business and 

l^owers. 
Toregu- 2. To establish such rules and regulations concerning 
pune'^o?^' the order and discipline of the school or schools, in the 
the SCHOOL several departments thereof, as they may deem necessary 

to secure the best educational results. 
To gf-ade 3. To grade and classify the school or schools of the dis- 
ify. trict, and to regulate the admission of pupils and their 

transfer from one class or department to another, as their 
scholarship shall warrant. 
To pre- 4. To prescribe the text-books to be used in the schools, 

fSrnish^ and to compcl a uniformity in the use of the same, and to 
text-books, f (iimisli the Same to pupils out of any moneys provided for 

that purpose. 
To have 5. To take charge and possession of the school-houses, 

all proper- sitcs, lots, furniture, books, apparatus, and all school prop- 
^^^^' erty within their respective districts ; and the title of the 

same shall be vested respectively in said board of educa- 
tion, and the same shall not be subject to taxation for any 
purpose. 
re°a?eitate. 6. To take and hold for the use of the said schools or of 
any department of the same, any real estate transferred 
to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, or any gift, legacy 
or annuity, of whatever kind, given or bequeathed to the 
said board, and apply the same, or the interest or proceeds 
thereof, according to the instructions of the donor or tes- 
tator. 
hSi^an^aca- * '^' "^^ havo, lu all rc'spects the superintendence, man- 
demicai agoment and control of said union free schools, and to 
meSf. establish in the same an academical department, whenever 
in their judgment the same is warranted by the demand for 
such instruction ; to receive into said union free schools 
Toreguiateany puj^ils residing out of said districts, and to regulate 
feesofnon-and establish the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils 
pupUs"*^ in the several departments of said schools; to provide fuel, 

*NoTE — See chap. 413, Laws of 1884. 



Of Union Free Schools. 69 



furniture, apparatus and other necessaries for the use of 
said schools, and to appoint such hbrarians as thej may, 
from time to time, deem necessary. 

* 8. To contract with and enipioy qualified teachers in J^^^^:,^ 

,1 11 i J' • j^ ,- ' II 1 1 tract with 

the several departments oi instruction, m all not less tiian and em- 
one for every fifty pupils attending such schools ; to re- ?rs"lnd^^'^* 
move them at anytime for neglect of duty or for immoral J^™^^® 
conduct, and to pay the wages of such teachers out of the 
moneys appropriated for that purpose. 

9. To hll any vacancy which may happen in said hoard ^^j^^l^^J^-j; 
by reason of the death, removal or refusal to serve of any the board, 
member or officer of said board; and the person so ap- 
pointed in the place of any such member of the board shall 

hold his office until the next election of trustees, as by this 
act provided. 

10. To remove any member of their board for official ^^ remove 

1 '-> • cut -I • niembers or 

misconduct. iiut a written copy oi all charges made ot the board 
such misconduct shall be served upon him at least ten days 
before the time appointed for a hearing of the same ; and 
he shall be allowed a full and fair opportunity to refute 
such charges before removal. 

11. And generally to possess all the powers and privi- To have aii 
I'ges, and be subject to all the duties in respect to the tnI^'tee?o£ 
common schools, or the common school departments in !^.^^?'^^ ^j.^- 

1 1 • • I !• • I'll tncts and 

any union tree school in said districts, which the tructees ff trustees 
of common schools now possess or are subject to, not mies. 
inc(msistent with the provisions of this title ; and to 
enjoy, whenever an academical department shall be by 
them established, all the immunities and privileges now 
enjoyed by the trustees of academies in this state. 

t§14:. In union free school districts other than those May call 
whose limits correspond with any city or incorporated vil-n5St^gg_ 
lage, the board of education shall have power to call special 
meetings of the inhabitants, in the manner provided in 
section six of title seven of this act, for calling special 
meetings of districts by trustees, and they shall give no- 
tice of the time and place of holding the annual school Time of 
district meeting, which shall be held on the last Tuesday meeting. 
of August in each year. 

§15. It shall be the duty of the board at the annual ^oard to 

" . - f , 1 • • 1 • 1 1 report esti 

meetmg ot tlie district, besides any other report or state- mate of 
ment required by law, to present a detailed statement intoann!fai 
writing of the amount of money which xvill be required "^^^^^"^• 

* As amended by sec. IT, chap. 647, Laws of 1865. 
+ As amended by chap. 413, Laws of 18b3. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



TITLiE ') 

for the ensuing year for school purposes, exchisive of the 
public moneys, specifying the several purposes for wliich 
it will be required, and the amount for each, but nothing 
such'staxe-^'^ tliis scctiou Contained, shall be construed to prevent the 
mentat board froui presenting such Statement at any special meet- 
any time. ^^^^ called for the purpose, nor from presenting a supple- 
mentary and amended statement or estimate at any time. 
Powers of § 16. After the presentation of such statement, the ^ 
an'ts^here- qucstiou shall bc taken upon voting the necessary taxes to 
upon. meet the estimated expenditures, and when demanded by 
any voter present, the question shall be taken upon each 
item separately, and the inhabitants may increase the 
amount of any estimated expenditures, or reduce the same, 
except for teachers' wages, and the ordinary contingent 
expenses of the school or schools. 
When g 17. If the inhabitants shall neglect or refuse to vote 

levy tax the sum or sums estimated necessaiy for teacher's wages, 
vote^of the after applying thereto the public school moneys, and other 
ants^'*^' nioneys received or to be received for that purpose, pro- 
vided such estimate shall be for no more than one teacher 
for each fifty pupils attending such school, or if they shall 
neglect or refuse to vote the sum or sums estimated nec- 
essary for ordinary contingent expenses, the board of edu- 
cation may levy a tax for the same, in like manner as if/ 
the same had been voted by the inhabitants. 
feTffp'i" to § ■'-^- ^^ '^^y question shah arise as to what are ordinary , 
decide any Contingent expenses, the same may be referred to the 
as t?what superintendent of public instruction, by a statement in 
writing, signed by one or more of each of the opposing 
parties upon the question, and the decision of the super- 
intendent shall be conclusive. 
meetVrfce § l^- ^^ sliall bc tlic duty of cach of the said boards, of 
education, elected pursuant to the provisions of this title, 
to have a regular meeting at least once in each quarter, 
and at such meetings to appoint one or more committees, 
schools ^^ ^is^^ every school or department under the supervision 
etc. of said hoard, and such, committees shall visit all said 

schools at least twice m each quarter, and report at the 
next regular meeting of the board on the condition and 
prospects thereof. 
Expend!- § 20. It shall also be the duty of said boards, respectively, 
money. to liavc reference in all their expenditures and contracts 
to the amount of moneys which shall be appropi-iated, or 
subject to their order or drafts, during the current year, 
and not to exceed that amount. And said boards shah 



are 'con- 
tingent ex 



in each 
quarter, 



Of Union Free Schools. 



severally apply all the moneys apportioned to the common 
school districts under their charge, to the departments 
below the academical ; and all moneys from the literature 
fund or otherwise, appropriated for the support of the 
academical department, to the latter departments. 

§ 21. All moneys raised for the use of the union f ree ^foneys to 
schools in any city or incorporated village, or apportioned into^uiage 
to the same from the income of the literature, common treasury, 
school or United States deposit funds, or otherwise, shall 
be paid into the treasury of such city or village, to the 
credit of the board of education therein; and the funds 
so received into such treasury shall be kept separate and 
distinct from any other funds received into the said treas- 
ury. And the officer having the charge thereof shall give g^eud'ty to 
such additional security for the safe custody thereof as ^egy^f^i by 
the corporate authorities of such city or village shall re- 
quire. ]S"o money shall be drawn from such funds, cred- ^^'^"^J^s, 

A ^ 1 ,• , 1 f 1 . 1 . how drawn. 

ited to the several boards oi education, unless m pursuance 
of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and on drafts 
drawn by the president and countersigned by the secre- 
tary, payable to the order of the person or persons entitled 
to receive such money, and stating on their face the pur- 
pose or service for which such moneys have been author- 
ized to be paid by the said board of education. 

§ 22. All moneys raised for the use of said union, free Payment, 
scliools, otlier than tiiose whose limits correspond with ^iSsfand 
those of any cities and incorporated villages, or apportioned fJi?gJ,'i"oQp 
from the income of the literature or common school or moneys. 
United States deposit funds, or otherwise, shall be paid 
to the respective treasurers of the said several boards of 
education entitled to receive the same, and be by them 
applied to the uses of said several boards, who shall an- 
nually render their accounts of all moneys received and 
expended by them for the use of said schools, with every 
voucher for the same, and certified copies of all orders of 
the said boards ton cliing the same, to the school commis- 
sioner of the town in which the principal school-house of 
the district is located. 

§ 23. Every academical department, established asAcademu 
aforesaid, shall be under the visitation of the regents of ^^'.f^^P^^'*^ 
the university, and shall be subject, in its course of educa- subject to 
tion and matters pertaining thereto (but not in reference 
to the buildings or erections in which the same is held), 
to all the regulations made in regard to academies by the 
said regents. In such departments the qualifications f or Quaiiflca- 



73 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



tions'oe *y^ entrance of any pupil shall be as high as those esiab- 
pupiis. lished by the said regents for participation in the literature 
fund of any academy of the state under their supervision. 
eSftfn ""^^ § 2-4. Athene ver a union free school shall be established 
accxdeniy, uudcr thc provisious of this title, and there shall exist 
'therefo"'^^ within its district an academy, the board of education, if 
thereto authorized by a vote of the voters of the district, 
may adopt such academy as the academical department 
of the district, with the consent of the trustees of the 
academy, and thereupon the trustees, by a resolution to 
be attested by the signatures of the officers of the board, 
and filed in the office of the clerk of the county, shall 
declare their offices vacant, and thereafter the said 
academy shall be the academical department of such 
union free school. 
Subject to "^§25. Every union free school district, in all its de- 
terKIiVof part men ts, shall be subject to the visitation of the super- 
public in- intendent of public instruction. He is charged with the 
general supervision of its board of education and their 
management and conduct in all its departments of in- 
Board shall struction. x\nd everv board of education shall annually, 

report an- . , . y , ... ,.,__•/' 



nuaiiy to between the twentieth day of August and the last Tuesday 
commis- of August, make to the commissioner having jurisdiction 
sioner. ^^^(j deposit in the tow^n clerk's office, a report for the 
preceding school year, of all matters and things which 
trustees of a school district are required to report, and of 
all such other matters and things as tlie superintendent 
t"iK?en"" shall from time to time require, and shall also, when- 
quire'spe- ^^'®^ thereto required by the superintendent of public in- 
ciai report, struction, report fully to him upon any particular matter 
or thing, and such reports shall be in such form, and so 
authenticated, as the superintendent shall from time to 
time require. 
Superin- § 26. For causc sliowu, and after giving notice of the 
mayl-e- charge and opportunity of defense, the superintendent 
membS^of ^^ public iustructiou may remove any member of a board 
the board, of cducatiou. Willful disobedience of any lawful re- 
quirement of the superintendent, or a want of due diU- 
gence in obeying such requirement, is cause of removal. 
Thistk^e g 27. The provisions of this title shall apply to all 
schools es- union free schools heretofore organized pursuant to the 
muie^rnfe provisions of chapter four hundred and thirty-three of 
act of 1853. ^Ijq laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-three. 

♦As amended by chap. 413, Laws of 1883, and by chap. 310, Laws of 1885. 



Of Schools foe Colored Children, 73 



TITLE 10. 

TITLE X. 

*0F SCHOOLS FOR COLORED CHILDREN". 

Section 1. The school authorities of any city or in- Colored 
corporated village, the schools of which are or shall be dties'and 
organized under title nine of this act or under special acts, images. 
may, when they shall deem it expedient, establish a 
separate school or separate schools for the instruction of 
children and youth of African descent, resident therein, 
and over five and under twenty-one years of age ; and 
such school or schools shall be supported in the same 
manner and to the same extent as the school or schools 
supported therein for white children, and they shall be 
subject to the same rules and regulatiofis, and be fur- 
nished with facihties for instruction equal to those fur- 
nished to the white schools therein. 

§ 2. The trustees of any union school district, or of Colored 
any school district organized under a special act, may, union free 
when the inhabitants of any such district shall so de-l^su-iit. 
termine, by resolution at any annual meeting, or at a 
special meeting called for that purpose, establish a sepa- 
rate school or separate schools for the instruction of such 
colored children resident therein, and such schools shall 
be supported in the same manner, and receive the same 
care, and be furnished with the same facilities for instruc- 
tion as the white schools therein. 

§ 3. No person shall be employed to teach any of such Teacher 

11 Tin 1 • f 1 -I 1 must be 

schools who shall not, at the tune oi such employment, be leoraiiy 
legally qualified. quai.e 

§ 4. Section one hundred and forty-seven of chapter Formeract 
four hundred and eighty, laws of eighteen hundred and ^^^^^ ^ 
forty-seven, is hereby repealed. 



TITLE XL 



Section 1. It shall be the duty of eveiy school com- Commis- 
missioner, at least once in each year, to organize in hishoiTan^ 
own district, or, in concert with one or more commission- ^"^'*^"^®' 
ers in the same county, to organize in and for the com- 

* See chap. 248, Laws of 1884. 

10 



74 



TITLE 11. 



To give 
due notice, 
etc. 



Superin- 
tendent to 
advise, 
employ 
teachers, 
etc. 



To estab- 
lish the 
basis 
of appor- 
tionment. 



Superin- 
tendent 
may estab- 
lish regula- 
tions. 



Teachers 
may close 
school and 
not vitiate 
contract. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

billed districts, a teachers' institute, and to induce, if 
possible, all the teachers in his district to be present and 
take ])art in its exercises. 

§ 2. The commissioner or commissioners, subject always 
to tlie ad\'ice and direction of the superintendent of pub- 
lic instruction, shall, in such form and manner as may be i 
deemed most effectual, give pubhc notice to the teachers 
of the district, or combined districts, and to all others 
who may desire to become such, of the time when and 
the place where the institute will be organized. 

§ 3. The suyjerinteudent of public instruction shall ad- 
vise and co-operate with the school commissioners in fix- 
ing the times and places of holding the teachers' institute ; 
and he shall have power to employ, or cause the school 
commissioners to employ, suitable persons, at a reasonable 
compensation, to conduct and teach the institutes ; and he 
shall visit, or cause to be visited by persons employed in 
the department of public instruction, such and so many 
of the institutes as he possibly can, for the purpose of 
examining into the course and manner of instruction pur- 
sued, and of rendering such assistance as he may find 
expedient ; and he shall establish the basis upon which 
the yearly appropriation for the support of teachers' in- 
stitutes shall be distributed to the several institutes, and 
the term or terms during which the same may be held, 
having reference, in the establishment of such regulations, 
to the number of teachers in the count}^, district or com- 
bined districts, and in attendance at the institute, to the 
lengtli of time during which they shall be held, to the 
facilities for attendance upon them, and to local disad- 
vantages requiring especial consideration. 

*§ 4. The superintendent of pubhc instruction may 
establish such regulations in regard to certificates of quali- 
fication or recommendation, which may be issued by school 
commissioners, as will in his judgment furnish incentives 
and encouragement to teachers to attend the institutes ; 
and the closing of his school by a teacher for the time 
during which an institute shall be held in and for the 
county or school commissioner district in which his school 
is, and which Jnstitute he shall have attended during the 
tijne for which he closed his school, shall not work a for- 
feiture of the contract under which he is teaching. 

•f§ 5. The trustees of every school district are hereby 

* Ap amended by sec. 9, chap. 340, Laws of 1885. 

+ As amended by sec. 23, chap. 406, Laws of 1867 and by sec. 10, chap. 340, 
Laws of 1885. 



Of Teachers' Institutes. 75 



directed to give the teacher or teachers employed by t^^^i^i^ T^,u^ste^J'' 
the whole of the time sj:)ent by such teacher or teachers in directed to 
attending at any regular session or sessions of an institute fl-Himt'^^' 
in a county embracing the school district, or a part f^g^^^^^^Q 
thereof, without deducting any thing from his or their 
wages for the time so spent, and in order to secure to 
teachers the full exercise of this privilege, after the twen- 
tieth day of August, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, 
all schools in school districts and parts of school districts, 
not included within the boundaries of an incoi'porated 
city, shall be closed during the time a teachers' institute f^aii^be 
shall be in session in the same county in which such schools pios'-d dur- 
are situated, and, in the apportionment of public school t?me an 
money, the schools thus closing in any school term shall Jaughffn^ 
be allowed the same average pupil attendance during such the county. 
time, as was the average during that part of the term pupjfff- 
when the school was not thus closed, and any school con- ^'^"<?^"J? 
tinning its sessions in violation of the above provision sliall time"the 
not be allowed any public money based upon average cSsed/^ ^° 
pupil attendance during the days the school was thus kept 
in session. Trustees and boards of education in such Trustees to 
school districts and parts of school districts shall report, ^^^°^^'^'^°' 
in their annual reports to the school conamissioners, the 
number of days and the dates thereof on which a teachers' 
institute was held in ths'r counties during the school year, 
and whether schools under their charge w^ere or were not 
closed during such days; and whenever the trustees' re- 
port shows that a district school has been supported for 
the full time required by law, including the time spent by when dis- 
the teacher or teachers in theiremploy in attetidanceupon J^J^jAjfj^^ 
such institute, and that the trustees have given the teacher j^'ith the 
or teachers the time of such absence, and have not de-inrendeur 
ducted any thing from his or their wages on account JJJJg "he 
thereof, the superintendent of public instruction may hi- ^jj|^^'^^ ^^_ 
elude the district in his apportionment of the state school tionment 
monej^s, and direct that it be included by the school com-mo^iey!^ 
missioner or commissioners in their apportionment of 
school moneys ; provided, always, that such school dis- 
trict be in all other respects entitled to be included in 
such apportionment. 

§ 6. The treasurer shall pay, on the w^arranfc of the payment. 
comptroller, to the order of anyone or more of the school 
commissioners, such sum or sums of money as the super- 
intendent of public instruction shall certify to be due to 
them for expenses in holding a teachers' institute ; 



7r, 



To trans- 
mit cata- 
logue aud 
report to 
the super- 
iutendeut. 



Consolidated School Act of 1864. 

and, upon the like warrant and certificate, to the order 
of any persons employed by the superintendent to con- 
duct and teach any teachers' institute, his reasonable com- 
pensation as certitied by the superintendent. 

§ 7. The school commissioner or commissioners by 
whom any teachers' institute shall be organized, shall 
transmit to tlie superintendent of public instruction a 
catalogue of the names of all persons who shall have at- 
tended such institute, with such other statistical infor- 
mation, in such form and within such time as may be pre- 
scribed by said superintendent. 



TITLE XII. 



Any per- 
son may 
appeal. 

From 
what. 



Ibid. 



Ibid. 
Ibid. 



Superin- 
tendent's 
decision 
final. 

Power of 
superin- 
tendent. 



ON" APPEALS TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUC- 
TION. 

Section 1. Any person conceiving himself aggrieved 
in consequence of any decisioji made : 

1. By any school district meeting ; 

2. By any school commissioner or school commis- 
sioners and other officers, in forming or altering, or re- 
fusing to form or alter, any school district, or in refusing to 
apportion any school moneys to any such district or part 
of a district ; 

3. By a supervisor in refusing to pay any such moneys 
to au}^ such district ; 

4. By the trustees of any district in paying or refusing 
to pay any teacher, or in refusing to admit any scholar 
gratuitously into any school ; 

5. By any trustees of any school district library con- 
cerning such library, or the books therein, or the use of 
such books; 

6. By any district meeting in relation to the library ; 

7. By any other official act or decision concerning any 
other matter under this act, or any other act pertaining 
to common schools, may appeal to the superintendent of 
public instruction, wdio is hereby authorized and required 
to examine and decide the same ; and his decision shall 
be final and conclusive, and not subject to question or re- 
view in any place or court whatever. 

§ 2. The superintendent, in reference to such appeals, 
shall have power : 

1. To regulate the practice therein. 



MiSCELLANEOrs PEO VISIONS. 77 



2. To determine whether an appeal sliall stay proceed- ^i^^^ ^pj 
inffs, and prescribe conditions upon which it shall or shall peai shall 

o ^ . ^ stav pro- 

not so operate. ceedings. 

3. To decline to entertain, or to dismiss an appeal, when when ap- 
it shall appear that the appellant has no interest in the Sot be en- 
matte'r appealed from, and that the matter is not a mat- ^^^rtained. 
ter of public concern, and that the person injuriously 
affected by the act or decision appealed from is incompe- 
tent to appeal. 

4. To make all orders, by directing the levying of taxes 
or otherwise, which may, in his judgment, be proper or 
necessary to give effect to his decision. 

§ 3. The Superintendent shall tile, arrange in the order Superin- 
of time, and keep in his othee, so that they may be at allshaiisie 
times accessible, all the proceedings on every appeal to p^^®^^- 
him nnder this title, including his decision and orders 
founded thereon ; and copies of all such papers and pi'o- J°J^^®.J°^ 
ceedings, authenticated by him under his seal of office, maybe 
shall be evidence equally with, the originals. seaff ^ ^ 



TITLE XIIL 



MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

Section 1. Whenever the share of school moneys, or school 
any portion thereof, apportioned to any town, school JJenSs 
district or separate neio:hborhood, or any money to wliicli {^^^^^^^^ 
a town, school district or separate neighborhood would 
have been entitled, shall be lost, in consequence of any 
willful neglect of official duty by any school commis- 
sioner, town clerk, trustees or clerks of school districts, 
the officer or officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit 
to the town, school district or separate neighborhood so 
losing the same, the full amount of such loss, with interest 
thereon. 

§ 2. Where any penalty for the benefit of a school dis- Penalty for 
trict, or of the schools of any school district, town, prosecute, 
school commissioner district or county, shall be incurred, 
and the officer or officers whose duty it is by law to sue 
for the same shall willfully and unreasonably refuse or 
neglect to sue for the same, such officer or officers shall 
forfeit the amount of such penalty to the same use, and 
it shall be the duty of their successor or successors in 
office to sue for the same. 



78 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



Penalty for * § 3- ^^^7 person wlio shall willfully disturb, in- 
disturbing temipt or disquiet any district school or school meetinfij 

school or . ^ . *■ ■/ 1 1 1 -J.! -1 - • ^ 

school in session, or any persons assemblea, with the permission 
meeting q£ ^\^q trustees of the district, in any district school- 
house, for the purpose of giving or receiving instruction 
in any branch of education or learning, or in the ecience 
or practice of music, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars, for 
tlie benefit of the school district. 
Procedure. § 4. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the district, 
or the teacher of the school, and he shall have power, to 
enter a complaint against such offender before any justice 
of the peace of the county, or the mayor or any alder- 
man, recorder or other magistrate of the city,wlierein the 
offense was committed. The magistrate or other officer 
before whom the complaint is made shall thereupon by 
his warrant, directed to any constable or person, cause the 
person complained of to be arrested and brought before 
hun for trial. If such person, on the charge being stated 
to him, shall plead guilty, the magistrate shall convict 
him ; and, if he demands a trial by the magistrate, shall 
summarily try him ; and, if he demands a trial by jury, 
the magistrate shall issne a venire, and impanel a jury for 
his trial, and he shall be tried in the same manner as in a 
court of special sessions. 
Penalty. § 5. If any person convicted of the said offense, do not 
immediately pay the penalty, with the costs of the prose- 
cution, or give security to the satisfaction of the magis- 
trate for the payment thereof within twenty days, the 
magistrate or otlier officer shall commit him to the common 
jail of the county, there to be imprisoned until the 
penalty and costs be paid, but not exceeding thirty days. 
Actions § 6. In any action ao-ainst a school officer or officers, in- 

school eluding supervisors of towns, in respect of their duties 
officers. ^^^^ powers Under this act, for any act performed by virtue 
of or under color of their offices, or for any refusal or 
omission to perform any dut}' enjoined by law, and which 
might have been the subject of an appeal to the superin- 
tendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff, in cases 
where the court shall certify that it appeared on the trial 
that the defendants acted in good faith. But this pro- 
vision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits 
or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superin- 
tendent. 

* As amended by sec. 24, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 



Miscellaneous Provisions. 79 



* § 7. Whenever the trustees of any school district or^^^jf^'j' 
any school district officer or officers have been or shall be school 
instructed by a resokition of the district at a meeting ^osifand 
called for that purpose, to defend any action brought Jfi^|,"X'^ 
against them, or to bring or defend an action or proceed- 
ing touching any district property or claim of the district, 
or involving its rights or interests, or to continue any 
such action or defense, all their costs and reasonable ex- 
penses, as well as all costs and damages adjudged against 
them, shall be a district charge and shall be levied by tax. 
If the amount claimed by them be disputed by a district 
meeting, it sliall be adjusted by the county judge of any 
county in which the district or any part of it is situated. 

§ 8. Whenever such trustees or any school district officer tSiout 
shall have brought or defended any such action or pro- ^f^'^fstSct, 
ceeding, without any such resolution of the district meet- expenses 
ing, and after the final determination of such suit or pro- °^p^^ 
ceeding shall present to any regular meeting of the in- 
habitants of the district an account in writing of all costs, 
charges and expenses paid by him or them, with the items 
thereof, and verified by his or their oath or affilrmation, 
and a majority of the voters at such meeting shall so direct, 
it shall be the duty of the trustees to cause the same to be 
assessed upon and collected of the taxable property of said 
district, in the same manner as other taxes are by law 
assessed and collected ; and when so collected, the same 
shall be paid over, by an order upon the collector, to the 
officer or officers entitled to receive the same ; but this pro- 
vision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits 
or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superintend- 
ent of public instruction. 

t§ 9. Whenever an officer or officers mentioned in the J^g^^^r^J'j® 
last preceding section of this act shall have complied v/itli fuse, what 
the provisions of said section, and the inhabitants shall 
have refused to direct the trustees to levy a tax for the 
payment of the costs, charges and expenses therein men- 
tioned, it shall be lawful for him or them then and there 
to give notice orally and publicly, that he will appeal to the 
county judge of tlie county, and in case of his disability to 
act in the matter by reason of being disqualified or other- 
wise, then to the district attorney of the county in which the 
school-house of said district is located ; from the refusal of 
said meeting to vote a tax for the payment of said claim, and 
the inhabitants may then and there or at any subsequent 

* As amended by chap 174, Lawsof 18T8. 

t As amended by sec. 1, chap 746, Laws of 1871. 



80 Consolidated School Act of 1864. 



TITLE 13. 



district meeting, appoint one or more of the inhabitants of 
the district to protect tlie rights and interest of the district 
upon said appeal; and the officer or officers before men- 
tioned, sliall tlierenpon within ten days, serve npon the 
clerk of said district (or if there be no such clerk, npon the 
town clerk of the town), a cop}- of the aforesaid account 
BO sworn to, together with a notice in writing, that on a 
certain day therein specified he or they intend to present 
such account to the county judge or to the district attorney, 
as the case may be, for settlement. And the clerk shall 
record such notice, together with the copy of the account, 
and the same shall be subject to the inspection of the in- 
habitants of the district. And it shall be the duty of the 
person or persons appointed by any district meetmg for 
that purpose, to appear before the county judge, or the dis- 
trict attorney, as the case may bo, on the day mentioned 
in the notice aforesaid, and to protect the riglits of the 
district upon such settlement ; and the expenses incurred 
in the performance of this duty shall be a charge upon 
said district, and the trustees, upon presentation of the ac- 
count of such expenses, with the proper voucher therefor, 
may levy a tax tlierefor, or add the same to an}^ other tax 
to be levied by them ; and their refusal to levy said tax 
for the payment of said expenses, shall be subject to an 
appeal to the superintendent of public instructioa. 

■^§ 10. Upon the appearance of the parties, or upon due 
proof of service of the notice and copy of the account, the 
county judge shall examine into the matter and hear the 
proofs and allegations propounded by the parties, and de- 
cide by order whether or no the account, or any and what 
portion thereof, ought justly be charged upon the district, 
with costs and disbursements to such officer or officers, in 
his discretion, which costs and disbursements shall not ex- 
ceed the sum of thirty dollars, and the decision of the county 
judge shall be final ; but no portion of such account shall 
be so ordered to be paid which shall appear to such judge 
to have arisen from the willful neglect or misconduct of 
the claimant. The account, wnth the oath of the party 
claiming the same, shall be ^rima facie evidence of the 
correctness thereof. The county judge may adjourn the 
hearing from time to time, as justice shall seem to require. 

§ 11. It shall be the duty of the trustees of any school 
district, within thirty days after service of a copy of such 

* As ameuded by chap. SU, Laws of 1874. 



Miscellaneous Provisions . 81 



order upon them or upon tlie district clerk, and notice 
thereof to them or any two of them, to cause the same to 
be entered at length in the book of records of said dis- 
trict, and to raise the amount thereby du-ected to be paid, 
by a tax upon the district, to be by them assessed and 
levied in the same manner as a tax voted by the district. 

§ 12. For the support of the Indian schools, already Indian 
established and whicii may be established, under authority 
of chapter seventy-one of the laws of eighteen hundred 
and fifty-six, the superintendent of public instruction, in 
his annual general apportionment of the state school 
mone^-s appropriated for the support of common schools, 
shall make an equitable apportionment, as provided by 
section six of title three of this act ; and the moneys 
which shall be thus apportioned, and those which have 
been apportioned for their support, under authority of 
section four, chapter seventy-one of tlie law^s of eighteen 
hundred and lifty-six, shall be paid out of the treasury 
for expenditures authorized by law and actually incurred 
in the support of such schools, upon the warrant of the 
superintendent, countersigned by the comptroller. 

§ 13. The superintendent of public instruction, so soonj^biit^- 
as may be after the passage of this act shall prepare and this stat- 
causc to be printed, and distribute among the school dis- "^®' ^^^' 
tricts of the state, to eacjh one copy, an edition of this 
statute, with brief annotations embodying such of the 
decisions of the courts of the state, and of the superin- 
tendents of common schools and the superintendents of 
public instruction as are applicable thereto, and such com- 
ments, explanations and instructions as he shall deem 
necessary or expedient, and the same shall be deposited 
with the district clerk, and kept by him for the use of 
the inhabitants. 

§ 14. All provisions of law repugnant to or incon- 
sistent VN'ith the provisions of this act, are hereby re- 
pealed, saving always all rights of action vested under 
such prior provisions, and proceedings commenced for 
the assertion thereof ; but nothing herein contained, unless 
it be so expressed, shall be construed, unless by inevitable 
implication, to revive any act or portion of an act hereto- 
fore repealed ; nor to impair or in any manner affect or 
change any special law touching the schools or school sys- 
tem of any city or incorporated village of the state. 



11 



82 



Consolidated School Act of 1864 



TITLE 13. 



The tivo following jparagraphs, amendatory of the Gen- 
eral School Act, hut not of any particular title thereof 
were passed as sections 26 and 27, of chap. 406, Laws 
of 1867. 

Snt hert- Hereafter all moneys now authorized by any special 
tofore au- acts to be Collected by rate bill for the pajmient of teach- 
by'speciai crs' wages, shall be collected by tax, and not by rate bill. 
Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to 
authorize the common council of any city, to increase the 
local city tax for the support of the schools therein, be- 
yond the amounts they are now authorized by law to 
raise for local school purposes, and such local tax shall be 
reduced in such city, by an amount equal to the amount 
it shall receive by the additional tax authorized by this 
act, for the support of schools in the state generally. 



acts abol 
ished . 
Local tax 
of city 
cannot be 
inci'eased. 



SEPiEiTE iCTS OF GEIML iPPLlCiTION. 



Ch.ap. 261. 

AN^ ACT to provide for the better education of the 
children in the several orphan asylums in this state, 
other than in the city of New York. 

Passed April 10, 1850. 

The People of the State of New Torh^ represented in 
Seriate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

Section 1. The schools of the several incorporated or- to partici- 
phan asylum societies in this state, other than those in the dfsfribu^^^ 
city of New York, shall participate in the distribution of ^'^^jf/ *^® 
the school moneys in the same manner and to the same money, 
extent in proportion to the number of children educated 
therein, as the common schools in their respective cities 
or districts. 

$i 2. The schools of said societies shall be subject to the Rules and 
rules and regulations of the common schools in such cities Sent of. 
or districts, but shall remain under the immediate man- 
agement and direction of the said societies as heretofore. 



Chap. 185. 

AN ACT to provide for the care and instruction of idle 
and truant children. 

Passed April 12, 1853. 

The People of the State of New Torlc, represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

. I<^l6 and 

Section 1. If any child, between the ages of ^lyq and chHdren t 
fourteen years, having sufficient bodily health and mental be brought 
capacity to attend the public schools, shall be found wan- j^usUclof 
dering in the streets or lanes of any city or incorporated etc.^®^^^' 



Si General Acts Relating to Schools. 



1853. ^' village, idle and truant, without any lawful occupation, 
an}^ jn?tice of the peace, police magistrate, or justices of 
the district courts in the city of 'New York, on complaint 
thereof by any citizen on oath, shall cause such child to 
be brouglit before him for examination, and shall also 
cause the parent, guardian or master of such child, if he 
or she have any, to be notified to attend such examina- 
tion. And if, on such examination, the complaint shall 
be satisfactorily established, such justice shall require the 
parent, guardian or master to enter into an engagement 
in writing, to the corporate authorities of the city or vil- 
lage, that he will restrain such child from so wandering 
about, will keep him or her on his own premises, or in 
some lawful occupation, and will cause such child to be 
sent to some school, at least four months in each year, 
until he or she becomes fourteen years old. And such 
Security, justice may, in his discretion, require security for the 
faithful performance of such engagement. If such child 
has no parent, guardian or master, or none can be found, 
or if such parent, guardian or master refuse or neglect, 
within a reasonable time, to enter into such engagement. 
When and to give such security, if required, such justice shall, 
be\'orn^^^ bv Warrant under his hand, commit such child to such 
mitted. pjacc as shall be provided for his or her reception, as here- 
inafter directed. 
Overseers § 2. If sucli eno:a2:ement be habitually or intentionally 

of the poor . ^. , ■, .• ^ ^ i i i i. j.1, ' v. 4.1 

to bring Violated, an action may be brought thereon by the over- 
aciion. gggpg of i]}Q poor, or either of them, of such city or village, 
in the name of the corporate authorities thereof, and on 
proof of such habitual or intentional violation the plain- 
tiff shall recover therein a penalty of not more than fifty 
dollars, with costs. And thereupon the magistrate, or 
court before whom such recovery shall be had, shall, by 
. warrant, commit such child to the place so provided for 
his or her reception, as aforesaid. 
Saleable | 3. The corporate authorities of every city and incor- 
provlded ^ porated village shall provide some suitable place for the 
children!^ reception of every child that may be so committed, and 
for the em])loyment of such child in some useful occupa- 
tion, and his or her instruction in the elementary branches 
of an Enghsh education, and for his or her proper sup- 
port and clothing. Every child so received shall be kept 
in such place until discharged by the overseers of the 
poor or the commissioner of the alms-house of such city 
or village, and may be bound out as an apprentice by them 



Idle and Truant Childeen. 85 



out 



CHAP '"I 

or either of them, with the consent of any justice of the i856 ' 
peace, or any of the aldermen of the city, or any trustee bo^,[nd^ 
of the incorporated village where he may be, in the same as apprea- 
manner, for the same periods, and subject to the same 
provisions in all respects as are contained in the first ar- 
ticle and fourth title of the eighth chapter, and second 
part of the Revised Statutes, with respect to children 
whose parents have become chargeable on any city or 
town. 

§ 4. The expenses of providing and maintaining such Expenses 
place for the reception, clothing, support and instruction f^^y^^^j®' 
of such children shall be defrayed in the same manner as 
charges for the support of paupers chargeable upon such, 
city or village ; and the corporate authorities of every city 
and village shall certify to the board of supervisors of the 
county, at their annual meetings, the amount necessary 
for said purposes,' which amount the said supervisor shall 
cause to be levied and collected as part of the taxes for 
the support of the poor, chargeable to such city or village. 

§ 6. It shall be the duty of all police officers and con-jj^tyof 
stables, who shall find any child in the condition described P2i*<^® 
in the first section of this act, to make complaint to a 
justice of the peace, as provided in the said section. 

§ 6. The fees of justices, for services performed under p^^g^ 
this act, shall be the same as allowed by law in cases of 
vagrancy, and shall be paid by the city or village in which 
the}^ were rendered. 

§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately.* 



Cliap. 71. 

^^ ACT to facilitate education and civilization among 
the Indians residing in this State. 

Passed April 1, 1856; three-fiftlis being present. 

The People of the State of New York^ represented in 
Senate and Assemhly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. The Superintendent of Public Instruction Duty of 
shall be charged with providing the means of education \ntetdent 
for all the Indian children in the State. He shall cause ing^" *^^.'" 
to be ascertained the condition of the various bands in rhetion. 

* This act, though unrepealed, would seem to be superseded by chapter 
421, Laws of 1874. 



86 General Acts Eelating to Schools. 



tsse.^ ■ state in respect to education ; he shall establish schools in 
such places and of such character and description as he 
shall deem necessary ; he shall employ superintendents 
for such schools, and shall, with the C(.'ncurrence of the 
comptroller and secretary of state, cause to be erected, 
where necessary, convenient buildings for their accommo- 
dation. 
iQdians to § 2. In the discharge of the duties imposed by this act, 
co-operate. ^-^^ g,^^^ Superintendent shall endeavor to secure the co- 
operation of all the several bands of Indians, and for this 
purpose shall visit, by himself or his authorized agent, all 
the reservations where they reside, lay the matter before 
them in public assembly, inviting them to assist either by 
appropriating their public moneys to this object, or by 
setting apart lands and erecting suitable buildings, or by 
furnishing labor or materials for such buildings, or in any 
other way which he or they may suggest as most effectual 
for the promotion of this object. 
Indian title § 3. In any contract which may be entered into with 
tectedf ^*^" s^^^ Indians, for the use or occupancy of any land for 
school grounds, sites or buildings, care shall be taken to 
protect the title of the Indians to their lands, and to re- 
serve to the state the right to remove or otherwise dispose 
of all improvements made at the expense of the state. 
Children to § 4. The Indian childi'en in the state, between the ages 
lic^mouey'of four and twenty-one years, shall be entitled to draw 
public money the same as white children. The Superin- 
tendent shall cause an annual enumeration of said Indian 
Enuiuer- children to be made, and shall see that the public money, 
ation. ^Q w^hich they are ratably entitled, is devoted exclusively 

to their education. 
ii!5,ooo ap- § 5. To carry into effect the provisions of this act, the 
propnated. ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ thousaud dollars is hereby appropriated out of 
the surplus income of the United States deposit fund, to 
be paid by the treasurei-, on the warrant of the comptrol- 
ler, from time to time, to the order of the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction. 
Vouchers^ § 6. The Superintendent shall take and file in his office 
and filed, voucliers and receipts for all the expenditures made under 
this act, subject to the inspection of the joint committee to 
examine the accounts of the auditor and treasurer ; and 
shall annually report to the legislature all his doings, by 
virtue of the authority vested in him ; and for this pur- 
pose said Superintendent may require full and detailed 
reports, in such form as he may prescribe, from those 



An Act foe a General Yaccination. 8Y 



having the immediate supervision of any Indian schools ^^weo/^' 
in this state. 

§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately. 



Chap. 4:38. 

AN ACT to encourage and provide for a general vacci- 
nation in this state. 
Passed April 16, 1860 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorh, represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact asfolloios : 

Section 1. The trustees of the several common school children 
districts in this state, and the proper local boards of com- b^erl^vlc-^ 
inon school government in the several cities of the state, ^^^}^^ 
are hereby directed and empowered, under the provisions excluded 
hereinafter set forth, to exclude from the benefits of the common 
common schools therein any child or any person who has®^^°®^^' 
not been vaccinated, and until such time when said child 
or person shall become vaccinated. 

§ 2. The said trustees or local board may adopt a reso- Trustees 
lution to carry into effect the power conferred by the first r^gJiutlSS*^ 
section hereof; and whenever they shall do so they shall to carry 
thereupon give at least ten days' notice thereof, by posting fonsof^S 
the same iif two or more public or conspicuous places ®®*'*^°^' 
within the limits of their school government, and shall, in 
said notice advertise due provision for the vaccination of 
any child or person of suitable age, who may desire to 
attend the common schoolj and whose parents or guard- 
ians are unable to procure vaccination for them or for the 
children of suitable age of such parents, as by reason of 
poverty may be exempted from taxation in such school 
districts. 

§ 3. The said trustees or board may, in their or its dis- Trustees 
cretion, appoint some competent physician and fix the ™^^^fPjjy. 
compensation for his services, the duty of which physician sician to 
shall be to ascertain the number of children or persons incMidrenf 
the school district or subdivision of city school government, 
being of an age suitable to attend the common school, 
who have not been already vaccinated, and also to furnish 
to the said trustees or said board a list of the names of all 
such children or persons. It shall also be the duty of said 
physician to provide himself with good and reliable vac- 
cine virus wherewith to vaccinate such of the number of 



88 General Acts Relating to Schools. 



^^1666.^^^" children or persons aforesaid as have not been vaccinated 
according as the trustees or board shall direct, and to 
Physician thereupon give certificates of vaccination when required, 
ceniQcates which Certificate shall be evidence thereof, for the pur- 
tix)n?^^^^^' poses of a compliance with section first hereof. 
Expenses. § 4. The neccssary expenses incurred by the provisions 
of this act shall be included and collected in the annual 
tax bill of the district, town, village or. city, as may be 
proper, according to law. 
Reports of § 5. The trustocs of the several school districts of this 
state are hereby required, to include in their annual report, 
the number in their several districts between the ages of 
five and twenty-one years, who are vaccinated and the 
number un vaccinated. 



trustees. 



*01iap. 761. 

AK ACT authorizing the taxation of stockholders of 
banks, and the surplus funds of savings banks. 

Passed April 23, 1866. 

The People of the State of New Yorh, rejpresented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

stockhoid- Section .1. N^ tax shall hereafter be assessed upon the 
taxed on Capital of any bank or banking association organized under 
sWs^at *^^® authority of this state, or of the United States,,but the 
place of stockholders in such banks and banking associations shall 
banks!^^ ° be asscssed and taxed on the value of their shares of stock 
therein ; said shares shall be included in the valuation of 
the personal property of such stockholder, in the assess- 
ment of taxes at the place, town or ward where such 
bank or banking association is located, and not elsewhere, 
whether the said stockholders reside in said place, town or 
ward, or not, but not at a greater rate than is assessed 
upon other moneyed capital in the hands of individuals in 
Real estate this State. And in making such assessment there shall also 
be taxed. ° be deducted from the value of such shares such sum as is 
in the same proportion to such value as is the assessed 
value of the real estate of the bank or banking associa- 
tion, and in which any portion of their capital is invested, 
in which said shares are held, to the whole amount of 

* Note.— Section 7 of this act repealed by sec. 56, chap. 371, Laws of 1875. 



Taxation of Stockholders of Banks. 89 



tlio capital etock of said bank or banking association. And ^^i866.''^^* 
provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall be 
held or construed to exempt from taxation the real estate 
held or owned by any such bank or banking association ; 
but the same shall be subject to state, county, municipal 
and other taxation to the same extent and rate and in the 
same manner as other real estate is taxed. 

§ 2. Every individual banker doing banking business individual 
under the laws of this state, is hereby required to declare declare^ ^^ 
upon oath before the assessor the amount of capital invested c?J)*itS*anci 
in such banking business, and each one hundred dollars of shares of 
such capital for the purpose of this act, and for the pur- ^ ^ °^^^° 
pose of taxation shall be held and regarded as one indi- 
vidual share in such banking business, and such shares are 
hereby declared to be personal property. If such banker 
have partners he shall declare upon oath before the asses- 
sor the number of shares held by each of them in such 
banking business, ascertained as above provided, and the 
shares so held by any partner shall be included in the valu- 
ation of his taxable property in the assessment of all taxes 
levied in the town, school district or ward where such 
individual banker is located, and not elsewhere ; and such 
individual banker shall pay the same and make the amount 
so paid a charge in his accounts with such partners ; and 
if such individual banker have no partners he shall beheld 
to be sole owner of all the shares in such business of bank- 
ing, and the same shall be included in the valuation of his 
personal property in the assessment of all taxes levied in 
the town, school district or ward where his bank is located, 
and not elsewhere. 

§ 3. There shall be kept at all times in the ofiice where List of the 
the business of such bank or banking association, organ- re^sMe noes 
ized under the authority of this state or of the United Jof^ers^to 
States, shall be transacted, a full and correct list of the ^e kept, 
names and residences of all the stockholders therein, and 
of the number of shares held by each ; and such list shall 
be subject to the inspection of the officers authorized to 
assess taxes during the business hours of each day in 
which business may be legally transacted. 

§ 4. Sections ten and eleven of chapter ninety-seven of 
the session laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-five are 
hereby repealed. 

§ 5. When the owner of stock in any bank or banking Non-reei- 
association, organized under the laws of this State, or of er'stax" 
the United States, shall not reside in the same place fecred*!*^ 
where the bank or banking association is located, the 
12 



90 General Acts Relating to Schools. 



1867. ■ collector ana couiitj treasurer shall, respectively, have 
the same power as to collecting the tax to be assessed 
bj this act, as they have by statute, when the person 
assessed has removed from the town, ward or county iu 
which the assessment was made ; and the county treasurer, 
receiver of taxes, or other officers authorized to receive 
said tax from the collector, may all or either of them have 
an action to collect the tax from the avails of the sales of 
his shares of stock and the tax on the share or shares of 
said stock shall be and remain a lien thereon till the pay- 
ment of said tax. 
Bank § 6. For the purpose ot collecting such taxes, and in 

nmy^etain addition to any other law of this state, not in conflict 
dividend, ^^^ith the constitution of the United States, relative to the 
imposition of taxes, it shall be tlie duty of every such 
bank or banking association, and the managing officer 
or officers thereof, to retain so much of any dividend or 
dividends belonging to such stockholder as shall be nec- 
essary to pay any taxes assessed in pursuance of this act, 
until it shall be made to appear to such officers that such 
taxes have been paid. 



Chap. 694. 

AN ACT in relation to the valuation of the property of 
railroad companies in school districts, for the purpose 
of taxation. 

Passed April 23, 1867; three-fiftlis being present. 

The Peojple of the State of New Torh^ represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact asfolloios : 

Duty of ^Section 1. It shall be the duty of the town assessors, 

se?sSr^^to within fifteen days after the completion of their annual 
apportion assessment list, to apportion the valuation of the property 
the prop"' of cach and every railroad, telegraph, telephone and pipe- 
rln^road. h^^^ compauv as appears on such assessment list, among 
telegraph, ^\^q several school districts in their town, in which anv por- 

telepnone , c > ^ ; • • i • • i j* ^ i T 

and pipe- tion oi said property is situated, givmg to each oi said dis- 
panies."^ tricts their proper portion, according to the proportion that 
the value of said property in each of such districts bears 
to the value of the whole thereof in said town. 

* As amended by sec. 1, chap. 414, Laws of 1884. 



Compulsory Education Act. 91 



*§ 2. Sucli apportionment shall be in writing, and shall is74'. " ' 
be signed by said assessors, or a majority of them, ^i^d ^pp^^^^^o^^- 
shall set forth the number of each district and the amount in writing 
of the valuation of the property of each railroad, telegraph, med with 
teleplione and pipe-line companies apportioned to each of ^^"^^ ^^*^^^ 
said districts ; and such apportionment shall be filed with 
the town clerk by said assessors, or one of them, within five 
days after being made; and the amount so apportioned to 
each district shall be the valuation of the property of each 
of said companies, on which all taxes against said compa- 
nies in and for said districts shall be levied and assessed, 
until the next annual assessment and apportionment. 

f § 3. In case the assessors shall neglect to make such niyy^appor- 
apportionment it shall be the duty of the supervisor of^l°"^^^^, 
the town, on the application oi the trustees or board oi neglect, 
education of any district, or of any railroad, telegraph, 
telephone or pipe-line company, to make such apportion- 
ment in the same manner and with the like effect as if 
made by said assessors. 

§ 4. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, furnish to 7urnfsh 
to the trustees or board of education of each district, a cer- sSe^Jent 
tified statement of the amounts apportioned to such district, o^ appor- 
and the name of the company to which the same relates, to trustee. 

t§ 5, In case any alteration shall be made in any school when 
district affecting the property of any railroad, telegraph, d^g^ruftis 
telephone or pipe-line company, the officer making such made, 
alteration shall, at the same time, determine what change 
in the valuation of said property in such district would be 
just, on account of the alteration of district, and the 
valuation shall be accordingly changed. 

§ 6. This act shall take. effect immediately. 



Chap. 4=21. 

AN ACT to secure to children the benefits of elementary 
education. 

Passed May 11, 1874; three -fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorli,^ represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

Section 1. All parents and those who have the care of Children 
children shall instruct them, or cause them to be instructed, 9tructed at 

* As amended by sec. 2, chap. 414, Laws of 1884. 
t As amended by sec. 12, chap. 340, Laws of 1885. 



92 



General Acts Kelating to Schools. 



CUAP. 421, 
1874. 

school or 
at home 
f<»r at least 
14 weeks in 
each year. 



Employ- 
ment of 
children 
under U 
years of 
agre pro- 
hibited. 



Penalty. 
Trustees of 
school 
district to 
examine 
for and 
report 
violations 
of this act. 



in Spelling, reading, writing, English grammar, geography 
and arithmetic. And every parent, guardian or other 
person having control and charge of any child between 
the ages of eight and fourteen years shall cause such child 
to attend some public or private day school at least four- 
teen weeks in each year, eight weeks at least of which at- 
tendance shall be consecutive, or to be instructed regularly 
at home at least fourteen weeks in each year in spelling, 
reading, writing, English grammar, geogi'aphy and arith- 
metic, unless the physical or mental condition of the child 
is such as to render such attendance or instruction inex- 
pedient or impracticable. 

*§ 2. 'No child under the age of fourteen years shall be 
employed by any person to labor in any business whatever 
during the school hours of any school day of the school 
term of the public school in the school district or the city 
where such child is, unless such child shall have attended 
some public or private day school where instruction was 
given by a teacher qualified to instruct in spelling, reading, 
writing, geography, English grammar and arithmetic, or 
shall have been regularly instructed at home in said 
branches by some person qualified to instruct in the same, 
at least fourteen weeks of the fifty -two weeks next preced- 
ing any and every year in which snch child shall be em- 
ployed, and shall, at the time of such employment, deliver 
to the employer a certificate in writing, signed by the 
teacher or a school trustee of the district or of a school, 
and countersigned by such officer as the board of educa- 
tion or public instruction, by whatever name it may be 
known in any city, incorporated village or town, shall des- 
ignate, certifying to such attendance or instruction ; and 
any person who shall employ any child contrary to the 
provisions of this section, shall, for each offense, forfeit and 
pay a penalty of fifty dollars to the treasurer or chief 
fiscal officer of the city, or supervisor of the town, in 
which such offense shall occur; the said sum or penalty, 
when so paid, to be added to the public school money of 
the school district in which the offense occurred. 

f§ 3. it shall be the duty of the trustee or trustees of 
every school- distiict, or public school, or union school, or 
of officers appointed for that purpose by the board of edu- 
cation or public instruction, by whatever name it may be 
known, in every town and city, in the month of Septem- 



* As amended by sec. 1, chap. 372, Laws of 1876. 
t As amended by sec. 2, chap. 372, Laws of 1876. 



Compulsory Education Act. 93 



ber and of February ot each year, and at such other times "wi." 
as may be deemed necessary, to examine into the situation 
of the children employed in all manufacturing and otlier 
establishments in such school district where children are 
employed ; and in case any town or city is not divided 
into school districts, it shall for the purposes of the ex- 
amination provided for in this section, be divided by the 
school authorities thereof into districts, and the said trus- 
tees or other officers as aforesaid notified of their respect- 
ive districts on or before the first day of January of each 
year ; and the said trustee or trustees, or other officers as 
aforesaid, shall asceitain whether all the provisions of this 
act are duly observed, and report all violations thereof to 
the treasurer or chief fiscal officer of said city, or super- 
visor of said town. On such examination, the proprietor, 
superintendent or manager of said establishment shall, on 
demand, exhibit to said examining trustee, or other ofiicers 
as aforesaid, a correct list of all children between the ages ^l^.\^^ 
of eight and fourteen years employed in said establish- employed, 
ment, with the said certificates of attendance on school or 
of instruction. 

§4. Every parent, guardian or other person having children 
control and charge of any child between the ages of eight JfiJ^^/^!^" 
and fourteen years, who has been temporarily discharged charged 
from employment in any business, in order to be afforded p^iSynfeTit 
an opportunity to receive instruction or schooling, shall gch^ooi."^ 
send such child to some public or private school, or shall 
cause such child to be regularly instructed as aforesaid at 
home for the period for which such child may have been 
so discharged, to the extent of at least fourteen weeks in 
all in each year, unless the physical or mental condition 
of the child is such as to render such an attendance or in- 
struction inexpedient or impracticable. 

*^§ 5. The trustee or trustees of any school district orTrusteesto 
public school, or the president of any union school, or act. 
such officer as the board of education of said city, incor- 
porated village or town may designate, is hereby author- 
ized and empowered to see that sections one, two, three, 
four and five of this act are enforced, and to report in 
wi'iting all violations thereof to the treasurer or chief fis- 
cal officer of his city, or to the supervisor of his town ; 
any person who shall violate any provision of sections one, 
three and four of this act shall, on written notice of such 
violation from one of the school officers above named, for- 

* As amended by sec. 3, chap. 372, Laws of 18T6. 



94 



CHAP. 421. 
1874. 

Penalties 
for viola- 
tions. 



Their ap- 
plication. 



Text-books 
for poor 
children. 



Truant 
children. 



Rules 

concerning 

truants. 



General Acts Relating to Schools. 

feit, for the first offense, and pay to the treasurer or chief 
fiscal officer of the city, or to the supervisor of the town in 
which he resides, or such offense has occurred, the sum of 
one dollar, and, after such first offense, shall, for each 
succeeding offense in the same 3^ear, forfeit and pay to 
the treasurer of said city or supervisor of said town, the 
sum of five dollars for each and every week, not exceeding 
thirteen weeks in any one year, daring which he, after 
written notice from said school officer, shall have failed to 
comply with any of said provisions ; the said penalties, 
when paid, to be added to the public school money of 
said school district in wdiich the offense occurred. 

§ 6. In every case arising under this act where the 
parent, guardian or other person having the control of 
any child between the said ages of eight and fifteen* 
years, is unable to provide such child for said fourteen 
weeks with the text-books required to be furnished to en- 
able such child to attend school for said period, and shall 
so state in writing to the said trustee, the said trustee 
shall provide said text-books for said fourteen weeks at 
the public school for the use of such child, and the expense 
of the same shall be paid by the treasurer of said city or 
the supervisor of said town on the certificate of the said 
trustee, specifying the items furnished for the use of such 
child. 

f § 7. In case any person having the control of any child, 
betw^een the ages of eight and fourteen years, is unable to 
induce said child to attend school for the said fourteen 
weeks in each year, and shall so state in writing to said 
trustee, or said other ofiicers appointed by the board of 
education or public instruction by whatever name it may 
be known, the said child shall, from and after the date 
and delivery to said trustee, or other officer as aforesaid, 
of said statement in writing, be deemed and dealt with as 
an habitual truant, and said person shall be relieved of all 
penalties incurred for said year after said date, under sec- 
tions one, four and five of this act, as to such child. 

:j: § 8. The board of education or public instruction, by 
whatever name it may be called, in such city and incor- 
porated village, and the trustees of the scliool districts 
and union school in each town, by an affirmative vote of 
a majority of said trustees, at a meeting or meetings to 



* So in the original. 

+ As amended by sec. 4, chap. 372, Laws of 1876. 

t As amended by sec. 6, chap. 372, Laws of 1876. 



Compulsory Education Act. 95 



be called for this purpose, on ten days' notice in writing ^^ili/^^' 
to each trustee, said notice to be given by the town clerk, 
are for each of their respective cities and towns hereby 
authorized and empowered and directed, on or before the 
first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, 
to make all needful provisions, arrangements, rules and 
regulations, concerning habitual truants and children be- 
tween said ages of eight and fourteen years of age, who 
may be found wandering about the streets or public 
places of such city or town during the school hours of the 
school day of the term of the public school of said city or 
town, having no lawful occupation or business, and grow- 
ing up in ignorance ; and said provisions, arrangements, 
rules and regulations shall be such as shall, in their judg- 
ment, be most conducive to the welfare of such children, 
and to the good order of such city or town ; and shall 
provide suitable places for the discipline and instruction 
and confinement, when necessary, of such children, and 
may require the aid of the police of cities, or incorporated 
villages, and constables of towns, to enforce their said 
rules and regulations, provided, however, that such provi- 
sions, arrangements, rules and regulations shall not go 
into effect, as laws for said several cities and towns, until ^ppro^ai 
they shall have been approved, in writing, by a justice of °/^^f ^^f 
the supreme court for the judicial district in which said the su- 
city, incorporated village or towm is situated ; and, when court! 
so approved, he shall file the same with the clerk of the 
said city, incorporated village or town, who shall print 
the same, and furnish ten copies thereof to each trustee 
of each school district, or public or union school of said 
city, incorporated village or town. The said trustee shall 
keep one copy thereof posted in a conspicuous place in or copy on 
upon each school-house in his charge during the school house." 
terms each year. In hke manner the same in each city, 
incorporated village or town may be amended or revised, Amend- 
within six months after the passage of this act, and there- ™®°^®' 
after annually as the trustee or trustees of any school 
district or public school, or the president of every union 
school, or the board of eduction or public instruction, or 
by whatever name it may be known, in any city, incor- 
porated village or town, may determine. 

§ 9. Justices of the peace, civil justices and police jus- Justices to 
tices shall have jurisdiction, within their respective towns df<Sonf ^' 
and cities, of all offenses and of all actions for penalties or 
fines described in this act, or that mav be described in 



96 



Genekal Acts Eelating to Schools. 



CHAP. 2: 



said provisions, arrangements, rules and regulations author- 
AcUonsfor ized by section eight of this act. All actions for iines and 
penalties under this act, shall be brought in the name of 
the treasurer or chief fiscal officer of the city or supervisor 
of the town to whom the same is payable, but shall be 
brought by and under the direction of the said trustee or 
trustees, or said officer designated by the board of educa- 
tion. 

§ 10. Two weeks attendance at a half-time or evening 
school shall, for all purposes of this act, be counted as one 
week at a day school. 

§ 11. This act shall take effect on the first day of Jan- 
uary, eighteen hundred and seventy-five. 



Evening 
schools. 



Chap. 37- 

*AN ACT to designate the holidays to be observed in 
the acceptance and payment of bills of exchange, bank 
checks and promissory notes, and relating to tlie closing 
of public offices. 

Passed February 23, 1875. 

The People of the State of New Yorh, represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

Holidays. f Section 1. The following days and half-days, namely : 
The first day of January, conmionly called New Year's 
day ; the twenty-second day of February, known as 
Washington's birthday ; the thirtieth day of May, known 
as Decoration day ; the fourth day of July, called Inde- 
pendence day ; the first Monday of September, to be 
known hereafter as Labor day ; the twenty-fifth day of 
December, known as Christmas day ; any general election 
day in this state ; every Saturday from twelve o'clock at 
noon until twelve o'clock at midnight, which is hereby 
designated a half-holiday.; and any day appointed or rec- 
ommended by the governor of this state, or the president 
of the United States, as a day of thanksgiving, or fasting 
and prayer^ or other religious observance, shall, for all 
purposes whatever as regards the presenting for payment 
or acceptance, and of the protesting and giving notice of 
the dishonor of bills of exchange, bank checks and prom- 
issory notes made after the passage of this act, be treated 

* As amended by sec. 2, eh. 30, Laws of 1881, and by ch. 289, Laws of 1887. 
t As amended by sec. 1, ch. 30, Laws of 1881, and by ch. 289, Laws of 1887. 



Concerning Holidays. 97 



and considered as the tirst day of the week commonly ^^w^^,^' 
called Sunday, and as public holidays or half-holidays ; J.^^^^^ 
and all such bills, checks and notes otherwise presentable Sunday 
for acceptance or payment on any of the said days shall days^^ ° ^ 
be deemed to be payable and be presentable for accept- 
ance or payment on the secular or business day next suc- 
ceeding such holiday; but in the case of a half- holiday 
shall be presentable for acceptance or payment at or 
before twelve o'clock noon of that day. Provided, how- PjJ"o*^®st on 
ever, that for the purpose of protesting or otherwise hold- next buc- 
ing liable any party to any bill of exchange, check or/'®®^^"^ 
promissory note, and which shall not have been paid 
before twelve o'clock at noon on any Saturdy, a demand 
of acceptance or payment thereof may be made and notice 
of protest or dishonor thereof may be given on the next 
succeeding secular or business day. And provided, fur- 
ther, that when any person shall receive for collection 
any check, bill of exchange or promissory note, due and 
presentable for acceptance or payment on any Saturday, 
such person shall not be deemed guilty of any neglect or 
omission of duty, nor incur any liabihty in not presenting 
for payment or .acceptance, or collecting such check, bill 
of exchange or promissory note on that day. And pro- 
vided further, that in construing this section every Satur- 
day, unless a whole holiday as aforesaid, shall until twelve 
o'clock noon be deemed a secular or business day. And 
the days and half days aforesaid shall be considered as 
the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and 
as public holidays or half-holidays, for all purposes what- 
soever as regards the transaction of business in the public 
offices -of this state, or counties of this state. On all other 
days, or half days, excepting Sundays, such offices shall 
be kept open for the transaction of business. 

§ 2. Whenever the first day of January, the twenty- when faii- 
second day of February, the thirtieth day of May, the sJfnday. 
fourth day of July or the twenty-fifth day of December JJ^^^^jy 
shall fall upon Sunday, the Monday next following shall holiday, 
be deemed a public holiday for all or any of the purposes 
aforesaid ; provided, however, that in such case all bills 
of exchange, checks and promissory notes, made after the 
passage of this act which would otherwise be presentable Protest to 
for acceptance or payment on the said Monday shall be nlS^suc-^" 
deemed to be presentable for acceptance or payment oUbuthlesB 
the secular or business dav next succeeding: such holiday, ^^^y- 
13 



98 General Acts Eelating to Schools. 



CHAP. 322. 
1875. 



Chap. 322. 

AN ACT relating to free instruction in drawing. 

Passed May 14, 1875; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York^ represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

Drawing SECTION 1. In eacli of the state normal schools the 
taught in conrse of study shall embrace instruction in industrial or 
normal f^ee hand drawing:. 

schools. „ —,, , \ c -K . . 1 . . T . 

In schools § 2. ihe board ot education m each city m this state 
in cities, shall causc free instruction to be given in industrial or 

free hand drawing in at least one department of the 

schools under their charge. 
In union § 3. The board of education of each union free school 
d'iltrias^^^ district incorporated by special act of the legislature, shall 
State su- cause free instruction to be oriven in industrial or free hand 
ent m^ay ^ drawing in the schools under their charge, unless excused 
excuse therefrom by the superintendent of public instruction. 
'^* § 4. This act shall take effect October first, eighteen 

hundred and seventy- five. 



POWER OF UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO SELL OR EX- 
CHANGE REAL ESTATE ; ALSO CONCERNING REDUCTION OF 
NUMBER OF MExMBERS OF BOARDS OF EDUCATION. 

The following powers were conferred upon boards of 

supervisors by subdivision 28, section 1, chap. 482, Laws 

of 1875: 

To author- "^To authorize boards of trustees or of education in 

JfrV^_® ®^^® any union free school districts, or trustees of common 

change of school districts, established in conformity to the general 

' or to any special law of the state on the application of a 

majority of the taxable inhabitants of the district, voting 

on the question at a duly call'ed meeting, to sell or 

exchange real estate belonging to the district, for the 

purpose of improving or changing school-house sites 

and to increase or diminish the number of members of 

said boards. 

* As amended by sec. 1, chap. 339, Laws of 1878. 



For Relief of School Districts. 99 



CHAP. 219. 
1877. 



Ohap. 219. 

AjS" act for the relief of school districts wishing to con- 
tract with boards of education of cities, to educate their 
children in city schools. 

Passed May 3, 1877. 

The Peo2?le of the State of New YorJc^ represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

"^Section 1. Whenever any school district adjoining a Trustees 
cit\^ or village of six thousand inhabitants, by a vote of a powered by 
majority of the qualitied voters of snch district, shall J^^^Jg^t^i^^^J^ 
empower the trustees thereof, the said trustees shall enter to contract 
into a w^ritten contract with the board of education ofofeduca- 
such city or village, whereby all the children of such dis- oV^'vuiage^ 
trict may be entitled to be tanght in the public schools of ^^oSand 
such city or village, for a period of not less than twenty- inhabi- 
eight weeks in any school year, upon filing a copy of such teach the 
contract duly certified by the trustees of such school dis- jJH^^^°.^* 
trict, and by the secretary of the board of education of fP^^^^^r 
said city or village, in the office of the superintendent of sch(Sisof 
public instruction ; such school district shall be deemed or^vSifage. 
to have employed a competent teacher for such period, 
and shall be entitled to receive one distribution district 
quota each year, during which such contract shall be re- 
newed and continued. 

"§ 2. The board of education of any city or village, so Board of 
contracting with any school district, shall report the to report? 
number of persons of school age in such district, together ®^°- 
with those resident in the city or village, the same as 
though they were actual residents of the city or village, 
and shall report for the pupils attending the city or vil- 
lage schools from such district to the superintendent of 
public instruction, the same as though they were residents 
of such city or village. 

§ 3. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of superin- 
public instruction to give to school commissioners such gfv^fn-^ ^^ 
directions as may, in his judgment, be required and^J''"^^^jg. 
proper, in relation to the reports to be made by the trus- sioners in 
tees of such districts to school commissioners. reports. 

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

* As amended by chap. 396, Laws of 1879. 



100 Genekal Acts Relating to Schools. 



CHAP. 413. 

1877. 



Chap. 413. 

AN ACT to prevent frequent changes of text-books in 

scliools. 

Passed June 5, 1877; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorh^ rejpresenied in 
Senate and Asseinhly^ do enact as follows : 

boJk3 des- * SECTION 1. The boards of education or such bodies as 
ignatioa pcrfomi the functions of such boards in the several cities, 
and use of. yjUj^ggg ^j^^ union free school districts of this state shall 
have power and it shall be their duty to adopt and desig- 
nate text-books to be used in the schools under their charge 
in their respective districts. In the other school districts 
in the state the text-books to be used in the schools therein 
shall be designated at the first annual school meeting held 
after the passage of this act by a two-thirds vote of all the 
legal voters present and voting at such school meeting. 
When § 2. When a text-book shall have been adopted for use 

not to^be in any of the public or common schools in this state, as 
by^othlre^ provided in the first section of this act, it shall not be law- 
inflve fnl to supersede the text-book so adopted by any other 

years. -*■ ■ . i y ^/ 

book within a period of five years from the time of such 
adoption, except upon a three-fourths vote of the board 
of education, or of such body as perform the functions of 
such board, where such board has made the designation, 
or upon a three-fourths vote of the legal voters present 
and voting at the annual school meeting in any other 
school district. 
Penalty for § 3. Any pcrson or persons violating any of the pro- 
V o atmg yjg-Qjjg q£ i^j^j^g ,^Q^^ gj-j^^i 1^^ liable to a penalty of not less 

than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for 
every such violation, to be sued for by any tax payer of 
the school district, and recovered before any justice of the 
peace, said fine, when collected, to be paid to the collector 
or treasurer for the benefit of said school district. 
§ 4. This act shall take eflFect immediately. 

*As amended by sec. 1, chap. 427, Laws of 1884. 



Election of Officers. 101 



CHAP. 248. 
1878. 



Chap. 248. 

AN ACT in relation to the election of officers in certain 
school districts. 

Passed May 13, 1878; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New YorJc, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. In all school districts in this state in which Elections 
the number of children of school age exceeds three hun- 
dred, as shown by the last annual report of the trustees 
to the school commissioner, all district officers, except the 
treasurer and collector of union free school districts, shall 
be elected by ballot. 

*§ 2. Snc'h election shall be held on the Wednesday ^'^^J'^^^j 
next following the last Tuesday in August in each year, ^\f^ 
between the hours of twelve o'clock mid-day and four 
o'clock in the afternoon at the principal school-house in 
the district, or at such other suitable place as the trustees 
may designate. When the place of holding such election 
is other than at the principal school- house, the trustees 
shall give notice thereof, by the publication of such notice 
at least one week before the time of holding such election, 
in some newspaper published in the district, or by posting 
the same in three conspicuous places in the district. The 
trustees may, by resolution, extend the time of holding 
the election from four o'clock until sunset. 

§ 3. The trustees or board of education, or such of inspectors 
them as may be present, shall act as inspectors of elec- 
tion, and immediately after the close of the polls shall 
proceed to canvass the votes and declare the result. If 
any such district shall have but one trustee, the district 
clerk shall be associated with him as inspector. If a ma- 
jority of the trustees shall not be present at the time- for 
opening the polls, those in attendance may appoint any of 
the legal voters of the district present, to act as inspectors 
in place of the absent trustees. If none of the trustees 
shall be present at the time for opening the polls, the 
legal voters may choose three of their number to act as 
inspectors. 

* As amended by chap. 405, Laws of 1879; chap. 115, ^Laws of 1882, and 
chap. 413, Laws of 1883. 



102 General Acts Relating to Schools. 



1878. * ' §4. The trustees shall, at the expense of the district, 
J^J'^J[||^'^° provide a suitable box in which the ballots shall be de- 
baiiot-box. posited Hs they are received. Such ballots shall contain 
the names of the persons voted for, and shall designate 
the office for which each one is voted. The ballots may 
be either written or printed, or partly written and partly 
printed. 
Duties of § 5. The district clerk, or clerk of the board of educa- 
cierk. j.|q,j^ ^^ ^j^^ ^.^^^q ^^-^^ ]^g^ sli'dll attend the election and 
record in a book to be provided for that purpose the 
name of each elector as he deposits his ballot. When the 
polls shall have been closed the inspectors shall first count 
the ballots to see if they tally with the number of names 
recorded by the clerk. If they exceed that number, 
enough ballots shall be withdrawn to make them corre- 
spond. Any clerk who shall neglect or refuse to record 
the name of a person whose ballot is received by the in- 
spectors, shall be liable to a fine of twenty -five dollars, to 
be sued for by the supervisor of the town. If the district 
clerk or clerk of the board of education shall be absent, or 
shall be unable or shall refuse to act, the trustees, inspect- 
ors of election, or board of education shall appoint some 
person to act in his place. 
When g 6. If any person offering to vote at any such election 

challenged, shall be challenged as unqualified by any legal voter, the 
chairman of the inspectors shall require tlie person so 
offering to vote to make the following declaration : " I 
do declare and affirm that I am an actual resident of this 
school district, and that I am legally qualified to vote at 
this election." And every person making such declara- 
tion shall be permitted to vote ; but if any person shall 
refuse to make such declaration, his ballot shall not be re- 
f?r"fai^ir ceived by the inspectors. Any person who, upon being 
declaration gQ challeugred, shall willfully make a false declaration of 

or illegal , . . , ^5 » i i ' . i n i i i o 

voting. his right to vote at such election, shall be deemed guilty 
of a misdemeanor and punished by imprisonment in the 
county jail for not less than six months nor more than 
one year. Any person who shall vote at such election, 
not being duly qualified, shall, though not challenged, 
forfeit the sum of ten dollars, to be sued for by the su- 
pervisor of the town for the benefit of the school or 
schools of the district. 
?oncernfng § 7. All disputcs conccming the validity of any such 
tilfn^obe ©lection, or of any votes cast thereat, or of any of the 
referred to acts of the insDcctors or clerk, shall be referred to the 

the Super- ^ 



Women as School Trustees. 103 



-r^ T 1 -I • • • CHAP. 9. 

Superintendent of Public Instruction, whose decision m j^^g^^^^g^it 
the matter shall be final. Such Superintendent may, in of Public 
his discretion, order a new election in any district. tSon^"^" 

§ 8. The persons having the highest number of votes, Result, 
respectively, for the several offices shall be declared ciared^" 
elected, and the clerk shall record the declaration of the 
inspectors. In case two persons shall have an equal num- 
ber of votes for the same office, the inspectors of election 
shall immediately choose one of such persons. If the in- 
spectors cannot agree, the clerk shall decide the matter. 

§ 9. Tlie annual meetings in the several districts shall Meeting, 
be held as now provided by law for the purpose of trans- 
acting all business except the election of officers. 

*§'lO. This act shall not apply to cities nor to union ^xlmptld 
free school districts w^iose boundaries correspond with from the 
those of an incorporated village, nor to any school district Sf^hfs act. 
organized under a special act of the legislature, in which 
the time, manner and form of the election of district offi- 
cers shall be different from that prescribed for the elec- 
tion of officers in common school districts, organized under 
the general law, nor to any of the school districts in 
counties of Kichmond, Suffolk, Chenango, Westchester, 
Warren and Erie. 



Chap. 9. 

AN ACT to declare women eligible to serve as school 

trustees. 

Passed February 12, 1880; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the /State of New Yo7''k, represented in 
ISenate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

Section 1. No person shall be deemed to be ineligible 
to serve as any school officer, or to vote at any school 
meeting, by reason of sex, wiio has the other qualifica- 
tions now required by law. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 

*As amended by chap. 405, Laws of 1879; chap. 527, Laws of 1880; chap. 
381, Laws of 1883; chap. 89, Laws of 1884, and chap. 199, Laws of 1886. 



104: General Acts Relating to Schools. 



CUAP. 210. 

1680. 



Chap. 210. 

AN ACT to provide for the dissolution of union free 
school districts in certain cases. 

Passed May 8, 1880; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorh^ rejpresented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

Duty of Section 1. In any union free school district established 

educiuon ^"^^^' ^^® \2i^Q of this State, it shall be the duty of the 
onappii- board of education, upon the application of fifteen resi- 
c^l^meet- ^cut tax payers of such district, to call a special meeting 
uifon°th?^ in the manner prescribed by law, for the purpose of deter- 
question of mining whether application shall he made in the manner 
of district, hereinafter provided, for the dissolution of such union 
free school district, and for its reorganization as a com- 
mon school district or districts. 
When "^§ 2. Whenever, at any such meeting called and held 

vcfie^no? ^s aforesaid, it shall be determined by a majority vote of 
todissoive, the legal voters present and voting, to be ascertained by 
meeting to taking and recording the ayes and noes, not to dissolve 
wlthlu^^ such union free school district, .no other meeting for a 
years similar purpose shall be held in said district within three 
years from the time the first meeting was held, and when- 
if two- ever, at any such meeting called and held as aforesaid, it 
todfsloive^ shall be determined by a two-thirds vote of the legal voters 
board 9f present and voting, to be ascertained by taking and record- 
must pre- ing the ayes and noes, to dissolve such union free school 
board°of district, it shall be the duty of the board of education to 
l':l?^!lT.ll' present to the clerk of the board of supervisors a certified 

ors CGI ti" 1. /»! 11 • 1 •»• Ti •-! 

fled copy, copy of the call, notice and proceedmgs, and the said 
etc' ' clerk shall lay the same before the board of supervisors at 
Supervis- their next meeting. If the board of supervisors shall ap- 
proval", prove of the proceedings of said- meeting, the clerk shall 

certify the same to the board of education. 
When to Such approval shall not take effect until the day pre- 
take effect, ^^^-j^g ^.j^g ]^^ Tuesday of August next succeeding ; but 

after that date such district shall cease to be a union free 
S'dtect school district. 

te^ritor^'of § ^' ^^ ^^^ union free school district dissolved under 
a dissolved the f oreoToins provisions shall have been established bv 

district lZ__^_L L 

district hid * -^^ amended by sec. 15, chap. 413, Laws of 1883. 



Dissolution of Union Free School Districts. 105 



the consolidation of two or more districts, it shall be law- ^^fsso.^^^' 
fill for the board of supervisors to direct that its territory been form- 
be divided in two or more districts to correspond, so far two or™ 
as practicable, with the districts theretofore consolidated, districts be 

§4. If there shall be, in such dissolved union f I'ee j9jmedmto 
school district, an academy which shall have been adopted same as 
as the academic department of the union free school, soiidated?' 
under tlie provisions of title nine, chapter five hundred nan 
and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- ggl^^ien 
four, it shall, upon the application of a majority of the ^^^fj^^^ *^ 
surviving resident former trustees or stockholders, be trans- 
transferred by the board of education to said former trus- Hs^former 
tees or stockholders. cSftlonai 

§ 6. The board of supervisors may make its approval of approval 
the proceedings of any such meeting held as aforesaid con- Jisors!^'^' 
ditional upon the payment, by the district which has been 
most greatly benefited by the consolidation in the way of 
buildings and other improvements to the other district or 
districts into which the said union free school district is 
divided, of such sum or sums of money as they may deem 
equitable. 

§ 6. All moneys remaining in the hands of the treasurer handTo be^ 
of the union free school district when the order of disso- fioned 
lution shall take effect shall be apportioned equitably 
among the several districts into which such union free 
school district is divided, and shall be paid over to the col- 
lectors of such districts w^ien they shall have been elected 
and have qualified according to law. 

§ "^7. The district or districts formed by the dissolution meetfngs. 
of such union free school district shall hold its or their 
annual meeting or meetings on the last Tuesday of Au- 
gust next, after the dissolution of such union free school 
district, and shall elect officers as now required by law. 

§ 8. If the board of supervisors shall not approve the ?f P^^^eed- 
proceedings of any such meeting, held as aforesaid, formS^p^-^ 
the purpose of dissolving a union free school district, no So*^Jt1?er 
other meeting shall be held in such district, for a similar g^g^^^^lJ.^ 
purpose, within three vears from the time the first meet- three 

^ 1 ij " years. 

lug was held. 

§ 9. Whenever the proceedings of a meeting, held as dissSution 
aforesaid, for the purpose of dissolving a union f ree tJJ *^g®j.?j^^° 
school district, shall have been approved by the board of tendent of 
supervisors and shall have been certified by the clerk of Sruction. 
said board to the board of education, it shall be the duty 

♦ As amended by sec. 16, chap. 413, Laws of 1883. 

14 



106 General Acts Eelating to Schools. 



CHAP. MO. 

18S0. 



of the board of education of the district affected forthwith 
to notify the superintendent of public instruction, and to 
furnisli him copies of the call, notice, proceedings of the 
meeting, and proceedings of the board of supervisors taken 
thereon. 



Chap. 54:0. 

AN ACT in relation to the valuation of tlie property of 
the president, managers and company of the Delaware 
and Hudson Canal Company in school districts, for the 
purpose of taxation. 

Passed June 1, 1880 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorlc, represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact asfollov)s : 

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the town assessors, 
tion^vaiua- within fifteen days after the completion of their annual 
tion assessment list, to apportion the valuation of the property 

several of the president, managers, and company of the Delaware 
districts. ^^^ Hudson Canal Company, as appears on such assess- 
ment list, among the several school districts in their town 
in which any portion of said property is situated, giving 
to each of said districts their proper portion, according to 
the proportion that the value of said property in each of 
such districts bears to the value of the whole thereof in 
said town. 
To be in § 2. Such apportionment shall be in writing, and shall 
writing. \yQ signed by said assessors, or a majority of them, and shall 
set forth the number of each district, and the amount of 
the valuation of the property of the president, managers 
and company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com- 
Fiiedwith pauy, apportioned to each of said districts; and such 
town cleric apportionment shall be filed with the town clerk, by said 
assessors, or one of them, within five days after being 
made ; and the amount so apportioned to each district 
shall be the vahiation of the property of said Delaware 
and Hudson Canal Company, on which all taxes against 
said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in and for 
said districts shall be levied and assessed until the next 
annual assessment and apportionment. 
Supervisor | 3. In casc the assessors shall neglect to make such 
<HiiTe'*in^ apportionment, it shall be the duty of the supervisor of the 
caseof neg- |-Q^yj^^ ^^j^ ^]^g appfication of the trustees or board of educa- 



Payment of Salaries. 107 



tion of any district, or of the said Delaware and Hudson ^"^sl ^* 
Canal Compan}^, to make such apportionment, in the same lect by 
manner and with like effect as if made by said assessors* 

§ 4. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, furnish Certified 
to the trustees or board of education of each district a to^e'fur- 
certilied statement of the amounts apportioned to such Jrust^e^s. 
district, and the name of the company to which the same 
relates. 

§ 5. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, once in Certified 
each year, furnish to the agent of the said Delaware and apponfon- 
Hndson Canal Company and to the trustees or board of f^^JJfg^^g^® 
education of each school district to which any portion of tiiecom- 
said appropriation belongs, a certified copy of said appor-^^°^" 
tionment. 

§ 6, In case any alteration shall be made in any school when 
district, aifecting the property of the said Delaware and js made 
Hudson Canal Company, the officer making such altera- dSstrlct^^ 
tion shall at the same time determine what change in the 
valuation of the said property in such district would be 
just, on account of the alteration of such district, and the 
valuation shall be accordingly changed. 

§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately. 



V Cliap. 1. 

AN ACT to provide for the deficiency in the revenue of 
the United States deposit fund, and for the payment 
of the salaries of school commissioners. 

Passed January 15, 1881 ; three-fiftlis being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. The sum of seventy-six thousand nine hun- $76,957.77 
dred and fifty-seven dollars and seventy-seven cents isated°^^^~ 
hereby appropriated from any moneys in the treasury,, 
not otherwise appropriated, to supply the deficiency in 
the revenue of the United States deposit fund on the 
thirtieth day of September, eighteen hundred and eighty. 

§ 2. The salaries now due and hereafter to become duecommis- 
to the several school commissioners of the state shall be lories to 
paid out of any unexpended balances in the treasury cred-^®P^^^- 
ited to the free school fund. 



108 



CHAP. 043. 
1S81. 

Superin- 
tendent 
to set apart 
a Sinn 
sufficient 
to pay 
salaries of 
school 
commis- 
sioners 
Irora tlie 
1 ree school 
fund. 



General Acts Kelating to Schools. 

§ 3. In making the annual apportionment of school mon- 
eys, the superintendent of public instruction shall hereafter 
set apart a sum sufficient to pay the salaries of the several 
school commissioners from the free school fund, instead of 
from the United States deposit fund as heretofore. 

§ 4. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act 
are hereby repealed. 

§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately. 



Boards of 
supervis- 
ors may 
divide 
school 
commis- 
sioner dis- 
tricts con- 
taining' 
more than 
two hun- 
dred school 
districts. 



Chap. 543. 

AN ACT to amend chapter four hundred and eighty-two 
of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-live, entitled 
"An act to confer on boards of supervisors further pow- 
ers of local legislation and administration, and to regu- 
late the compensation of supervisors," as amended by 
chapter 'Q.ve hundred and twelve of the laws of eighteen 
himdred and eighty. 

Passed June 16, 1881 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New YorJc^ represented in 
Senate and Assemhly^ do enact as follows : 

Section 1. Chapter four hundred and eighty-two of the 
laws of eiojhteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled "An 
act to confer on boards of supervisors further powers of 
local legislation and administration, and to regulate the 
compensation of supervisors," as amended by chapter live 
hundred and twelve of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
eighty, is hereby further amended by adding thereto the 
following additional subdivision to section one of said act: 

86. To divide any school commissioner district which 
contains more than two hundred school districts and to 
erect therefrom an additional school commissioner district, 
and when such district shall have been formed, a school 
comniissioner for said district shall be elected in the way 
and manner now provided by law for the election of school 
commissioner.. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 



Payment of Taxes by Railroad Companies. 109 



CHAP. 675. 
1S81. 



Chap. 675- 

AN ACT to facilitate the payment of school taxes by 
railroad companies. 
Passed July 25, 1881; tliree-fif this being present. 

The People of the State of New YorTc,^ represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

^Section 1. It shall be the duty of the school collector School 
in each school district in this state, except in the counties to delwer 
of New York and Kings, within five days after the receipt fo^Joun^y 
by such collector of any and every tax or assessment roll of treasurer 
his district, to prepare and deliver to the county treasurer tax or as- 
of the county in which such district, or the greater part aSnsT* 
thereof, is situated, a statement showing: the name of each railroad 

.- ' ' . . . , ^'n , companies 

railroad company appearmg m said roll, the assessment in their 
against each of said companies for real and personal prop- 
erty respecti vely,and the tax against each of said companies. 
It shall thereupon be the duty of such county treasurer, treasurer 
immediately after the receipt by him of such statement ™"st 
from such school collector, to notify the ticket agent of any notffy the 
such railroad company assessed for taxes at the station ageift*^of 
nearest to the office of such county treasurer, personally or ^^^J JJ'^ 
by mail, of the fact that such statement has been filed with pany. 
him by such collector, at the same time specifying the 
amount of the tax to be paid by such railroad company. 

§ 2. Any railroad company heretofore organized,or which Railroad 
may hereafter be organized, under the laws of this state, may pay 
may within thirty days after the receipt of such statement flJs^o*^ 
by such county treasurer, pay the amount of tax so levied treasurer, 
or assessed against it in such district and in such statement 
mentioned and contained, with one per centum fees 
thereon, to such county treasurer, who is hereby author- 
ized and directed to receive such amount and to give 
proper receipt therefor. 

§ 3. In case any railroad companj^ shall fail to pay such collector 
tax within said thirty days, it shall be the duty of such tax after 
county treasurer to notify the collector of the school dig- thirty days 
trict in which such delinqueni: railroad company is assessed, 
of its failure to pay said tax, and upon receipt of such 
notice it shall be the duty of such collector to collect such 
unpaid tax in the manner now provided by law, together 
with five per centum fees thereon; but no school collector 
shall collect by distress and sale any tax levied or assessed 

* As amended by sec. 1, chap. 3L9, Laws of 188^. 



110 General Acts Relating to Schools. 



^"t^2.^^^' in his district upon the property of any railroad company 
until the receipt by him of such notice from the county 
treasurer. 
Amount § 4. The several amounts of tax received by any county 
Ererto^br ti'^^snrer in this state^ under the provisions of this act, of 
paid over and from raih'oad companies, shall be by such county 
lector. treasurer placed to the credit of the school district for or 
on account of which the same was levied or assessed, and 
on demand paid over to the school collector thereof, and 
the one per centum fees received therewith shall be placed 
to the credit of, and on demand paid to, the school collec- 
tor of such school district. 

§ 5. Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to 
hinder, prevent or prohibit any railroad company from 
payinir its school tax to the school collector direct, as now 
provided by law. 

§ 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 



Cliap. 318. 

AK ACT to regulate the instruction of common school 
teachers in academies and academical departments of 
union schools. 

Passed June 7, 1883. 

The People of the State of New Yorh, represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

Appropri- SECTION 1. The appropriation provided by chapter 
it)ciiidein-four hundred and twenty-five of the laws of eighteen 
by^egents hundred and seventy-seven, for the instruction in 
university academies and union schools in the science and practice 
' of common school teaching, shall be deemed to include, 
and shall include, the due inspection and supervision of 
such instruction by the regents of the university, and the 
expenses of such inspection" and supervision for the pres- 
ent and each succeeding fiscal year shall be paid out of 
said appropriation on vouchers certified by the regents of 
the university.' 
Classes g 2. Each class organized in any academy or union 

visitation school Under appointment by the regents of the university, 
coininiT^ for instruction in the science and practicie of common 
sioner. school teaching, shall be subject to the visitation of the 
school commissioner of the district in which such 



Instruction of Common School Teachers. Ill 



CHAP. 318. 
1882. 



academy or union scliool is situated ; and it shall be the 
duty of said commissioner to advise and assist the P'*inci- ^^"j^y^9^_ 
pals of said academies or union schools in the organiza- sioner. 
tion and management, and in the final examination of 
said classes, and after the close of the term of instruction 
of said classes to make to the regents of the university, 
in the manner to be prescribed by them, a report in re- 
gard to the instruction of said classes, and the qualifica- 
tions of the individual members thereof. 

§ 3. Each scholar instructed for the full term provided scholars 
by law, in a class organized for instruction in the science be deemed 
and practice of common school teaching, who shall have J^^^^l^t 
passed the examination, known and designated as the re- learning 
gents' preliminary examination, in arithmetic, English common 
grammar, geography and spelling, and who, in addition, ®^^°°^®" 
shall have passed the final examination prescribed for 
such classes by the said regents, including an examination 
in the history of the United States, the principles of civil 
government and the methods of teaching, shall be deemed 
to have sufficient learning to teach in the common schools 
of the state ; and to each such scholar the regents of the Regents to 
university shall grant a testimonial which, when indorsed mJnLifand 
by any school commissioner, shall constitute a certificate J2^i*^[®®' 
of qualification and license to teach in the common schools thereof by 
of his district for a period of one year from the date of Smmis- > 
such indorsement ; and at the expiration of the period ^^^ner. 
named in said license, and at successive expirations 
thereafter, said certificate may be re-indorsed by any school 
commissioner, and at his discretion constituted a license 
to teach in the common schools of his district for a 
period not to exceed three years after each re-indorsement. 

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 



112 



General Acts Relating to Schools. 



CHAP. 414. 

1883. 



Cities hav- 
ing a su- 
perintend- 
ent of 
schools 
not to be 
included in 
commis- 
sioner dis- 
trict. 



Supervis- 
ors to 
divide 
county 
into com- 
missioner 
districts. 



Chap. 4.14=. 

AN ACT to amend section sixteen of chapter one hun- 
dred and seventy-nine of the laws of eighteen liundrcd 
and fifty-six, entitled "An act to provide for a more 
thorongli supervision and inspection of common schools, 
and further to amend the statutes relating to public 
instruction in the state." 

Passed May 16, 1883; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorh^ represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. Section sixteen of chapter one hundred and 
seventy-nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty- 
six is hereby amended so as to read as follows : 

§ 16. The several cities which already or which shall 
hereafter, under special acts, elect superintendents of 
common schools, or whose board of education choose 
clerks doing the duty of supervision under direction of 
the board of education, shall not be included in any com- 
missioner's district created by this act or authorized to be 
formed by the board of supervisoi's ; and the several boards 
of supervisors in counties in which such cities are joined 
to towns in the formation of an assembly district may 
divide the county, exclusive of such cities, into school 
commissioner's districts as they may deem advisable, but 
no town shall be divided in forming such districts. 



Local au- 
thorities 
to make 
provision 
for study 
of physi- 
olosy and 
hygiene. 



Oliap. 30. 

AN ACT in relation to the study of physiology and hy- 
giene in the public schools. 

Passed March 10, 1884; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. ^Provision shall be made by the proper local 
school authorities for instructing all pupils in all schools 
supported by public money, or under state control, in 
physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the 
effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon 
the human system. 



Kelief of Non-Resident Tax Payees. 113 



§ 2. Ko certificate shall be granted to any person to mk. 
teach in the public schools of the state of New York after f^f^^erufi-^ 
the first day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, jates to 
who has not passed a satisfactory examination in physi- pass exam - 
ology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of Iht^Jtudy. 
alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon the human 
system. 

Cliap. 413. 

AN ACT for the relief of non-resident tax payers who, 
or whose children or wards, are attendants at any free 
school. 

Passed May 31, 1884; tliree-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York^ represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

^Sectiox 1. Pupils attending any free school, whether Non-resi- 
the same be organized under chapter five hundred and gubjfcuo^ 
fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, the pay- 
entitled 'An act to revise and consolidate the general tuition^ 
acts relating to public instruction," or under any special ^®®^* 
act applying to a village or city, if residing out of the 
districts where said schools are kept, shall be subject to 
the payment of the tuition prescribed by the proper au- 
thorities ; provided, that if such non-resident pupils, their Deduction 
parents or guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for the ^^J^^ ™^^® 

r o'^ .-,-,,, „ when pu- 

support 01 said schools m the said districts, on account oi ph, parent 
owning property therein, the amount of any such tax paid fa^n^pays 
by a non-resident pupil, his parent or guardian, during JrSt whlre 
the same school year in which the charge for tuition was pupji at- 
incurred, shall be deducted from such charge for tuition, school. 



Chap. 280. 

AN ACT to provide for the taxation of forest lands in 
the counties known as the Forest Preserve. 

Passed May 5, 1886; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 



Wild or 



Section 1. All wild or forest lands belonging to, or forest 



which may hereafter be acquired by the state within the{.|^ed 

* As amended by sec 11 , chap. 340, Laws of 1886. 

15 



lands to be 



114 General Acts Relating to Schools. 



1880.'*' ■ limits of the Forest Preserve, as established by chapter 
two hundred and eighty-three of the laws of eighteen 
hundred and eighty-five, shall be assessed and taxed at a 
like valuation and at a like rate as those at which similar 
lands of individuals within such counties are assessed and 
taxed, subject, however, to the provisions of this act. 
Assessors ^^ ^^' before August first in every year the assessors o! 
to file copy the town within which the lands so belonging to the 
men?-roii State are situated shall file in the office of the comptrol- 
Smptroi- -^^^'5 ^^^ ^^ *^® office of the forest commission, a copy 
ler and of the asscssment-roll of the town which, in addition to 
commis- the Other matters now required by law to be stated 
vvhat as- ^^^^^1°? ^hall State and specify which and how much, if 
sessment- any, of the lands assessed are forest lands, and also, and 
atate.^^^^ Separately, which and how much, if any, of the lands as- 
sessed are lands belonging to the State ; such statements 
and specifications to be verified by the oaths of a major- 
Comptroi- ity of the said assessors. The comptroller shall there- 
cm-rect as- upou and before the first day of September following, 
sessment. and after hearing the assessors and the forest commis- 
sion if they or any of them so desire, correct or reduce 
any assessment of state lands which may in his judg- 
ment be in unfair proportion to the remaining assess- 
ments of lands within the town, and shall in other re- 
spects approve the assessment and communicate such ap- 
proval, and no such assessment of state lands shall be 
valid for any purpose until the amount of the assessment 
is so approved by the comptroller, and such approval, 
attached and deposited with the assessment-roll of the 
town and therewith delivered by the assessors of the 
town to the supervisor of the town, or other officer au- 
thorized to receive the same from the assessors. JSTo tax 
Taxforthe f^r the erection of a school-house or opening a road shall 
rschooi-^^ ^® imposed upon state lands, unless such erection or 
house. opening shall have been first approved in writing by the 
How pay- forcst commission. Payments of the taxes which may 
Sxefto^be ^^ imposed according to law and the provisions of this 
made. act upon lands so belonging to the state shall in every 
year be made by the treasurer of the state upon the 
certificate of the comptroller as to the lawful and just 
amount of such taxes, by allowing to the treasurer of the 
county in which any such lands may be situate a credit 
of the amount of such taxes due upon such lands upon the 
amount payable by such county treasurer in such year to 
the state for state taxes; providing, however, that no 



Employment and Pay of Teachers. 115 



fees shall be allowed by the comptroller to the county i887. 
treasurers in adjusting their accounts for such portion of 
the state tax as is so paid. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 



Cliap. 335. 

AN ACT in relation to the employment and pay of 
teachers in the public schools. 

Passed May 16, 1887; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York^ rejpresented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. From and after the passage of this act, all J^^^^^rau- 
officers or boards of officers who shall employ any teacher hiring, 
to teach in any of the public schools of this state shall, at 
the time of such employment, make and deliver to such 
teacher, or cause to be made, and delivered, a memoran- 
dum in writing, signed by said officer, or by the mem- 
bers of said board, or by some person duly authorized by 
said board, to represent them in the premises, in which 
the details of the agreement between the parties, and par- 
ticularly the length of the term of employment, the amount 
of compensation and the time or times when such com- 
pensation shall be due and payable, shall be clearly and 
definitely set forth. But nothing herein contained shall 
be deemed to abridge or otherwise affect the term of 
employment of any teacher now or hereafter employed in 
the public schools, nor to repeal or affect any provision of 
special laws concerning the employment or removal of . 
teachers now in force in any particular locality. 

§ 2. The pay of any teacher employed in the public Pay of. 
schools of this state shall be due and payable at least as 
often as at the end of each calendar month of the term 
of employment. 

§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 



116 General Acts Kelating to Schools. 



CHAP. 640. 



Chap. 538. 

AN ACT in relation to health and decency in the school 
districts of this state. 

Passed June 7/1887; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

d?s*eYsand SECTION 1. From and after the lirst day of S'eptember, 
division eiH"hteen hundred and eighty-seven, the board of educa- 

fences to . ^ . i ^ x ^ i. i • 

be con- tion, or the trustee or trustees having supervision over 
structed. ^^^ school district of this state, shall provide suitable and 
convenient water-closets or privies for each of the schools 
under their charge, at least two in number, which shall be 
entirely separated each from tiie other and having separate 
means of access, and the approaches thereto shall be sepa- 
rated by a substantial close fence not less than seven feet 
in height. It shall be the duty of the officers aforesaid to 
keep the same in a clean and wholesome condition, and a 
failure to comply with the provisions of this act on the 
part of the trustees shall be sufficient grounds for removal 
from office, and for withholding from the district any 
Tax for. share of the public moneys of the state. Any expense 
incurred by the trustees aforesaid in carrying out the 
requirements of this act shall be a charge upon the dis- 
trict, when such expense shall have been approved by the 
school commissioner of the district within which the 
school district is located ; and a tax may be levied there- 
for without a vote of the district. 



Cliap. 54:0. 

AN ACT to provide for the establishment of evening 
schools for free instruction in industrial drawing. 

Passed June 7, 1887; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorh, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. The board of education, or other body hav- 
S^ifooi?for ing supervision of the public schools in any city or union 



Code of Public Instruction. 117 



free scliool district in this state, is Iiereby authorized to mi. , ' 
estabh'sh and maintain evening schools for free instruction diawin^g*^ 
in industrial drawing, whenever the city authorities in any 
city or the qualified electors duly convened in ajiy union 
free school district shall so direct, and shall make provision 
for the maintenance of snch schools. In addition to the 
powers now conferred by law upon the authorities of any 
city, or upon the electors of any union free sciiool district 
in the state, snch authorities and snch electors shall also 
have power, wdienever they shall think it advisable, to 
raise such moneys as shall be necessary to carry out the 
purposes of this act. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 



Cliap. 672. 

AN ACT to provide for the distribution of the Code of 
Public Instruction to the several school districts of the 
state, and making appropriation therefor. 

Passed June 24, 1887. 

The People of the State of New YorJc^ represented in 
Senate and Assemhly^ do enact as folloios : 

Section 1. The state superintendent of puoiic instruc- Code of 
tion is hereby direct to deliver or cause to be delivered struction' 
one copy of the Code of Public Instruction, the amended SStributSi. 
and annotated edition of eighteen hundred and eighty- 
seven, substantially bound in law sheep, to each of the 
several school districts of the state. The copies of said to be the 
Code so distributed shall be the property of the several ^edis'Sct^ 
school districts receiving the same, and there shall be 
plainly inscribed on the outside of the cover of each book 
the following words, namely : This Code is the property 
of school district number , town of , 

county of ; the blank spaces being filled in by 

the number of the district and the names of the town 
and county where said book shall belong. 

§ 2. The trustees of each school district are hereby made cu"t^o|f|ns 
the custodians of the Code of Public Instruction belong- of. 
ing to such school district, and shall deliver the same to 
their successor or successors in ofiice. And in case such incase of 
copy of said Code shall have been lost or destroyed through replaced. ' 
or by means of the fault or negligence of the trustees, the 



118 General Acts Relating to Schools. 



^^ii£'. ^^^" trustees so permitting the same to be lost or destroyed shall, 
at their own expense, procure a copy of the latest edition 
of the Code of Public Instruction and deliver the same to 
their successor or successors in otHce in lieu of the copy 
so lost or destroyed, 
fm^faikire § ^' ^^'^ry trustee who fails to comply with the pro- 
of trustees visions of the foregoing section shall forfeit the sum of 
to comp y. t^Yenty-five dollars. This penalty shall be sued for by the 
trustees of the district and shall be used in the purchase 
of books for the district library, but the state superintend- 
uon of^ ent of public instruction may, upon the application in 
moneys re- writinor of the trustees of the district, indorsed bv the 

c©iv6(i for ^ *" 

penalties, scliool Commissioner of that commissioner district, direct 
that it 1)6 applied toward the payment of teachers' wages. 

Appropria- § 4. The sum of eio:hteen thousand dollars, or so much 
thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out 
of any moneys not otherwise appropriated, to defray the 
expense of carrying out the provisions of this act, which 
shall be paid by the treasurer, on the warrant of the 
com}>troller, upon vouchers approved by said superin- 
tendent. 

§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately. 



tion for. 



Ohap. 675. 

AN ACT to provide plans and specifications for the use 
of trustees in the erection of school-houses, and making 
an appropriation therefor. 

Passed June 24, 1887. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

Plans for SECTION 1. The State superintendent of public mstruc- 
buiidings. ^^^^ '^^ hereby authorized and directed to procure archi- 
tect's plans and specifications for a series of school build- 
ings, to cost sums ranging from six hundred to ten 
thousand dollars, together with full detail working plans 
and directions for the erection of the same. After pro- 
curing said plans and specifications, he shall accompany 
the same with blank forms for builders' contracts and 
with suggestions in relation to the preparation of the 
grounds and the arrangem.ent of the building with regard 
to lighting, heating, ventilating and the health and con- 



Report of Superintendent. 119 



venience of teachers and pupils, and then pubHsh the ^^mi.™' 
whole in convenient form for distribution to trustees and -^rrange- 

. n 1 mentof 

others having use tor the same. plans, etc. 

§ 2. The sum of two thousand five hundred dollars, or Appropria- 
so much thereof as may be necessary, payable out of the^^^^^^''- 
free school fund, is hereby appropriated for carrying out 
the purposes of this act. 

§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 



Chap. 710. 

AN ACT to amend chapter five hundred and eighty-eight 
of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty- six, entitled 
"An act to provide for and define the pubhc or legis- 
lative printing." 

Passed June 25, 1887 ; three-fifths being present. 

The Peojple of the State of New Yorh, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. * * * * * * 

§ 2. Section eight of chapter ^yq hundred and eighty- 
eight of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-six is 
hereby amended so as to read as follows ; 

§ 8. In addition to the usual number of regular reports 
made by the state officers and institutions, there shall be 
printed as extra copies of legislative documents for the 
use of the respective departments, institutions and boards : 
* * * * of the report of the superintend- 
ent of public instruction, fifteen thousand copies, all bound, 
in cloth, to be distributed by that officer as follows : eleven 
thousand three hundred copies for the school districts of 
the state, being one copy for each school district ; nine 
hundred copies to school commissioners and city superin- 
tendents of schools ; two hundred copies to the state nor- 
mal and training schools ; three hundred copies to acade- 
mies and high schools ; one thousand copies to members 
and officers of the legislature and state officers ; one thou- 
sand copies for the use of the state superintendent of pub- 
lic instruction ; also three handred copies printed on 
forty-four pound calendered paper and bound in leather, 
for exchange with the superintendents of public instruc- 
tion of the states and territories, and for distribution 
among pubhc libraries. * * * * 



120 General Acts Relating to Schools. 

Chapter 800, Laws of 1866, as amended, is printed in the 
chapter on School-house Sites, at page 279. 

The general acts relating to the State Normal Schools are 
printed in the chapter on State Normal Schools, at page 463. 



PART II 



APPEALS. 



ON APPEALS TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUC- 
TION. 

Title XII. 

Section 1. Any person conceiving hiimseK aggrieved in conse- 
quence of any decision made : 

1. By any school district meeting ; 

2. By any school commissioner or school commissioners and 
other officers, in forming or altering, or refusing to form or alter, 
any school district, or in refusing to apportion any school moneys 
to any such district or part of a district ; 

3. By a supervisor in refusing to pay any such moneys to 
any such district ; 

4. By the trustees of any district in paying or refusing to pay 
any teacher, or in refusing to admit any scholar gratuitously into 
any school; 

5. By any trustees of any school district library concerning 
such library, or the books therein, or the use of such books ; 

6. By any district meeting in relation to the library; 

7. By any other official act or decision concerning any other 
matter under this act, or any other act pertaining to common 
schools, may appeal to the superintendent of public instruction, 
who is hereby authorized and required to examine and decide the 
same ; and his decision shall be final and conclusive, and not sub- 
ject to question or review in any place or court whatever. 

§ 2. The superintendent, in reference to such appeals, shall 
have power : 

1. To regulate the practice therein. 



122 Appeals. 

2. To determine whether an appeal shall stay proceedings, and 
prescribe conditions upon which it shall or shall not so operate. 

3. To decline to entertain, or to dismiss, an appeal, when it shall 
appear that the appellant has no interest in the matter appealed 
from, and that the matter is not a matter of public concern, and 
that the person injuriously affected by the act or decision appealed 
from is incompetent to appeal. 

4. To make all orders, by directing the levy of taxes or other- 
wise, which may in his judgment, be proper or necessary to give 
effect to his decision. 

§ 3. The superintendent shall file, arrange in the order of time, 
and keep in his office, so that they may be at all times accessible, 
all the proceedings on every appeal to him under this title, in- 
cluding his decision and orders founded thereon ; and copies of 
all such papers and proceedings, authenticated by him under his 
seal of office, shall be evidence equally with the originals. 

The right of appeal to the school department was first given in 1822. It has 
since remained with the head of the department, except for the short period 
from 1841 to 1847, during which appeals were in the first instance brought to 
the county superintendents, from whose decisions an appeal could be brought 
to the Superintendent. 

The supreme court, in 3 Denio, 177, declare that " this provision was intended 
as a cheap and expeditious mode of settling most, if not at all, of the difl&cul- 
ties and disputes arising in the course of the execution of the law organizing 
and regulating common schools. The legislature has virtually declared that, 
where a party will forego that convenient method of adjusting such a contro- 
versy as the present, and resort to the ordinary courts, it shall be at his own 
expense as regards costs." In 11 Wend. 91, the court made substantially the 
same remarks when refusing to give relief by an action of trespass against 
trustees for their proceedings in selling the plaintiff's property under a tax list 
and warrant which were in more than one respect erroneous. A further rea- 
son for preferring the remedy by appeal, to a common law action is, that the 
Superintendent can dispose of all the questions connected with the case in a 
single decision; where a proceeding is wrong, he cannot only reverse it, but 
direct the appropriate remedy so as to redress all persons who have been injuri- 
ously affected; while an action at law inures only to the benefit of the person 
who brings it, and only gives pecuniary damages, without substituting a cor- 
rect proceeding in the place of an erroneous one. 

No person can sustain an appeal unless he is aggrieved, that is, injured in 
his rights by the act or decision of which he complains. Generally, every 
inhabitant of a district is aggrieved by the wrongful act or omission of a trus- 
tee or school commissioner, by which money or property is disposed of, or not 
secured for the benefit of the district. But no one is aggrieved by another 
being included in a tax list, although other inhabitants are by the omission of 
one who should be taxed; and appeals may be made by trustees in behalf of 
their district whenever they are aggrieved. 

Before giving the rules which have been made to regulate the practice upon 
appeals, it is proper to call attention to some general principles in relation to 
the mode of drawing them up. In the first place, the department wants facts. 



Appeals. 123 

and not arguments, far less injurious imputations upon tlie motives of parties. 
The facts should be distinctly averred, so that an indictment for perjury would 
lie if they are willfully misstated. Therefore, they should not be stated by 
way of recital under a "whereas," or in any similar indirect way. Every 
material fact should be stated with all practicable particularity as to time, 
qualities, numbers, etc. Where a statement is ambiguous or doubtful in mean- 
ing, that construction is adopted which is most unfavorable to the party mak- 
ing it. The appellant should make out his own case; so that if no answer is 
put in, the Superintendent will have, in the appeal itself, all the facts to inform 
him what order ought to be made. 

In the bringing and answering of appeals, it is recommended that the mat- 
ters be written upon paper, ruled as paper is ruled for legal pleadings. Such 
paper is kept by all stationers and booksellers, and is known as law-paper or 
legal cap. The several sheets should be written, as lawyers write their papers, 
on both sides, so that the bottom of the first page is the top of the second, and 
the sheets fastened with tape, or attached by paste, at the ends, and not at the 
sides. Manuscript arranged in this fashion is more easily handled, folded and 
filed. They should be smoothly folded, and indorsed with the title of the case, 
briefly stating the substance of the appeal or answer, with the name of the par- 
ties, and the district, town and county affected. The party sending an appeal 
or answer must also indorse on the paper his post-office address. 

RULES OF PRACTICE. 

Pursuant to the authority conferred by section 2, title XII, chapter 555, 
Laws of 1864, the State Superintendent has, by an order dated July 15, 1887, 
established the following rules to regulate the practice in appeals: 

1. An appeal must be in writing, addressed "To the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction," and signed by the appellant. When made by the trustees 
of a district, it must be signed by all the trustees, or a reason must be given 
for the omission of any, verified by the oath of the appellant, or of some per- 
son acquainted with such reason. 

2. A copy of the appeal, and of all the statements, maps and papers intended 
to be presented in support of it, with the affidavit in verification of the same, 
must be served on the officer or officers whose act or decision is complained of, 
or some of them; or if it be from the decision or proceeding of a district meet- 
ing, upon the district clerk or one of the trustees, whose duty it is to cause 
information of such appeal to be given to the inhabitants who voted for the 
decision or proceeding appealed from. Immediately after the service of such 
copy, the original, together with an affidavit proving the service of a copy 
thereof, and stating the time and manner of the service and the name and 
official character of the person upon whom such service was made, must be 
transmitted to the Department of Public Instruction at Albany. If an answer 
is received to an appeal which has not been transmitted to the department, 
such appeal will be dismissed. 

3. Such service must be made by delivering a copy of the appeal to the 
party to be served, personally, or in case he cannot be found in the commis- 
sioner district in which he resides, after due diligence, by delivering the same 
at his residence to some person of suitable age and discretion, between six 
o'clock in the morning and nine o'clock in the evening. 

4. After such service the original must be sent to the Department of Public 
Instruction within thirty days after the making of the decision or the perform- 
ance of the act complained of, or within that time after the knowledge of the 
cause of complaint came to the appellant, or some satisfactory excuse must be 
rendered, in the appeal, for the delay. 

5. The party on whom the appeal was served must, within ten days from 
the time of such service, answer the same, either by concurring in a statement 
of facts with the appellant, or by a separate answer. Such statement and 
answer must be signed by all the trustees or other officers whose act, omission 



1-^ Appeals. 

or decision is appealed from, or a good reason on oatbi must be given for the 
omission of the signature of any of them. Such answer must be verified hj 
oath, and a copy served on the appellants, or some one of them. 

6. So far as the parties concur in a statement, no oath will be required to it. 
But all facts, maps or papers, not agreed upon by them and evidenced by their 
signature on both sides, must be verified by oath. 

7. All oaths required by these regulations may be taken before any person 
authorized to take the acknowledgment of deeds, or to take aifidavits. 

8. A copy of the answer, and of all the statements, maps and papers intended 
to be presented in support of it, must be serv'ed upon the appellants, or some 
one of them, within ten days after service of a copy of the appeal, unless 
further time be given by the State Superintendent, on application, in special 
cases; but no replication or rejoinder shall be allowed, except by permission 
of the State Superintendent; in which case such replication and rejoinder shall 
be duly verified by oath, and copies thereof served on the opposite party. 

9. Proof of service of copies of the appeal, answer and all other papers 
intended to be used on the hearing of the appeal, in the manner prescribed by 
rule 3, must, in all cases, accompany the same; and when the service is other 
than personal, the affidavit of service must state facts showing due diligence 
in the effort to obtain personal service. 

10. When any proceeding of a district meeting is appealed from, and when 
the iu habitants of a district generally are interested in the matter of the appeal, 
and in all cases where an inhabitant might be an appellant had the decision or 
proceeding been the opposite of that which was made or had, any one or more 
of such inhabitants may answer the appeal, with or without the trustees. 

11. Where the appeal has relation to the alteration or formation of a school 
district, it must be accompanied by a map, exhibiting the site of the school- 
house, the roads, the old and new lines of districts, the different lots, the 
particular location and distance from the school-houses of the persons 
aggrieved, and their relative distance, if there are two or more school-houses 
in question . Also a list of all the taxable inhabitants in the district or terri- 
tory to be affected by the question, showing in separate columns the valuation 
of their property, taken from the last assessment-roll, and the number of 
children between five and twenty-one belonging to each person, distinguishing 
the districts to which they respectively belong. 

12. An appeal of itself does not stay proceedings. If the party desires such 
stay, he should apply for it by petition duly verified. The Superintendent 
will grant a stay or not, as in his judgment it may be proper, or may subserve 
the interests of either party or the public; and may direct a copy of the peti- 
tion to be served on the opposite party, and a hearing of both sides before 
deciding upon the application. 

13. When a party, appellant or respondent, appears in person, his name 
and post-office address must be indorsed on each paper filed on such appeal in 
the Department. When a party appears by an attorney, the name and post- 
office address of the attorney must be so indorsed. 

14. The decision of the Superintendent in every case will contain the order, 
or directions, necessary and proper for giving effect to his decisions. 

15. A certified copy of the decision upon the appeal will be forwarded by 
the Superintendent to the clerk of the school district in which the appeal arose, 
whose duty it will be to file the same in his office as a public record. 



Appeals. 125 

COMMISSIONERS TO TAKE TESTIMONY, 

Title II. 
§ 14. Every school commissioner shall have power to take affi- 
davits and administer oaths in all matters pertaining to common 
schools, but without charge or fee ; and, under the direction ot 
the superintendent of public instruction, to take and report to 
him the testimony in any case of appeal. 

It was not the design of this section to supersede the present mode estab- 
lished by regulation of presenting testimony upon appeals in the form of 
written affidavits, but to enable the Superintendent to obtain additional light, 
where the written evidence is conflicting, ambiguous or otherwise unsat- 
isfactory, by the oral examination of witnesses before a commissioner. Where 
the Superintendent conceives this necessary or desirable, an order will be 
made in the case, referring it to the proper commissioner to hear and report 
all testimony which may be produced before him by the respective parties to 
the appeal, or the testimony of particular witnesses named in the order, or 
testimony in relation to particular issues specified. The range of inquiry will 
be limited by the terms of the order. 

Upon receiving the order, the commissioner will give notice to both parties 
of the time and place at which he will hear the evidence to be produced by 
them respectively, if the reference is general, or of the witness named, or in 
relation to particular issues or subjects of inquiry, if the reference is limited 
in either respect. At the time and place appointed, the commissioner will 
administer an oath to the witnesses in the following form: 

You swear (or declare and affirm) that the evidence you shall give upon this 
hearing, under the order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on the 
appeal of (reciting the title of the proceeding as the same is given 

in the entitling of the order), shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth, so help you God. 

The evidence of each witness on his direct examination should be reduced 
to writing. It should then be read over to him, and any additions or correc- 
tions he desires to make should be stated (without erasing any thing that has 
been written), and should then be subscribed by the witness and certified by 
the commissioner, before the witness is cross-examined. The cross-examina- 
tion is to be taken, corrected, subscribed and certified in the same manner. 

At the conclusion of the examination the commissioner should indorse or 
underwrite upon the original order. "The execution of this order appears 
by the depositions hereto annexed. A. B., Commissioner." He should then 
append to the order, and return therewith to the Superintendent, the deposi- 
tions in the following form: 



Depositions taken on the day 

[Title of the case as in the order. J | of , at , under an order of 

the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, dated , before A. B,, school 
commissioner for the commis- 

sioner district of county. 



CD., a witness produced, was duly sworn by said commissioner, and on 
being orally examined by for the appellant (or respondent), 

deposed as follows: I reside in the town of ; I was present at a 

meeting held in District Xo. , on the 10th day of May, 1 887, etc. 



126 Appeals. 

On hearing the above read, the witness further deposed: I want to be 
understood that I was not present at the meeting (give the additions and cor- 
rections of the witness to his testimony as reported). 

(Signed.) 

C. D. 
Subscribed and sworn to this ) 
day of , before me, y 

A. B., Commissioner. 



On being cross-examined by for the respondent (or appellant) the 

witness above named deposed: I saw James Jones at the meeting to which I 
have testified. He was outside of the building when the meeting was 
organized, etc 

The commissioner has no power to compel the attendance of witnesses. 
If any of those named in the order do not appear, he should take and report 
the evidence of the parties, showing the fact of their refusal or any reason for 
non-attendance. 



ENFORCmG SUPERINTENDENT'S DECISIONS. 

Title I. 

§ 18. Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any 
school commissioner, or other school officer, has been guilty * 
* * of willfully disobeying any decision, order or regulation 
of the superintendent, the superintendent may, by an order under 
his hand and seal, which order shall be recorded in his office, 
remove such school commissioner or other school officer from 
his office. 

Where the person disobeying the Superintendent's order or decision is an 
officer not subject to removal by the Superintendent, such as supervisor or 
town clerk, the procedure is by mandamus. 



COSTS AND EXPENSES IN APPEALS AND OTHER PROCEEDINGS 
BY OR AGAINST SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

Title XIII. 
§ 6. In any action against a school officer or officers, including 
supervisors of towns, in respect of their duties and powers under 
this act, for any act performed by virtue of or under color of 
their offices, or for any refusal or omission to perform any duty 
enjoined by law, and which might have been the subject of an 
aj^peal to the superintendent, no costs shall be allowed to the 



Appeals. 127 

plaintiff, in cases where the court shall certify that it appeared 
on the trial that the defendants acted in good faith. But this 
provision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or 
proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superintendent. 

§ 7. Whenever the trustees of any school district or any school 
district officer or officers have been or shall be instructed by a 
resolution of the district at a meeting called for that purpose, to 
defend any action brought against them, or to bring or to defend 
an action or proceeding touching any district property or claim 
of the district, or involving its rights or interests, or to continue 
any sueh action or defense, all their costs and reasonable expenses, 
as well as all costs and damages adjudged against them, shall be 
a district charge and shall be levied by tax. If the amount claimed 
by them be disputed by a district meeting, it shall be adjusted by 
the county judge of any county in which the district or any part 
of it is situated. {As amended hy chajp. 174, Laws of 1878.) 

§ 8. Whenever such trustees or any school district officer shall 
have brought or defended any such action or proceeding, without 
any such resolution of the district meeting, and after the final 
determination of such suit or proceeding shall present to any regular 
meeting of the inhabitants of the district an account in writing 
of all costs, charges and expenses paid by him or them, with the 
items thereof, and verified by his or their oath or affirmation, and 
a majority of the voters at such meeting shall so direct, it shall be 
the duty of the trustees to cause the same to be assessed upon and 
collected of the taxable property of said district, in the same 
manner as other taxes are by law assessed and collected; and 
when so collected, the same shall be paid over, by an order upon 
the collector, to the officer or officers entitled to receive the same ; 
but this provision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to 
suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superintendent 
of public instruction. 

§ 9. Whenever an officer or officers mentioned in the last pre- 
ceding section of this act shall have complied with the provisions 
of said section, and the inhabitants shall have refused to dii*ect 
the trustees to levy a tax for the payment of the costs, charges 
and expenses therein mentioned, it shall be lawful for him or 



128 Appeals. 

them then and there to give notice orally and publicly, that he 
will appeal to the county judge of the county, and in case of his 
disability to act in the matter by reason of being disqualified or 
otherwise, then to the district attorney of the county in which the 
school-house of said district is located ; from the refusal of said 
meeting to vote a tax for the payment of said claim, and the inhabi- 
tants may then and there, or at any subsequent district meeting, ap- 
point one or more of the inhabitants of the district to protect the 
rights and interests of the district upon said appeal ; and the officer 
or officers before mentioned, shall thereupon, within ten days, serve 
upon the clerk of said district (or if there be no such clerk, upon the 
towm clerk of the town), a copy of the aforesaid account so sworn 
to, together with the notice in writing, that on a certain day therein 
specified he or they intend to present such account to the county 
judge or to the district attorney, as the case may be, for settlement. 
And the clerk shall record such notice, together with the copy of the 
account, and the same shall be subject to the inspection of the 
inhabitants of the district. And it shall be the duty of the person 
or persons appointed by any district meeting for that purpose, to 
appear, before the county judge, or the district attorney, as the case 
may be, on the day mentioned in the notice aforesaid, and to pro- 
tect the rights of the district upon such settlement ; and the 
expenses incurred in the performance of this duty shall be a charge 
upon said district, and the trustees, upon presentation of the ac- 
count of such expenses, with the proper voucher therefor, may 
levy a tax therefor, or add the same to any other tax to be levied 
by them ; and their refusal to levy said tax for the payment of 
said expenses shall be subject to an appeal to the superintendent 
of public instruction. {As amended by sec. 1, chap. 746, Laws 
of 1871). 

§ 10. Upon the appearance of the parties, or upon due proof of 
service of the notice and copy of the account, the county judge 
shall examine into the matter and hear the proofs and allegations 
propounded by the parties, and decide by order whether or no the 
account, or any and what portion thereof, ought justly to be charged 
upon the district, with costs and disbursements to such officer or 
officers, in his discretion, which costs and disbursements shall not 
exceed the sum of thirty dollars, and the decision of the county 



Appeals. 129 

judge shall be final ; but no portion of such account shall be so 
ordered to be paid which shall appear to such judge to have arisen 
from the willful neglect or misconduct of the claimant. The 
account, with the oath of the party claiming the same, shall be 
prima facie evidence of the correctness thereof. The county 
judge may adjourn the hearing from time to time, as jiistice shall 
seem to require. {As amended hy chajp. 514, Laws of 1874.) 

§ 11. It shall be the duty of the trustees of any school district, 
within thirty days after service of a copy of such order upon them 
or upon the district clerk, and notice thereof to them or any two 
of them, to cause the same to be entered at length in the book of 
records of said district, and to raise the amount thereby directed 
to be paid, by a tax upon the district, to be by them assessed and 
levied in the same manner as a tax voted by the district. 



POWER OF MEETING TO VOTE TAX FOR COSTS AND EXPENSES. 

TriLE YII. 

§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled 
in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the 
votes of those present : 

14. To vote a tax to replace moneys of the district, lost or 
embezzled by district officers ; and to pay the reasonable expenses 
incurred by district officers in defending suits or appeals brought 
against them for their official acts, or in prosecuting suits or 
appeals by direction of the district against other parties. 

17 



BLIND, 



The New York Institution for the Blind, incorporated by chapter 214, Laws 
of 1831, is the only institution to which pupils are appointed by the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction. 

Title I. 
§ 9. All deaf and dumb persons resident in this State and up- 
wards of twelve years of age, who shall have been resident in this 
State for three years immediately preceding the application, or, if 
a minor, whose parent or parents, or, if an orphan, whose nearest 
friend shall have been resident in this State for three years im- 
mediately preceding the application, shall be eligible to appoint- 
ment as State pupils in one of the deaf and dumb institutions of 
this State, authorized by law to receive such pupils ; and all blind 
persons of suitable age and similar qualifications shall be eligible 
to appointment to the institutions for the blind in the city of 
New York or in the village of Batavia,'as follows : All such as 
are residents of the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Suf- 
folk and Richmond shall be sent to the institution for the blind 
in the city of New York ; those who reside in other counties of 
the State shall be sent to the institution for the blind in the vil- 
lage of Batavia. All such appointments, with the exception of 
those to the institution for the blind in the village of Batavia, 
shall be made by the Superintendent of Public Instruction 
upon application, and in those cases in which, in his opinion, the 
parents or guardians of the applicants are able to bear a portion 
of the expense, he may impose conditions whereby some. propor- 
tionate share of expense of educating and clothing such pupils 
shall be paid by their parents, guardians, or friends, in such man- 
ner and at such times as the Superintendent shall designate. 



BLiiq^D. ^31 

which conditions he may modify from time to time, if he shall 
deem it expedient to do so. {As amended hy sec. 4, chap. 567, 
Laws of 1S76, aiid hy sec. 1, chap. 615, Laws of 1886.) 

§ 10. Each pupil so received into either of the institutions 
aforesaid, shall be provided with board, lodging and tuition ; and 
the directors of the institution shall receive for each pupil so 
provided for, the sum of dollars per annum, in quarterly 

payments, to be paid by the treasurer of the State, on the war- 
rant of the comptroller, to the treasurer of said institution, on his 
presenting a bill showing the actual time and number of such 
pupils attending the institution, and which bill shall be signed 
by the president and secretary of the institution and verified by 
their oaths. The regular term of instruction for such pupils shall 
be five years ; but the Superintendent of Public Instruction may, 
in his discretion, extend the term of any pupil for a period not 
exceeding three years. The pupils provided for in this and the 
preceding section of this title, shall be designated State pupils ; 
and all the existing provisions of law applicable to State pupils 
now in said institutions shall apply to pupils herein provided for. 

§ 11. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may make 
such regulations and give such directions to parents and guar- 
dians, in relation to the admission of pupils into either of the 
above named institutions, as will prevent pupils entering the 
same at irregular periods. 

All the acts upon tins subject inconsistent with this act were repealed. 

From 1870 up to the time of the amendment of 1875, the appointments 
were made under the provisions of chapter 166, Laws of 1870, as amended by 
chapter 166, Laws of 1871. The provisions of this chapter in some particulars 
differed from those of the General School Act. But section 9, title 1, of the 
General School Act, was amended and re-enacted in 1875, and again in 1886. 
This makes it a later law than that of 1870, and the appointment of State 
pupils is now made under the sections of this title whenever its provisions 
conflict with those of the act of 1870. 

The applicants must have the following qualifications : 

1. Age. " Of suitable age " is the language of section 9, title 1, of the Con- 
solidated School Act, and "between eight and twenty-five years of age," is 
fixed by chapter 166, Laws of 1870. The question arises, does the former act, 
as amended in 1886, repeal that part of the act of 1870 fixing the age of appli- 
cants ? It is not necessary, however, to determine this question, as the Depart- 
ment holds that from the age of eight to twenty-five is a "suitable age" for 
appointment. This will satisfy the requirements of both statutes. 

2. The person appointed must be a resident of this State, and shall have been 
such resident for three years immediately preceding the application; or, if a 



132 Blikd. 

minor whose parent or parents, or if an orphan whose nearest friend shall 
have been resident in this State for three years immediately preceding the 
application. 

TERM. 

The term of State pupils in the New York Institution for the Blind is fixed 
by chapter 166, Laws of 1870. The Superintendent can appoint for a term not 
exceeding five years, and may extend such term of appointment from time to 
time upon the recommendation of the board of managers of the institution 
for such further term as they may deem advantageous in each individual case. 

Chapter 166, Laws of 1870, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 166, Laws 

OF 1871. 

Section 1. The managers of the New York Institution for the Blind are 
hereby authorized to receive, upon the appointment of the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, made for a term not exceeding five years, all blind per- 
sons, residents of the counties of New York and Kings and Queens and Suf- 
folk, between eight and twenty-five years of age, who, in the judgment of the 
board of managers of said institution, shall be of suitable character and 
capacity for instruction, and shall have charge of their maintenance, education, 
and support, and shall receive compensation therefor from the State in the 
same manner as is now provided by law. The term of such appointments may 
be extended, from time to time, by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
on the recommendation of the board of managers of the said New York Insti- 
tution for the Blind, for such further period as they may deem advantageous 
in each individual case. 

§ 3. Application for admission into the institution shall be made to the 
board of managers, and each application shall set forth the age, the fact of 
blindness, and that the applicant is a legal resident of the town, county and 
State claimed as his or her residence, with such other information as the 
board may require; and each application shall be sworn to by the applicant, or 
his or her parents or guardian, and shall be signed by at least one member of 
the board of supervisors of the county in which the applicant may reside, and 
also be recommended by the president and superintendent of the said institu- 
tion, and transmitted by the said institution to the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction. 

§ 3. The supervisors of the county of New York or Kings, Queens and Suf- 
folk, from which State pupils shall be sent to and received in the said institu- 
tions, whose parents or guardians shall, in the opinion of the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, be unable to furnish them with suitable clothing, are 
hereby authorized and directed, in every year while such pupils are in said 
institution, to raise and appropriate fifty dollars for each of said pupils from 
said counties, respectively, and to pay the sum so raised to the said institution, 
to be by it applied to furnishing such pupils with suitable clothing while in. 
said institution. 

§ 4. If in any year hereafter there shall be any surplus of the amount above 
required to be paid yearly by the said counties for clothing for pupils from 
said counties, respectively, then such surplus shall be deducted pro rata the 
ensuing year from the amount above required to be paid by the said counties 
respectively. 

CLOTHING. 

Chapter 200, Laws of 1839, provided that " the supervisors of any county in 
this State (from which State pupils may be sent and received into said institu- 
tion, whose parents or guardians are unable to furnish them with suitable 
clothing) are hereby authorized and required, while such pupils are under 
instruction, to raise a sum of money for this purpose, not exceeding twenty 



Blind. 133 

dollars in any one year for eacli pupil from said county." Chapter 351, Laws 
of 1863, increased this amount to $30. Section 3 of chapter 166, Laws of 
1870, as amended (above printed), fixed the amount to be raised for clothing 
at $50. 

The following forms of application, appointment and notification have been 
prescribed by the State Superintendent: 

APPLICATION. 

To the Managers of the 

Institution for the Instruction of 

at 

The undersigned, desiring to procure the admission of 

as a State pupil, into the institution above named, 
for the purpose of receiving the benefits of education, would submit the fol- 
lowing statement of facts: 

State the real and full name of applicant. 

Answer. 

State the residence of applicant, as follows: 

State, 

County, 

Town or city. 

Note. — (Name street and number.) 

How long has applicant lived in the State of New York ? 

Answer. 

How long in the county above named ? 

Answer. 

State full names of parents, guardians or nearest relative of applicant. 

Answer. 

State the residence of the above named parents, guardian or nearest relative 
AS follows: 

State, 
County, 
Town or city. 

State how long the above named parents, guardian or nearest relative have 
lived in the State of New York. 

Answer. 

How long in the county above named. 

Answer. 

When was the applicant born ? 

Answer. 

State where. 

Answer. 

Is the applicant of good moral character; free from disease; and does he 
possess intellectual faculties capable of instruction ? 
I Answer. 



134 Blind. 

Has the applicant ever been a pupil in any institution for the blind, and if 
so, what one, and for how long ? 

Answer. 

Has the applicant, or the parents, relative or guardian above named, suf- 
ficient pecuniary ability to pay for any portion of the board, tuition or cloth- 
ing of said applicant at said institution ? 

Answer. 

State any other fact, or facts, connected with the history of applicant, that 
will aid in determining this application. 

Answer. 

Dated at this day of 188 . 

Note. — It is desired that the application and affidavit be made by the parents,, 
guardian or some relative of applicant, but when not practicable so to do, may be 
made by a party who has knowledge of the facts. If not made by the parent, state 
how the person making the application became conversant with the facts. 

State of New York, ) . . . 
County of ] 

The undersigned, being duly sworn, says that 
is the parent, guardian or relative of applicant above named, and that the^ 
above statement signed by is true to the best of knowledge 

and belief. 

Sworn to before me this ) 

day of 188 . i" 

Certificate of Alderman, Supervisor, Town Clerk or Overseer of the Poor. 

The undersigned hereby certifies that he has satisfactory evidence for 
believing that the foregoing statement is correct, and would recommend the 
application to the favorable consideration of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction. 

To the Honorable 

Superintendent of Public Instruction, Albany, N. Y, 

The undersigned hereby recommend that the above named applicant, 

be appointed a pupil in the 
Institution for the Instruction of 

at for the term of 

years, from and that clothing be furnished by 

Principal or Superintendents 



FORM OF APPOINTMENT. 

State of New York. 

Department of Public Instruction, 
Superintendent's Office, 
Albany, , 18 

Sir. — 1 have this day selected the following named persons as State pupils 
in the , for the term of year each, from the date set oppo- 

site their respective names, to be educated and supported therein during that 
period at the expense of the State. Clothing will be furnished by the 
in each case unless otherwise specially noted. 



■:5 



Blind. 



135 





No. 


Age. 


RESIDENCE. 


From what 

date 
appointed. 




NAMES 


Town. 


County. 


Remarks. 

















Respectfully yours, 



To 



State Superintendent. 



NOTIFICATION TO BOARDS OF SUPERVISORS. 

State of New Yoek. 

Department of Public Instruction, ) 
Superintendent's Office, 
Albany, , 18 

To the Board of Supervisors of the County of 



:i 



, of , in your county, 

, for the term of years, from the 

, to be educated and supported during said 



I have this day appointed 
a State pupil in the 

day of , 18 

term at the expense of the State. 

The parents of said pupil being unable to provide clothing, it will be your 
duty, under existing provisions of law, to appropriate the sum of $50 during 
each year for which said pupil ha been selected, for the purpose of provid- 
ing said pupil with clothing. {Chap. 166, Laws O/1870.) 

The institution will draw on your county treasurer some time after the 
month of February in each year for the amount so raised. 

Yours respectfully, 

State Superintendent 

SUPERINTENDENT TO INSPECT INSTITUTION, AND REPORT. 

§ 8. The Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, 
the New York Institution for the Blind, and all other similar 
institutions, incorporated, or that may be hereafter incorporated, 
shall be subject to the visitation of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, and it shall be his duty : 

1. To inquire, from time to time, into the expenditures of 
each institution, and the systems of instruction pursued therein, 
respectively. 

2. To visit and inspect the schools belonging thereto, and the 
lodgings and accommodations of the pupils. 



136 Bli2^d. 

3. To ascertain, by a comparison with other similar institu- 
tions, whether any improvements in instruction and discipline 
can be made; and for that purpose to^appoint, from time to time, 
suitable persons to visit the schools. 

4. To suggest to the directors of such institutions and to the 
legislature such improvements as he shall judge expedient. 

5. To make an annual report to the legislature on all the mat- 
ters before enumerated, and particularly as to the condition of 
the schools, the improvement of the pupils, and their treatment 
in respect to board and lodging. 

HISTORICAL. ■ 

The New York Institution for the Blind was incorporated by chapter 214, 
Laws of 1831. The different acts which led up to the present law for the ap- 
pointment and support of pupils therein are as follows: 

Chapter 316, Laws of 1834. 

This act authorized the institution to receive from each of the eight senate 
districts, four indigent pupils between eight and twenty-five years of age, on 
the same terms as the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, during a period not 
exceeding five years, to be supported, educated and instructed in some useful 
trade. 

Chapter 326, Laws of 1836, as amended by chapter 399 of 1836, appropriated 
112,000 to procure a site and erect buildings, on condition that $8,000 should 
be raised in New York for the same purpose. The managers were required 
annually, February 1, to make under oath to the legislature a report of their 
proceedings, and of the disposition of the moneys paid to them from the 
treasury of the State. Provision was also made for four additional pupils 
from each senate district. 

Chapter 200, Laws of 1839. 

Eight additional pupils were to be admitted, and an appropriation of 
$15,000 was made to complete the buildings. The Commissioners of Common 
Schools were required to apportion to the institution according to the number 
of pupils, without regard to age. An extension of any pupil could be granted 
with the approbation of the Superintendent of Common Schools, and the Insti- 
tution was subjected to the visitation and inspection of the Superintendent. 

•Chapter 333, Laws of 1852. 

The institution was permitted to receive four indigent pupils from each of 
the thirty-two senate districts of the State. By the same act the charter was 
continued in force without limitation of time. 

Chapter 539, Laws of 1855. 

Provision was made for the reception into the institution of every indi- 
gent blind person in the State, between the ages of twelve and twenty-five 
years, whose parent or parents, or, if an orphan, whose nearest friend, shall 
have been a resident in this State, and who may make application for that 
purpose, there to be instructed in literary or school education, and in some 



Blind. 137 

trade or employment, now or hereafter to be tauglit and carried on in said 
institution, provided liis or her application be first approved by the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, 

Chapter 744, Lav^s of 1867. 

By section 22 of this chapter, the territory from which State pupils could 
be appointed to this institution was limited to the counties of New York and 
Kings. 



THE NEW YORK STATE INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND AT BAT AVI A. 
Chapter 744, Laws of 1867, as amended. 

The sections of this chapter providing for the instruction of the blind in this 
institution are as follows : 

Section 1. All blind persons of suitable age and capacity for instruction, 
who are legal residents of the State, shall be entitled to the privileges of the 
New York State Institution for the Blind, without charge, and for such period 
of time in each individual case as may be deemed expedient by the board of 
trustees of said institution ; provided, that whenever more persons apply for 
admission at one time than can be properly accommodated in the institution, 
the trustees shall so apportion the number received that each county may be 
represented in the ratio of its blind population to the total blind population of 
the State ; and provided further, that the children of citizens who di^d in the 
United States' service, or from wounds received therein during the late rebel- 
lion, shall take precedence over all others. 

§ 2. Blind persons from without the State may be received into the institu- 
tion upon the payment of an adequate sum, fixed by the trustees, for their 
boarding and instruction ; provided that such applicant shall in no case exclude 
those from the State of New York. 

^ 3. Applications for admission into the institution shall be made to the 
board of trustees in such manner as they may direct, but the board shall 
require such application to be accompanied by a certificate from the county 
j udge or county clerk of the county, or the supervisor or town clerk of the 
town, or the mayor of the city, where the applicant resides, setting forth that 
the applicant is a legal resident of the town, county and State claimed as his 
or her residence. {As amended hy chapter 616, Laws of 1872.) 

§ 4. The primary object of the institution shall be to furnish to the blind 
children of the State the best-known facilities for acquiring a thorough educa- 
tion, and train them in some useful profession or manual art, by means of 
which they may be enabled to contribute to their own support after leaving 
the institution ; but it may likewise, through its industrial department, pro- 
vide such of them with appropriate employment and boarding accommodations 
as find themselves unable, after completing their course of instruction and 
training, to procure these elsewhere for themselves. It shall, however, be in 
no sense an asylum for those who are helpless from age, infirmity, or other- 
wise, or a hospital for the treatment of blindness. 

* *•» * * * * * 

§ 8. The board of trustees shall have charge of all the affairs of the institu- 
tion, with power to make all necessary by-laws and regulations for their gov- 
ernment and the proper management of the institution, as well as for the 
admission of pupils, and to do all else which may be found necessary for the 
advancement of its humane design. 

§ 13. When any blind person shall, upon proper application, be admitted 
into the institution, it shall be the duty of his or her parents, guardians or 



138 BLii;rD. 

other friends, to suitably provide such persons with clothing at the time of 
entrance and during continuance therein, and likewise to defray his or her 
traveling expenses to and from the institution at the time of entrance and dis- 
charge, as well as at the beginning and close of each session of the school, and 
at any other time when it shall become necessary to send such person home on 
account of sickness or other exigency. And whenever it shall be deemed 
necessary by the trustees to have such person permanently removed from the 
institution, in accordance with the by-laws and regulations thereof, the same 
shall be promptly removed, upon their order, by his or her parents, guardians 
or other friends. 

§ 14. If the friends of any pupil from within the State of New York shall 
fail through neglect or inability, to provide the same with proper clothing, or 
with funds to defray his or her necessary traveling expenses to and from the 
institution, or to remove him or her therefrom, as required in the preceding 
section, the trustees shall furnish such clothing, pay such traveling expenses, 
or remove such pupil to the care of the overseers of the poor of his or her 
township, and charge the cost of the same to the county to which the pupil 
belongs, provided that the annual amount of such expendiKires on account of 
any one pupil shall not exceed the sum of sixty dollars. And in case of the 
death of any pupil at the institution, whose remains shall not be removed or 
funeral expenses borne by the friends thereof, the trustees shall defray the 
necessary burial expenses, and charge the same to his or her county as afore- 
said. Upon the completion of their course of training in the industrial depart- 
ment, the trustees may furnish to such worthy poor pupils as may need it, an 
outfit of machinery and tools for commencing business, at a cost not exceeding 
seventy-five dollars each, and charge the same to the proper county, as afore- 
said. \As amended hy chapter 463, Laws 6)/1873.) 

§ 15. On the first day of October in each year, the trustees shall cause to be 
made out against the respective counties concerned, itemized accounts, sep- 
arate in each case, of the expenditures authorized by the preceding section of 
this act, and forward the same to the board of supervisors chargeable with the 
account. The board shall thereupon direct the county treasurer to pay the 
amount so charged to the treasurer of the institution for the blind, on or 
before the first day of March next ensuing. 

********** 

§ 22. The New York Institution for the Blind, shall continue to have the 
eustody, charge, maintenance and education of all such pupils as are now 
entrusted to them by the State, and of any others who may be appointed prior 
to the opening of the State institution at Batavia; and shall receive compen- 
sation from the State for the maintenance, education and support of said 
pupils in the same manner as is now, or has heretofore been provided, and 
shall receive the same amount per capita from the counties from which said 
pupils are respectively appointed as is now paid, for their clothing, until such 
period as the New York State Institution for the Blind shall be ready to 
receive such pupils, and shall then, without reference to the term of years for 
which said pupils have been appointed under existing laws, and received by 
said New York Institution for the Blind, transfer said pupils to said State 
institution; provided, however, that they shall retain and continue to receive 
all pupils heretofore appointed or hereafter to be appointed, from the counties 
of New York and Kings under the appointment of the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, in like manner as is now provided by law, to be received, 
Miaintained and educated by the said New York Institution for the Blind, 
which shall be compensated for their maintenance and education by the State; 
and for their clothing by the counties from which they are appointed, in like 
manner as is now done, 



olere: of district. 



ELECTION OF. 
Title YII. 



§ 15. The inhabitants of any neighborhood entitled to vote^ 
when assembled in any annual meeting or any other neighborhood 
meeting duly called by the commissioner, pursuant to the first or 
third sections of this title, shall have power, by a majority of the 
votes of those present . 

* * -X- -Jf -x- * * 

2. To choose a neighborhood clerk and one trustee, and to fill 
vacancies in oflice. 

§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled in 

any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes- 

of those present : 

^ -jf ^ * ^ * * 

2. If the district clerk be absent, to appoint a clerk for the 

time. 

The clerk provided for in this subdivision 2 is not a district clerk, but a 
clerk of the district meeting. He holds his office only during the absence of 
the district clerk, and performs only the duties pertaining to the meeting at 
which he is appointed. Upon retiring from his appointment the records to the 
meeting kept by him must be turned over to the district clerk whose duty it 
is to record them in the record book . 

4. To choose one or three trustees as hereinafter provided, a 
district clerk, a district collector, a librarian,attheir first meeting, 
and so often as such offices or any of them become vacated, except 
as hereinafter provided. 

The clerk may be elected in any manner by which the will of the majority 
can be ascertained. In common school districts under the general law, when 



140 Clerk of District. 

tlie number of children of school age does not exceed three hundred a major- 
ity vote is required to elect. In districts where the number of such children 
exceeds three hundred the clerk must be elected by ballot, and a plurality vote 
is sulficient. {See chap. 348, Laws of 1878.) 

QUALIFICATION OF. 
§ 24. Every district and neighborhood officer must be a resident 
of his district and neighborhood, and qualified to vote at its meet- 
ings. 

Under the provisions of chapter 9, Laws of 1880, women are eligible to serve 
as district clerk. 

TERM. 

§ 25. From one annual meeting to the next is a year within 

the meaning of the following provisions : 

•H- * * -5^ -Jf * ^ 

The term of office of all other district and neighborhood officers 
is one year. Every district and neighborhood officer shall hold 
his office, unless removed, during his term of office and until his 
successor shall be elected or appointed. 

§ 26. The terms of all officers elected at the first meeting of 
a newly erected neighborhood or district, except of a union free 
school district, shall expire on the last Tuesday of August next 
thereafter. {As amended ly sec. 4, chap. 413, Laws of 1883.) 

CLERK TO NOTIFY PERSONS ELECTED. 
§ 28. It shall be the duty of the district clerk, and of the 
neighborhood clerk, or of any person who shall act as clerk at any 
district or neighborhood meeting, when any officer shall be elected, 
forthwith to give the person elected notice thereof in writing ; 
and such person shall be deemed to have accepted the office, unless 
within ^YQ days after the service of such notice, he shall file his 
written refusal of it with the clerk. The presence of any such 
person at the meeting which elects him to office shall be deemed 
a sufficient notice to him of his election. {As amended hy sec. 
11, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

APPOINTMENT TO FILL VACANCY. 
§ 32. Any vacancy in the office of district clerk, collector, or 
librarian, may be supplied by appointment under the hands of the 
tmstees of the district, or a majority of them, and the appointees 



Cleek of District. 14X 

shall hold their respective offices until the next annual meeting of 
the district, and until others are elected and take their places. 

When the clerk is holding over there is no vacancy in the office so that the 
trustees can appoint. 

§ 33. Every appointment to fill a vacancy shall be forthwith 
filed by the supervisor or trustees making it in the office of the 
district clerk, who shall immediately give notice of the appoint- 
ment to the person appointed. 

It is the duty of the district clerk to be present at every district meeting and 
record the proceedings. The question frequently arises as to when the term 
of the old clerk expires, and that of the newly elected clerk commences. The 
language of section 25 is that the clerk "shall hold his office unless removed, 
during his term of office, and until his successor shall be elected or appointed." 
This must be read as though the words ' and shall accept and enter upon the 
duties of his office ' were added to the section. By section 28 it is made the 
duty of the clerk "forthwith" to notify in writing the person elected to a 
school office, and such person shall be deemed to have accepted, unless within 
five days after such notice he shall file his written refusal of it with the clerk. 
The word "forthwith " has been held to mean within twenty-four hours. The 
presence of such person at the meeting which elects him shall be deemed a 
sufficient notice to him of his election, and amounts only, under the statute to 
notice. It is not necessarily an acceptance of the office. He may still take 
the five days to consider whether he will accept it or not. If, for instance, 
on the fifth day after notice, he concludes not to accept, he is to file his written 
refusal with the clerk. If he happens to be a person elected at the annual 
meeting as successor to the former clerk and a different person, the clerk with 
whom he must file his refusal is the old clerk who is still holding over. It is the 
duty of the old clerk to be present and act as such at the annual meeting, and 
to continue so acting throughout the session, unless the person elected clerk 
shall be present at the meeting and then and there notify the meeting of his 
acceptance. In such case his term of office would commence immediately 
upon his acceptance. If there is no formal acceptance the old clerk should 
give the notices of election and continue his duties as clerk until the expiration 
of the five days thereafter, when the law deems the newly elected officer to 
have accepted, unless he shall have in the meantime filed a written refusal. 
In case such written refusal is filed within the five days then the old clerk 
will continue to hold over until a successor shall be elected or appointed 
according to law, 

DUTIES OF. 

§ 36. The neighborhood clerk shall keep a record of the pro- 
ceedings of his neighborhood, and of the reports of the trustees, 
and deliver the same to his successor. In case such neighborhood 
shall be annexed to a district within the State, its records shall be 
filed in the office of the clerk of such district. 

§ 3Y. It shall be the duty of the clerk of each school district : 
1. To record the proceedings of his district in a book to be 



143 Clerk of District. 

provided for that purpose by the district, and to enter therein 
true copies of all reports made by the trustees to the school com- 
missioner. 

2. To give notice, in the manner prescribed by the sixth section 
of this title, or by the inhabitants, pursuant to such section, of the 
time and place of holding special district meetings called by the 
trustees. 

3. To affix a notice in writing of the time and place of any ad- 
journed meeting, when the meeting shall have been adjourned 
for a longer time than one month, in at least four of the most 
public places of such district, at least five days before the time 
appointed for such adjourned meeting. 

4. To give the like notice of every annual district meeting. 

5. To give notice immediately to every person elected or ap- 
pointed to office of his election or appointment ; and also to report 
to the town clerk of the town in which the school-house of his 
district is situated, the names and post-office address of such officers, 
under a penalty of ^ve dollars for neglect in each instance. {As 
amended hy sec. 10, chap. 647, Loajos of 1865.) 

6. To notify the trustees of every resignation duly accepted by 
the supervisor. 

7. To keep and preserve all records, books and papers belong- 
ing to his office, and to deliver the same to his successor. For a 
refusal or neglect so to do, he shall forfeit fifty dollars for the 
benefit of the district, to be recovered by the trustees. 

8. In case his district shall be dissolved, to obey the order of 
the commissioner or commissioners as to depositing the books, 
papers and records of his office in the town clerk's office. 

9. To attend all meetings of the board of trustees when notified, 
and keep a record of their proceedings in a book provided for that 
purpose. 

10. To call special meetings of the inhabitants whenever all the 
trustees of the district shall have vacated their office. 

The office of district clerk is an important one. It should always be filled 
by a person of intelligence, who will take pride in carefully and correctly in- 
scribing and preserving the district records. A clerk who discharges his 
duty in this respect with neatness and fidelity will have an honorable memorial 
of himself to endure as long as the district exists. The district meeting has 
power to vote a tax to purchase a book for the purpose of recording the pro- 
ceedings of the district. If the meeting neglects to provide the book, the 
trustee can purchase it and include the expense in his tax list. This book is 



Clerk of District. 143 

not to answer the purpose of a book of minutes only, but in it must be recorded 
the proceedings of the district. While the law specifies some of the things 
that must be entered in the record, every act of an official nature should be 
recorded therein, unless it is something that the law directs to be entered 
in the record book kept by the trustee. The clerk's records are only prima 
facie evidence, and their correctness can be inquired into by extrinsic evidence. 
But it frequently occurs that after a term of years the only evidence remain- 
ing on many subjects in the history of the district is that contained in the 
clerk's record. This shows the importance of a full and correct record. A 
careless or incompetent clerk can oftentimes, by what appears to be a slight 
error or omission, change the whole meaning and effect of a resolution, order 
or proceeding. 

The following are some of the important duties of the clerk: 

Boundaries. — The law requires that a commissioner's order forming or alter- 
ing a district shall be filed with the town clerk. The experience of years 
under the district system shows that these records are poorly kept. The town 
clerk does not record them in any book of records, but merely places the order 
on file. The result is that after a few years it is impossible in a large majority of 
cases to find any record whatever of the district boundaries. The district clerk is 
an officer more directly interested in this matter than the town clerk. His book 
of records can and should commence with the order forming the district. 
While the law directs the original order to be filed with the town clerk, an 
exact copy can be made of the original and recorded in the district clerk's 
book. Make this a certified copy by having the commissioner who made it 
sign it after it has been transcribed. The commissioner will willingly do this, 
for a record in case the original is destroyed. Another reason for this record 
is the convenience to residents of the district, and more especially to the trustee. 
One of the most prolific sources of dispute in a district is that of the boundary 
lines. The question frequently arises at the district meeting, and. the newly 
elected trustee finds the question of his right to tax certain lands on account 
of disputed boundaries a perplexing one. If the clerk's record contained the 
boundaries certified to by the commissioner, all questions arising thereupon 
could be quickly settled. 

Resolutions. — Every resolution at a district meeting should be reduced to 
writing, and in case of its adoption it should be accurately recorded by the 
clerk with the vote theieon. This is especially advisable in the case of resolu- 
tions to change or designate the school-house site, to build new, or repair old 
school buildings. In fact every resolution directing the raising and expendi- 
ture of money should be recorded. 

Orders. — All orders made by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
school commissioner or trustee, the clerk should record in this book. The 
consent of commissioner or supervisor when necessary to any proceeding or 
act, can better be recorded than to be given upon separate pieces of paper 
which are almost certain to be lost. The original orders of the trustee 
for special meetings can be made in the record book; the purposes for which 
the meeting is called set out in full, can be copied by the clerk for service upon 
the voters of the district. This will prevent a dispute or misunderstanding as 
to the purposes of the meeting. 

Proceedings of meeting. — The clerk should keep all the proceedings of 
district meetings in the record book. In districts where the attendance will 
allow it, he should make a list of the voters in attendance, and, when possible, 
the way they voted upon questions before the meeting. The law requires 
(sec. 19, title VII), he should make this record of a vote to raise a tax by install- 
ments. When any person offering to vote is challenged, this fact should be 
recorded, with the action taken thereon. The law does not require it, but the 
clerk will find it to his advantage to read the minutes to the meeting for its 
approval or correction before the adjournment. If a mistake has occurred in 
keeping the minutes, it can better be corrected at the time than at a subsequent 
meeting. 



144 Clerk of District. 

Reports. — An important part of the clerk's duties is that directed by sub- 
division 1 of sec. 37. " * * * to enter therein true copies of all reports 
made by the trustees to the school commissioner." 

An annual report is made by the trustees to the commissioner. It is of great 
importance that the statistical history of the district be preserved, and the 
entering of copies of these reports is the best possible means of so doing. It 
will also afford a means of comparing the report made to the annual meeting 
with the report made to the commissioner. 

The trustee is required to make an annual report to the district meeting. 
If the clerk records this, it will enable any inhabitant of the district who may 
have been absent from the meeting to inspect the report. This would be a 
great protection to a district against a trustee who is inclined or attempts to 
evade making a full and correct report. On the other hand, it is a great pro- 
tection to a trustee who has discharged his whole duty against the allegations 
of maliciously inclined persons who might circulate a rumor that the trustee 
had not reported, as required by law. It may also be necessary to prove the 
facts at a remote period of time ; and the way to avoid controversy in respect 
to them is always to act upon the presumption that controversy will arise, and 
to prepare the evidence in advance to meet it. The habit of doing this will, 
of itself, do much to preclude all opportunity for cavil. 

Chapter 248, Laws of 1878. 

By section 1 of this chapter the clerk ' ' in all school districts in the State in 
which the number of children of school age exceeds three hundred, aa shown 
by the last annual report of the trustees to the school commissioner * * * 
shall be elected by ballot." 

Sec. 3 makes it the duty of the clerk when there is only one trustee to be 
associated with such trustee as inspector of election. 

Sec. 5 provides in reference to the clerk's duties as follows : 

§ 5. The district clerk, or clerk of the board of education, as 
the case may be, shall attend the election and record in a book to 
be provided for that purpose the name of each elector as he 
deposits his ballot. When the polls shall have been closed the 
inspectors shall first count the ballots to see if they tally with the 
number of names recorded by the clerk. If they exceed that 
number enough ballots shall be withdrawn to make them corre- 
spond. Any clerk who shall neglect or refuse to record the name 
of a person whose ballot is received by the inspectors, shall be 
liable to a fine of twenty -five dollars, to be sned for by the super- 
visor of the town. If the district clerk or clerk of the board 
of education shall be absent, or sHall be unable or shall refuse to 
act, the trustees, inspectors of election, or board of education 
shall appoint some person to act in his place. 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

1. For duties of clerk in giving notice of meetings, see chapter on " Meet- 
ings." 

2. For refusal of clerk to serve when elected or appointed, see chapter on 
*' Fines and Penalties." {Section 34, title vii.) 



COLLECTOR. 



ELECTION OF. 
Title YII. 



§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled 
in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the 
votes of those present. 

■5f TV- * * -Jf * 

4. To choose one or three trustees as hereinafter provided, 
a district clerk, a district collector, a librarian, at their first 
meeting, and so often as such offices or any of them become 
vacant, except as hereinafter provided. 

BAIIi. 

5. To fix the amount in which the collector shall give bail 
for the due and faithful performance of the duties of his office. 

By section 83 of this title, the collector, within ten days after having 
received notice, and before any warrant is placed in his hands for the collec- 
tion of money, must execute a bond in the amount fixed by the meeting, con- 
ditioned for the faithful discharge of his official duties. 

If the meeting omit to pass any resolution fixing the amount of bail, the 
trustees must fix it at such sum as they deem reasonable, 

QUALIFICATION OF. 

§ 24. Every district and neighborhood officer must be a resident 
of his district and neighborhood, and qualified to vote at its 
meetings. 

By the provisions of chap. 9, Laws of 1880, women, if qualified voters at 
school meetings in the district, can hold the office of collector. 

TERM. 

§ 25. From one annual meeting to the next is a year within 

19 



146 Collector. 

the meaning of the following provisions : * * * The term 
of office of all other district and neighborhood officers is one year. 
Every district and neighborhood officer shall hold his office un- 
less removed, during his term of office, and until his successor 
shall be elected or appointed. 

§ 26. The terra of all officers elected at the first meeting of a 
newly erected neighborhood or district, except of a union free 
school district, shall expire on the last Tuesday of August, next 
thereafter. {As amended by § 4, chap, 413, Laws of 1883.) 

VACATES HIS OFFICE. 

§ 29. The collector vacates his office by not executing a bond 
to the trustees, as hereinafter required, and the trustees may sup- 
ply the vacancy. 

APPOINTMENT TO FILL VACANCY. 

§ 32. Any vacancy in the office of district clerk, collector, or 
librarian, may be supplied by appointment under the hands of 
the trustees of the district, or a majority of them, and the 
appointees shall hold their respective offices until the next annual 
meeting of the district, and until others are elected and take their 
places. 

§ 33. Every appointment to fill a vacancy shall be forthwith 
fi^led, by the supervisor or trustees making it, in the office of the 
district clerk, who shall immediately give notice of the appoint- 
ment to the person appointed. 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

The duties of school district collectors are confined to the collection of dis- 
trict taxes and the custody of the same until legally paid out. The chapter 
on Taxes treats fully of the subject, and to avoid repetition a cross reference 
is made thereto for the duties of a district collector. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Liability of sureties. — Collector's sureties not liable for any breach of con- 
dition happening after the expiration of the term of his office, although the 
officer may be continued in office under the same or a new appointment or 
election. {Omrton v. Garrert, 5 Lans. 156, Sup. Ct., 1871.) 

Bond. — Collector has no right to execute a warrant until he has given a 
bond. {Woodhullx. Bohenblost, 4 Htui, 399, Sup. Ct., 1875.) 

Default. — A collector is not in default for not giving a bond, before the trust- 
ees have limited the time and fixed the amount in which it is to be given. (Id.) 

A collector is not in default concerning any moneys collected or to be collected 
by him, until an order is drawn upon him by the trustees for the same. (Id.) 



DEAF AND DUMB. 



Title I. 
§ 9. All deaf and dumb persons resident in this State and up- 
wards of twelve years of age, who shall have been resident in this 
State for three years immediately preceding the application, or, 
if a minor, whose parent or parents, or, if an orphan, whose 
nearest friend shall have been resident in this State for three 
years immediately preceding the application, shall be ehgible to 
appointment as State pupils in one of the deaf and dumb institu- 
tions of this State, authorized by law to receive such pupils ; and 
all blind persons of suitable age and similar qualifications shall be 
eligible to appointment to the institutions for -the blind in the 
city of !N"ew York or in the village of Batavia, as follows : All 
such as are residents of the counties of Kew York, Kings, 
Queens, Suffolk and Richmond shall be sent to the institution for 
the blind in the city of New York ; those who reside in other 
counties of the State shall be sent to the institution for the blind 
in the village of Batavia. All such appointments, with the ex- 
ception of those to the institution for the blind in the village of 
Batavia, shall be made by the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion upon application, and in those cases in which, in his opinion, 
the parents or guardians of the applicants are able to bear a por- 
tion of the expense, he may impose conditions whereby some 
proportionate share of expense of educating and clothing such 
pupils shall be paid by their parents, guardians, or friends, in 
such manner and at such times as the Superintendent shall desig- 
nate, which conditions he may modify from time to time, if he 
shall deem it expedient to do so. {As amended hy see. 4, chap. 
567, Laws of 18T5, and hy sec. 1, chap. 615, Laws of 1886.) 



148 Deaf and Dumb. 

§ 10. Each pupil so received into either of the institutions 
aforesaid, shall be provided with board, lodging and tuition ; and 
the directors of the institution shall receive for each pupil so 
provided for, the sum of dollars per annum, in quarterly 

payments, to be paid by the treasurer of the State, on the warrant 
of the comptroller, to the treasurer of said institution, on his 
presenting a bill showing the actual time and number of such 
pupils attending the institution, and which bill shall be signed by 
the president and secretary of the institution and verified by 
their oaths. The regular term of instruction for such pupils shall 
be :five years ; but the Superintendent of Public Instruction may, 
in his discretion, extend the term of any pupil for a period not 
exceeding three years. The pupils provided for in this and the 
preceding section of this title, shall be designated State pupils ; 
and all the existing provisions of law applicable to State pupils 
now in said institutions shall apply to pupils herein provided for. 

§ 11. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may make such 
regulations and give such directions to parents and guardians, in 
relation to the admission of pupils into either of the above named 
institutions, as will prevent pupils entering the same at irregular 
periods. 

Tlie appointment of deaf and dumb persons to tlie different deaf and dumb 
institutions of the State, whose tuition shall be paid by the State are made by 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Eligibility. — To entitle a person to appointment, the statute requires: 
1. That such person shall be over twelve years of age. 2. That such person 
shall be a resident of this State, and shall have been such resident for three 
years immediately preceding the application, or, if a minor whose parent or 
parents, or, if an orphan, whose nearest friend shall have been resident in 
this State for three years immediately preceding the application. 

Term. — The term of appointment is fixed by section 10 at five years, with the 
power given to the Superintendent to extend the same not exceeding three 
years. 

HIGH CLASS. 

.Chapter 273, Laws op 1854. 
§ 3. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion to continue at the said institution, for a period not exceeding 
three years, for the purpose of pursuing a course of studies in 
the higher branches of learning, such pupils, not exceeding twenty- 
four in number, as may have completed their full term of instruc- 



Deaf and Dumb. 149 

tion, and who may be recommended by the directors of said insti- 
tution. {As amended hy chap, 58, Laws ()/'1885.) 

The provisions of this chapter in relation to the high class are not incor- 
porated in the General School Laws of 1864, unless it was intended that the 
three years' extension should be for the purpose of the high class, but no 
mention of this purpose having been made, the Department has always fol- 
lowed the ruling that the term of State pupils could be extended three years 
beyond the first five years for which they were first appointed without any 
reference to the high class, and that pupils could be appointed to the high 
class for a period of three years although they may have been in the institution 
as State pupils for the full term of eight years provided for in section 10. 

From 1854 to 1886 the number of pupils that could be appointed to the high 
class was limited to twelve. The amendment of 1886 increased the number to 
twenty-four. 

The institution referred to is the New York Institution for the Instruction 
of the Deaf and Dumb. 

CLOTHING. 

Chapter 244, Laws of 1838. 

§ 3. The supervisors of any county in the State, from which State pupils 
may be selected, whose parents or guardians are unable to furnish them with 
suitable clothing, are hereby authorized and required while such pupils are 
under instruction, to raise a sum of money for this purpose, not exceeding 
twenty dollars in any one year for each pupil from said county. 

This section was amended by 

Chapter 386, Laws of 1864. 

Section 1. The third section of the act entitled "An act in relation to the 
New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb," passed April 
eighteenth, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, is hereby amended so as to 
read as follows : 

§ 3. The supervisors of any county in this State from which county pupils 
may be selected, whose parents or guardians are unable to furnish them with 
suitable clothing, are hereby authorized and required to raise in each year for 
this purpose for each such pupil from said county the sum of thirty dollars. 



The money appropriated for the State pupils by the Legislature does not 
Include any thing for clothing. The parents, guardians or friends are sup- 
posed to furnish the pupil with the necessary clothing. In cases where the 
parents are not able to do so, and the fact is made to appear to the State Super- 
intendent, he notifies the supervisors of the county from which the deaf-mute 
was selected of such fact and that it will be their duty under the law to raise 
$30 annually for this purpose. 

APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT. 

The Superintendent has prescribed the following form of application for 
appointment of State pupils. The application must be first sent to the insti- 
tution and forwarded with the recommendation of the principal or superin- 
tendent of the institution to the State Superintendent. 



150 Deaf am) UuxUJi. 

APPLICATION. 

To the Managers of the 

Institution for the Instrttction of 

at 

The undersigned, desiring to procure the admission of 

as a State pupil, into the institution above named, 
for the purpose of receiving the benefits of education, would submit the fol- 
lowing statement of facts: 

State the real and full name of applicant. 

Answer. 

State the resident of applicant as follows: 

State, 

County, 

Town or city, 

Note. — (Name street and number.) 
How long has applicant lived in the State of New York? 
Answer. 

How long in the county above named ? 
Answer. 

State full names of parents, gnardian or nearest relative of applicant. 
Answer. 

State the residence of the above named parents, guardian or nearest relativer 

as follows: 

State, 

County, 

' Town or city, 

State how long the sbove named parents, guardian or nearest relative havfr 
lived in the State of New York. 

Answer. 

How long in the county above named ? 

Answer. 

When was the applicant born ? 

Answer. 

State where. 

Answer. 

Is the applicant of good moral character; free from disease; and does he 
possess intellectual faculties capable of instruction ? 

Answer. 

Has the applicant ever been a pupil in any institution for the , and if 

so, what one, and for how long ? 

Answer. 

Has the applicant, or the parents, relative or guardian above named, suf- 
ficient pecuniary ability to pay for any portion of the board, tuition or cloth 
ing of said applicant at said institution ? 

Answer. 

State any other fact, or facts, connected with the history of applicant, thai 
will aid in determining this application. 

Answer. 



Deaf and Dumb. 



151 



Dated at 



this 



day of 



188 



Note — It is desired that the application and aflfidavit be made by the parents, guar- 
dian or some relative of applicant, but when not practicable so to do, may be made by 
a party who has knowledge of the facts. If not made by the parent, state how the 
person making the application became conversant with the facts. 

State of new York, 
County of 

The undersigned, being duly sworn, says that 
is the parent, guardian or relative of applicant above named, and that the 
above statement signed by is true to the best of knowledge 

and belief. 

Sworn to before me this \ 

day of 188 . ] 

Certificate of Alderman, Supervisor, Town Clerk or Overseer of the Poor. 

The undersigned hereby certifies that he has satisfactory evidence for 
believing that the foregoing statement is correct, and would recommend the 
application to the favorable consideration of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction. 

To the Honorable 

Superintendent of Public Instruction, Albany, N. T. 
The undersigned hereby recommend that the above named applicant, 
• be appointed a pupil in the 

Institution for the instruction of 

at for the term of 

years, from and that clothing be furnished by 

Principal or Superintendent, 

FORM OF APPOINTMENT. 



.! 



State of New York. 

Department of Public Instruction, 
Superintendent's Office, 

Albany, , 188 

Sir. — I have this day selected the following named persons as State pupil s 

in the , for the term of year each, from the date set 

opposite their respective names, to be educated and supported therein during 

that period, at the expense of the State. Clothing will be furnished by the 

, in each case, unless otherwise specially noted. 



NAMES. 


No. 


Age. 


RESIDENCE. 


From what 

date 
appointed. 






Town. 


County. 



















Respectfully yours, 



To 



,.\ 



152 Deaf an^d Dumb. 

NOTICE TO SUPERVISORS. 

State of New Yokk. 

Department op Public Instkuction 
Superintendent's Office, 

Albany, , 188 

To the Board of Supervisors of the county of 

I have this day appointed , of , in your county, a 

State pupil in the , for the term of years, from the 

day of , 18 . 

to be educated and supported during said term at the expense of the State. 

The parents of said pupil being unable to provide clothing, it will be your 
duty, under existing provisions of law, to appropriate the sum of $30 during 
each year for which said pupil ha been selected, for the purpose of provid- 
ing said pupil with clothing. {Chap. 386, Laws of ViQL) 

The institution will draw on your county treasurer some time after the 
month of February in each year, for the amount so raised. 

Yours respectfully. 

State Superintendent. 
DUTIES OF SUPERINTENDENT 
Title I. 
§ 8. The Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, 
the Xew York Institution for the Blind, and all other similar 
institutions, incorporated or that may be hereafter incorporated, 
shall be subject to the visitation of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, and it shall be his duty : 

1. To inquire, from time to time, into the expenditures of 
each institution, and the systems of instruction pursued therein, 
respectively. 

2. To visit and inspect the schools belonging thereto, and the 
lodgings and accommodations of the pupils. 

3. To ascertain, by a comparison with other similar institutions, 
whether any improvements in instruction and discipline can be 
made ; and for that purpose to appoint, from time to time, suit- 
able persons to visit the schools. 

4. To suggest to the directors of such institutions, and to the 
legislature such improvements as he shall judge expedient. 

5. To make an annual report to the legislature on all the mat- 
ters before enumerated, and particularly as to the condition of 
the schools, the improvement of the pupils, and their treatment 
in respect to board and lodging. 



Deaf akd Dumb. 153 



HISTORICAL. 

The different acts whicli have led up to the present law upon the subject 
are given here as a matter of reference, and are as follows: 

THE NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE 
DEAF AND DUMB. 

This institution was incorporated by chapter 264, Laws of 1817. By chap- 
ter 238, Laws of 1819, it received from the State $10,000, and by chapter 250, 
Laws of 1821, $2,500. The following statutes are those in their chronological 
order providing for the appointment and support of pupils therein: 

Chapter 234, Laws of 1822. 

The directors of the institution are directed to receive therein four indigent 
deaf and dumb persons between the ages of ten and twenty-five years from 
each of the eight senate districts of the State. The term of instruction is 
fixed at three years. The pupils to be selected upon the certificate of the over- 
seers of the poor, and to be supported by the State at the expense of $150 per 
year. The supervisors of each county are authorized to send additional pupils, 
one for each member of assembly, at $150 per year, to be levied and collected 
in the same manner as moneys raised by the sixth section of the act for sup- 
port of common schools. 

Chapter 166, Laws of 1825, 

Provides that whenever there is a vacancy in the number of pupils allowed 
from a senate district, such vacancy can be filJed by appointment from some 
other senate district. The term is also extended to four years. 

Chapter 97, Laws of 1827, 

Provided that the directors could continue in the institution pupils not 
exceeding eight in number for a period not exceeding two years to the time 
already allowed. 

Ten thousand dollars is also appropriated for the purchase of a site and the 
erection of a building. The money was not to be paid until the Superintend- 
ent of Common Schools should approve the price of the ground and the plan 
of the buildings. The second section of the act subjected the institution to 
the supervision and visitation of the Superintendent of Common Schools, in 
terms nearly the same as in the present law, and provided that no money 
should be paid for the support of pupils until the directors of the institution 
had filed in the office of the Secretary of State their assent to the provisions 
of the second section of the act, and their " consent at all times to permit the 
inspection and inquiries herein directed." 

This consent was given in the following terms, and filed in the Secretary's 
office April 25, 1837: 

Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, ) 
City of New York. ) 

Whereas, the legislature of the State of New York did, on the 23d day of 
March, 1827, pass an act entitled "An act to provide for the building an 
asylum for the deaf and dumb in the city of New York," and whereas the 
second section of the said act is in the following, to- wit: 

"And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Superintend- 
ent of Common Schools, from time to time, to inquire into the expenditures 
of the said institution and the system of instruction pursued therein; to visit 
and inspect the schools and the lodging of the pupils; to ascertain, by a com- 

20 



154 Deaf aj^d Dumb. 

parison with other similar institutions, whether any improvements can be 
made, and for that purpose appoint such and so many persons as he shall, 
from time to time, deem necessary, visitors of the said schools; to suggest to 
the directors and the legislature such improvements as he shall deem expedi- 
ent, and to report annually to the legislature on all the matters aforesaid, and 
particularly the condition of the schools, the improvement of the pupils, and 
their treatment in respect to their board and lodging. And that no money 
shall be paid out of the treasury pursuant to this act, until the directors of the 
Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in the city of New York shall have filed 
their assent to the provisions of this section, under their corporate seal, in the 
office of the Secretary of State, and shall thereby consent at all times to submit 
to tbe inspection and inquiries herein directed." 

Noio, therefore, be it known that the directors of the said institution have 
assented, and by these presents do assent, to the provisions of the second 
section of the aforesaid act, and have accordingly directed the same to be 
signed by the president of the institution, and sealed with their seal, and the 
same to go into operation when the asylum is built. 

Done and subscribed in the city of New York this twenty-third day 

[l. S.J of April, 1827. 

SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, 

President. 
Attest: 

Samuel Akerly, Secretary, 

Chapter 170, Laws op 1830. 

The number of indigent pupils allowed from each senate district is increased 
by three from each such district. The expense not to exceed $180 per year 
for such pupils. The pupils are to be known as State pupils, and the term of 
instruction to be five years. 

Chapter 109, Laws of 1833. 

The directors of the institution are authorized to receive five indigent pupils 
from each of the senate districts of the State, in addition to the number now 
provided for by law, at an annual expense not exceeding $130 for each pupil. 

Chapter 228, Laws of 1836. 

The directors of the institution are authorized to receive three indigent 
deaf-mute pupils from each of the senate districts of the State, in addition to 
the number now provided for by law, at an annual expense not to exceed $130 
for each pupil. The pupils are designated as State pupils. The term is fixed 
at five years. 

Chapter 244, Laws op 1838. 

Section 1. "No deaf and dumb person shall be entered upon the list of 
State pupils to be educated, under twelve years of age." 

The directors are also authorized, with the consent of the Superintendent of 
Common Schools, to continue any State pupil under instruction, for a term not 
exceeding two years beyond that now provided by law. 

Chapter 174, Laws op 1840, 

Authorizes the directors to receive one indigent deaf-mute pupil from each 
of the senate districts of the State in addition to the number now provided for 
by law, to be selected by and subject to the supervision of the Superintendent 
of Common Schools. 



Deaf and Dumb. 155 

Chapter 14, Laws of 1845, 

Authorizes the directors to receive four indigent deaf-mute pupils from 
each of the senate districts of the State in addition to the number now pro- 
vided for by law, to be selected by and subject to the supervision of the Super- 
intendent of Common Schools. 

Chapter 97, Laws of 1853. 

The directors are authorized to receive from each of the senate districts of 
the State one indigent deaf-mute pupil in addition to the number now author- 
ized by law, to be selected by and subject to the supervision of the Superin- 
tendent of Common Schools. 

Chapter 272, Laws of 1854. 

This chapter provided for the appointment of every indigent deaf and dumb 
person resident of this State, between twelve and twenty-five years of age 
upon substantially the same terms and conditions now embraced in section 9, 
title 1, of the General School Law. 

The sum to be paid annually by the State for the tuition and board of such 
pupils was fixed at $150 each. 

The term of instruction was fixed at five years. 



INSTITUTION FOR THE IMPROVED INSTRUCTION OF DEAF 
MUTES, NEW YORK CITY. 

Chapter 180, Laws of 1870. 

Section 1. Sections 1 and 2 of an act entitled "An act to provide for the 
care and education of indigent deaf mutes under the age of twelve years " 
passed April 25, 1863, are severally hereby amended by adding to and insert- 
ing therein after the words " New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb," 
wherever the same occur in said sections, respectively, the words following, 
viz. : " or in the Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes. " 

§ 2. All provisions of law now existing, fixing the expense of the board, 
tuition and clothing of children under twelve years placed in the New York 
Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, shall apply to children 
who may, from time to time, be placed in the said institution for the improved 
instruction of deaf mutes, in the same manner, and with the like effect, as if 
said last-mentioned institution had also originally been named in the acts 
fixing such compensation, and as if said acts had provided for the payment 
thereof to the institution last mentioned, and the bills therefor properly 
authenticated by the principal or one of the officers of the said last mentioned 
institution shall be paid to said institution by the counties, respectively, from 
which such children were severally received, and the county treasurer or 
chamberlain, as the case may be, is hereby directed to pay the same on pre- 
sentation, so that the amount thereof may be borne by the proper county. 

§ 3. Sections 9 and 10, of title 1, of an act entitled "An act to revise and 
consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," passed May 2, 
1864, are hereby amended so that the same shall extend and apply to the said 
"Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes " in the like manner, 
and with the like effect, as if said last -mentioned institution, as well as the 
others therein mentioned, had originally been named in the said sections, 
respectively. 



166 Deaf and Dumb. 

THE LE COUTEULX ST. MARY'S INSTITUTION FOR THE IMPROVED 

INSTRUCTION OF DEAF-MUTES, AT BUFFALO. 

Chapter 670, Laws of 1872. 

Section 1. Sections 9 and 10, of title 1, of an act entitled " An act to revise 
and consolidate the general acts relating to the public instruction," passed 
May 2, 1864, are hereby amended so that the same shall extend and apply to 
the Le Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruction of deaf- 
mutes in the city of Buffalo, in the like manner and with the like effect as if 
said institution had originally been named in the said sections, respectively. 

CENTRAL NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR DEAF-MUTES, AT ROME. 

Chapter 13, Laws of 1876. 

Section 1. The Central New York Institution for Deaf-mutes, at Rome, is 
hereby authorized to receive deaf and dumb persons between the ages of 
twelve and twenty-five years, eligible to appointment as State pupils, and who 
may be appointed to it by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to make such appointment 
to the aforesaid institution, and, in his discretion, to date back the first thirty 
appointments to the first day of October, 1875. 

Chapter 355, Laws of 1880. 

Section 1 . It shall be lawful for the Superintendent of Public Instruction 
to continue at the Central New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, at Rome, New 
York, for a period not exceeding three years, for the purpose of pursuing a 
course of studies in the higher branches of learning, such pupils, not exceed- 
ing twelve in number, as may have completed their full term of instruction 
and who may be recommended by the trustees of said institution. 

WESTERN NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR DEAF-MUTES, AT 
ROCHESTER. 

Chapter 331, Laws of 1876. 

Section 1. The Western New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, at Roches- 
ter, is hereby authorized to receive deaf and dumb persons between the ages 
of twelve and twenty-five years, eligible to appointment as State pupils, and 
who may be appointed to it by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to make appointments 
to said institution in the same manner and upon the same conditions as to the 
New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb. 

§ 2. Supervisors of towns and wards and overseers of the poor are hereby 
authorized to send to the Western New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, deaf 
and dumb persons between the ages of six and twelve years, in the same man- 
ner and upon the same conditions as such persons may be sent to the New 
York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, under the pro- 
visions of chapter 325 of the Laws of 1863. 



Under the provision contained in section 1, "and the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction is authorized to make appointments to said institution in 
the same manner and upon the same conditions as to the New York Institu- 
tion for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb," the State Superintendent 
has held that this institution is entitled to a high class, the same as the New 
York Institution, under chapter 272, Laws of 1854, and has appointed pupils 
thereto. 



Deaf an^d Dumb. 157 

ST. JOSEPH'S INSTITUTE FOR THE IMPROVED INSTRUCTION OF 

DEAF-MUTES, AT FORDHAM. 

Chapter 378, Laws of 1877. 

Section 1, The St. Joseph's Institution for the Improved Instruction of 
Deaf Mutes, at Fordham, in the county of Westchester, is hereby authorized 
to receive deaf and dumb persons between the ages of twelve and twenty-five 
years, eligible to appointment as State pupils, and who may be appointed to 
it by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction is authorized to make such appointment to the aforesaid 
institution. 

NORTHERN NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR DEAF-MUTES, AT 

M ALONE. 

Chapter 275, Laws of 1884. 

Section 1. The Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, at Malone, 
is hereby authorized to receive deaf and dumb persons, between the ages of 
twelve and twenty-five years, eligible to appointment as State pupils, and who 
may be appointed to it by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to make appointments to 
the aforesaid institution. 

§ 2. Supervisors of towns and wards and overseers of the poor are hereby 
authorized to send to the Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, deaf 
and dumb persons between the ages of six and twelve years, under the pro- 
visions of chapter 325 of the Laws of 1863, as amended by chapter 213 of the 
Laws of 1875, provided that before any pupils are sent to said institution the 
board of State charities shall have made and filed with the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction a certificate to the effect that said institution has been duly 
organized and is prepared for the reception and instruction of such pupils. 

COUNTY PUPILS. 

Chapter 325, Laws of 1863, as Amended by Chapter 180, Laws of 1870, 
AND Chapter 548, Laws of 1871, and Chapter 213, Laws of 1875. 

Section 1. Whenever a deaf-mute child, under the age of twelve years, 
shall become a charge for its maintenance on any of the towns or counties of 
this State, or shall be liable to become such charge, it shall be the duty of the 
overseers of the poor of the town, or of the supervisors of such county, to 
place such child in the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, or in 
the Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-mutes, or in the Le 
Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-mutes, 
in the city of Buffalo, or in the Central New York Institution for Deaf-mutes, 
in the city of Rome, or in any institution of the State for the education of 
deaf-mutes. 

^ 2. Any parent, guardian or friend of a deaf-mute child within this State, 
over the age of six years and under the age of twelve years, may make appli- 
cation to the overseers of the poor of any town, or to any supervisor of the 
county where such child may be, showing by satisfactory afl&davit, or other 
proof, that the health, morals or comfort of such child may be endangered, 
or not properly cared for, and thereupon it shall be the duty of such overseer 
or supervisor to place such child in the New York Institution for the Deaf 
and Dumb, or in the Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-mutes, 
or in the Le Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruction of 
Deaf-mutes, in the city or Buffalo, or in the Central New York Institution for 
Deaf-mutes, in the city of Rome, or in any institution in the State for the edu- 
cation of deaf-mutes. 



158 Deaf and Dumb. 

^ 3. The children placed in said institutions, in pursuance of the foregoing 
sections shall be maintained therein at the expense of the county from 
whence they came, provided that such expense shall not exceed $300 each per 
year, until they attain the age of twelve years, unless the directors of the 
institution to which a child has been sent shall find that such child is not a 
proper subject to remain in said institution. 

^ 4. The expenses for the board, tuition and clothing for such deaf-mute 
children, placed as aforesaid in said institutions, not exceeding the amount of 
$300 per year, above allowed, shall be raised and collected as are other ex- 
penses of the county from which such children shall be received ; and the bills 
therefor, properly authenticated by the principal or one of the officers of the 
institution, shall be paid to said institution by the said county ; and its county 
treasurer or chamberlain, as the case may be, is hereby directed to pay the 
same on presentation, so that the amount thereof may be borne by the proper 
county. 

Chaptek 223, Laws of 1832. 

The following section of the above chapter is still in force: 
^ 4. It shall be the duty of the overseer of the poor in each town to furnish 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction with a list of the deaf and dumb 
persons in their respective towns, so far as they can ascertain them, with such 
particulars in relation to the condition of each as shall be prescribed by the 
Superintendent. 



FINES AND PENALTIES. 



Title III. 

§ 22. Whenever, by any statute, a penalty or fine is imposed 
for the benefit of common schools, and not expressly of the com- 
mon schools of a town or school district, it shall be taken to be 
for the benefit of the common schools of the county within 
which the conviction is had ; and the fine or penalty, when 
paid or collected, shall be paid forthwith into the county 
treasui-y, and the treasurer shall credit the same as school moneys 
of the county, unless the county comprise a city having a special 
school act, in which case he shall report it to the superintendent, 
tvho shall apportion it upon the basis of population by the last 
census, between the city and the residue of the county, and the 
portion belonging to the city shall be paid into its treasury. 

§ 23. Every district attorney shall report, annually to the 
board of supervisors, all such fines and penalties imposed in any 
prosecution conducted by him during the previous year ; and all 
moneys collected or received by him or by the sheriff, or any 
other officer, for or on account of such fines and penalties, shall 
be immediately paid into the county treasury, and the receipt of 
the county treasurer shall be sufficient and the only voucher for 
such moneys. 

§ 24. Whenever a fine or penalty is inflicted or imposed for 
the benefit of the common schools of a town or school district, 
the magistrate, constable or other officer, collecting or receiving 
the same, shall forthwith pay the same to the county treasurer of 
the county in which the school -house is located, wha shall credit 
the same to the town or district for whose benefit it is collected. 
If the fine or penalty be inflicted or imposed for the benefit ot the 



160 Fines and Penalties. 

common schools of a city having a special school act, or of any part 
or district of a city, it shall be paid into the city treasury. 

§ 25. Whenever, by this or any other act, a penalty or fine is 
imposed upon any school district officer for a violation or omis- 
sion of official duty, or upon any person for any act or omission 
within a school district, or touching property or the peace and 
good order of the district, and such penalty or fine is declared to 
be for, or for the use or benefit of the common schools of the 
town, or of the county, and such school district lies in two or more 
towns or counties, the town or county intended by the act shall 
be taken to be the one in which the school-house, or the school- 
house longest owned or held by the district is, at the time of such 
violation, act or omission. 

§ 26. Any district attorney, sheriff, justice of the peace, police 
justice or other magistrate or officer, who shall embezzle, or will- 
fully withhold from or omit to pay into the county treasury any 
money received or collected in payment or satisfaction, in whole 
or in part, of any fine or penalty in the four last preceding sec- 
tions mentioned, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ; and any fine 
imposed upon a conviction thereof shall be for the benefit of the 
common schools of the county. 

It will be seen from the foregoing sections that all fines and penalties for the 
benefit of common schools, whether they be for the schools of the county, 
town or district, must be paid by the officer collecting the same to the county 
treasurer, who is required by sub. 4, sec. 27, title 8, to make a statement of the 
same for the use of the school commissioners in their apportionment of the 
public moneys. The school commissioners apportion these fines and penalties 
the same as the other public moneys, excepting in cases where the law pro- 
vides that the particular fine be for the benefit of some particular town or dis- 
trict. {See State School Moneys.) In which case it is apportioned to only such 
town or district. 

In all cases in which a fine or forfeiture is imposed, and the amount is fixed, 
or may be ascertained by evidence, suit may be brought before any justice of 
the peace ; or in case of embezzlement, or withholding money, where the 
amount may be large, before a county court, or the supreme court. 

It is to be hoped that there will be no occasion to prosecute for these penal- 
ties and forfeitures, nor to punish for misdemeanors. It is, however, enjoined 
upon the people, and especially upon school officers, to see that the laws be 
obeyed, and the offices be faithfully administered. 

If, unfortunately, it becomes .necessary to prosecute a suit for any penalty 
it should be done promptly. Though the limitation of time in which to 
bring suits for the penalties or forfeitures mentioned in the foregoing seems to 
have been, in the new Code of Civil Procedure (see g 888), extended to ten 
years, yet there is no reason or excuse for not taking action at once where action 
is required. 

A reference to the several sections of the law imposing penalties and for- 
feitures will show by whom the prosecutions are to be made. 



FlKES AKD PeJ^-ALTIES. 161 

Sub. 9, sec. 6, title 4 makes it the duty of the supervisor, when the duty 
is not elsewhere imposed by law, to sue for and recover penalties and forfeit- 
ures imposed for violations of the General School Act. {See Supervisors.) 

In the cases in which penalties are provided for neglect of duty or violation 
of the school laws, several are declared to be misdemeanors. A misdemeanor is 
any crime or offense less than a felony. A felony is any crime punishable by 
death or imprisonment in a state prison. 

As the school law in these several sections has not in every case prescribed 
the fine or penalty to be inflicted for the misdemeanor, we must look to the 
Penal Code for instructions. The following sections of the same are appli- 
cable: 

§ 117. A public ofiacer, or person holding a public trust or employment, upon whom 
any duty is enjoined by law, who willfully neglects to perform the duty, is guilty of a 
misdemeanor. This and the preceding section do not apply to cases of official acts or 
omissions, the prevention or punishment of which is otherwise specially provided by 
statute. 

§ 155. Where the performance of any act is prohibited by a statute, and no penalty 
for the violation of such .statute is imposed in any statute, the doing such act is a mis- 
demeanor. 

§ 15. A person convicted of a crime declared to be a misdemeanor, for which no other 
punishment is specially prescribed by this Code, or by any other statutory provision 
in force at the time of the conviction and sentence, is punishable by imprisonment ia 
a penitentiary, or county jail, for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than 
five hundred dollars, or by both. 

An indictment for a crime, other than murder, must be found within five 
years after its commission, except where a less time is prescribed by statute. 
{Code of Criminal Procedure, % 142.) 

But an indictment must be found by a grand jury, and any person cogni- 
zant of the facts can appear before them and testify in any case of misde- 
meanor; or he may procure the aid of the district attorney, who can issue 
subpoenas to bring witnesses before the jury. 

Title YII. 
for refusal to serve as school officer. 
§ 34. Every person chosen or appointed to a school district 
office, who, being duly qnaliiied to fill the same, shall refuse to 
serve therein, shall forfeit five dollars ; and every person so 
chosen or appointed, who, not having refused to accept the oftice, 
shall willfully neglect or refuse to perform any duty thereof, shall 
by such neglect or refusal vacate his office and shall forfeit the 
sum of ten dollars. These penalties are for the benefit of the 
common schools of the town. 

The law regards every person as under an obligation to bear his part in the 
burden of personal service to the public, or to indemnify it by a fine. Mere 
unwillingness to abstract the necessary time from the labors of his ordinary 
calling is not a sufficient cause; it is for him to determine whether the pay- 
ment of the fine, or the injury to his business, or love of ease, will be the 
greater damage, and to meet the one or the other according to his election. 
The presumption is that, if suflBcient cause existed, the supervisor would have 
accepted the resignation of the officer who is sued; and it lies upon him to show 
the cause, not upon the plaintiff to disprove the existenee of any. 

It is for the tribunal before which any delinquent officer is tried to deter- 
mine whether the refusal or neglect to serve was willful. 

• 21 



162 Fines and Penalties. 

§ 35. But the supervisor of the town wherein any such per- 
son resides may accept his written resignation of the oflSce, and 
the filing of such resignation and acceptance in the oflSce of the 
district clerk shall be a bar to the recovery of either penalty in 
the last preceding section mentioned ; or such resignation may 
be made to and accepted by a district meeting. 

Where a district meeting accepts the resignation of any school officer, it is 
not necessary to file a written resignation with the district clerk. The records 
of the meeting will be sufficient evidence of the fact. 

Title XIII. 

Section 1. "Wlienever the share of school moneys, or any por- 
tion thereof, appropriated to any town, school district or separate 
neighborhood, or any money to which a town, school district 
or separate neighborhood would have been entitled, shall be lost, 
in consequence of any willful neglect of official duty by any school 
commissioner, town clerk, trustees or clerks of school districts, 
the officer or officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the 
town, school district or separate neighborhood so losing the same, 
the full amount of such loss with interest thereon. 

§ 2. Where any penalty for the benefit of a school district, or 
of the schools of any school district, town, school commissioner 
district, or county, shall be incurred, and the officer or officers 
whose duty it is by law to sue for the same, shall willfully and 
unreasonably refuse or neglect to sue for the same, such officer or 
officers shall forfeit the amount of such penalty to the same use, 
and it shall be the duty of their successor or successors in office to 
sue for the same. 

Whenever any penalty or forfeiture is declared to be for the benefit of a 
district, it is the duty of the trustees to sue for and enforce its collection. 

Whenever any penalty or forfeiture is declared to be for the benefit of a 
town, it is the duty of the supervisor to prosecute. 

Trustees may prosecute their predecessors in office for money embezzled or 
unlawfully used or withheld. 

Trustees may prosecute collectors and their bail for moneys lost to the dis- 
trict by the neglect of the collectors, or which are embezzled by them. 

Supervisors may prosecute their predecessors in office for penalties and 
forfeitures incurred by them, and for moneys embezzled or unlawfully used 
or withheld. 

Trustees may prosecute district clerks, and supervisors, town clerks, for 
money lost by their willful neglect of duty. 

A public officer is bound to give to Iiis official duties the same care and 
attention that a prudent man would give to his private business. 



FiN"ES AND Penalties. 163 

An oflBcer who comes short of this is guilty of a willful neglect of duty. 
FOR DISTURBING SCHOOL MEETING. 

§ 3. Any person who shall wilKully disturb, interrupt or dis- 
quiet any district school or school meeting in session, or any per- 
sons assembled, with the permission of the trustees of the district, 
in any district school-house, for the purpose of giving or receiving 
instruction in any branch of education or learning, or in the science 
or practice of music, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for the bene- 
fit of the school district. (As amended hy sec, 24, chap. 406, 
Laws of 1867.) 

§ 4. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the district, or the 
teacher of the school, and he shall have power, to enter a com- 
plaint against such offender before any justice of the peace of the 
county, or the mayor or any alderman, recorder or other magis- 
trate of the city, wherein the offense was committed. The magis- 
trate or other officer before whom the complaint is made shall 
thereupon by his warrant, directed to any constable or person, 
cause the person complained of to be arrested and brought before 
him for trial. If such person, on the charge being stated to him, 
shall plead guilty, the magistrate shall convict him ; and, if he 
demands a trial by the magistrate, shall summarily try him ; and, 
if he demands a trial by jury, the magistrate shall issue a venire, 
and impanel a jury for his trial, and he shall be tried in the same 
manner as in a court of special sessions. 

§ 5. If any person convicted of the said offense, do not imme- 
diately pay the penalty, with the costs of the prosecution, or give 
security to the satisfaction of the magistrate for the payment 
thereof within twenty days, the magistrate or other officer shall 
commit him to the common jail of the county, there to be im- 
prisoned until the penalty and costs be paid, but not exceeding 
thirty days. 

The three preceding sections are a substitute for the act of 1845 forbidding 
the disturbance of evening schools. The provisions of the sections of the 
present law are plain and unmistakable. Every person who violates them for- 
feits twenty-five dollars. 

It is suggested that, when the school-house is used for any other purpose 
than a district school, it would be proper to obtain the written permission of 
the trustees, as a safeguard against misunderstanding and forgetfulness. 

. Fines and penalties are imposed by other sections of the general school act 



164 Fines akd Penalties. 

and separate acts, and which are placed in full in the several chapters upon 
the respective subjects, the following being cross references to the same. 

CLERK OF DISTRICT. 

Title VI, § 12. The clerk, or other person, refusing to obey an order to 
deposit the books, papers and records of a dissolved district with the town 
clerk incurs a penalty of fifty dollars. 

Title VII, § 37, subd. 5. If a district clerk neglects to give notice to all per- 
sons elected or appointed to office, and to report their names, and post ofiice 
address, to the town clerk, he forfeits five dollars in each instance. 

Title VII, g 37, subd. 7. If the district clerk neglects to keep and preserve 
all books and records, and deliver them to his successor, he forfeits fifty dol- 
lars for the benefit of the district, to be recovered by the trustees. 

COLLECTOR. 

Title VII, § 89. A collector whose neglect to collect money causes a loss to 
the district is liable for siach loss, and forfeits the amount to the district. (See 
Taxes.) 

PERSONS GENERALLY. 

Title VII, § 14. Any person making a false declaration of his right to vote 
at a district meeting is guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to imprisonment 
for not less than six months and not more than a year. Any person not quali- 
fied to vote, who votes at a district meeting, forfeits five dollars, to be sued 
for by the supervisor, for the benefit of the schools of the town. 

Chap. 413, § 3, Laws of 1877. Any person violating the provisions of the act 
to prevent frequent changes of text-books in schools is liable to a penalty of 
not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars, to be sued for by any 
tax payer of the district, for the benefit of the district. 

Chap. 421, Laws of 1874. Penalty against persons for violation of Compul- 
sory Education Act. 

Chap. 248, Laws of 1878. For illegal voting after challenge, under this act, 
a person is guilty of misdemeanor, punishable in jail for not less than six 
months nor more than one year. For illegal voting without being challenged 
shall forfeit ten dollars. 

SCHOOL COMMISSIONER. 

Title II, § 10. If a school commissioner neglects his duty the. Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction may withhold the whole or a part of his salary. 

Title II. § 12. If a commissioner acts as agent for the sale of books, he may 
be removed from ofiice by the Superintendent. He is also guilty of a misde- 
meanor. 

SUPERVISOR. 

Title III, § 32. The supervisor who refuses to give a bond for the school 
moneys paid into his hands commits a misdemeanor. 

Title IV, § 3. The supervisor who embezzles any money or security received 
by him is guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Title IV, § 5. The supervisor who neglects to make an annual report or who 
makes a false report to the county treasurer of the school moneys in his hands 
incurs a penalty of twenty-five dollars, to be recovered by his successor in 
office, or by the county treasurer. 

TAXABLE INHABITANT. 

Title VII, § 5. Any taxable inhabitant refusing to give the notice of a dis- 
trict meeting, under article first of title seven, forfeits five dollars. {See 
Meetings.) 



FlKES AND PeI^ALTIES. 165 

TKUSTEES. 

Title VII, § 43. The trustee who applies, or directs, or consents to the appli- 
cation of any public money to the payment of the wages of an unqualified 
teacher, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (See, also, Teachers.) 

Title VII, § 57. Every trustee, who refuses or neglects to render his annual 
account in writing to the district meeting, forfeits twenty-five dollars ; and 
every trustee, who refuses to pay over to his successor any balance of money 
in his hands, forfeits twenty-five dollars. He also forfeits his office and 
becomes liable for the money in his hands. {See, also, Reports.) 

Title VII, § 64. Every trustee who signs a false report, with intent to obtain 
from a commissioner a larger sum than is legally due the district, forfeits 
twenty-five dollars, and commits a misdemeanor. {See, also, Reports.) 

Title VIII, § 6. The trustees are liable to the district, and the librarian to tlie 
trustees, for loss of books, or damage to them, caused by their neglect of duty. 
{See, also. Librarian and Libraries.) 

Title VIII, § 11. The fines imposed by the general instructions as to the 
management and care of libraries are legalized, and may be recovered by the 
trustees in an action of debt. {See, also. Librarian and Libraries.) 

Title VIII, § 13. If the trustees refuse to make a report of the condition of 
the library, at the request of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the 
library money may be withheld from the district, and the trustee is liable 
therefor to the district. {See, also. Librarian and Libraries.) 

Chap. 413, Laws of 1877. Against trustee for violation of Text-Book Act. 

Chap. 672, Laws of 1887. A trustee who through his fault or negligence 
permits the copy of the Code of Public Instruction (1887), belonging to his 
district, to be lost or destroyed, forfeits twenty-five dollars. 



I.IBRABIAN AND LIBRARIES. 



ELECTION OF LIBRARIAN. 

Title YIL 
§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled 
in any district meeting, shall have power by a majority of the 
votes of those present : 

4. To choose ^ "^ ^ ^ librarian, at their first meeting, 
and so often as such offices or any of them become vacated, except 
as hereinafter provided. 

QUALIFICATIONS OF. 
§ 24. Every district and neighborhood officer must be a resi- 
dent of his district and neighborhood, and qualified to vote at its 
meetings. 

Under the provisions of chapter 9, Laws of 1880 women are eligible to serve 
as district librarians. 

By section 23, no trustee can hold the office of librarian. 

TERM OF OFFICE. 
§ 25. * ^ ^ The term of office of all other district and 
neighborhood officers is one year. Every district and neighbor- 
hood officer shall hold his office unless removed, during his term 
of office, and until his successor shall be elected or appointed. 

The last two sentences of this section include the office of librarian. 

§ 26. The term of all officers elected at the first meeting of a 
newly erected neighborhood or district, except of a union free 
school district, shall expire on the last Tuesday of August next 
thereafter. 



LiBBARIAN AND LIBRARIES. 167 

APPOINTMENT TO FILL VACANCY. 
§ 32. Any vacancy in the office of district clerk, collector or 
librarian, may be supplied by appointment under the hands of the 
trustees of the district, or a majori ty of them, and the appointees 
shall hold their respective offices until the next annual meeting o( 
the district, and until others are elected and take their places. 

Under tliis section, and by tlie last sentence of section 25, if tlie annual 
meeting passes without an election, all tlie oflQcers of tlie district, whether 
holding by election or appointment, will legally retain oflBce until their suc- 
cessors are elected or appointed and take their places. When the librarian ■ is 
holding over there is no vacancy that can be filled by appointment. But if the 
annual meeting was not held at the time fixed by law, or a librarian was not 
elected, a district meeting if regularly called can elect a librarian in the place 
of the person holding over. This can be done, not on the ground that a 
vacancy exists, but under the authority of section 10 of this title. 

§ 33. Every appointment to fill a vacancy shall be forthwith 
filed by the supervisor or trustees making it, in the office of the 
district clerk, who shall immediately give notice of the appoint- 
ment to the person appointed. 

The appointment should not only be filed by the district clerk, but for the 
purposes of future use or to prove his title to the office, it should be recorded 
in the clerk's record book. The original appointment can as well be made in 
the record book as upon separate paper. The law requires that notice of such 
appointment shall immediately be served upon the person appointed. 

DUTY OF. 
§ 38. The librarian, subject to the provisions of this act, shall 
have the charge and supervision of the district library. 

EEMOVAL FROM OFFICE. 

The district librarian can be removed from his oflSce by the State Superintend- 
ent under section 18, title ii (see chapter on State Superintendent). He can 
also be removed by the trustees of the district under section 5, title viii. 

LIBKAEIES. 

LIBRARV MONEY. 

Title III. 

Section 7, referring to the State Superintendent, reads: 

" He shall set apart from the income of the United States deposit fund, for 
and as library money, such sum as the legislature shall appropriate for that 
purpose." 

Section 8, same title, provides that the Superintendent shall apportion the 
library moneys separately, among the counties of the State according to their 
respective population, etc. The manner of this apportionment is treated of 
in the chapter on " State School Moneys." 



168 Librarian and Libraries. 

The amount to be annually appropriated by the legislature for school dis- 
trict libraries was first fixed by chapter 237, Laws of 1838, at $55,000. By sec- 
tion 2, title viii of the General School Law, as amended by section 27, chapter 
567, Laws of 1875 the amount was reduced to $50,000, at which sum it still 
remains. 

DISBURSEMENT OF LIBRARY MONEY. 

Title IY. 
§ 6. It is the duty of every supervisor : 

2. To disburse the library moneys upon, and only upon, the 
written orders of a sole trustee, or a majority of the trustees. 
{As amended hy sec. 13, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) 

Title YII. 
TAX FOR. 
§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote,- when duly assembled 
in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the 
votes of those present : 

* * -5^ * -Jf -x- ** 

9. To vote a tax, not exceeding ten dollars, in any one year, 
for the purchase of such books as they shall direct for the district 
library, and such further sum as they shall deem necessary for 
the purchase of a book- case. 

Under this subdivision a district meeting can authorize the levying of a tax 
not exceeding $10, for the purchase of library books, and a further sum for a 
book-case. All duly qualified voters at school district meetings can vote upon 
the question when the action is taken under this subdivision. 

DUTIES OF TRUSTEES CONCERNING LIBRARY. 
§ 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- 
trict, and they shall have power ; 



. INSURANCE. 
8. To insure the district library in such a company in a sum 
fixed by a district meeting, and to raise the premiums by a dis- 
trict tax, and comply with the conditions of the policy. 

The words " such a company " refer to a '' company created by or under the 
laws of this State," mentioned in the preceding subdivision. 

RESPECTING LIBRARY MONEY. 
12. If the library money apportioned to the district be less than 
three dollars, to a]3ply it to the payment of teachers' wages. 



Librarian and Libraries. 169 

13. To draw upon the supervisor for the school and library 
moneys in the manner and form prescribed by subdivisions one 
and two of section six of title four of this act. 

The following title is devoted entirely to tlie subject of school district libra- 
ries, and the application of library moneys. 

Title YIII. 

Section 1. The taxable inhabitants of each school district in 
the State shall have power, when lawfully assembled in any dis- 
trict meeting, to levy a tax on the district, not exceeding in any 
one year the sum of fifty dollars, for the purchase of such books 
as they shall direct for the district library, and such further sum 
as they may deem necessary for the purchase of a book-case. All 
books and cases which may have been or shall be purchased with 
moneys raised by such taxes, or with moneys apportioned to the 
district for library purposes, and all books which have been given 
to and accepted by the trustees for the library, shall compose the 
library of the district. 

This section does not repeal subdivision 9, section 16, title vii. If it is desired 
to levy over $10, and not exceeding $50, the authority to do so is given in 
this section, and taxable inhabitants only can vote upon the question. This 
is the only place in the General School Laws of the State as they stand at pres- 
ent where a vote upon any question at a district school meeting whatever is 
limited to the " taxable inhabitants." 

The language ' ' for the purchase of such books as they shall direct for the 
district library," shows the intention of the law to be that the district meeting 
shall select or designate the particular books to be purchased. 

This will be a diflBcult matter unless some system is followed. A list of 
suitable books should be carefully prepared by some person or persons con- 
versant with literary matters. This list can be submitted to the meeting, and 
the designation made therefrom. The meeting cannot delegate the power to 
a committee. But a committee can be appointed to prepare a list, and the 
meeting designate the books on such list. 

§ 2. The sum of fifty thousand dollars, directed to be distributed 
to the several school districts of this State, by the fourth section 
of chapter two hundred and thirty-seven of the Laws of eighteen 
hundred and thirty-eight, shall continue to be applied to the pur- 
chase of books for the district libraries. 

The sum directed to be distributed by the section cited was fifty-five 
thousand dollars. The amount was changed to fifty thousand dollars by an 
amendment in 1875, without correcting the incongruity of the reference. 

The selection of books for the district library is devolved by law upon the 
trustees ; and when the importance of this most beneficent and enlightened 

22 



170 Librarian and Libraries. 

provision for the intellectual and moral improvement of tlie inhabitants of 
the several districts of both sexes and all conditions is duly estimated, the 
trust here confided is one of no ordinary responsibility, In reference to such 
selections, but two prominent sources of embarrassment have been experienced. 
The one has arisen from the necessity of excluding from the libraries all works 
having directly or remotely a sectarian tendency, and the other from that of 
recommending the exclusion of novels, romances and other fictitious creations 
of the imagination, including a large proportion of the lighter literature of 
the day. The propriety of a peremptory and uncompromising exclusion of 
those catchpenny but revolting publications which cultivate the taste for the 
marvelous, the tragic, the horrible and the supernatural — the lives and ex- 
ploits of pirates, banditti and desperadoes of every description — is too obvious 
to every reflecting mind to require the slightest argument. 

If any case of improper selection of books should come before the Super- 
intendent, by appeal from any inhabitant, such selection would be set aside ; 
and if it appears from the reports which, according to regulation, must be 
made, that such books have been purchased, the school commissioner will be 
bound to withhold the next year's library money from such district until they 
are replaced by works of equal cost and better character. 

In regard to works of a sectarian character which there is considerable 
disposition to smuggle into district libraries, the following general rules, 
promulgated by Superintendent Randall several years ago, may be regarded 
as expressing the settled principles of the Department: 

"1. No works written professedly to uphold or attack any sect or creed lu our 
country, claiming to be a religious one, shall be tolerated in the school libraries ; 

'*3. Standard works on other topics shall not be excluded because they incidentally 
and indirectly betray the religious opinion of their autlior ; 

"3. Works avowedly on other topics, which abound in dii'ect and unreserved attacks 
on, or defense of, the character of any religious sect, or those which hold up any relig- 
ious body to contempt or execration, by singling out or bringing togethei only the 
darker parts of its history or character, shall be excluded from the school libraries. 

In the selection of books for a district library, information, and not mere 
amusement, is to be regarded as the primary object. Suitable provision 
should, however, be made for the intellectual wants of the young, by furnish- 
ing them with books which, without being merely juvenile in their character, 
are within their comprehension, and sufficiently entertaining to excite and 
gratify a taste for reading. It is useless to buy books which are not read. 
The indifference which is manifested in respect to many of the district libraries 
shows that in point of fact their volumes are little sought for. This could 
hardly be the case, if the annual additions were of a kind to interest the 
young. If we can succeed in making eager readers of the youthful generation, 
they will take care of the libraries in the future. 

§ 3. But whenever the number of volumes in the district 
Hbrary of any district numbering over fifty children, between the 
ages of five and sixteen, shall exceed one hundred and twenty- 
five, or of any district numbering fifty children or less between 
the said ages, shall exceed one hundred volumes, the inhabitants 
of the district qualified to vote therein may, at a special or 
annual meeting duly notified for that purpose, by a majority of 
votes, appropriate the whole or any part of the library money 
belonging to the district for the current year to the purchase of 
maps, globes, blackboards, or other scientific apparatus for the use 



Librarian ai^d Libraries. 171 

of the school; and in every district having the required number 
of volumes in the district Ubrary, and the maps, globes, black- 
boards and other apparatus aforesaid, the said moneys, with the 
approbation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, may be 
applied to the payment of qualified teachers' wages. 

This section was a part of section 136 of chapter 480, Laws of 1847. The 
so-called free school law of 1851 required the enumeration of all children be- 
tween the ages of four and twenty-one, and declared the schools free to all 
between those ages. But this section was not amended by that law, and has 
remained unaltered ever since. 

In order, therefore, to authorize a district to apply its library money to the 
purchase of scientific apparatus, or with the approbation of the State Superin- 
tendent, to paying teachers' wages, it must number over fifty children between 
the ages of five and sixteen, and actually have in its library over one hundred 
and twenty-five volumes, or over one hundred volumes if the number of 
children between those ages be less than fifty. The mere fact that the dis- 
trict has at some previous time possessed the requisite number of volumes is 
not sufficient. 

On making an application to the State Superintendent, the facts must be 
established by an affidavit, stating the number of children, and the number of 
volumes actually in the library, and enumerating what maps, globes, and other 
scientific apparatus have been procured and are actually in use in the school. 

The vote of a district and the permission of the State Superintendent relate 
only to the application of library money for the current year, and must be 
annually renewed to justify any diversion of it from the purchase of books. 

§ 4. When the library money apportioned to a district in any 
year shall be less than three dollars, the trustees may apply it in 
payment of qualified teachers' wages. 

The annual apportionment made by the school commissioners will show 
what is the amount of library money belonging to each district. If it is less 
than $3, then the trustees may give an order for it on the supervisor in part 
payment of the wages of a qualified teacher. 

§ 5. The trustees of every school district shall be trustees of the 
library of such district, and the property of all books therein, and 
of the case and other appurtenances thereof, shall be deemed to be 
vested in s;ich trustees so as to enable them to maintain any action 
in relation to the same. It shall be their duty to preserve such 
books and to keep them in repair ; and the expenses incurred for 
that purpose may be included in any tax list to be made out by 
them ^s trustees of a district, and added to any tax voted by a 
district meeting, and shall be collected and paid over in the same 
manner. The librarian of any district library shall be subject to 
the directions of the trustees thereof, in all matters relating to the 
preservation of the books and appurtenances of the library, and 



173 Librarian and Libraries. 

may be removed from office by tbem for willful disobedience of 
such directions or for any willful neglect of duty. 

Being required to preserve the books belonging to the library, the trustees 
must have power to do all that is necessary to their preservation. If the peo- 
ple neglect or refuse to vote a tax to buy a book-case, the trustees may buy 
one, on the ground that a library cannot be preserved without a book-case 
capable of holding the books. 

They are also to cause the books and case when injured to be repaired as 
soon as may be, and to provide sufficient wrapping paper to cover their books, 
and the necessary writing paper to enable the librarian to keep minutes of the 
delivery and return of books. These are proper expenses for the preservation 
and repair of the books, and are to be defrayed by a tax on the district, which 
is to be added by the trustees to any tax voted by a district meeting. It is not 
necessary that the tax to defray these expenses should be voted by the inhab- 
itants of the district; it is to be assessed and collected in the same manner as 
a tax for building or repairing a school-house, or for furnishing it with neces- 
sary fuel and appendages. 

The trustees of each school district are required, at the time of making their 
annual reports, to deliver to the school commissioner a catalogue containing 
the titles of all the books in the district library not previously reported with 
the number of volumes of each set or series, and the condition of such books, 
whether sound, or injured or defaced. This catalogue must be signed by 
them and by the librarian. 

§ 6. Trustees shall be liable to their successors, and the librarian 
shall be liable to the trustees, for any neglect or omission of their 
respective duties, by which any book shall be lost, destroyed or 
damaged, to the amount of such damage and the value of the 
book so destroyed or lost. 

There is great reason to fear that the duties of trustees, in respect to the 
preservation of the libraries in good condition, are often criminally neglected. 
They ought to investigate its condition as soon as they come into office, ascer- 
tain who has the custody of or is responsible for every book upon its catalogue, 
and see that it is returned in due time to the librarian, or that the proper fine 
for its detention is imposed and collected. If their predecessors cannot pro- 
duce or account for the books, they should be prosecuted for the value of such 
as may be missing. 

It is believed that the loss of many books, and the injury of others, are 
owing to neglect of the trustees to provide for them a proper book-case. 
Books that are tumbled promiscuously into an old trunk or dry goods box, and 
stowed away in a garret, are not kept and preserved. A book-case well filled 
with good books is a valuable ornament in any room. The librarian of any 
district which has a library of two or three hundred Avell selected books ought 
to consider himself the most favored man in his neighborhood. 

§ 7. All moneys recovered unaer the last preceding section, and 
all moneys received upon any policy of insurance procured upon 
the library, and all fines and penalties imposed by or in pursuance 
of this title, shall be applied, by the trustees, in the purchase of 
books for and in the reparation and care of the library. 



LiBKAKIAN AND LiBRAKIES. 173 

§ 8. Any two or more adjoining districts, with the consent of 
all the commissioners of the school commissioner districts within 
which they lie, may, by a majority of votes in their several dis- 
tricts, unite their libraries, and apply their library moneys and 
funds to the care, reparation and augmentation of their joint library 
so formed. All the trustees of such districts shall be trustees of 
such library, with all the powers, duties and liabilities conferred 
and imposed by this title upon the trustees of a hbrary of a district, 
and the librarian shall be appointed by them, and have the powers 
and be subject to the duties and liabilities conferred and imposed 
by this title upon the librarian of a district ; but upon the ques- 
tion of his appointment or removal, and upon any other question 
which may arise in the board of trustees, the trustee or trustees of 
each district shall have one vote only. All the districts owning 
such library shall be considered as a school district, and the library 
as a school district library, within the meaning of the subsequent 
provisions of this title. 

§ 9. The agreement forming a joint library may be terminated 
by the votes of all the several districts that made it, or by the 
votes of any one or more of them less than the whole, provided a 
majority of the school commissioners, within whose districts the 
school districts lie, advise and consent thereto, or the Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction so order. 

§ 10. When such an agreement shall be dissolved, the trustees 
of the several districts (the trustee or trustees of each district hav- 
ing only one vote) shall divide the library and all the joint funds 
on hand, including all fines and penalties incurred, among the 
several districts; and if they cannot agree, then such division shall 
be made by the commissioners within whose districts the school 
districts lie, or by some officer or person selected by the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction. 

§ 11. The general regulations respecting the preservation of 
school district libraries, the delivery of them by librarians and 
trustees to their successors in office, the use of them by the inhab- 
itants of the district, the number of volumes to be taken by any 
one person at any one time or during any term, the periods of 
their return, the fines and penalties that may be imposed by the 
trustees of such libraries for not returning, for losing or destroy- 



174 Librarian and Libraries. 

ing, any of the books therein, or for soiling, defacing or injuring 
them, heretofore framed by the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, are continued in force, and he may, from time to time, amend, 
annul or add to them, and shall, from time to time, furnish printed 
copies of the regulations in force, and of such amendments, annul- 
ments and additions, to the trustees of such libraries ; and all such 
regulations shall be obligatory upon all persons and officers having 
charge of such libraries, or using or possessing any of the books 
thereof. Such fines may be recovered in an action of debt^in the 
name of the trustees of any such library, of the person on whom 
they are imposed, unless such person be a minor ; in which case 
they may be recovered of the parent or guardian of such minor, 
unless notice in writing shall have been given by such parent. or 
guardian to the trustees of such library, that they will not be 
responsible for any books delivered to such minor. And persons 
with whom such minors reside shall be liable, in the same manner 
and to the same extent, in cases where the parent of such minor 
does not reside in the district. 

REGULATIONS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT MADE IN PURSUANCE OP THE ABOVE 

PROVISION. 

1. The librarian is required, whenever any library is purchased and taken 
charge of by him, to make out a full and complete catalogue of all the books 
contained therein. At the foot of each catalogue he is to sign a receipt in the 
following form: 

1, A. B,, do hereby acknowledge that the books specified in the preceding 
catalogue have been delivered to me by the trustees of school district No. , 
in the town of , to be safely kept by me, as librarian of the said district, 
for the use of the inhabitants thereof, according to the regulations prescribed 
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and to be accounted for by me, 
according to the said regulations, to the trustees of the said district, and to be 
delivered to my successor in office. Dated, etc. 

A correct copy of the catalogue and receipt is then to be made, to which 
the trustees are to add a certificate in the following form: 

We, the subscribers, trustees of school district No. , in the town of 

, do certify that the preceding is a full and complete catalogue 

of books in the library of the said district, now in possession of A. B. , the 

librarian thereof, and of his receipt thereon. Given under our hands, this 

day of , 18 . 

The catalogue having the librarian's receipt is to be delivered to the trus- 
tees, and a copy having the certificate of the trustees is to be delivered to 
the librarian for his indemnity. 

2. Whenever books are added to the library, a catalogue, with a similar 
receipt by the librarian, is to be delivered to the trustees, and a copy, with a 



Librarian and Libraries. 



175 



certificate of tlie trustees that it is a copy of the catalogue delivered them by 
the librarian, is to be furnished to him. Every catalogue received by trustees 
is to be kept by them carefully among the papers of the district, and to be 
delivered to their successors in office, 

3. Whenever a new librarian shall be chosen, all the books are to be called in. 
For this purpose the librarian is to refuse to give out any books for fourteen 
days preceding the time so prescribed for collecting them together. At these 
periods, they must make a careful examination of the books, compare them 
with the catalogue, and make written statements, in a column opposite the 
name of each book, and its actual condition, whether lost or present, and 
whether in good order or injured, and, if injured, specifying in general terms 
the extent of such injury. This catalogue, with the remarks, is to be delivered 
to the successors of the trustees to be kept by them; a copy of it is to be made 
out and delivered to the new librarian, with the library, by whom a receipt, 
in the form above prescribed, is to be given, and to be delivered to the trus- 
tees. Another copy, certified by them as before mentioned, is to be delivered 
to the librarian. 

4. Trustees on coming into office are to attend at the library for the purpose 
of comparing the catalogue with the books. They are at all times when they 
think proper, and especially on their coming into office, to examine the books 
carefully, and note such as are missing or injured. For every book that is 
missing, the librarian is accountable to the trustees for the full value thereof, 
and for the whole series of which it formed a part; such value to be determined 
by the trustees. He is accountable, also, for any injury which a book may 
appear to have sustained by being soiled, defaced, torn or otherwise. And he 
can be relieved from such accountability only by the trustees, on its being 
satisfactorily shown to them that some inhabitant of the district has been 
charged or is chargeable for the books so missing, or for the amount of the 
injury so done to any work. It is the duty of the trustees to take prompt and 
efficient measures for the collection of the amount for which any librarian is 
accountable. 

5. The librarian must cause to be pasted in each book belonging to the 
library a printed or written label, or must write in the first blank leaf of each 
book, specifying that the book belongs to the library of school district No. , 
in the town of , naming the town and giving the number of the dis- 
trict; and he is on no account to give out any book which has not such 
printed or written declaration in it. He is also to cause all the books to be 
covered with strong wrapping paper, on the back of which is to be written the 
title of the book, and its number in large figures. As new books are added, 
the numbers are to be continued, and they are in no case to be altered; so that 
if a book be lost, its number and title must still be continued on the catalogue, 
with a note that it is missing. 

The librarian must keep a blank book, that may be made by stitching 
together half a dozen or more sheets of writing paper. Let those be ruled 
across the width of the paper, so as to leave five columns of the proper size 
for the following entries, to be written lengthwise of the paper: In the first 
column, the date of the delivery of any book to any inhabitant; in the second, 
the title of the book delivered, and its number; in the third, the name of the 
person to whom delivered; in the fourth, the date of its return; and in the 
fifth, remarks respecting its condition, in the following form: 



Times of Delivery. 


Title and No. Book. 


To whom. 


When Returned. 


Condition. 


1883, June 10. 


History of Va. 43. 


T. Jones. 


20th June. 


Good. 



As it will be impossible for the librarian to keep any trace of the books with- 
out such minutes, his own interest to screen himself from responsibility, as 



176 LiBRABIAK AND LiBRAEIES. 

well as his duty to the public, will, it is to be hoped, induce him to be exact 
in making his entries at the time any book is delivered, and, when it is re- 
turned, to be equally exact in noticing its condition, and making the proper 
minute. 

A fair copy of the catalogue should be kept by the librarian, to be exhibited 
to those who desire to select a book; and, if there be room, it should be 
fastened on the door of the case. 



REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE USE OF THE BOOKS IN DISTRICT 
LIBRARIES, PRESCRIBED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC 
INSTRUCTION. 

I. The librarian has charge of the books, and is responsible for their pres- 
ervation and delivery to his successor. 

II. A copy of the catalogue required to be made out by articles one and two 
of the preceding regulations is to be kept, by the librarian, open to the inspec- 
tion of the inhabitants of the district at all reasonable times. It will be found 
convenient to affix a copy of it on the door of the book-case containing the 
library. 

III. Books are to be delivered as follows: 

1. Only to inhabitants of the district; 

2. Only one can be delivered to an inhabitant at a time; and any one having 
a book out of the library must return it before he can receive another; 

3. No person upon whom a fine has been imposed by the trustees, under 
these regulations, can receive a book while such fine remains unpaid; 

4. A person under age cannot be permitted to take out a book, unless he 
resides with some responsible inhabitant of the district; nor can he then 
receive a book, if notice has been given by his parent or guardian, or the per- 
son with whom he resides, that they will not be responsible for books delivered 
such minor; 

5. Each individual residing in the district, of suflBcient age to read the 
books belonging to the library, is to be regarded as an inhabitant, and is en- 
titled to all the benefits and privileges conferred by the regulations relative to 
district libraries. Minors will draw in their own names, but on the responsi- 
bility of their parents or guardians; 

6. Where there is a sufficient' number of volumes in the library to accommo- 
date all residents of the district who wish to borrow, the librarian should per- 
mit each member of a family to take books, as often as desired, so long as the 
regulations are punctually and fully observed. But where there are not books 
enough to supply all the borrowers, the librarian should endeavor to accommo- 
date as many as possible, by furnishing each family in proportion to the num- 
ber of its readers or borrowers. 

IV. Every book must be returned to the library within twenty days after it 
shall have been taken out; but the same inhabitant may again take it unless 
application has been made for it while it was so out of the library by any per- 
son entitled, who had not previously borrowed the same book, in which case 
such applicant shall have a preference in the use of it. And wh^e there have 
been several such applicants, the preference sliall be according to the priority 
in time of their applications, to be determined by the librarian. Upon applica- 
tion to the Superintendent, the time for keeping books out of the library will 
be extended to a period not exceeding twenty-eight days, where sufficient rea- 
sons for such extension are shown. 

V. If a book be not returned at the proper time, the librarian is to report 
the fact to the trustees; and he must also exhibit to them every book which 
has been returned injured, by soiling, defacing, tearing or in any other way, 
before such book shall again be loaned out, together with the name of the 
inhabitant in whose possession it was when so injured. 

VI. The trustees of school districts being, by virtue of their office, trustees 
of the library, are hereby authorized to Impose the following fines: 



Librarian and Libraries. 177 

1. For each day's detention of a book, beyond tlie time allowed by these 
regulations, six cents; but not to be imposed for more than ten days' detention; 

2. For the destruction or loss of a book, a fine equal to the full value of the 
book, or of the set, if it be one of a series, with the addition to such value of 
ten cents for each voluine. And on the payment of such fine, the party fined 
shall be entitled to the residue of the series. If he has also been fined for 
detaining- such book, then the said ten cents shall not be added to the value; 

B. For any injury which a b6ok may sustain after it shall be taken out by a 
borrower, and before its return, a fine may be imposed of six cents for every 
spot of grease or oil npon the cover, or upon any leaf of the volume; for writ- 
ing in or defacing any book, not less than ten cents, nor more than the value' 
of the book; for cutting or tearing the cover or the binding, or any leaf not 
less than ten cents, nor more than the value of the book; 

4. If a leaf be torn out, or so defaced or mutilated that it cannot be read, or 
if any thing be Avritten in the volume, or any other injury done to it which 
renders it unfit for general circulation, the trustees will consider it a destruc- 
tion of the book, and shall impose a fine accordingly, as above provided in 
case of loss of a book; 

5. When a book shall have been detained seven days beyond the twenty 
days allowed by these regulations, the librarian shall give notice to the bor- 
rower to return the same within three days. If not returned at that time, the 
trustees may consider the book lost or destroyed, and may impose a fine for 
destruction, in addition to the fines for its detention.. 

VII. But the imposition of a fine, for the loss or destruction of a book, shall 
not prevent the trustees from recovering such book in an action of replevin, 
unless such fine shall have been paid. 

Vill. When, in the opinion of the librarian, any fine has been incurred by 
any person under these regulations, he may refuse to deliver any book to the 
party liable to such fine, until the decision of the trustee upon such liability 
be had. 

IX. Previous to the imposition of any fine, two days' written or verbal no- 
tice is to be given by any trustee or the librarian, or any other person author- 
ized by either of them, to the person charged, to show cause why he should 
not be fined for the alleged offense or neglect; and if, within that time, good 
cause be not shown, the trustees shall impose the fine herein prescribed. No 
other excuse for an eiitraordinary injury to a book, that is, for such an injury 
as Avould not be Occasioned by its ordinary use, should be received, than the 
fact that the book was as much injured when it was taken out, by the person 
charged, as it was when he returned it. As such loss must fall on some one, 
it is more just that it should be borne by the party whose duty it was to take 
care of the volumes than by the district. Negligence can only be prevented, 
and disputes can only be avoided by the adoption of this rule. Subject to 
these general principles, the imposirion of all or any of these fines is dis- 
cretionary with the trustees, and they should ordinarily be imposed only for 
willful or culpaUy negligent injuries to books, or where the district actually 
sustains a loss or serious injury. Reasonable excuses for the detention of the 
books beyond twenty days should in all cases be received. 

X. It is the special duty of the librariar; to give notice to the borrower of a 
book that shall be returned injured, to show cause why he should not be fined. 
Such notice may be given to the agent of the borrower who returns the book, 
and it should always be given at the time the book is returned. 

XI. The librarian is to inform the trustees of every notice given by him to 
show cause against the imposition of a fine ; and they shall assemble at the 
time and place appointed by him, or by any notice given by them, or any one 
of them, and shall hear the charge and defense. They are to keep a book of 
minutes, in which every fine imposed by them, and the cause, shall be entered 
and signed by them, or the major part of them. Such original minutes, or a 
copy certified by them, or the major part of them, or by the clerk of the dis- 
trict, shall be conclusive evidence of the fact that a fine was imposed, as 
stated in such minutes, according to these regulations. 



178 Librarian and Libraries. 

XTl. It shall be tlie duty of trustees to prosecute promptly for tlie collection 
of all fines imposed by them. Fines collected for the detention of books, or 
for injuries to them, are to be applied to defray the expense of repairing the 
books in the library. Fines collected for the loss or destruction of any book, 
or of a set or series of books, shall be applied to the purchase of the same or 
other suitable books. 

XliL These regulations being declared by law " obligatory upon all persons 
and officers having charge of such libraries, or using or possessing any of the 
books thereof," it is expedient that they should be made known to every 
borrower of a book. And for that purpose, a printed copy is to be affixed 
conspicu ously on the case containing any library, or on one of such cases if 
there be several, and the librarian is to call the attention to them of every 
person, on the first occasion of his taking out a book. 

The offices of trustee and librarian are incompatible, and cannot be held by 
the same person. {Sec. 23, third article of title VII.) 

§ 12. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, whenever he 
may deem proper, may require the trustees of any such library to 
make to him or to the school commissioner, a report showing the 
contents and condition of the hbrary, the fines imposed, and any 
other information which he may deem proper touching the library, 
or its management, and shall prescribe the form, contents and au- 
thenti:'ation of such report. And may impose it as a duty upon 
the teacher employed in any district, under the direction of the 
trustees, to assist them making such examination, and when such 
direction is given, the teacher may close the school one day for 
the purpose of making such examination, and the same shall not 
be accounted as lost time. 

§ 13. If any such trustees willfully neglect or refuse to make 
any such report, the Superintendent shall cause all library moneys 
to be withholden from the district until the report be made and 
considered by him, and such moneys shall, if he see cause, be 
forfeited by the district, in which case they shall be apportioned 
among the school districts of the county in which the library is 
situated, other than such school district. And any trustee or trus- 
tees, through whose neglect or refusal such moneys shall be lost 
to the district, shall forfeit and pay to the district twice the 
amount of such moneys, for the benefit of the library of the dis- 
trict, and such forfeiture may be recovered by his or their success- 
ors in office. 

§ 14. The Superintendent, whenever thereto requested by the 
trustees of any district school library, may select the library, or 
books for the library of the district, and cause the same to be 
delivered to the clerk of the county. 



LiBEAElAN AND LiBEAKIES. 179 

§ 15. The act entitled " An act to provide for the distribution of 
standard works of American authors among the hbraries of dis- 
trict schools," passed April twelfth, eighteen hundred and fifty- 
six, is hereby repealed. 

' CROSS REFERENCES. 

For the election of librarian in districts of over 300 children of school age, 
see chap. 248, Laws of 1878. 

For penalty against librarian upon his refusal to serve, see chapter on Fines 
and Penalties. 



MEETINGS. 



FIRST MEETING IN NEW DISTRICT OR NEIGHBORHOOD. 

Title YII. 
Section 1. Whenever any school district or separate neighbor- 
hood shall be formed, the commissioner or any one or more of 
the commissioners within whose district or districts it may be, 
shall prepare a notice describing such district or neighborhood, 
and appointing a time and place for the first district or neighbor- 
hood meeting, and deliver such notice to a taxable inhabitant of 
the district or neighborhood. 

As soon as the order forming a school district takes effect the school com- 
missioner or commissioners are compelled to call a meeting of such district for 
the purpose of perfecting a district organization.. The notice for the meeting 
is required to state the time and place therefor, and to describe such district. 
The description must be the same as that contained in the order of formation 
which is by metes and bounds. The object of this is to inform the inhabitant 
who serves the notice, without recourse to any other document, over what ter- 
ritory he is to search for the persons upon whom service must be made; and, 
in the second place, that the inhabitants can easily and plainly see that they 
are included within the territory of the new district, thereby cutting off all 
chance for dispute on the question. 

Form of Notice. 

To , a taxable inhabitant of District No. in the town 

of 

Whereas, By an order of the school commissioner for the commis- 

missioner district of the county of , which order is dated the day 

of , and took effect on that day (or .on the day of , specify- 

ing the day, which must precede the date of the notice), a school district is 
formed, numbered No. , and bounded and described as follows, viz.: 

Beginning {gide the description the same as in the orclsr of formation). 

You are hereby required^ to notify every person residing in the territory 
above described who is entitled to vote at school district meetings, under sec- 
tion 12, Title VII, of the General School Law, that the first district meeting of 
said district is hereby appointed to be held at the house of , at 

o'clock of the day of , 18 , for the purpose of electing 

officers, voting taxes, and transacting such other business as is permitted by 
law. 

You are required by law to read this notice in the hearing of each inhabi- 



Meetings. 181 

tant qualified to vote at school meetings, or, in case of liis or her absence from 
home, to leave a copy of so much thereof as relates to the time and place of 
such meeting at the place of his abode, at least six days before the time of the 
meeting. Dated this day of 

A. B., 

Scliool Commissioner. 

It is eminently desirable that the notice should be so broad that no person 
hearing it shall have the slightest ground for professing to be surprised at any 
business which can by possibility be presented at the meeting. This is a rule 
that is applicable to all notices for all meetings. 

It is not to be forgotten that the object of the foregoing notice is merely to 
assemble the inhabitants as the local legislature, and that when so assembled 
their powers are defined, not by the notice but by the statute. 

§ 2. It shall be the duty of such inhabitant to notify every 
other inhabitant of the district or neighborhood, qualified to vote 
at the meeting, by reading the notice in his hearing, or in case of 
his absence from home, by leaving a copy thereof, or so much 
thereof as relates to the time, place and object of the meeting, at 
the place of his abode at least six days before the time of the 
meeting. 

In computing statute time, the first day, or the day on which the time 
begins to run, i&to be excluded. (10 Barb. 117.) The notice under this sec- 
tion must be six full days, exclusive of the day of service, and must therefore 
be given as early as the seventh day before the meeting. 

It is always important that the persons on whom and the manner in which 
the notice has been served should be verified by proper evidence, which can 
be preserved. In reference to a similar notice under the school law of Massa- 
chusetts, the supreme court of that State says: "When the selectmen direct 
a warrant for calling a school district meeting to a proper person, he is made 
a returning ofiicer for that occasion. All returning officers are ministerial, 
and are bound to set forth in their returns all the acts done by them, that the 
proper tribunal may judge of their efficiency. They are not competent to 
judge of the legality of a notice or service; and a return that a precept had 
been legally served, or that the duty enjoined by a warrant had been duly per- 
formed, would most clearly be insufficient." To obviate this objection, it 
would be well for the inhabitant who gives notice of the meeting to frame his 
return in substantially the following manner: 

"Pursuant to the within notice, I have notified the inhabitants qualified 
and residing as therein described, at least six days before the time of the 
meeting, in the following manner, viz, : by reading the notice in their hear- 
ing — John Doe, Charles Davis, etc. (naming them in full); by leaving a copy 
of so much of the within as relates to the time and place of meeting at their 
respective places of abode, they being absent from home — Robert Kidd, 
Henry Hunter, etc., etc." 

This return, when indorsed up(m the notice and signed by the inhabitant 
making it. should be produced at the meeting and filed with the records of 
the district. It constitutes the appropriate evidence of the service of notice; 
but it is not to be inferred that in its absence secondary evidence may not 
be received to support the proceedings of the meeting, whose jurisdiction 
depends upon facts, and not upon mere evidence. The presumption of regu- 
larity in the service of the notices will hold until rebutted by evidence to the 
contrary. 



182 Meetings. 

It is proper to remark that the notice should be given -to every inhabitant 
having any pretension to a right to vote, although the person giving it may 
deem his qualificatious insufficient. Giving him notice determines nothing as 
to the right; and it is better to err by giving the notice to persons not entitled 
to vote than to fail to notify any person who may be so legally entitled. 

§ 3. In case siicli meeting shall not be held, and in the opinion 
of the commissioner, it shall be necessary to hold such meeting 
before the time herein fixed for the first annual meeting, he shall 
deliver another such notice to a taxable inhabitant of the district 
or neighborhood, who shall serve it as hereinbefore provided. 

The law is mandatory as to the commissioner giving the notice of a first 
meeting; but if for any reason such meeting is not held by the inhabitants, it 
is discretionary with the commissioner whether or not to deliver another such 
notice. The necessity for holding such meeting will depend largely upon the 
time that must elapse before the annual meeting and the necessity, or desire 
of the district, as to immediate organization and preparations for establishing a 
school. 

SPECIAL SCHOOL MEETINGS. 

§ 6. A special district meeting shall be held whenever called 
by the trustees. The notice thereof shall state the purpose for 
which it is called, and no business shall be transacted at such 
special meeting, except that which is specified in the notice ; and 
the district clerk, or if the office be vacant, or he be sick or absent 
or shall refuse to act, a trustee or some taxable inhabitant, by 
order of the trustees, shall serve the notice upon each inhabitant 
of the district qualified to vote at district meetings, at least five 
days before the day of the meeting, in the manner prescribed in 
the second section of this title. But the inhabitants of any dis- 
trict may, at any annual meeting, adopt a resolution prescribing 
some other mode of giving notice of special meetings, which reso- 
lution and the mode prescribed thereby shall continue in force until 
rescinded or modified at some subsequent annual meeting. (As 
amended ly sec. 15, chap. 567, Laios <?/'18T5.) 

§ 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- 
trict, and they shall have power : 

1. To call special meetings of the inhabitants of such districts 
whenever they shall deera it necessary and proper. 

2. To give notice of special, annual and adjourned meetings in 
the manner prescribed in the sixth section of this title, if there be 



Meetings. 183 

no clerk of the district, or he be absent or incapable of acting, or 

shall refuse to act. 

§ 37. It shall be the duty of the clerk of each school district : 
« * -X- ^ * ^ ^ 

2. To give notice, in the manner prescribed by the sixth sec- 
tion of this title, or by the inhabitants, pursuant to such section, 
of the time and place of holding special district meetings called 
by the trustees. 

* * * * •K' * * 

10. To call special meetings of the inhabitants whenever all 
the trustees of the district shall have vacated their office. 

§ 4. When the clerk and all the trustees of a school district 
shall have removed from the district, or their office shall be vacant, 
so that a special meeting cannot be called, as hereinafter provided, 
the commissioner may in like manner give notice of and call a 
special district meeting. 

A special district meeting is one other than the annual meeting. The 
power to call such meeting rests with the trustees, or, if their offices are vacant, 
with the district clerk, or, if the offices of trustees and clerk are vacant, with 
the school commissioner. It is a power which should be exercised with great 
judgment. The occasion for a special meeting must be of enough importance 
to warrant the trustees in assembling the inhabitants, for this cannot be done 
without considerable trouble and inconvenience. On the other hand, the 
trustees should not neglect to call a special meeting when the interests of the 
district plainly demand it, or when petitioned by a respectable number of the 
inhabitants. 

Notices and their service. — The notices for the special meeting must state the 
purposes for which it is called, and no business can be transacted thereat 
which is not mentioned in the notice. This affords protection to the inhabit- 
ants against any surprise and undue advantage. Although the law (sec, 2, title 
VII) makes it tlie duty of the inhabitants qualified to vote to attend every district 
meeting duly called, it is not always the case that these meetings are well 
attended. It would be unfair to put it within the power of a small minority 
to attend a meeting called for the supposed purpose of voting a tax for teach- 
ers' wages or of approving of the employment of a person as teacher who was 
within the prohibited degrees of relationship to the trustee, and then change 
the school-house site to a part of the district where it would be greatly unsat- 
isfactory to a majority of the inhabitants and where it would never have been 
put had the meeting been well attended. To guard against such cases of 
injustice this provision was incorporated into the section by the amendment 
of 1875. A special meeting has sometimes been held and an attempt made o 
enlarge upon the powers of the meeting by adjourning to a future day and 
directing the clerk to post or serve notices of such adjourned meeting embody- 
ing a new or additional purpose. This cannot be legally done. The meeting 
can be adjourned from time to time, but it cannot enlarge upon the purposes 
for which it was originally called. 

The notice for the special meeting should be made in writing, and, as recom- 
mended in the chapter on Clerk of District, the better way is to record it in 
the clerk's book of records. It is made the duty of the clerk to serve the 



1S4 Meetings. 

notice in the manner directed in section two of tliis title. If the office of clerk 
be vacant, or if the clerk cannot or will not serve them, the trustee may serve 
them himself or he can order a taxable inhabitant to make the service. This 
is an important duty, and too great care cannot be exercised in giving ample 
notice of every special meeting. The clerk is authorized to give such notices 
upon' a verbal direction of the trustees; but there can be no excuse for the 
omission to put those directions in writing, upon the records, either in the 
form of an order or of minutes of the proceedings of a meeting of the trustees. 
In the personal service of notice, the clerk cannot act by deputy ; but no objec- 
tion is perceived to his employing an agent to leave written notices at the houses 
of those whom he may find absent from home. The proper course, however, 
would be for the clerk to provide himself with a sufficient number of written 
notices before starting upon his rounds. In this way he would secure the giv- 
ing of notice at the earliest practicable time, and would avoid the trouble of 
obtaining any other evidence of service than his own official return. 

This mode of giving notice may be changed by an annual meeting. There 
are districts covering so extensive a territory or containing so large a population 
that to serve a notice upon each voter would be a difficult task. For this rea- 
son it is placed within the power of an annual meeting to prescribe some other 
method. The language of the statute gives great discretionary power to the 
meeting as to the mode it shall prescribe. It must, however, be such that the 
notice will reach the inhabitants — by advertising and posting the notices for 
a reasonable time before the meeting. If there is a newspaper published in 
the district the call should be inserted therein. 

ANNUAL MEETING. 

In Neighborhoods. 
§ 8. The annual meeting of each neighborhood shall be held 
on the last Tuesday of August in each year, at the hour and place 
fixed by the last previous neighborhood meeting, or, if such hour 
and place has not been so fixed, then at the hour and place of such 
last meeting; or, if such place be no longer accessible, then at 
such other place as the trustees, or if there be no trustees, the 
clerk shall in the notices designate. {As amended hy sec. 7, chap. 
64:7, LaiDS of 1865, and hy sec. 2, chap. 413, Lo.ws ^1883.) 

A neighborhood has no school-house in which to hold the meeting, for this 
reason the place must be designated by a previous meeting or by the trustee. 

In School Districts. 
§ 9. An annual meeting of each school district shall be held 
the last Tuesday of August in each year, and unless the hour and 
the place thereof shall have been fixed by a vote of a previous 
district meeting, the same shall be held in the school-house at 
seven o'clock in the evening. If a district possesses more than 
one school-house, it shall be held in the one usually employed for 
that purpose, unless the trustees designate another. If the dis- 
trict possesses no school-house, or if the school-house shall be no 



Meetin^gs. 185 

longer accessible, then the annual meeting shall be held at such 

place as the trustees, or if there be no trustee, the clerk shall 

designate in the notice. {As amended hy sec. 16, chap. 567, 

Laws (^^1875, and hy sec. 3, chaj). 4:13, Zaivs of 1S83.) 

§ 37. It shall be the duty of the clerk of each school district : 
* « * -^ 4f * 

3. To affix a notice in writing of the time and place of any 
adjourned meeting, when the meeting shall have been adjourned 
for a longer time than one month, in at least four of the most 
public places of such district, at least five days before the time 
appointed for such adjourned meeting. 

4. To give the like notice of every annual district meeting. 

Tlie law fixes the time for tlie annual meeting, and its regularity does not 
depend upon any call by trustees or notice by clerk. The clerk, however, is 
directed to post four notices at least five days before tlie meeting. Seven 
o'clock in the evening and at the school-house the statute says the meeting 
must be held, unless a previous annual meeting shall have designated some 
other place and time of day. The hour of holding the meeting must be strictly 
observed. No authority exists for holding the meeting before the designated 
hour, and no legal obligation rests upon the inhabitants who may have assem- 
bled at such time to wait for others before organizing and commencing the 
proceedings. 

§ 10. Whenever the time for holding the annual meeting in 
school districts shall pass without such meeting being held in any 
district, a special meeting shall thereafter be called by the trustees 
or by the clerk of such district, for the purpose of transacting the 
business of the annual meeting ; and if no such meeting be called 
by the trustees or the clerk within twenty days after such time 
shall have passed, the supervisor or the superintendent of public 
instruction may order any inhabitant of such district to give notice 
of such meeting in the manner provided in the second section of 
this title, and .the officers of the district shall make to such meet- 
ings the reports required to be made at the annual meeting, sub- 
ject to the same penalty in case of neglect; and the officers 
elected at such meeting shall hold their respective offices only 
until the next annual meeting and until their successors are 
elected and shall have qualified as in this act provided. 

There ought to be no occasion to call into use the provisions of this section. 
Every year there are districts where the annual meeting is not held. This 
arises both from mistakes as to the time, and a general apathy on the subject. 
An attempt may have been made to hold the meeting, but through ignorance 

24 



186 Meetings. 

of the law a wrong date was selected. The proceedings of such a meeting are 
void, and a special meeting will have to be called under this section to transact 
the business of the annual meeting. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 
§ 6. Every taxable inhabitant to whom a notice of any district 
meeting shall be delivered for service, pursuant to any provision 
of this article, who shall refuse or neglect to serve the same, as 
hereinbefore prescribed, shall forfeit five dollars for the benefit of 
the district. 

It will be observed that this section imposes a penalty for every refusal to 
serve a notice for a7iy district meeting properly delivered to an inhabitant. It 
is co-extensive with the preceding section. A doubt whether the commis- 
sioner is legally entitled to his office will not excuse a refusal, if he be an offi- 
cer de facto, holding under color of election and exercising the duties of the 
office. It is not for a ministerial officer to judge of the validity of the election 
of an officer de facto ; for example, a district clerk should serve a notice signed 
by persons recognized and acting as trustees, though he deems them to have 
no title to the office, and regards the notice as invalid. (7 Johns. 552.) 

§ 7. The proceedings of no neighborhood or district meeting, 
annual or special, shall be held illegal for want of a due notice to 
all the persons qualified to vote thereat, unless it shall appear that 
the omission to give such notice was willful and fraudulent. 

The provision to cure the defect of notice relates to the mode and extent of 
service, and not to thfe insufficiency of the matter contained in the notice itself. 

It was intended for cases where through accident or mistake the proper legal 
notice has not been given to all who are entitled to it ; but it cannot be con- 
strued to extend to cases in which no attempt is made to give the notice required 
by law to any of the inhabitants. Where the clerk of a district undertakes to 
give a notice in the manner provided by the statute, and has failed, uninten- 
tionally; to serve such notice on all the persons entitled to receive it, or where 
such notice is imperfectly served, the proceedings of the meeting will not be 
void on that account. They may, however, be set aside on appeal, on showing 
sufficient cause. 

§ 11. Whenever any district or neighborhood meeting shall be 
duly called, it shall be the duty of tlie inhabitants qualified to 
vote thereat to assemble at the time and place fixed for the meet- 

§ 12. Every person of * full age residing in any neighborhood 
or school district, and entitled to hold lands in this State, who 
owns or hires real property in such neighborhood or school dis- 
trict liable to taxation for school purposes, and every resident of 
such neighborhood or district who is a citizen of the United 



Meetings. 1S7 

States above the age of twentj-one years, and who is the parent 
of a child or children of school age, some one or more of whom 
shall have attended the district school for a period of at least eight 
weeks within one year preceding, and. every such person not being 
the parent who shall have permanently residing with him or her 
such child or children, and every such resident and citizen as 
aforesaid, who owns any personal property assessed on the last 
preceding assessment roll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in 
value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution, and no 
other, shall be entitled to vote at any school meeting held in such 
neighborhood or district. {As amended hy sec. 7, chap. 406, Laws 
of 1867, and hy sec. 2, chap. 492, Laws of 1881, and hy sec. 1, 
chap^ 655, Laws ^1886.) 

Under "his, section there are four different and distinct qualifications that 
will entitle a person, possessing any one or more of them, to vote at school 
meetings: 

1. Every person (male or female) of full age, who is a resident of the dis- 
trict, entitled to hmd lands in this State, who either holds or hires real estate 
in the district liable to taxation for school purposes. 

2. Every resident (male or female) of the district, who is a citizen of the 
United States, 2r years of age, and who is the parent of a child of school age, 
provided such child shall have attended the district school for a period of at 
least eight weeks within one year preceding. 

3. Every resident of the district, a citizen of the United States, 21 years of 
age, not being the parent, who shall have permanently residing with him pr 
her a child of school age, which shall have attended the district school for a 
period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding. 

4. Every resident and citizen (male or female) of full age, who owns any 
personal property assessed on the last preceding assessment roll of the town, 
exceeding $50 in value exclusive of property exempt from execution. 

After thii& classification there are still two questions that will frequently 
arise. The first is as to what the statute means by " resident of the district,'' 
and second, who are "entitled to hold lands in this State." The first question 
is one frequently agitated, not only with respect to the right of voting and of 
holding district offices, but in regard to the enumeration of children and the 
right of pupils to attend the district school without any tuition charge. 

The principles which govern its determination have been largely discussed 
by the courts in construing the words residence, domicile and inhabitancy^ 
which, though not in all respects and for all purposes convertible terms, mean 
generally the same thing. 

Inhabitancy and residence, says Chancellor Walworth (8 Wend. 140), "mean 
a fixed and permanent abode or dwelling place for the time being, as distin- 
guished from a mere temporary locality of existence." To acquire a domicile 
two things are necessary — the fact of residence in a place, and the intent to 
make it a home. To retain a domicile once acquired, actual residence, how- 
ever, is not indispensable, but it is retained by the mere intention not to change 
it or adopt another, or rather by the absence of any present intention of re- 
moving therefrom. Nor is the domicile affected by the forming of an inten- 
tion to remove, unless such intention to remove is carried into effect. This 
results from the rule that a domicile once acquired remains until a new one is 



188 Meetikgs. 

acquired. In legal contemplation, every person must have a domicile some- 
where, and he can only have one domicile at one and the same time. 

In determining the locality of a man's existence where he divides his hours 
between different buildings, the place of his dwelling-house is first regarded 
in contradistinction to any place of business, trade or occupation. If he has 
more than one dwelling-house, that in which he sleeps or passes his nights, 
if it can be distinguished, will govern. If the dwelling-house is partly in 
one town and partly in another, the occupant must be deemed to dwell in that 
town in which lie habitually sleeps, if it can be ascertained. (23 Pick. 178.) 

The Constitution establishes the rule, by section 3, article 2, that " for the 
purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to have gained or lost a resi- 
dence by reason of his presence or absence while employed in the service of 
the United States; nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of this 
State, or of the United States, or of the high seas; nor while a student of any 
seminary of learning; nor while kept at any almshouse or other asylum at 
public expense; nor while confined in any public prison." 

The intention of remaining, requisite to constitute a resident, must be inde- 
pendent of any temporary purpose of business, health or pleasure, though it 
does not necessarily exclude the idea of removing after an indefinite time, or 
a change of circumstances. Once established in any place, the presumption 
of residence continues unless rebutted, and the burden of proof is upon a 
party alleging a change. 

The following is a condensed statement of the rules given by Judge Story 
{Conflict of Laics, chap. 3); most of them are stated and illustrated by our 
supreme court (4 Barb. 518): 

1. The place of birth of a person is considered as his domicile, if it be at 
the time the domicile of his parents. This is called the domicile of nativity. 
But if his parents are on a visit or on a journey, the home of the parents will 
be deemed his domicile. An illegitimate child follows the domicile of his 
mother; 

2. The domicile of birth continues until he has acquired a new domicile; 

3. A minor is generally deemed incapable of changing his domicile; but 
if the parent changes his domicile, that of the minor follows it. If the father 
dies, his last domicile continues that of his minor children. This rule is sub- 
jejct to qualification if the minor has been emancipated from parental control 
or adopted into a new family; 

4. A married woman follows the domicile of her husband; 

5. A widow retains the domicile of her deceased husband until she acquires 
another; 

G. Prima facie, the place where a person lives is deemed his domicile ; 

7. Where a person of full age, having a right to change his domicile, 
removes to another place with an intention of making it Ids permanent residence, 
that immediately becomes his domicile; 

8. If a person removes to another place with an intention of remaining there 
for an indefinite time, and as a place of present domicile, it becomes his domi- 
cile notwithstanding he may entertain a floating intention to return at some 
future period; 

9. The place where a married man's family reside is generally deemed his 
domicile, but not if it be a merely temporary. establishment; 

10. If a married man has his family in one place and his business in an- 
other, the former is deemed his domicile; 

11. If a married man has two places of residence at different times of the 
year, that will be esteemed his domicile which he himself selects or deems his 
home, or which appears to be the center of his affairs, or where he votes or 
exercises the rights and duties of a citizen; 

12. If a man is unmarried, that is generally deemed his domicile where he 
transacts his business, exercises his profession or assumes the privileges or 
duties of a citizen. But this rule is subject to qualification; 

13. Residence, to produce a change of domicile, must be voluntary, not by 
imprisonment, etc.; 



Meetings. 189 

14. Mere intention to remove without the fact of removal will not change 
the domicile; nor will the fact of removal without intention to change the 
residence. They must go together; 

15. A domicile, once acquired, remains until a new one is acquired. 

Upon the question as to who are entitled to hold lands in this State the 
following sections of chapter 1, article 2, part 3, Revised Statutes (7th ed.), 
are quoted. 

§ 8. Every citizen of the United States Is capable of holding lands within this State, 
and of taking: the same by descent, devise or purchase. 

§ 15. Any alien who has come, or may hereafter come into the United States may 
make a deposition or afifirmation in writint: before any officer authorized to take the 
proof of deeds to be recorded, that tie is a resident of, and intends always to reside in 
the United States, and to become a citizen thereof, as soon as he can be naturalized, 
and that he has taken such incipient raeasuies as the laws of the United States require 
to enable him to obtain naturalization, which shall be certified by such officer, and bo 
filed and recorded by the Secretary of State in a book to be kept by him for that pur- 
pose; and such certificate, or a copy thereof, shall be evidence of the facts therein 
contained. 

§ 16. Any alien who shall make and file such deposition, shall thereupon be author- 
ized and enabled to take and hold lands and real estate, of any kind whatsoever, to 
him, his heirs and assi°:ns forever, and may, during six years thereafter, sell, assign, 
mortgage, devise and dispose of the same, in any manner, as he might or could do if 
he were a native citizen of this State, or of the United States, except that no such 
alien shall have power to lease or demise any real estate, which he may take or hold 
by virtue of this provision, until he becomes naturalized. 

§13. If any person offering to vote at any neighborhood or 
school district meeting shall be challenged as unqualified, by any 
legal voter in such neighborhood or district, the chairman presid- 
ing at such meeting shall require the jDerson so offering, to make 
tlie following declaration : "1 do declare and affirm that I am an 
actual resident of this school district (or separate neighborhood), 
and that I am qualified to vote at this meeting." And every 
person making such declaration shall be permitted to vote on all 
questions proposed at such meeting ; but if any person shall 
refuse to make such declaration, his vote shall be rejected. 

A challenge should be interposed at the very first instance in which an un- 
qualified person offers to vote ; for it vv^ould be very unjust to permit a 
party to avail himself of a vote so long as it should be cast in accordance with 
his views, and then to object when a difference manifested itself between 
himself and the voter* 

The challenge can be made by a person who is a legal voter ; the chairman 
should certainly do so did he know or believe that the person offering to vote 
was not a qualified voter. Neither the chairman, nor the inhabitants assembled 
at the meeting can act as the judges of any person's qualifications. All that 
lies in their power is to make the challenge and accept the vote if the person 
makes the declaration or reject it if he refuses. 

A party knowing a person to be unqualified and permitting him to vote 
without challenge will not be allowed to object to the proceedings of the 
meeting because such unqualified person participated in them. No other cause 
is so frequently alleged for the reversal of the election of an officer or other 
proceedings of a meeting as that of illegal voting. 

The rule is well settled, that proceedings will not be vitiated by illegal 
votes unless a different result would have been produced by excluding such 



190 Meetings. 

votes. It lies upon tlie j)arty objecting to show that fact, even, according to 
the judgment of the Supreme Court, in 7 Goicen, 153, if the nature of the pro- 
ceeding is such as to deprive him of the power, as in the case of a vote by 
ballot. In the case cited, the court says : "For aught that appears, the spur- 
ious ballots were for the ticket which was in the minority. To warrant set- 
ting aside the election, it must appear affirmatively that the successful ticket 
received a number of improper votes, which, if rejected, would have brought 
it down to a minority. 

It is incumbent in case of appeal for the moving party not only to allege the 
illegal voting or the disqualification of certain persons, but to show by evidence 
the lack of qualifications in such terms as necessarily to exclude every pre- 
sumption that the voter could be qualified under either of the heads stated in 
the note to the previous section. 

If a challenge is interposed upon the vote for chairman, the person who 
made the nomination ordinarily takes the question upon it, and should regard 
himself as temporary chairman, and require the declaration prescribed by the 
statute from the challenged party, which should be given in the very words 
of the law. 

§ 14. Any person who, upon being so challenged, shall willfully 
make a false declaration of his right to vote at any such meeting, 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished by impris- 
onment in the connty jail for not less than six months nor more 
than one year. And any person not qualified to vote at any such 
meeting who shall vote thereat, shall thereby forfeit live dollars, 
to be sued for by the supervisors for the benefit of the common 
schools of the town. 

POWERS OF MEETINGS 
In Neighbokhoods. 
§15. The inhabitants of any neighborhood entitled to vote, 
when assembled in any annual meeting or any other neighborhood 
meeting duly called by the commissioner, pursuant to the first or 
third sections of this title, shall have power, by a majority of the 
votes of those present : 

1. To appoint a chairman for the time being. 

2. To choose a neighborhood clerk and one trustee, and to fill 
vacancies in office. 

In School Districts. 
§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled 
in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the 
votes of those present : 

The resolutions of the meeting are determined by a majority of the votes of 



Meetings. 191 

those present and voting, and do not require the votes of a majority of all 
present and not voting. Even if the Avords of the statute were less explicit 
this would be the rule at common law, which, as stated by Lord Mansfield 
(2 Burr. 1021), is: " Whenever electors are present and do not vote at all they 
virtually acquiesce in the election made by those who do." In that case 
twenty-one electors were present, nine of whom voted for S. as town clerk, 
eleven protested against him without voting for any one else, and one other 
said "he suspended doing any thing." The action of the twelve was held to 
be the same as if they had been silent; and being present, but silent, exactly 
as if they had been al3sent. They must be taken to assent to what the others 
agree to in carrying out the purpose of the meeting. 

Where a tax is voted by the inhabitants for any purpose, the specific 
amount of the tax and the particular purpose for which it is designed should 
be fully and clearly stated. And where several objects of expenditure are to 
be provided for, the amount to be raised for each should be expressed in the 
resolution in order that the district and the trustees may know the precise 
extent of their liability and the mode of its application. There may be cases, 
however, where the necessary amount to be raised cannot be ascertained with 
any approach to accuracy, and in such cases the district may direct the per- 
formance of specific acts by the trustees, or authorize them to incur such 
expenses as may be necessary to the accomplishment of a particular object to 
be specified, and the trustees are then authorized by section 51, of this title, 
to raise such amount by tax upon the district,* in the same manner as if the 
definite sum to be raised had been voted. 

1. To appoint a chairman for the time being. 

As the statute directs the appointment of a chairman, he should be so enti- 
tled, and not moderator or president. The acceptance of the position does 
not deprive the chairman of the right to vote upon any question submitted to 
the meeting. He may either give a casting vote upon a tie, or, when there is 
a majority of one in favor of any resolution, may vote with the minority, and 
thus make a tie vote, which defeats the resolution; or without waiting for this 
result may, upon the call of yeas and nays by the clerk, vote when his name 
is reached. He can, however, cast but one vote upon the question. 

It is the chairman's duty to put every question to vote which is made and 
seconded. If he deems the motion out of order, he should so declare; if the 
party making the motion deems his decision upon the point of order erroneous, 
it is his right to appeal to the meeting from such decision, and, if the appeal 
is seconded, it is the duty of the chairman to put the question: " Shall the 
decision of the chair be sustained ? " If upon such appeal the meeting vote 
against the decision of the chair, it is the chairman's duty to put the original 
question; a refusal to do so is disorderly, and it is in such case in the power of 
the meeting -to select a new chairman who will conform to its decision. The 
motion for this purpose may, from the necessity of the case, be put by the 
clerk. There being no code of rules to regulate the proceedings of district 
meetings, that must be held to be in order to which a majority consents. The 
office of the chairman is to facilitate the ascertaining of the wishes of the 
majority. If their determination be illegal, the remedy is by appeal. 

The duty to call a meeting to order is not enjoined upon any particular per- 
son. Any voter may do this, although it is a good custom which is followed 
in many districts for the clerk to call it to order and put the question for the 
election of a chairman. 

2. If the district clerk be absent, to appoint a clerk for tJie 
time. {^QQ Clerk of District.) 

3. To adjourn from time to time, as occasion maj require. 



192 Meetings. 

A motion for adjournment takes precedence of all others, for otherwise tlie 
meeting might be kept in session against its will, and for an indefinite period. 
A majority who were desirous of adjourning could not withdraw without 
leaving all the powers of the meeting in the possession of the minority. 'And 
if any other motion were permitted to take precedence, it might be in the 
power of a factious minority, by renewing such motions, to wear out the 
physical endurance of the majority. This motion, however, cannot be received 
after another question is actually put, and while the meeting is engaged in 
voting upon it; but in such case the vote must be concluded and the result 
announced by the chairman. If a question be put for adjournment it is not an 
adjournment until the vote is taken and the result ascertained. 

An adjournment is either without day or to a specified time. In the former 
case all propositions upon which the question has not been taken are discon- 
tinued, and are not taken up at another meeting except upon a fresh proposi- 
tion. In the latter case it is but a continuance of the session; all matters 
pending remain in the same situation in which they were left, and when the 
meeting again convenes are resumed at the precise point at which they were 
left. The statute, however, regards an adjournment for more than one month 
as constituting a new meeting, so far as to require the posting of written 
notices of the time and place thereof in four at least of the most public places 
of the district, at least five days before the time appointed. If a special meet- 
ing be properly called, or the annual meeting occur in the meantime, its powers 
in reference to any subject are'not impaired by the fact that a previous meet- 
ing, having such subject under consideration, stands adjourned to a subsequent 
day. {See 6 Mete. [Mass. Rep.'] 509.) 

4. To choose district officers. {See chapters on tTie respective officers.) 

When a meeting has elected its officers, and the vote, whether by ballot or 
xita voce, has been declared by the presiding officer, the power of the meeting 
is exhausted. It will not be permitted to rescind its vote and annul an elec- 
tion. The ordinary proceedings of a meeting, such as the voting of a tax, the 
designation of a site, and the acceptance or disapproval of a trustee's account, 
may be reviewed, altered or rescinded, but, an election once made, the person 
elected has a right to enter upon the duties of the office, and a second election 
would be an attempt to put another officer in a place already filled. 

The inhabitants have the powder and it is their duty to fill every vacancy 
existing in a district office, notwithstanding it has existed more than one 
month. If the vacancy has been created by any other cause than the expira- 
tion of the incumbent's term, it is advisable that a resolution should be passed 
declaring such vacancy to exist, and expressly stating the ground on which 
the meeting adjudges 'the office vacant. Cases are reported where removal 
from a district, though not such as to forfeit the rights of the party as an 
inhabitant, and where an actual incapacity to serve, though not declared by 
law, have been held sufficient to justify treating them as creating a vacancy. 
In such cases,- the officer removing or becoming incapable, for any reason, of 
discharging his duties, ought to furnish written evidence thereof by a tender 
of his resignation. If he omits to do so it is for the appointing x^ower to 
judge in the first instance whether a vacancy exists; and although it may err 
in so declaring, the officer appointed will be deemed an officer de facto, and 
his acts in relation to the public and third persons deemed valid until his 
election is j)ronounced void. 

5. To fix the amount of collector's bail. {See Collector, also Taxes.) 

6. To designate school-house sites. {See School-House Sites.) 

7. To vote a tax for school-houses and sites. {See School-Houses and Append- 
ages, also School-House Sites.) 

8. To vote a tax, not exceeding twentj-iive dollars in any one 
year, for the purchase of maps, globes, blackboards, and other 



Meetings. 193 

school apparatus, and for the purchase of text-books and other 
school necessaries for the use of poor scholars of the district. 

The necessity for modern school apparatus cannot be too strongly urged. 
The term has reference to those things which are used by teachers for the pur- 
pose of assisting in or illustrating their instructions. 

The principal facts in geography are learned better by the eye than in any 
other manner, and there ought to be in every school room a map of the world, 
of the United States, of this State, and of the county. Globes, also, are desir- 
able. Large blackboards in frames or plaster are indispensable to a well-con- 
ducted school. The operations in arithmetic performed on them enable the 
teacher to ascertain the degree of the pupil's acquirements better than any 
result exhibited on slates. He sees the various steps taken by the scholar, and 
can require him to give the reason for each. It is in fact an exercise for the 
entire class ; and the whole school, by this public process, insensibly acquires 
a knowledge of the rules and operations in this branch of study. 

Blackboards, however, do not always come under this head for the reason 
that they are oftentimes built on or against the wall of the school-room and 
constitute a part thereof. "When this is the case they are to be considered as 
a part of the school-house, and the expense therefor, other than at the time of 
building, will come under the head of repairs. 

Cards, containing the letters of the alphabet or words, may be usefully hung 
up in the room. Indeed, the varied school apparatus now provided by respect- 
able dealers is eminently calculated to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge 
and to render it agreeable. 

The power to furnish text-books is limited to books for poor children. 
Under no circumstances can text-books be purchased by the district for general 
use or distribution in the school. 

9. To vote a tax of ten dollars for library books, a further sum for a book- 
case. {See Librarian and Libraries.) 

10. To vote a tax to supply a deficiency in any former tax 
arising from such tax being, in whole or in part, uncollectible. 

Tax-lists are frequently made out for a sum that will just meet a debt of the 
district. If there is a failure to collect any assessment on such tax-list, the 
district meeting can, under this subdivision, add the amount lacking to another 
tax-list. 

11. To authorize trustees to insure school-houses, furniture and appendages. 
{See School- Houses and Appendages.) 

12. To alter, repeal and modify their proceedings from time to 
time, as occasion may require. 

The power to repeal proceedings must be exercised before they have been 
carried into effect, whereby other parties have acquired rights or incurred 
responsibilities under them. Thus, where a tax list and warrant had been 
made out but not delivered to the collector, the inhabitants were held to have 
the power to rescind the vote imposing the tax (4 Hill, 109), but not where the 
greater part had been collected (4 Barb. 25). Where trustees have made a 
contract under the authority of the district, it is in effect the contract of the 
district, and it is beyond its power to rescind the contract by repealing the 
resolution in pursuance of which it was made. A full release of damages 
from all persons having acquired any right of action, or the restoration of 

25 



194 Meetij^gs. 

things to the same condition that they were in When a resolution was passed, 
might give the district the right to repeal or modify it. 

Any resolution directly or necessarily repugnant to a previous one repeals it; 
and the rule in relation to statutes is laid down (3 How. U. 8. B. 636), that if 
a subsequent statute be not repugnant in all its provisions to a prior one, yet 
if the latter statute was clearly intended to prescribe the only rule that should 
govern in the case provided for, it repeals the prior one. As repeals by impli- 
cation are not favored by the courts, it is advisable that a resolution should be 
repealed in express terms, where such is the intention. When this is pro- 
posed at the same meeting (including adjourned sessions thereof) at which the 
resolution was passed, it is usually by a motion for reconsideration. The 
general parliamentary rule is, that the motion to reconsider can only be made 
by a person who voted with the successful side upon the question to be recon- 
sidered. The reason of the rule is, that but for it the members in the minority 
might exhaust the time of the meeting fruitlessly ; for it is to be presumed 
that the vote will be the same, unless the contrary is shown by some person 
who voted with the majority, indicating a change of mind. It has been held 
that this rule does not prevail in a district meeting unless the meeting adopts 
it. In that case the majority of the meeting chose to disregard it. Neverthe- 
less it is a very proper rule of order to be applied by the chairman, subject to 
a reversal on an appeal to the meeting from his decision ; when, if a majority 
wish to reconsider, they can indicate it by overruling him. If a motion to 
reconsider is carried, the resolution to which it relates is open to amendment, 
and, if not again passed in its original or an amended form, is rejected. If, 
without taking the question on the original resolution a second time, the 
meeting separates for an adjourned session, it may then be called up and 
adopted or rejected. 

The unqualified repeal of a repealing statute revives the original enactment. 
This rule was applied, in 2 Denio, 233, to a vote on the 5th December, repeal- 
ing a vote of November 25, which latter repealed the vote for a tax, passed 
October 7th, and it was held that the vote for a tax was renewed on the 5th 
December, though a tax-list made out under the original vote fell to the 
ground, and a new one was required to be made after December 5th. 

It is obvious that the meeting cannot do, under the form of reconsidering or 
modifying a former proceeding, what it could not do directly ; and, therefore, 
though it may rescind a resolution designating or changing a site, it cannot 
adopt a new one, unless it was called, or be an adjourned meeting, which was 
called by a special notice for that purpose. 

Exception. — There is one exception to this subdivision. It is found in sec- 
tion 19 of title VII, and is, that in case a tax to build, purchase or hire a school- 
house has been voted to be raised in installments, such vote shall not be recon- 
sidered except at an adjourned, general or special meeting, to be held within 
thirty days thereafter. 

13. To vote a tax for the purchase of a book for the purpose 
of recording their proceedings. 

The importance of full and exact records of district proceedings cannot easily 
be exaggerated. They ought to be so kept as to show upon their face every 
fact of which it might be necessary to give evidence in a suit at law, in order 
to establish the validity of every resolution adopted. For example, the order 
of the trustees for calling a meeting, the return of a clerk showing upon whom 
and in what manner he had served notice, the consent of the school commis- 
sioner or supervisor when required to authorize a proceeding, might much 
better be engrossed in the book of records, in the first instance, than left to 
rest upon the uncertain custody of loose pieces of paper. It may be necessary 
to prove the facts at a remote period of time; and the way to avoid controversy 
in respect to them is always to act upon the presumption that controversy 



Mebti:n^gs. 195 

will arise, and to prepare the evidence, in advance, to meet it. Tlie habit of 
doing this will of itself do much to preclude all opportunity for cavil. 

It is always desirable that the records should show who were present and 
took part in the proceedings of each meeting. For this purpose the orderly 
method of proceeding would be for the clerk (or person officiating as such), 
immediately after the organization of the meeting, to read the order under 
which it was called, and the list from his return of the persons on whom he 
served notice, requesting each one present to answer as his name is read; 
noting, upon the minutes: " On reading the clerk's return of the inhabitants 
on whom he had served notice, the following were found to be present, viz, : 
Abraham Jackson, William Jones, etc." At an annual meeting, for which no 
personal service of notice is necessary, the clerk could call the roll from a list 
of the inhabitants alphabetically arranged. In either case he should note on 
the minutes the presence of every voter, although no notice had been served 
upon him. 

If any person offering to vote is challenged, the fact should be noted in the 
minutes, and also whether he made or declined making the declaration required 
by law. This is important, because no person will be permitted to question 
the proceedings of a meeting on the ground of the illegality of a vote, if he 
stood by and saw it offered without objection, unless he shows himself to have 
been ignorant of the facts which would have required him to object. Nor 
will the illegality of the vote be regarded unless it affected the result, and, 
therefore, it is highly desirable that the minutes should show how each person 
voted on each proposition submitted to the meeting. The Christian names of 
the voters should be given, and not merely their initials. The book for this 
purpose should be a durable one. 

14. To vote a tax to replace moneys of the district, lost or 
embezzled by district officers ; and to pay the reasonable expenses 
incurred by district officers in defending suits or appeals brought 
against them for their official acts, or in prosecuting suits or 
appeals by direction of the district against other parties. 

Moneys lost and embezzled by district officers are recoverable, in the first 
place from such officers, and secondly from their bail. But before it would be 
possible in a suit at law to regain the money so embezzled, or lost, the district 
may be required to pay debts, and liabilities that cannot be postponed — hence 
the propriety of this provision. 

What are reasonable expenses must be left to the judgment of the trustees 
and the discretion of the inhabitants. A bill of expenses should always be 
kept and presented by district officers, or the district might reasonably refuse 
to pay. On this subject, see also chapter on Appeals. 

15. To vote a "tax, not exceeeding twenty-five dollars in each 
year, for anticipated deficiencies or contingencies, or to pay the 
wages of teachers in anticipation of the ordinary collections for 
that purpose, to be replaced by such collections when made. 

This subdivision is no longer operative. It was intended to supply deficien- 
cies in collections when the old rate bill was in existence. 

16. To vote a tax to pay teachers' wages after the public money apportioned 
to the district shall have been applied thereto. {See Teachers.) 

17. To vote a tax to pay and satisfy of record any judgment or judgments 



196 Meetings. 

of a competent court rendered against the district or trustees for unpaid teach- 
ers' wages. {See Teachers.) 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

Title II, § 13, subd. 4. Special meetings are to be called by the trustees for 
the purpose of considering the question of building a school-house, when the 
old one has been condemned. Power of meeting when so held. {See School- 
Houses and Appendages) 

Title VI, § 11. Special meetings may be held by the inhabitants of a dis- 
solved district at which they may elect officers to supply vacancies and vote 
taxes to pay the debts of the district. {See School Districts.) 

Title VI, § 7. A special meeting of a joint district may decide whether or 
not such district shall be dissolved, when called by the commissioner for that 
purpose. {See School Districts.) 

Title VII, i^ 19. District meeting may vote a tax for building, hiring or 
purchasing a school-house, to be raised in installments. {See School-Houses and 
Appendages.) 

Title VII, § 20. A special meeting only can change the school-house site. 
{See School- House Sites.) 

Title VII, § 21. A district meeting can order the sale of school-house sites. 
{See School-House Sites.) 

Title VII, § 35. A district meeting can accept the resignation of a person 
elected to a district office. {See Fines and Penalties.) 

Title VII, § 49, subd. 9. A district meeting can by a two-thirds' vote approve 
of the hiring of a person as teacher who is related to the trustee within two de- 
grees by blood or marriage. {See Teachers.) 

Title VII, § 49, subd. 11. District meeting can authorize the trustees to di- 
vide the public money apportioned their district into two or more portions, and 
to apply one of such portions to each term of school. {See Teachers.) 

Title VII, § 51. A district meeting may direct a trustee to incur any lawful 
expense without fixing a definite sum to be raised for the purpose. {See 
Trustees.) 

Title VIII, § 1. The taxable inhabitants assembled in any district meeting 
may vote a tax of $50 dollars for the purchase of books for the district library. 
{See Librarian and Libraries.) 

Title VIII. For general powers of meetings concerning district libraries, 
see Librarian and Libraries. 

Title XIII, §§ 3, 4, 5. Disturbing any school meeting. {See Fines and 
Penalties.) 

Chapter 219, Laws of 1877. The district meeting of a district adjoining a 
city or village of six thousand inhabitants may empower the trustees to con- 
tract with the board of education of such city or village whereby the children 
of the district may be instructed in the school of such city or village for a 
period of not less than twenty-eight weeks in any one year. {See page 99.) 

Chapter 413, Laws of 1877. District meetings have the power to adopt and 
change text-books. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

A vote was passed authorizing the trustees to sell the old school-house and 
build a new one in its place, and the vote, by fixing the dimensions of the 
house, had the effect of restricting the expense to a sum below the amount of 
$400, limited by law for the expense of a new house. Held, that under the 
act of 1841 {Laws 0/1841, 238, sec. 14), providing that when the trustees of any 
school district are required, or authorized by law, or by a vote of their dis- 
trict, to incur any expense for such district, they may raise the amount thereof 
by tax in the same manner as if the definite sum to be raised had been voted. 
The trustees were authorized by such a vote to incur the expense. The 



Meetings. 197 

statute should not be so construed as to confine its operation to small inciden- 
tal expenses. [Supreine Court, 1847, Ackerman v. VaU, 4 Denio, 897.) 

A scliool district voted "to raise, by tax on tbe district, a sum wbicli, 
together with the amount that should arise from the sale of a school-house in 
district No. 4, should amount to the sum of $315;" and, there being no power 
to sell the school-house mentioned, the trustees raised, by tax, the whole sum 
of $315. Held, that the fair construction of the resolution was that, in the 
contingency of nothing being realized from the sale of the school-house, the 
trustees were authorized to raise the entire amount of $315 by tax, and that 
the amount to be raised was sufficiently definite to satisfy the law. (5 HUt, 
46 ; 4 Denio, 298 ; 3 id. 115 ; Supreme Court, 1858, Myers v. Crispell, 28 Ba/rJ). 
54.) 

Annual meeting. — The provision of 1 Revised Statutes, 480, section 74, 
requiring the clerk to post notices of annual meetings, is merely directory to 
him. If the meeting convenes at the time and place fixed at the previous 
annual meeting, it is enough, unless the omission to post notices was fraudu- 
lent. But the regularity of such meeting cannot be sustained on the mere 
ground that it was an adjourned meeting. {^Supreme Court, 1844, Mar chant v. 
Langworthy , 6 Hill, 646.) 

This decision was affirmed in the court of errors in 1846, but no written 
opinions were rendered. (3 Denio, 526.) 

Trustees not liable for clerk's fraud. — Though the clerk fraudulently 
misrepresent the object of the meeting to some of the inhabitants, and 
so prevent their attendance, the trustees, if they are not parties to the fraud, 
are not thereby rendered trespassers in assessing and levying a tax voted at 
the meeting. {Supreme Court, 1845, Randalls. Smith, 1 Denio, 214.) 

Inoperative vote. — When a tax voted became inoperative through the 
neglect of the trustees to assess it, held, that a subsequent meeting might 
vote another without any formal reconsideration. {Supreme Court, 1845, Ran- 
dall V. Smith, 1 Denio, 214.) 

Rescinding. — The district meeting cannot repeal a resolution imposing a tax 
after a part of it has been collected. {Supreme Court, 1848, Smith v. DUling- 
Jiam, 4 Barh. 25.) 

Otherwise, it seems, if nothing beyond preparing the warrant and tax list has 
been done. {Qale v. Mead, 4 Hill, 109.) 

Building committee. — No power is given to the inhabitants to invest a 
building committee with authority to advertise, or make a contract for build- 
ing a school-house, or to do any other act binding upon the trustees, without 
their assent. The inhabitants and trustees are alike dependent upon the 
statute for all their powers. {Supreme Court, Sp. Term, 1852, Feople, ex rel. 
Moon, V. Banfield, 6 Howard's Pr. 437.) 



REPORTS. 



BY SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 

Title I. 

§ 14. He shall submit to the legislature an annual report con- 
taining : 

1. A statement of the condition of the common schools of the 
State, and of all other schools and institutions under his supervision, 
and subject to his visitation as superintendent. 

2. Estimates and accounts of expenditures of the school 
moneys, and a statement of the apportionment of school moneys 
made by him. 

3. All such matters relating to his office, and all such plans and 
suggestions for the improvement of the schools and the advance- 
ment of public instruction in the State as he shall deem expedient. 



Title I, section 8, subdivision 5, requires him to make an annual report to the 
Legislature on the matters pertaining to the Deaf and Dumb Institutions and 
the New York Institution for the Blind. {See chapters on those subjects.) 

By title III, section 21, he is also required to report to the Legislature con- 
cerning trust funds. {See Trusts.) 

TIME FOR. 

The Superintendent is required to make this report within ten days after the 
commencement of each annual session of the Legislature by the following: 

CJiapter 215, Laws of 1881, as amended hy cliapter 621, Laws of 1881. 
§ 11. State officers, departments, boards, commissioners, in- 
stitutions and societies, which are required by law to make annual 
reports to the legislature, shall present the same within ten days 
after the commencement of each annual session. * ^ -^ ^ 
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ *^ 



Eeports. 199 

PUBLICATION OF. 

Chapter 588, Laws of 1886, as amended hy chapter 710, Laws of 1887. 
§ 8. In addition to the usual number of regular reports made 
by the State officers and institutions, there shall be printed as 
extra copies of legislative documents for the use of the respective 
departments, institutions and boards : * * * * of the re- 
port of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, fifteen thousand 
copies, all bound in cloth, to be distributed by that officer as fol- 
lows : eleven thousand three hundred copies for the school districts 
of the State, being one copy for each school district ; nine hun- 
dred copies to school commissioners and city superintendents of 
schools ; two hundred copies to the State normal and training 
schools ; three hundred copies to academies and liigh schools ; 
one thousand copies to members and officers of the legislature 
and State officers ; one thousand copies for the use of the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction ; also, three hundred copies 
printed on forty-four pound calendered paper and bound in 
leather, for exchange with the superintendents of public instruc- 
tion of the States and Territories, and for distribution among pub- 
lic libraries : -J^- * * * . 

BY SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS. 
Title II. 
§ 15. The commissioners shall be subject to such rules and 
regulations as the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall from 
time to time prescribe, and appeals from their acts and decisions 
may be made to him, as hereinafter provided. They shall, when- 
ever thereto required by the Superintendent, report to him, as to 
any particular matter or act^ and shall severally make to him 
annually, to the twentieth day of August in each year, a report 
in such form, and containing all such particulars as he shall pre- 
scribe and call for ; and, for that purpose, shall procure the reports 
of the trustees of the school districts from the town clerks' 
offices, and after abstracting the necessary contents thereof, shall 
arrange and indorse them properly, and deposit them with a copy 
df his own abstract thereof in the office of the county clerk ; and 
the clerk shall safely keep them. {As amended hy sec. 1, chap. 
413, Laws of 1883.) 



200 Keports. 

Blanks are prepared at the Department and sent to the school commissioners 
each year upon which to make their annual reports. The statistical part of the 
reports consists of those things which the law requires trustees to report and 
any thing the Superintendent may prescribe in addition. The statistical re- 
ports are made up from the trustees' reports. The trustees' reports are filed 
in the town clerk's office, where the commissioner should promptly call for 
them; and if any districts are delinquent, should at once proceed to ascertain 
the cause. It should be his care to see that a report is made by every 
district in his jurisdiction, and he should aid trustees who may need his coun- 
sel and advice in the preparation of such report. 

The trustees' reports are made between the 20th of August and the last Tues- 
day of August. The Superintendent usually issues an order fixing the time 
when the commissioners must have their reports completed and deposited in 
the mail or sent by express to the Department. Until they are received, the 
Superintendent cannot comment on the year's results or complete his annual 
report to the Legislature. 

In addition to the statistical reports the Superintendent asks for a report 
concerning school matters in general. These reports are printed in the volume 
of the Superintendent's report. Last year the following circular was issued 
upon the subject. 

STATE OF NEW YORK: 

Department of Public Instruction, ) 

Superintendent's Office, [• 

Albany, October 22, 1886. ) 



School Commissioner, District, County: 

Sir. — You will please submit to this Department, on or before the first day 
of December next, a full, written report of your work during the last year. 
Such report will be transmitted to the Legislature with the annual report of 
the Department, and will be published in connection therewith. It should 
contain a fall, brief and clear statement of the occurrences of the year. If 
progress has been made, say so, and narrate the facts which sustain the asser- 
tion. If no progress has been effected, say that with frankness and assign the 
reasons which, in your opinion, have stood in the way of it. Fairly and plainly 
portray the condition and the needs of education in your district. Report 
what has been done and what should be done to promote the interests of edu- 
cation. Facts are wanted. Well-considered and practical suggestions are 
much desired. 

You will cover the ground in your own way, reporting and suggesting what- 
ever may seem to you of sufficient importance, being particular, however, to 
supply the following information, viz. : 

1. State the number of schools in your district. 

2. State the number of official visits and give the impressions gained thereby. 

3. How many teachers have been licensed by you during the year? Is 
there any difficulty in procuring amply qualified teachers ? 

4. What about the condition of the school buildings and out-buildings? 
Are they being improved ? What can be done in the way of legislation or by 
the action of this Department to bring about better buildings ? 

5. How about the institute work? Is there as much objection as formerly? 
Does the action of the Department in arranging for smaller institutes, in intro- 
ducing more class-room work, and in opening the way for teachers to take 
part in the institute, meet with favor and promise better results? What do 
you advise to make the institutes of the highest possible advantage in our 
work ? Can you suggest any other way of stimulating an interest on the part 
of the teachers and keeping them abreast of the times likely to be so product- 
ive of good results ? 



Reports. 201 

6. What can be done to arouse an interest in the cause of education on the 
part of the general public ? 

7. How generally are purely educational journals taken among your teach- 
ers? 

8. What have you to say as to work of Normal schools ? How does the work 
of their graduates compare with that of other teachers ? 

9. What, if any, amendments to the present school law do you consider of 
sufficient importance to call to the attention of this Department ? 

I am anxious that the reports this year shall be full, clear and practical; 
that they shall show thoughtfulness and care in preparation, and that they 
shall treat the different phases and subjects of our educational work in a 
straightforward, business-like way, which will help the Department in bring- 
ing about some desirable results. 

Please write plainly, on legal cap, and on but one side, so that your manu- 
script can go to the printer without copying. 

I am yours, very respectfully, 

A. S. DRAPER, 

l^perintendent. 
BY TRUSTEES. 

Title YII. 

§ 60. The trustees of each school district shall, between the 
twentieth day of August and the last Tuesday of August, in each 
year, make and direct to the school commissioner a report in writ- 
ing, dated on the twenty-first day of August of the year in which 
it is made, and shall sign and certify it, and deliver it to the clerk 
of the town in which the school-house of the district is situated ; 
and every such report shall certify : {As amended hy sec. 16, 
chap. 406, Laws of 186T and by chap. 413, Laws ^1883, and 
sec. 1, chap. 49, Laws (?/'1884.) 

1. The whole time any school has been kept in their district 
during the year ending on the day previous to the date of such 
report, and distinguishing what portion of the time such school 
has been kept by qualified teachers, and the whole number of days 
including holidays, in which the school was taught by qualified 
teachers - 

2. The amount of their drafts upon the supervisor, for the pay- 
ment of teachers' wages during such year, and the amount of their 
drafts upon him for the purchase of books and school apparatus 
during such year, and the manner in which such moneys have 
been expended. 

3. The number of children taught in the district school or 
schools during such year by qualified teachers, and the sum of the 
days' attendance of all such children upon the school. {As 
amended hy sec. 11, chap, 647, Laws <?/'1865.) 

26 



202 Reports. 

4. The number of children residing in the district on the thir- 
tieth daj of June previous to the making of such report, and the 
names of the parents or other persons with whom such children 
did respectively reside, and the number of children residing with 
each. {As amended hy sec. 7, chap. 413, Laws /9/*1883.) 

5. The amount of monej paid for teachers' wages, in addition 
to the public money paid therefor, the amount of taxes leWed in 
said district for purchasing school-house sites, for building, hiring, 
purchasing, I'epairing and insuring school-houses, for fuel, for 
district libraries, or for any other purpose allowed by law, and 
such other information in relation to the schools and the districts 
as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may, from time to 
time, require. 

§ 61. The annual reports of trustees of school districts, of chil- 
dren residing in their district, shall include all over five and under 
twenty-one years of age, who shall have been, on the thirtieth day 
of June last preceding the date of such report, actually in the dis- 
trict, comprising a part of the family of their parents or guardians 
or employers, if such parents, guardians or employers reside at the 
time in such district, although such residence was temporary^; but 
such report shall not include children belonging to the family of 
any person who shall be an inhabitant of any other district in this 
State, in which such children may by law be included in the 
reports of its trustees ; nor any" children who are supported at a 
county poor-house or an orphan asylum ; nor any Indian children 
residing on reservations where schools ^^rovided by law for their 
education are taught. {As amended by sec. 8, chap. 413, Laws 
0/1883.) 

§ 62. Where a school district lies in two or more counties, its 
trustees shall make such an annual report for each part of it lying 
in a different county, and file each in the office of the clerk of the 
town in which the part of the district to which it especially 
relates lies ; and such reports shall be in the form and contain all 
such special matters as the Superintendent of Public Instruction 
shall from time to time prescribe. 

§ 63. The trustee of every separate neighborhood shall every 
year, within the time aforesaid, in like manner, make his annual 
report to the school commissioner, and file it in the office of the 



Kepurts. 203 

clerk of the town of which the neighborhood is a part. Such 
report shall specify the whole amount of pnbhc moneys received 
during the yeai-, and from what public officer, and the manner in 
which it was expended ; the whole number of such children as 
can be included in the district trustees' report residing in the 
neighborhood on the thirtieth day of June previous to the mak- 
ing of the report ; and any other matters which the Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction may require. {As amended hy sec. 9, 
<?Aa/?. 413, Laios (^/'ISSS.) 

§ 64. Every trustee of «. school district or separate neighbor- 
hood, who shall willfully sign a false report to a school commis- 
sioner with the intent of causing such school commissioner to 
apportion to his district or neighborhood a larger sum than its just 
proportion of school moneys ; or in the case of a trustee of a sep- 
arate neighborhood, with intent to procure from the State Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction a larger allowance to the neigh- 
borhood, shall for each offense forfeit the sum of twenty-tive 
dollars, and shall also be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Such 
penalties, and any fines which shall be imposed for the misde- 
meanor, are for the benefit of the common schools of the county. 

Chapter 438, Laws op 1860. 
§ 5. The trustees of the several school districts of this State are 
hereby required, to include in their annual report, the number in 
their several districts between the ages of five and twenty-one 
years, who are vaccinated and the number unvaccinated. 

The five sections from section 60 to section 64, inclusive, vrill be considered 
together. 

A form of the annual report of the trustees will not be inserted, because 
it is subject to alteration from year to year. The trustees are required to 
report upon the items especially named in the statute, and such other matters 
as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may from time to time require. 

The comments and instructions which follow apply to the blank reports for 
the year 1887. 

The efficient working of our common-school system requires that each school 
officer shall strictly observe its provisions. The reports of trustees are the 
source of nearly all the statistical information in regard to the schools and 
therefore are of paramount importance. Accuracy in these reports is especially 
necessary for the equitable and legal distribution of the public moneys, and 
for the guidance of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and of the school 
commissioners in their various duties. 

The annual report to the school commissioners must be made by tne trustees, 
and deposited with the town clerk between the twentieth of August and the 
last Tuesday of August. It must be made by the trustees in office at the close 



204 Reports, 

of the school year for which the report is made, and should be deposited 
with the town clerk before the annual meeting of the district 

A digest of the facts and figures reported by the trustees of the various 
school districts is made by the school commissioners of the respective com- 
missioner districts, and forwarded to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
This digest becomes a part of the permanent record of this Department and 
the facts therein contained are the bases upon which the annual apportionment 
is made. 

The law provides that if trustees fail to make their report within the time 
prescribed, and in consequence thereof there shall result a loss of any money 
to the district, they may be held responsible for the money so lost. 

The following explanations, carefully observed, will enable trustees to avoid 
all errors which, under other circumstances, might find place in their report. 

The numbers, with the items to which they correspond, inclosed in quota- 
tion marks in the following instructions, are taken from the blank for " Report 
of Trustees," issued from the Department of Public Instruction, and sent to 
every district in the State. 

" Financial."— "i^eca^^s." 

"1. Balance on hand August 21, 1886, after paying all claims for previous school 
expenses." 

This includes the balance of the public moneys belonging to the district 
remaining in the hands of the supervisor, as well as all other moneys unex- 
pended, whether raised by tax or derived from any other source, after pay- 
ing all the indebtedness of the district accruing previous to August 21, 1886. 
If, on the first Tuesday of March, 1886, there was still remaining in the 
hands of the supervisor any public money apportioned in the year 1885, it 
should not be included here in item "1." 

"2. Amount of public school moneys, both for teachers' wages and library appor- 
tioned to the district from State funds." 

Do not include in this item any library moneys raised in the district, nor 
any moneys referred to in item "3." If any supplementary allowance has 
been received from the Superintendent of Public Instruction, it should be 
reported under this item. 

"3. Amount received from the proceeds of gospel and school lands, whether rents, 
or the proceeds of a fund raised by the sale of such lands." 

But few towns in the State have any funds or lands such as are referred to 
in this item, and no explanation is deemed necessary, beyond what may be 
found under section 1 of title 4 {see Trusts). 

"4. Amount raised, including the amount remaining to he raised, by tax on property 
for all school purposes within the school year; but not including money so raised to 
pay expenses of a previous year." 

Trustees will include under this item only the amounts raised, and to be 
raised, by tax levied upon the property in the district, for the payment of 
school expenses, including teachers' wages, incurred within the school year. 
The clause "to be raised " means the amount to be raised upon an outstanding 
tax-list. It does not mean the amount that will necessarily be raised at some 
future time to pay outstanding indebtedness of the district, and for which 
no tax-list had at the date of the report been issued. The sum, therefore, 
under this item will be the actual cost of the school, including repairing, 
building and all other district expenses that have been paid or provided for by 
tax-list, less the amount of the public moneys and the amounts reported under 
items "1," "3" and "5." 

If a tax has been ordered to be raised by installments, the trustees should 



E.EP0RT8. 205 

report each year only the installments actually collected, or legally collectible, 
within the year," 

'*5. Amount received from all other sources, not above enumerated, viz.: 
"Teachers' board for weeks, the teacher having boarded around (esti- 

mated); 
" Tuition bills of non-resident pupils, and of pupils not of school age; 
"Subscriptions, donations, legacies, etc.; 
"Other sources not named above." 

In cases where teachers provide themselves with board, without any cost 
to the district over and above the stipulated wages per day, week or month, 
the value of such board is not to be reported under this item. In other cases, 
whatever the number of qualified teachers employed, trustees should set down 
the number of weeks each boarded around, and the value of the board of each, 
and add these numbers, and place the whole number of weeks, and the whole 
value of the board, in their report. This board should be stated in the " re- 
ceipts," for the reason that it was just as truly furnished by the dis- 
trict for the support of schools, as were the moneys raised by tax. The 
amount of the tuition bills collected of the non-resident pupils, and persons 
over twenty-one years of age, should be reported under the second subdivision 
of this item. All other moneys received during the school year, and not re- 
ported under any preceding subdivision, should be given in this item under 
the following subdivision. 

The several sums reported under item "5," should be placed in the inner 
column, then added, and their amount written directly beneath, and also in 
the outside column, opposite the words "Total carried into outside column." 

"6. Total." 

Special care should be taken that this "total," or footing be correctly made. 

" Payments." 

' 7. For teachers' wages earned during the school year ending with August 20, 1887 
(except for colored schools), as follows, viz.: 

' * By drafts on the supervisor; 

• ' From funds collected by a tax on property; 

" Value of teachers' board, the teacher having boarded around (estimated); 

' ' From moneys received from all other sources; 

"Teachers' wages remaining unpaid August 20, 1887 " 

Under specification " By drafts on the supervisor," trustees should include 
all drafts actually made during the school year closing with August 20, 1887, 
for payment of teachers' wages earned during that year, whether made for 
payment of moneys apportioned for that year or the previous school year. 
But if they have, since the close of the year, on August 20th paid or contem- 
plate paying in the future, any wages of teachers for that year from the moneys 
in the supervisor's hands, August 31, 1887, such payment should not be in- 
cluded in this subdivision of the item. The amount for wages thus paid would 
be properly embraced in subdivision "Teachers' wages remaining unpaid," 
and should be reported next year under subdivision " By drafts on the super- 
visor." 

Under subdivision "From funds collected by tax on property," will be in- 
cluded all moneys raised by district tax for teachers' wages. The amount to 
be reported under "Value of teachers' board," etc., will be the same reported 
under the first subdivision of item " 5 " of receipts. 

If trustees have paid out for teachers' wages any moneys received from any 
sources not named in the first four subdivisions of this item, they should report 
them under subdivision " From moneys received from all other sources." 

The amount to be reported under subdivision " Teachers' wages remaining 
unpaid," will be easily found, by subtracting, from the amount contracted to 



^^6 Reports. 

be paid to teachers for wages earned during tlie year, the sums reported under 
the preceding subdivisions of this item. 

"8. For libraries; including all moneys applicable to library purposes; both the 
amount received from the supervisor and the amount raised in the district, within the 
year for such purpose." 

Under this item state the amount actually paid for new books for the library 
and the repair of old books, from moneys stated in the report as received by 
or raised in the district. They will not include any amount paid for a book-case. 

"9. For school apparatus; such as black-boards, globes, maps, etc." 

IState the amount which has actually been paid for school apparatus, within 
the year, from the moneys of that year, whether library money received from 
the State, or money raised by tax, or received from any other source. 

"10. For colored schools; all expenses, for tearhers'wjiges or other purposes, actually 
paid or to be paid." 

' * 11. For expenses of school-houses and sites, viz.: 

"For sites; 

" Building or purchasing school -houses; 

" Hiring school-houses; 

" Repairing and insuring school-houses; 

'• Fences, sidewaliis, out-houses and improving sites; 

"Furniture, such as chairs, tables, clocks, bells, etc." 

Under the second subdivision of item "11," in cases where a tax for the 
purpose of building a school-house is raised by installments, include only the 
installment collected and paid out within the year. 

" 12. For all other incidental expenses, viz.: 

" For fuel, and preparing the same for use; 

" Building fires, and sweeping and otherwise cleaning school-houses; 

' ' Salaries, other than those of teachers for the following purposes, viz." 

By section 50 of title 7, trustees are authorized to "provide for building 
fires and cleaning the school- room, by arrangement with the teacher or other- 
wise." 

The moneys paid for these purposes, unless paid to the teacher as a part of 
his wages as teacher, by special contract, or to some individual employed 
at a salary by the year, as janitor, should be reported under the second sub- 
division of this item. If paid to a janitor as salary, they should be reported, 
and the purpose for which they were paid specifically stated, on the blank lines 
under the last subdivision. 

In cases where a clerk of the board of education has been appointed, and a 
salary has been paid him, under authority derived from a special act of the 
legislature, or in a union free school district, the fact, and the sum paid as 
salary, should be reported on the blank lines under the last subdivision of 
this item. 

'♦ 13. Forfeited by not having been drawn from supervisor's hands before the first 
Tuesday of March, 1887." 

If there were any public school moneys apportioned to a district by the 
school commissioner in 1886, remaining in the hands of the supervisor on the 
first Tuesday of March, 1887, such moneys were on that day forfeited by the 
district, and should have been reported by the supervisor to the county treas- 
urer. If any such su.m was so reported, it was re apportioned by the commis- 
sioners among the districts of the entire county. The amount so forfeited, if 
any, must be stated under this item. {See chapter on State School Moneys.) 



Eeports. 207 

" U. Amount remaining on hand August 20, 1887, after paying all claims, for school 
purposes, up to that date." 

If the report is correctly made, up to tliis point, trustees will easily find tlie 
true balance by subtracting from tlie total "receipts" tbe sum of the items 
under " payments," preceding item '• i4." But in order to verify their report, 
they can collect into one sum all the moneys subject to their order, for which 
orders were not given previous to August 20, 1887, viz. : The amount of public 
moneys remaining in the hands of the supervisor; the amount in the collector's 
hands, together with the amount remaining uncollected on tax-list; any amount 
in their own hands, from any source whatever, as from tuition bills of non- » 
resident pupils or pupils over twenty-one years of age, donations or legacies; 
and all moneys, wherever they may be, to which the district has an undisputed 
title, and which were due previous to August 20, 1887. 

From this sum subtract the amount still due for teachers' wages, and for any 
other expenses, which accrued previous to August 20, 1887. This balance 
should agree with the former balance found as above stated. 

"15. Total." 

This total of " payments " must agree, and will agree if correctly composed, 
with the preceding " total " of " receipts " under item "6." If, upon finding 
the correct sum of the items, these totals do not agree, the error must he dis- 
covered and corrected in the proper place. 

" Statistical." 
The " Statistical" portion of the report should be rigidly exact. 

"1. The number of duly licensed teachers employed and teaching at the same time 
for twenty-eight weeks, or jnore, during the school year commencing August 31, 1886, 
and closing August 20, 1887." 

What the Superintendent wishes to know, under this item, is, not how many 
different teachers have been in school during the school year, but how many 
duly licensed teachers has the school had regularly and constantly employed 
teaching in the school all the time for the same entire twenty-eight weeks. A 
brief temporary absence of any teacher, occasioned by sickness or other uncon- 
trollable circumstance, the trustees paying the teacher for the entire time, is 
not to be regarded. 

Suppose A. had been employed for the winter term, and B. for the summer 
term. In that case trustees are to report (in answer to the question) only one 
teacher. Again, if A. taught ten weeks, B. ten iceeks, and C. eight weeks or more, 
they report but one teacher. But if A. and B. taught both at the same time, and 
each for twenty-eight weeks, then they are to report two teachers; or if A. and 
B. taught together twelve weeks, then C. andD. twelve weeks, and finally E. 
and F. four weeks, they are to report in such case only two teachers. 

This item forms a basis for the distribution of a part of the school money, 
and will not admit of errors. 

"2. The number of children over five and under twenty-one years of age residing in 
the district on the 30th day of June, 1887." 

An actual census must be taken, and none under five or over twenty-one 
years of age should be reported. The penalty fixed by law for a false report, 
as to the number of children in the district, is twenty-five dollars, to be col- 
lected from the trustees making such report. In making up this number, and 
the " schedule" which follows the statistical part of their report, trustees will 
"consult sections 61, 62, 63 and 64, in article 6 of title 7 of this act. 

In regard to the enumeration (called for in section 61) of children of school 
age, in the employment of persons residing permanently or temporarily in dis- 
tricts other than where the parents and guardians of such children reside. 



208 Keports. 

trustees frequently find difficulty in deciding when certain persons in the dis- 
trict come within the statute. It is impossible to lay down a rule with the 
requisite precision to meet all cases. Each individual case must necessarily 
rest upon the particular circumstances attending it. In a general way, how- 
ever, it may be said that if the child of school age is actually in a particular 
district, composing a part of the family of an employer who resides perma- 
nently or temporarily in such district and such employment is in good faith 
and constitutes the principal reason of such child being a part of said family, 
and is not a mere convenience incident to another principal matter, namely, the 
attendance at school, then such child should be enumerated in that district 
and not in the other district where his parents or guardians may reside. If 
the employment is not real and substantial and is only a pretense or cover to 
secure free tuition, then the child should not be enumerated in that district. 
Whether a case belongs to the one or the other of these two classes, is for the 
trustees to determine, after fairly considering the facts and circumstances 
bearing upon the points above suggested. 

"3. The number of private schools within the district (not including colleges, incor- 
porated academies or seminaries);'' and, 

" 4. The number of pupils over five and under twenty-one years of age, registered as 
having attended such private schools some portion of the school year closing with 
August 20, 1887." 

In reporting the number of private schools, and of the pupils attending 
them, there has heretofore been great neglect on the part of some district 
officers. Trustees should take pains to ascertain the facts fully, and report 
them correctly. 

"5. The whole time the school was taught during the school year ending with August 
30, 1887." 

"6. The whole time the district school was taught by teachers while duly licensed 
during said year." 

The whole time, in weeks and days, during which school has been kept by 
duly licensed teachers should be carefully stated. It is important also that 
the dates on which each teacher commenced and closed his service be given. 
These dates can be obtained from the school register, kept by the teachers, as 
shown by the affidavits made by them at the close of the register. In cases 
where the teacher has attended a teachers' institute held in the county during 
a term of school, and the trustees have paid such teacher full wages for the 
entire time spent at the institute, include such time in items "5" and "6" ; 
also in item " 18." 

"7. The names of the teachers who taught the district school during the school 
year commencing August 21, 1886, and closimg with August 20, 1887, and of the author- 
ities by whom they were severally licensed, and the dates of the beginning and ending 
of the services of each, and the time of service of each, while duly licensed, etc." 

Do not fail to write the first Christian name of each teacher in full, and to 
state by whom each teacher was licensed. This is an easy matter, if trustees, 
as they should, refuse to hire any teacher who cannot show his license. There 
is evidence in this department that, in some few instances, persons asking 
employment as teachers inform trustees that they are duly licensed, when 
they are not. It is therefore suggested that, before hiring a teacher, trustees 
require him to show his license, and that they examine it for the purpose of 
knomng that the time for which it was granted has not expired. This is a 
safe precaution, to which an honest applicant for any school will not object. 

Attention is particularly called to the following sections of the school act, 
viz. : Sections 7 and 29 of title 3; and sections 42 and 43 of title 7. 

Those children only are of school age, who are over five and under twenty - 
one years of age. 



Keports. 209 

" 8. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in the district, attended 
the district school some portion of the school year ; and 

"9. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in other districts, 
attended the district school in this district some portion of the school year." 

Trustees will, in stating the " number of cliildren of school age, who, while 
residing in the district, attended the district school," keep in view and make 
the distinction, in their report, between those who, while attending school, 
were residents of their district, and those who were not residents of it; and, 
in the " schedule " at the close of their report, they will give the number, and 
the names of the parents or guardians, of those children only who resided in 
the district on the 30th day of June, 1887. 

This information will be indispensable to the school commissioner, for the 
purpose of apportioning to every district its just share of the public money. 

"10. The whole number of children, of school age, who attended the district school 
some portion of the year." 

The number to be reported under this item, is the sum of the numbers 
reported under items " 8 " and "9." 

"11. The average daily attendance of children of school age, residing in the district 
while attending the school ; and, 

"12. The average daily attendance of children, of school age, attending the school, 
but residing in other districts while so attending." 

The average daily attendance of children of school age residing in the dis- 
trict while attending the school, and of the children of school age attending 
the school, but residing in other districts while so attending, must be given. 
Trustees must not include the attendance of any children while they were 
under five years of age, nor the attendance of any pupil after they became 
twenty- one years of age. 

In cases where there are children who have attended certain departments 
of the school not taught by duly licensed teachers, the attendance of such 
pupils should not be reported for the time during which they have attended 
such departments, unless they have at the same time attended some depart- 
ment of the school which was taught by a duly qualified and licensed teacher. 

The Rule for finding the average daily attendance, in each case, is simply 
this: 

1. Add together all the days' attendance of all the children omr five and under 
twenty -one years of age, toho, while residing in the district, attended the district 
school, and divide the sum by the whole number of days on which the school was 
actually taught as stated in item " 16. " (Trustees will not include for this pur- 
pose, in the whole number of days on which school was actually taught, any days, 
whether they be legal holidays or other days, on which the school did not hold 
its regular session; since no attendance of pupils will be found on the registers 
for those days.) 

2. Add together the days' attendance of all the non-resident pupils over five and 
under twenty -one years of age, who, while residing in other districts, attended the 
district school, and divide the sum by the number of days school was actually 
taught as stated in item "16." 

When a fraction is contained in the average daily attendence, write it as a 
common and not a decimal fraction; thus 220 120-150ths, not 220.8, Do not re- 
duce the fraction to the lower terms. 

All children of over five and under twenty-one years of age, residing in the 
county in which the school-house stands, are to be reported, as regards their 
number and attendance, to the commissioner in whose commissioner district 
the school-house is situated. 

Whenever a school shall be closed during the whole time a teachers' insti- 
tute is in session in the county, in any school term, such school shall be al- 
lowed the same average pupil attendance during such time as was the average 
during that part of the term when the school was not thus closed." {Sec. 5, 

27 



210 Eeports. 

title 11, General Scliool Laws.) In this case the amount of such allowance will 
be determined and the apportionment made by first dividing the aggregate 
attendance of the term by the number of days the school was actually in ses- 
sion during that term; the average thus ascertained will be multiplied by the 
number of days the school was thus closed, and the product added to the 
aggregate daily attendance during the school year. This last sum divided by 
the number of days the school was actually in session during the school year, 
will give the average daily attendance, which will be the basis for the appor- 
tionment of that part of the public money for that school, which is distributed 
on average daily attendance. 

On the other hand, if the school is continued during the session of the in- 
stitute, the trustees act in direct violation of the statute, which commands that 
"all schools in school districts and parts of school districts, not included 
within the boundaries of an incorporated city, shall be closed during the time 
a teachers' institute shall be in session in the same county in which such 
schools are situated." The district thus offending " shall not be allowed any 
public money based upon average pupil attendance during the days the school 
was thus kept in session." In such case, the aggregate attendance at the schools 
during the days the institute was in session, is to be subtracted from the 
whole aggregate attendance of the year, and the remainder will be divided by 
the whole number of days the school was actually kept in session during the 
year, to ascertain the average daily attendance, on which the apportionment 
of public money is based. 

In case the school is closed during some of the days, but not during all the 
days a teachers' institute is in session in the county, the daily attendance dur- 
ing the days the school is thus in session will be excluded from the dividend, 
and the divisor will be the number of days the school was actually in session 
during the school year. And in this case, no average daily attendance will be 
allowed for those days the school was closed, for the reason that the statutory 
condition on which such allowance is authorized, namely, that the school shall 
be closed during the time (^. e., the whole time) a teachers' institute is in ses- 
sion in the county, was not performed. 

Note. — The foregoing in reference to the average attendance during the 
time a teachers' institute was held in the county, is taken from a circular 
issued by the Superintendent, October 20, 1885. By the amendment of 1887, 
providing for a different basis of apportionment of that part of the public 
money apportioned by commissioners, to take effect in 1889, the necessity for 
ascertaining the average attendance is done away with, so far as it is wanted 
for the apportionment of the public moneys. The Superintendent will un- 
doubtedly continue to require trustees to give the average attendance in their 
reports as a matter of statistics. 

"13. The whole number of days' attendance at the district school of all the children 
of school age, reaiding in the district while attending the school." 

Trustees will be careful and include in item 13 the attendance of those 
children only, who, while attending their school, resided in their district. 

This is, or will be, after the school yea.r closing August 20, 1887, the most 
important item reported, as the public money is, under subdivisions 5 and 7, 
section 27, title 3 of the General School Law, as amended in 1887, apportioned 
by school commissioners to the districts in proportion to the aggregate num- 
ber of days of attendance of the pupils resident therein between the ages of 
five and twenty-one years. 

" 14. The whole number of days' attendance at the district school, of all the children 
of school age, residing in other districts while attending the school." 

It is vei^y important to report correctly, under item 14, the attendance 
of those children only who, while attending school, resided in other school 
districts. 



Reports. 211 

Trustees must not include under either item 13 or 14 the attendance of any 
children who were not of school age at the time of such attendance. In many 
districts there will be pupils who became five or twenty-one years of age dur- 
ing the school year. In such cases trustees should include under these items 
the attendance of such pupils for that time only while they were over five and 
under twenty-one years of age. 

"15. The whole number of days' attendance of all the children of school age who 
attended the school." 

The number of days to be reported in item 15 will be found by adding 
together the two numbers reported in items 13 and 14. 

"16. The whole number of days on which school was actually taught during the 
school year; that is, was open for the instruction of pupils, a duly licensed teacher 
having been present each day." 

Include under this item all the days on which the district school was 
taught by a duly qualified teacher, whether they be ordinary week-days or 
holidays. 

"17. The number of holidays, during the terms of school, occurring on the regular 
school days, but during which the school was not taught." 

Holidays occurring in vacations, or on days on which the school would not 
be taught were they not holidays, are not to be included in this item. 

•'18. The number of ofher weeJc days, during the terms of school, on which school 
was not taught." 

Under this item trustees will report Saturdays and other week-days on 
which school was not taught, occurring during the terms of school, but not 
in vacations. Include also, those holidays occurring during the terms of 
school, which were not reported under item " 16 " or " 17." 

Vacations a week or more, occurring during the terms of school, are not to 
be included in the time reported in item " 16," ** 17" or " 18." 

The remaining items called for are easily given by the trustees, and need no 
explanation here to enable trustees to make their report. The importance of 
correct answers is urged upon the trustees. 

It is especially important that trustees report the actual number of loolumes 
in the district library, and their estimated value. If the district has no library, 
write the word "none" in the first blank space in item " 20." 

In all cases they will state the value of the school -house site and of the 
school-house respectively, according to their best judgment. Do not fail to 
give the assessed valuation of all the property taxable in the district. 

Trustees are urged to give correctly every item called for in the blank for 
report. The questions on page 3 of the blank have been added mainly for 
the purpose of affording the school commissioner and the department 
additional information in regard to the affairs of the various districts. 

A full and correct report in regard to every item called for by the blank 
for the report must be insisted upon by the school commissioners and by the 
department. 

In filling the blank spaces at the close of the report, give the name of post- 
ofiice, that the commissioner may know where to address the trustees, in case 
he shall desire so to do. 

All blanks, registers, and other documents for school districts are sent to 
the town clerk; and the trustees should call for them if not received in time. 
If they fail to receive them, simply because they have not called on the town 
clerk for the same, they will not therefore be relieved from any responsibility 
of having the register kept, and of properly making their annual report. 

It is quite important that the names of school district oflBcers and their post- 
office address be known at the department, and by the school commissioners. 



'^l^ Reports. 

that communications may be sent to any of tliem by mail. In view of this, 
the law now requires the district clerk to report to the town clerk, imme- 
diately after each annual school meeting, the names and post-office address of 
the district officers. Trustees should see to it that the clerk of their district 
complies with the law in this respect. 

In making out the report, the trustees should, if possible, meet together. 
As a precaution, it is earnestly urged that they complete their report and 
deposit it in the office of the town clerk before the annual meeting. 

In all cases the outgoing trustee should hand over to his successor in office 
circulars and all other documents and papers relating to the district. 

FOR JOINT DISTRICTS. 

In joint districts lying in one county, i. e., districts lying in two or more 
school commissioner districts but in the same county, the report must be made 
to the commissioner in whose commissioner district the school-house of the 
district is situated. 

Section 62 of title VII requires that in joint districts lying in two or more 
counties the "trustees shall make such an annual report for each part of it 
lying in a different county, and file each in the office of the clerk of the town 
in which the part of the district to which it especially relates lies." 

If a district does not lie wholly in one county, and the children to be re- 
ported do not all reside in the same county, trustees will make to the commis- 
sioner, in whose commissioner district the school-house stands, a full 
" financial " report, and also a full " statistical " report, except that it must be 
a report in regard to those children only who reside in his county; but they 
will include all these, even though some of them may reside in some other 
commissioner district of his county. They will make to each other commis- 
sioner in any county other than that in which the school-house stands, and in 
whose commissioner district any portion of their school district is situated, a 
report showing the length of time the school shall have been taught, by duly 
licensed teachers, during the said school year; the number of children of 
school age who reside in that part of their school district which lies in his 
commissioner district; the number of children of school age who, at any time 
during the year while residing in that part of their district, shall have attended 
their school; and also the number of children residing in other school districts 
lying in any toion in his commissioner district, who shall have attended their 
school for any length of time during the year, being at that time of school 
age. They will also make out the average daily attendance, in each case, so 
that, in each report, it shall relate to those children only who are therein re- 
ported. 

It is believed that the proper course for the trustees to pursue in making 
their annual report to the commissioner will be shown by the following 
example, which is designed as a guide for trustees oi joint districts lying partly 
in two or more counties. 

Example. 

There is a certain school district, No. 7, lying partly in the town of Antwerp, 
in the second commissioner district of Jefferson county, partly in the town of 
Theresa, in the third commissioner district of Jefferson county, and also partly 
in the town of Rossie, in the first commissioner district of St. Lawrence county. 

We will suppose for our purpose, that the school-house stands in Rossie, 
and that the following statement shows the other facts as regards children 
and their residence and attendance, from which the trustees are to make their 
report. Suppose, also, that the form of the district and the relative position 
of the school-house and the town and county lines are correctly shown by the 
following 



Reports. 

DIAGRAM. 



213 



St. Lawrence County. 
First Commissioner District 
, School Commissioner. 



Town of 

ROSSIE. 

School □ House. 



JEFFERSON 
Third Commissioner District. 
, Scliool Commissioner. 



Town of 
THERESA. 



COUNTY 

Second Commissioner District. 
, School Commissioner. 



Town of 
ANTWERP. 



In Rossie. 

The number of children of school a^e residing in said district No. 7 and in 

Rossie, June 30, 18 , was 18 

The number of children of school age, who, while residing in the district, 

attended said school during the year, was 13 

They attended said school in the aggregate 1,850 days. 

The number of children of school age, who, whileTesiding in other districts 

in Rossie, attended said school during the year, was 6 

They attended said school in the aggregate 735 days. 

In Antwekp. 

The number of children of school age, residing in said district and in Ant- 
werp, June 30, 18 , was 15 

The number of children of school age, who while residing in the district, 

attended said school during the year, was 10 

They attended said school in the aggregate 1,225 days. 

The number of children of school age, who, while residing in other districts 

in Antwerp, attended said school during the year, was 3 

They attended said school in the aggregate 375days. 



In Theresa. 

The number of children, of school age, residing in said district and in 
Theresa, June 30, 18 , was . . .. 



12 



214 Kepokts. 

The number of children, of school age, who, while residing in the district, 

attended said school during the year, was 9 

They attended said school in the aggregate 1,250 days. 

The number of children of school age, who, while residing in other school 

districts in Theresa, attended said school during the year, was 4 

They attended said school in the aggregate 575 days. 

The whole number of days on which school was actually taught during the 
school year, that is, was open for the instruction of pupils, a duly licensed 
teacher having been present each day (as given in item 17), was 150 

Now, liovv shall the trustees make their annual report, as regards the num- 
ber of children and their attendance ? 

They would report to the commissioner of the first commissioner district of 
St. Lawrence county, as follows: 

"8. The number of children, of school age, who, while residing in the dis- 
trict, attended the district school some portion of the school yeax% was. 13 

* '9. The number of children , of school age, who, while residing in other dis- 
tricts, attended the district school in this district some portion of the 
school year, was 6 

"10. The whole number of children, of school age, who attended the dis- 
trict school some portion of the year, was (13 and 6 are). 19 

"11. The average daily attendance of children, of school age, residing in 
the district while attending the school, was (1850-150 or 12 50-150 is) 12 50-1.50 

"13. The average daily attendance of children of school age, attending the 
school, but residing in other districts, while so attending, was (725-150 or 
4 125-150 is) 4 125-150 

' '13. The whole number of days of attendance, at the district school, of all 
the children of school age residing in that part of the district lying in the 
town of Rossie l,850days. 

And in the "schedule" at the close of the report, they would specify and 
report ojily the eighteen children residing in school district No. 7 and in the 
town of Rossie, June 30, 18 . 

They would report to the commissioner of the second commissioner district 
of Jefferson county, as follows: 

"8. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in the dis- 
trict, attended the district school some portion of the school year, was. 10 

"9. The number of children of school age, who, tvhile residing in other dis- 
tricts, attended the district school in this district some portion of the 
school year, was 3 

"10. The whole number of children of school age, who attended the dis- 
trict school some portion of the year, was (10 and 3 are) 13 

"11. The average daily attendance of children of school age, residing in 
the district Avhile attending the school, was (122-5-150 or 8 25-150 is) 8 25-150 

"12. The average daily attendance of children of school age, attending the 
school, but residing in other dist7-icts while so attending, was (375-150 or 2 
75-150 is) .... ... 2 75-150 

' '13, The whole number of days of attendance, at the district school of all 
the children of school age residing in that part of the district lying in the 
town of Antwerp..., 1,225 days. 

In the "schedule" at the close of their report, they would specify and 
report onli/ the fifteen children residing in district No. 7 and in the town of 
Antwerp, June 30, 18 . 

They would report to the commissioner of the third commissioner district of 
Jefferson county, as follows: 

"8. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in the dis- 
trict, attended the district school some portion of the school year, was. 9 

''9. The number of children, of school age, who, tvhile residing in other 
dMricis, attended the district school in this district some portion of the 
school year, was 4 

' "10. The whole number of children, of school age, who attended the dis- 
trict school some portion of the school year, was (9 and 4 are) 13 

"11. The average daily attendance of children, of school age, residing in 
the district while attending the school, was (1250-150 or 8 50-150 is) . . . 8 50-1.50 

"12. The average daily attendance of children of school age, attending the 
school, but residing in other districts while so attending, was (575-150 or 
3 12.5-150 is) 3 135-150 

' ' 13. The whole number of days of attendance, at the district school, of all 
the children of school age residing in that part of the district lying in the 
town of Theresa l,250days. 



Kepoets. 215 

In the "schedule" at the close of their report, they would specify and 
report only the twelve children residing in district No. 7 and in the town of 
Theresa. 

These three reports would be on separate papers, and would be filed with the 
res'^ective town clerks. 



TRUSTEES' REPORT TO THE DISTRICT MEETINO. 

Title YII. 

§ 55. The trustees shall, once in each year, render to the dis- 
trict, at its annual district meeting, a just, full and true account in 
writing, under their hands, of all moneys received by them respect- 
ively for the use of the district, and of the manner in which the 
same shall have been expended, and showing to which of them an 
unexpended balance, or any part thereof, is chargeable ; and of 
all drafts or orders made by them upon the supervisor, collector, 
or other custodian of moneys of the district ; and a full statement 
of all suits and proceedings brought by or against them, and of 
every special matter touching the condition of the district. 

If the trustees keep a book as directed by section 53 of this title, and pre- 
serve and file all vouchers, the presentation of their account Will be an easy 
matter. It would be well for the meeting to select some man in whom they 
have confidence to examine the account of the trustees and report to the in- 
habitants the result of his investigation. 

The account must be in writing and filed with the clerk of the district. It 
will be well for the clerk to copy the same in full in his book of records with 
the minutes of the annual meeting. The account should be given to the meet- 
ing before the other business is transacted as the action of the meeting may 
in several respects depend largely upon the condition of the afEairs of the dis- 
trict as contained in the report. 

PENALTIES. 

§ 57. Every trustee who shall refuse or neglect to render such 
account shall forfeit twenty-five dollars. Every trustee who shall 
neglect or refuse to pay over any balance so found in his hands, 
shall forfeit twenty-five dollars. These penalties are for the benefit 
of the schools of the district, and shall be sued for by the super- 
visor of the town in which the school-house or school-house 
longest owned or held by the district is. 

§ 58. By a willful neglect or refusal to render such account, a 
trustee also forfeits any unexpired term of his office, and becomes 
liable to the trustees for any district moneys in his hands. 



216 Keports. 

COLLECTOR'S REPORT. 

Title YII. 

§ 88. ^ ^^ ^- ^ and he shall report in writing at the 

annual meeting, all his collections and disbursements, and shall 

pay over to his successor in office, when he has duly qualified and 

given bail, all moneys in his hands belonging to the district. 

If the collector refuses to make this report he is guilty of a misdemeanor 
under section 117 of the Penal Code. {See Fines and Penalties.) 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

Title III, § 7. The supervisor cannot apportion any public money to a 
district unless the report has been made according to law. {See State School 
Moneys.) 

Title III, § 17. Supervisors are required to report to Superintendent con- 
cerning trust funds. {See Trusts.) 

Title III, § 19. Supervisors are required to report concerning gospel and 
school lots. {See Trusts.) 

Title III, § 29. The school commissioner cannot apportion public money 
to a district that has not made the report required by law. {See State School 
Moneys.) 

Title IV, § 4. Supervisors are required to make a report to the county treas- 
urers on the first Tuesday of March, concerning the public moneys in their 
hands. {See State School Moneys.) 

Title YIII, § 12. Trustees must report the condition of the district library 
when required by the Superintendent. {See Libraries.) 

Title IX, § 15. The board of education of a union free school district is 
required to report to annual meeting an estimate of expenses for the coming 
year. {See Union Free Schools.) 

Title IX, § 25. The board of education of a union free school district must 
report same as trustees of common school districts to school commissioners. 
{See Union Free Schools), chapter 219, Laws of 1877, sections 2 and 3. Boards 
of education of any city or village of six thousand inhabitants are to report 
the children of school age residing in an adjoining district, the trustees of 
which district had entered' into a contract with said city or village whereby 
the children of the school district may be entitled to be taught in the public 
schools of such city or village, for a period of not less than twenty-eight 
weeks in any school year. The Superintendent can also give to commissioners 
directions concerning such reports. 

Title XI. Trustees are required to make report to school commissioner 
whether or not the school was closed during a teachers' institute and whether 
or not the wages of teachers were paid for such time. {See Teachers' Institutes.) 



SCHOOLS. 



Title YII. 
§ 39. Common schools in the several school districts of this 
state shall be free to all persons over five and under twenty-one 
years of age residing in the district as hereinafter provided ; but 
non-residents of a district, if otherwise competent, may be admit- 
ted into the school of a district, with the written consent of the 
trustees, or of a majority of them, upon such terms as the trustees 
shall prescribe; provided that if such non-resident pupils, their 
parents and guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for the support 
of said schools in the district, on account of owning property 
therein, the amount of any such tax paid by a non-resident pupil, 
his parent or guardian, during the current school year, shall be 
deducted from the charge for tuition. [As amended by sec. 3, 
chap. 528, Laws of 1881.) 

The language of the first part of this section is substantially that of the free 
school law of 1849, with the exception of the words "as hereinafter provided," 
which qualifying phrase was inserted in section 1, chapter 151, Laws of 1851, 
and it was thereinafter provided that the schools should not be more free than 
they had been prior to 1849. 

Chapter 406, Laws of 1867. 
§ 26. Hereafter all moneys now authorized by any special acts 
to be collected by rate bill for the payment of teachers' wages, 
shall be collected by tax and not by rate bill. 

The schools of each district are directly under the management of tlie trus- 
tees. The State and district provide the means, but the trustees must take 
charge of the details of the school organization and government. Their con- 
trol in this respect is so great that the character of the school will depend 
upon the trustees who have charge of it. 

28 



218 Schools. 

Time of School. — Every school district must maintain a school for at least 
twenty-eight weeks in each year. Beyond this the trustees have control of the 
time the school shall be taught. They will always consider the educational 
needs of the children of the district and be guided thereby rather than by the 
matter of expense. They can divide the year into terms, and even the hours 
of school are not fixed by law and cannot be regulated by a district meeting. 
For many years six hours each day is the time universally adopted as the 
hours of school. 

Instruction. — The method of imparting instruction belongs exclusively to 
the teacher. The training and experience of the teacher, certified to by a 
duly constituted authority, raises the presumption that he is better qualified 
to judge as to the proper studies for pupils to pursue and the methods of 
instruction to be employed. 

Discipline. — The rules for the government and discipline of the school are 
made by the trustees, although the teacher may be charged with their execu- 
tion. Upon these subjects the trustees must use a reasonable discretion or 
their actions will be set aside by the Superintendent of Public Instruction . 
This is a subject which is not regulated by statute, but the law upon the 
different branches thereof is found in a long line of decisions by the dif- 
ferent Superintendents. 

The right to enjoy the benefit of common schools, established for all the 
inhabitants is, as is well put in 8 Gush. {Mass. B.), 164, "a common, not an 
exclusive personal right; then, like other common rights, that of way, for 
instance, it must be exercised under such limitations and restrictions that 
shall not interfere with the equal and co-extensive rights of others. Take the 
case of contagious disease: Can it be doubted that the presence of a pupil 
infected could be lawfully prohibited, not for any fault or crime or wrong 
conduct, but simply because his attempt to insist on his right to attend, under 
such circumstances, would be dangerous and noxious, and so an interruption 
of the equal and common right ? " In that case, the court held that the trus- 
tees have the right to exclude a child for open, gross immorality, manifested 
by licentious propensities, language, manners and habits, though not mani- 
fested by acts of licentiousness or immorality within the school, deeming it 
" as necessary, in the unreserved intercourse of pupils of the same school, as 
well without as within its precincts, to preserve the pure minded, ingenuous 
and unsuspecting children of both sexes from the contaminating influence of 
those of depraved sentiments and vicious propensities and habits, as from those 
infected with contagious diseases." 

The analogy suggests the rule. Children may be excluded, not for punish- 
ment merely, but for the protection of others from such injurious example 
and influence as would entirely defeat the purposes for which schools are 
instituted. It is to be remembered that among the objects of instruction is 
not only to deter from vice, but to reclaim those who are capable of reforma- 
tion, and to correct bad habits which may result from parental neglect, or, 
what is more deplorable, from parental example. To deal gently with the 
erring, and especially with erring children, is the dictate of humanity, policy 
and duty. To abandon them to their evil courses is a step involving the most 
serious responsibility, never to be taken until remonstrance and persuasion 
have been exhausted. 

Such violent insubordination against reasonable and proper regulations of 
the school as to render it impossible to maintain necessary discipline and order 
will justify the trustees in the expulsion of a pupil; but it is their duty to see, 
before resorting to the final -extremity, whether there may not be fault on the 
side of the teacher as well as the pupil, and to endeavor, in such case, to 
reconcile the difference, without impairing the self-respect of either party. 
Children have rights as well as their elders; they are as keenly sensible of 
oppression, and naturally revolt against power, wantonly exercised for the 
sake of exhibiting itself. Being the weaker party, they suffer in their school 
days a great deal of injustice and often of outrage. The best of teachers 
liave human infirmities, and their trying calling tends to aggravate them. It 



Schools. 219 

is for the trustees to temper power witli benignity, and administer justice in 
the spirit of tolerance and mercy. 

Non-residents. — The absolute right to attend the district schools is given 
only to resident children. Non-resident children may be admitted to the 
schools of a district upon the written consent of the trustees, and upon such 
terms as they shall prescribe. This power to admit non-residents is vested 
exclusively with the trustees. "Upon such terms as the trustees shall pre- 
scribe " has reference principally to a charge for tuition. It does not follow 
that a tuition fee must be charged. The trustees can admit them free, or can 
charge such amount for tuition as they may deem reasonable. A refusal to 
admit upon any terms can be made. Pupils are not to be encouraged to with- 
draw from the school of their own district. By doing so, they enfeeble its 
organization, and diminish the inducements of their parents and friends to 
exert their influence to maintain a good school in their own district. 

Chapter 413, Laws of 1884. 
Section 1. Pupils attending any free school, whether the same 
be organized under chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the 
laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled " An act to re- 
vise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruc- 
tion," or under any special act applying to a village or city, if 
residing out of the districts where said schools are kept, shall be 
subject to the payment of the tuition prescribed by the proper 
authorities ; provided that if such non-resident pupils, their 
parents or guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for the support 
of said schools in the said districts, on account of owning prop- 
erty therein, the amount of any such tax paid by a non-resident 
pupil, his parent or guardian, during the same school year in 
which the charge for tuition was incurred, shall be deducted from 
such charge for tuition. {As amended hy sec. 11, chap. 340, 
Laws of 1%^^.) 

The law of 1884 is broader in its application than the amendment of 1881 to 
section 39, and ^as enacted so as to apply to all free schools and to more defi- 
nitely fix the tax, which should offset the charge for tuition. If a non-resident 
pupil attends the public school in a district, and such pupil, his parent or 
guardian, owns property and pays taxes upon it in such district, the amount 
of such tax must be deducted from the charge for tuition of the pupil. It 
must be a tax levied during the same school year in which the charge for 
tuition occurred. 

Title YII. 
§ 40. If a school district include a portion of an Indian reser- 
vation, whereon a school for Indian children has been established 
by the superintendent of public instruction, and is taught, the 
school of the district is not free to Indian children resident in 



220 Schools. 

the district or on the reservation, nor shall they be admitted to 
such school except by the permission of the superintendent. 

The Indian race has never been recognized by law as entitled to the rights 
and privileges of citizenship. They have asserted their nationality, and the 
State and United States have treated with them as with independent tribes or 
nations. They are aliens on their native soil. They are permitted to reside 
on what are called reservations of land which have been sold, subject to their 
occupancy, to purchasers who are tempted to use various arts to turn their 
right of reversion into possession. They are the wards of the State, which 
has made ample provision for their education. 

Evening schools. — The common school districts in the State have little if any 
demand for evening schools. But in the larger towns and cities, particularly 
in manufacturing places, the evening school is becoming more popular every 
year. Unless such schools are established under special acts, the law applies 
to them the same whether in the country or town. The districts have the 
right to maintain evening schools and the inhabitants may vote taxes to defray 
the expenses thereof where the schools are conducted under the supervision 
of the trustees. They are to be considered as a continuation of the day schools 
and a report must be made for them accordingly. A pupil attending both the 
day and evening school can be enumerated but once for that day; those attend- 
ing the evening and not the day school may be included in the trustees' report 
of aggregate and average attendance. 

STUDIES. 
Chapter 30, Laws of 1884. 
Section 1. Provision shall be made by the proper local school 
authorities for instructing all pupils in all schools supported by 
public money, or under state control, in physiology and hygiene, 
with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants 
and narcotics npon the human system. 

The language of this act is very broad, and its provisions apply, to all dis- 
trict schools, union free schools, public schools organized under special 
statutes in cities and villages. Normal schools, Indian reservation schools, and 
separate neighborhood schools. 

It applies to all pupils in the above-named schools, to State pupils in all 
institutions for the instruction of the deaf and diimb, and blind, and to pupils 
in such asylum schools as share in the apportionment of the public school 
money. 

The common English branches have always been the studies prescribed by 
trustees, and recognized by all other school oiiicers higher in authority, until 
it has in reality become the unwritten law of the State that they shall not 
only be taught but shall take precedence of all other branches in the common 
schools. The Department has frequently been called upon to instruct trustees 
not to allow the teaching of some academic study to the exclusion or detri- 
ment of the common English branches, but ruling that trustees have the 
authority to permit the teaching of some of the higher branches, when it can 
be done without interfering with the instruction which should be given in 
'spelling, reading, writing, English grammar, arithmetic and geography. In 
the act commonly known as the compulsory education act passed in 1874, these 
are the studies that all parents and those who have the care of children are 
required to instruct or cause them to be instructed in. 



Schools. 221 

SCHOOLS FOR COLORED CHILDREN. 
Title X. 

Section 1. The school authorities of any city or incorporated 
village, the schools of which are or shall be organized under title 
nine of this act or under special acts, may, when they shall deem 
it expedient, establish a separate school or separate schools fur 
the instruction of children and youth of African descent, resi- 
dent therein, and over live and under twenty-one years of age ; 
and such school or schools shall be supported in the same manner 
and to the same extent as the school or schools supported 
therein for white children, and they shall be subject to the same 
rules and regulations, and be furnished with facilities for instruc- 
tion equal to those furnished to the white schools therein. 

§ 2. The trustees of any union school district, or of any school 
district organized under a special act, may, when the inhabitants 
of any such district shall so determine, by resolution at any 
annual meeting, or at a special meeting called for that purpose, 
establish a separate school or separate schools for the instruction 
of such colored children resident therein, and such schools shall 
be supported in the same manner, and receive the same care, and 
be furnished with the same facilities for instruction as the white 
schools therein. 

§ 3. No person shall be employed to teach any of such schools 
who shall not, at the time of such employment, be legally 
qualified. 

§ 4. Section one hundred and forty -seven of chapter four hun- 
dred and eighty, laws of eighteen hundred and forty-seven, is 
hereby repealed. 

The common schools of all the districts not mentioned in this title are as 
free to children and youth of African descent, as to those of any other race. 



HISTORICAL. 



Schools were maintained from the early periods of our colonial history 
down to a time within the present century by religious and charitable 
societies, the liberality of communities and private enterprise. The tend 
ency, however, was toward the higher or academic education of the chil- 



232 Schools. 

dren of opulent parents and not for a general education of the masses. 
To Gov. Geoi-ge Clinton is due the credit of first successfully calling public 
attention to the necessity of the establishment of common schools through- 
out the State, in his annual message to the legislature of 1795. The sug- 
gestion met with an immediate response in the passage of a law, entitled 
•* An act for the encouragement of schools. " This act, crude and inadequate 
for any extended or general system as it must necessarily seem viewed through 
the light of subsequent years, was the foundation of our present common school 
system. By it the first State aid was given toward the maintenance of common 
schools; $50,000 was appropriated annually for five years, " for the purpose of 
encouraging and maintaining schools in the several cities and towns in this 
State, in which the children of the inhabitants residing in the State shall be 
instructed in the English language, or be taught English Grammar, Arithmetic, 
Mathematics and such other branches of knowledge as are most useful and nec- 
essary to complete a good English education. '' In addition to the State money, 
the act required the supervisors of each county to raise by tax on each town a sum 
equal to one-half of that apportioned to it by the State to be applied in the 
same manner. Commissioners were to be chosen by the towns, and trustees 
by the school districts, and annual reports were required and provided for. 

Under this primitive system reports were first received in 1798 which show 
that in sixteen out of twenty-three counties there were 1,352 schools in opera- 
tion and 59,660 children in attendance at some time during the year. In 1800 
the appropriation expired, and though repeated attempts were made to renew 
it, they all failed and the system was practically abandoned. 

The efforts for the next few years seem to have been directed entirely 
toward raising moneys with which to aid the schools. In 1801 lotteries, known 
as "Literature Lotteries" were established and operated until 1821 when all 
lotteries were prohibited by the Constitution. A part of the revenue from 
these lotteries was invested and ultimately became a part of the common 
school fund. By chapter 66, Laws of 1805, 500,000 acres of vacant and un- 
appropriated lands of the State were directed to be sold and the proceeds 
to form a fund which should be invested and remain so until the income 
therefrom amounted to $50,000. 

June 19, 1813, an act was passed entitled "An act for the establishment of 
common schools," which was revised and amended by an act passed April 15, 
1814, entitled * An act for the better establishment of common schools. 

This act provided a system which was substantially retained until 1840. 
The principal features of which were the establishment of the office of State 
Superintendent of Common Schools — town and district officers — defining 
the duties of school officers — providing for the apportionment and distribution 
of the income of the common school fund, which had amounted to the required 
fifty thousand dollars, and directing that it should be used for teachers' wages 
only, the balance necessary for this purpose to be raised by rate-bill — requir- 
ing the towns to raise by tax for school purposes a sum equal to that received 
from the State — and directing reports to be made annually to the State Super- 
intendent. 

This system was constantly being amended and improved, especially under 
the supervision of Gideon Hawley, the first Superintendent of Common Schools. 
Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining reports. 

In 1821 the last report by the Superintendent before that office was abolished 
showed in 545 towns, 6,323 districts, from 5,489 of which returns had been 
received, and that of 317,633 children between the ages of 5 and 15, 304,549 
had been taught during the year. 

The amount of public money had also increased so that the district-s received 
during 1820 in all $206,348, of which $59,930 were contributed from the State 
treasury — an equal amount raised by tax upon the several towns, by the 
boards of supervisors; and the residue received from the avails of local funds, 
especially appropriated to common schools. 

The next permanent fund was created by an act of Congress, June 23, 1836. 
The surplus revenues of the United States were distributed amoung the differ- 



Schools. 223 

ent States, New York receiving about $4,000,000. From the income of this 
fund the legislature annually appropriates a sum for the benefit of common 
schools. 

The advancement of the common school system was gradual through a long 
term of years. Some of the best efforts of the brightest intellects in the State's 
history were directed toward its improvement. While no entire change was 
made, amendment followed amendment, schools multiplied, and appropriations 
increased. 

In 1845, at a meeting of the State Convention of County Superintendents, the 
first public advocacy from high official quarters was made f'for free schools. 
There had been an increasing disapproval of the rate-bill system for several 
years, and many acts had been passed by the legislature granting to societies 
and communities the privilege to maintain free schools. Wherever this ex- 
periment was tried, it met with a success which became contagious until through- 
out the whole State for a period of over twenty years, the subject was not 
only earnestly discussed, but became one of heated and bitter controversy. 

An attempt was made by the advocate of free schools to embody into the 
Constitution of 1846 a section that " The legislature shall provide for the free 
education and instruction of every child of the State in the common schools 
now established, or which shall hereafter be established therein," but met 
with failure. 

On the 26th of March 1849, the "Act establishing free schools throughout 
the State," was passed. The rate-bill was not abolished and the only light in 
which the schools could be considered free was that an additional amount for 
their support was required to be raised by town taxation, on the supposition 
that in this way they could be maintained without raising much if any balance 
by rate-bill. Before this act went into operation it was submitted to a vote 
of the people at the annual election of that year and received in its favor a 
majority of 157,921. From the very beginning it met with the bitterest 
opposition. 

At the next session of the legislature the opposition to this law had become 
so general and intense that the question of its repeal was submitted to the 
voters of the State in the annual election of 1850. Notwithstanding the strong 
opposition, there was a majority of twenty-five thousand in favor of the free 
school system. The free school advocates had in the campaign made pledges 
to secure amendments and modifications to the law which would remove its 
most obnoxious features without sacrificing the cardinal principle of free 
schools. 

April 12, 1851, an " Act to establish free schools throughout the State," 
was passed. This provided for the raising of an annual State tax of $800,000, 
to be distributed among the school districts in addition to the incomes of the 
permanent funds. The prevailing idea seemed to be that by increasing the 
State aid the schools would be free. The eifort was directed toward releasing 
towns from a local tax and receiving in lieu thereof aid from the State treasury. 
While the increase of public moneys did lessen the local burden, the schools 
were not made literally free, as the rate-bill was retained, and deficiencies levied 
upon the parents of all children attending the schools. The schools were not 
free but the slow march toward the end was steadily moving on. 

Other important changes in the school laws now followed. 

In 1853 the union free school act was passed, which gave to districts the power 
to change their organization, or to several districts to unite, and maintain free 
schools. 

In 1854 the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction was created 
and the duties theretofore performed by the Secretary of State as ex officio 
Superintendent of Common Schools since 1821, then devolved upon that officer. 

In 1856 the office of school commissioner was created and his powers and 
duties defined. 

In J.864 a general revision of the School Laws was made and the act known 
as the "Consolidated School Act" passed. This with the amendments to it, 
and some separate acts, constitutes the general school law of to-day. The sec- 



224 Schools. 

tion of tl^e law of 1849 declaring the common schools free to all children between 
the ages of 5 and 21 was ingrafted into the consolidated act. Still the rate- 
bill was retained and the schools were only free in name. While the law 
required trustees to exempt indigent parents from the payment of tuition fees 
upon the rate-bill, and to collect the same from the taxable inhabitants of the 
district, the official returns made to the Department showed that in a large 
majority of the 11,000 districts no such exemptions were made, and that 
between 40,000 and 50,000, children were kept out of the schools on account 
of the inability of their parents to pay their portion of the rate-bills. 

Finally in 1867, after years of struggling to eliminate this most obnoxious 
feature of our school system, the rate-bill was abolished. No feature of the 
system had been so prolific of disputes and controversies, none imposed more 
perplexing duties upon trustees, or more odious burdens upon the poor. By 
this most important act since 1814, the schools were made free in fact as well 
as name. The State tax was increased to one and one-fourth mills, and a dis- 
trict tax provided for in cases where the public money was not sufficient to 
support the schools. 

It required long years to educate the public mind up to this point, but now 
that the system has been adopted and fully tested, no power will ever be great 
enough in the State to overthrow it, and our free common school system stands 
to-day the pride of the State and the admiration of the world. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 
The Board of Education of the city of Brooklyn possesses full legislative 
authority, in the exercise of its discretionary powers, to maintain separate 
schools for the education of white and colored children in that city, and hence, 
the power to exclude one class from the schools designed for the other, and 
the laws permitting such regulations, are not in violation of the Federal or 
State Constitution. So held on motion for mandamus to compel the principal 
of a public school exclusively for white children, to admit the relator, a col- 
ored girl, to its school. (93 N. F. 438.) 



SCHOOL COMISSIONER AND COM- 
MISSIONER DISTRICTS 



Title II. 
Section 1. The office of school commissioner is continued, and 
the present incumbents shall continue in office in their respectiYe 
districts, for the residue of the terms for which they were elected 
or appointed. 

The office of scliool commissioner was created by chapter 179, Laws of 1856. 
This chapter provided for the appointment of the first incumbents of the 
office by the boards of supervisors, and abolished the office of town super- 
intendent of common schools for the several towns in such commissioner's 
district as soon as the commissioner was appointed and qualified. 

ELIGIBILITY. 

A school commissioner cannot hold any other school office. To be legally 
qualified for the office of commissioner, a person must be a citizen of the 
United States, 21 years of age, and a resident of the county in which the school 
commissioner district is situated. It is not necessary that he be a resident of 
the commissioner district; a residence in the county is sufficient. 

Women eligible. — Chapter 9, Laws of 1880, provides that "no person 
shall be deemed to be ineligible to serve as any school officer -^ * * by 
reason of sex." A school commissioner is a school officer, because his election 
and official functions are provided for by the General School Laws, as a part 
of the statutory machinery for the maintenance of the public school system of 
the State. The fact that a woman cannot vote for school commissioner is not 
a legal objection to her right to hold the office. The statute declares that she 
can hold the office, and this is a matter within the constitutional powers of the 
legislature. She cannot vote for school commissioner because that officer is 
elected at a general election, and the State Constitution expressly limits the 
right of suffrage at such elections to male citizens. 

COMMISSIONER DISTRICTS. 
§ 2. The districts as organized under existing laws, and as rec- 
ognized in the election of school commissioners at the annual 
election in eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall continue to be 
held and regarded as the school commissioner districts in this 

29 



226 School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 

State, except as the same shall be altered or modified by the 
legislature. 

Scliool commissioner districts were first established by cliapter 179, Laws of 
1856. The act created such districts, generally corresponding with assem 
bly districts, and conferred upon boards of supervisors the power to make a 
division of their counties in certain cases into such districts. 

This section (3) provided that the districts as they existed at the annual 
election of 1863, should continue to be the school commissioner districts of the 
State, except as they might be changed by the legislature. The last clause of 
this section took from boards of supervisors the power they had before pos- 
sessed, to create or alter such districts. After the passage of the Consolida- 
ted School Act in 1864, the power to create or alter school commissioner 
districts rested exclusively with the legislature until 1881, when chapter 543 
of that year restored to the boards of supervisors the power to divide a dis- 
trict under certain circumstances. 

Chapter 482, Laws of 1875. 
Section 1 . Further powers of local legislation and administra- 
tion are hereby conferred on the boards of supervisors in the 
several counties of this State, except in cities whose boundaries 
are the same as those of the county, to make and administer, 
within their respective counties, laws and regulations as follows : 

36. To divide any school commissioner district which contains 
more than two hundred school districts and to erect therefrom an 
additional school commissioner district, and when such district 
shall have been formed, a school commissioner for said district 
shall be elected in the way and manner now provided by law for 
the election of school commissioner. {Added hy Chap. 643, 
Laws of 1881.) 

Chapter 414, Laws of 1883. 

Section 1. Section sixteen of chapter one hundred and seventy- 
nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six is hereby 
amended so as to read as follows : 

§ 16. The several cities which already or which shall hereafter, 
under special acts, elect superintendents of common schools, or 
whose board of education choose clerks doing the duty of super- 
vision under direction of the board of education, shall not be 
included in any commissioner's district created by this act or 
authorized to be formed by the board of supervisors ; and the 
several boards of supervisors in counties in which such cities are 
joined to towns in the formation of an assembly district may 



{School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 227 

<Jivide the conuty, exclusive of such cities, into school commis- 
sioner's districts as they may deem advisable, but no town shall 
be divided in forming such districts. 

It was probably not noticed by tbe person who framed this act or by the 
legislature tbat section 16, chapter 179, Laws of 1856, had been repealed or this 
chapter would not have been enacted in this form. That is immaterial, how- 
«ver, as it is a law complete in itself. It provides two things: 

1. Cities that elect superintendents of common schools under special acts, 
or whose boards of education employ clerks doing the duty of supervision, 
shall not be included in any school commissioner district. 

2. The boards of supervisors of counties containing such cities joined to 
towns in the formation of an assembly district, may divide the county exclu- 
sive of such cities into school commissioner districts. 

The districts as organized in the different counties on the first day of Janu- 
ary, 1888, are as follows: 

ALBANY COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Bethlehem, Coeymans, New Scotland. 
Second District. Towns of Berne, Rensselaer ville, Westerlo. 
Third District. Towns of Knox, Guilderland, Watervliet. 
The city of Albany is organized under a special school act. 
The city of Cohoes is organized under a special school act. 

ALLEGANY COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Allen, Almond, Angelica, Belfast, Birdsall, 

Burns, Caneadea, Centerville, Granger, Grove, Hume, New Hudson, 

Rushford, West Almond. 
Second District. Towns of Alfred, Alma, Amity, Andover, Bolivar, 

Clarksville, Cuba, Friendship, Genesee, Independence, Scio, Ward, 

Wellsville, Willing, Wirt. 

BROOME COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Chenango, Colesville, Conklin, Kirkwood, 

Fenton, Sanford, Windsor. 
Second District. Towns of Barker, Binghamton, Lisle, Maine, Nanti- 

coke, Triangle, Union, Vestal. 
The city of Binghamton is organized under a special school act. 

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Allegany, Ashford, Ellicott ville, Farmersville, 

Franklinville, Freedom, Hinsdale, Humphrey, Ischua, Lyndon, 

Machias, Olean, Port ville, Yorkshire. 
Second District. Towns of Carrolton, Coldspring, Conewango, Dayton, 

East Otto, Great Valley, Leon, Little Valley, Mansfield, Napoli, New 

Albion, Otto, Perrysburgh, Persia, Randolph, Red House, Salamanca, 

South Valley. 

CAYUGA COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Brutus, Cato, Conquest, Ira, Mentz, Monte- 
zuma, Sennett, Sterling, Throop, Victory. 

Second District. Towns of Aurelius, Fleming, Genoa, Ledyard, Locke, 
Moravia, Niles, Owasco, Scipio, Sempronius, Summer Hill, Spring- 
port, Venice. 

The city of Auburn is organized under a special school act. 



228 School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Busti, Chautauqua, Clymer, French Creek,. 

Harmony, Mina, Sherman. 
Second District. Towns of Arkwright, Hanover, Pomfret, Portland,. 

Kipley, Sheridan, Villenova, Westfield. 
Third District. Towns of Carroll, Charlotte, Cherry Creek, Ellery, Elli- 

cott, Ellington, Gerry, Kiantone, Poland, Stockton. 
The city of Dunkirk is organized under a special school act. 
The city of Jamestown is organized under a special school act. 

CHEMUNG COUNTY. 

Comprises a single district. 

The city of Elmira is organized under a special school act. 

CHENANGO COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Columbus, Lincklaen, New Berlin, North Nor- 
wich, Norwich, Otselic, Pharsalia, Pitcher, Plymouth, Sherburne, 
Smyrna. 

Second District. Towns of Afton, Bainbridge, Coventry, Greene, Ger- 
man, Guilford, McDonough, Oxford, Preston, Smithville. 

CLINTON COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Ausable, Black Brook, Dannemora, Peru, 

Plattsburgh, Saranac, Schuyler Falls. 
Second District. Towns of Altona, BeekmantowTi, Champlain, Chazy,. 

Clinton, Ellenburgh, Mooers. 

COLUMBIA COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Ancram, Claverack, Clermont, Copake, Galla- 
tin, Germantown, Greenport, Livingston, Taghkanick. 

Second District. Towns of Austerlitz, Canaan, Chatham, Ghent, Hills- 
dale, Kinderhook, New Lebanon, Stockport, Stuyvesant. 

The city of Hudson is organized under a special school act. 

CORTLAND COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Cincinnatus, Cortlandville, Freetown, Harford, 

Lapeer, Marathon, Virgil, Willett. 
Second District. Towns of Cuyler, Homer, Preble, Scott, Solon, Taylor, 

Truxton. 

DELAWARE COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Colchester, Deposit, Franklin, Hamden, Han- 
cock, Mason ville, Sidney, Tompkins, Walton. 
Second District. Towns of Andes, Bovina, Davenport, Delhi, Harpers- 
field, Kortright, Meredith, Middletown, Roxbury, Stamford. 

DUTCHESS COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Amenia, Beekman, Dover, East Fishkill, Fish- 
kill, LaGrange, Northeast, Pawling, Pine Plains, Stanford, Union 
Vale, Wappinger, Washington. 

Second District. Towns of Clinton, Hyde Park, Milan, Pleasant Valley, 
Poughkeepsie, Redhook, Rhinebeck. 

The city of Poughkeepsie is organized under a special school act. 

ERIE COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Alden, Amherst, Cheektowaga, Clarence, 
Grand Island, Lancaster, Newstead, Tonawanda. 



School Commissioner a.nd Commissioner Districts. 229 

ERIE COUNTY — Continued. 

Second District. Towns of Aurora, East Hamburg, Eden, Elma, Evans, 
Hamburg, Marilla, Wales, West Seneca. 

Third District. Towns of Boston, Brant, Colden, Concord, Collins, Hol- 
land, North Collins, Sardinia. 

The city of Buffalo is organized under a special school act. 

ESSEX COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Chesterfield, Elizabethtown, Essex. Jay, Keene, 

Lewis, North Elba, St. Armand, Willsborough, Wilmington. 
Second District. Towns of Crown Point, Minerva, Moriah, Newcomb, 

North Hudson, Schroon, Ticonderoga, Westport. 

FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Bellmont, Brighton, Burke, Chateaugay, 
Duane, Franklin, Harrietstown, Malone. 

Second District. Towns of Bangor, Bombay, Brandon, Constable, Dick- 
inson, Fort Covington, Moira, Waverly, Westville. 

FULTON COUNTY — Comprises a single district. 

GENESEE COUNTY — Comprises a single district. 

GREENE COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Athens, Cairo, Catskill, Halcott, Hanter, 

Jewett, Lexington. 
Second District. Towns of Ashland, Coxsackie, Durham, Greenville, 

New Baltimore, Prattsville, Windham. 

HAMILTON COUNTY — Comprises a single district. 

HERKIMER COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Fairfield, Herkimer, Little Falls, Manheim, 

Newport, Norway, Ohio, Russia, Salisbury, Wilmurt. 
Second District. Towns of Columbia, Danube, Frankfort, German Flats, 
Litchfield, Schuyler, Stark, Warren, Winfield. 

JEFFERSON COUNTY, 

First District. Towns of Adams, Brownville, Ellisburgh, Henderson, 

Hounsfield, Lorraine, Rodman, Worth. 
Second District. Towns of Antwerp, Champion, Le Ray, Philadelphia, 

Rutland, Watertown, Wilna. 
Third District. Towns of Alexandria, Cape Vincent, Clayton, Lyme, 

Orleans, Pamelia, Theresa. 
The city of Watertown is organized under a special school act. 

KINGS COUNTY. 

Comprises a single district, excluding Brooklyn. 

The city of Brooklyn is organized under a special school act. 

LEWIS COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Greig, High Market, Lewis, Leyden, Lyons- 

dale, Martinsburgh, Osceola, Turin, West Turin. 
Second District. Towns of Croghan, Denmark, Diana, Harrisbugh, Low- 

ville, Montague, New Bremen, Pinckney, Watson. 



230 School CoMMissiOi^'ER and Commissioiter Distjiicts. 

LIVINGSTON COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Avon, Caledonia, Conesus, Geneseo, Grove- 
land, Leicester, Lima, Livonia, York. 

Second District. Towns of Mount Morris, North Dansville, Nunda, 
Ossian, Portage, Sparta, Springwater, West Sparta. 

MADISON COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Brookfield, De Ruyter, Eaton, Georgetown,. 
Hamilton, Lebanon, Madison, Nelson. 

Second District. Towns of Cazenovia, Fenner, Lenox, Smithfield, Stock- 
bridge, Sullivan. 

MONROE COUNTS 

First District. Towns of Brighton, Henrietta, Irondequoit, Mendon, Pen- 
' field, Perrinton, Pittsford, Rush, Webster. 

Second District. Towns of Clarkson, Chili, Gates, Greece, Hamlin, 

Ogden, Parma, Riga, Sweden, Wheatland. 
The city of Rochester is organized under a special school act. 

MONTGOMERY COUNT Y — Comprises a single district. 

NEW YORK city is organized under a special school act. 

NIAGARA COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Cambria, Lockport, Pendleton, Royalton, 

Wheatfield. 
Second District. Towns of Hartland, Lewiston, Newfane, Niagara, Por- 
ter, Somerset, Wilson. 
The city of Lockport is organized under a special school act. 

ONEIDA COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Deerfield, Floyd, Marcy, New Hartford,. 

Whitestown. 
Second District. Towns of Augusta, Bridgewater, Kirkland, Marshall, 

Paris, Sangerfield, Vernon, Westmoreland. 
Third District. Towns of Camden, Florence, Verona, Vienna. 
Fourth District. Towns of Annsville, Ava, Boone ville, Forestport, Lee, 

Remsen, Steuben, Trenton, Western. 
The city of Utica is organized under a special school act. 
The city of Rome is organized under a special school act. 

ONONDAGA COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Camillus, Clay, Elbridge, Lysander, Salina, 

Van Buren. 
Second District. Towns of Geddes, Marcellus, Onondaga, Otisco, Skan- 

eateles, Spafford, Tully. 
Third District. Towns of Cicero, De Witt, Fabius, Lafayette, Manlius, 

Pompey. 
The city of Syracuse is organized under a special school act. 

ONTARIO COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Farmington, Geneva, Gorham, Hopewell, Man* 

Chester, Phelps, Seneca. 
Second District. Towns of Bristol, Canadice, Canandaigua, East Bloom - 

field, Naples, Richmond, South Bristol, Victor, West Bloomfield. 



School Commissioner and Commissionee Districts. 231 

ORANGE COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Blooming Grove, Cornwall, Highlands, Monroe, 
Montgomery, Newburgh, New Windsor. 

Second District. Towns of Chester, Crawford, Deerpark, Goshen, Green- 
ville, Hamptonburgh, Minisink, Mount Hope, Wallkill, Warwick, 
Wawayanda. 

The city of Newburgh is organized under a special school act. 

ORLEANS COUNTY — Comprises a single district. 

OSWEGO COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Granby, Hannibal, New Haven, Oswego, Scriba, 

Volney. 
Second District. Towns of Amboy, Constantia, Hastings, Palermo, Parish, 

Schroeppel, West Monroe. 
Third District. Towns of Albion, Boylston, Mexico, Orwell, Redfield, 

Richland, Sandy Creek, Williamstown. 
The city of Oswego is organized under a special school act. 

OTSEGO COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Cherry Valley, Decatur, Exeter, Maryland, 
Middlefield, Otsego, Plainfield, Richfield, Roseboom, Springfield, West- 
ford, Worcester. 

Second District. Towns of Burlington, Butternuts, Edmeston, Hart- 
wick, Laurens, Milford, Morris, New Lisbon, Oneonta, Otego, Pitts- 
field, Unadilla. 

PUTNAM COUNTY — Comprises a single district. 

QUEENS COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Flushing, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay. 

Second District. Towns of Hempstead, Jamaica, Newtown. 

The city of Long Island City is organized under a special school act. 

RENSSELAER COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Brunswick, Grafton, Hoosick, Lansingburgh, 
Petersburgh, Pittstown, Schaghticoke. 

Second District. Towns of Berlin East Greenbush, Greenbush, 
Nassau, North Greenbush, Poestenkill, Sandlake, Schodack, Stephen- 
town. 

The city of Troy is organized under a special school act. 

RICHMOND COUNTY — Comprises a single district. 
ROCKLAND COUNT Y — Comprises a single district. 

ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of DeKalb, De Peyster, Fine, Fowler, Gouverneur, 

Hammond, Macomb, Morristown, Oswegatchie, Pitcairn, Rossie. 
Second District. Towns of Canton, Clare, Clifton, Colton, Edwards, 

Hermon, Lisbon, Madrid, Norfolk, Pierrepont, Russell, Waddington. 
Third District. Towns of Brasher, Hopkinton, Lawrence, Louisville, 

Massena, Parishville, Potsdam, Stockholm. 
The city of Ogdensburg is organized under a special school act. 



232 School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 

SARATOGA COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Ballston, Charlton, Clifton Park, Galway, Half- 
moon, Malta, Milton, Providence, Stillwater, Waterford. 

Second District. Towns of Corinth, Day, Edinburgh, Greenfield, Hadley, 
Moreau, Northumberland, Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, Wilton, 

SCHENECTADY COUNTY — Comprises a single district. 

The city of Schenectady is organized under a special school act. 

SCHOHARIE COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Broome, Blenheim, Conesville, Esperance, Gil- 
boa, Middleburgh, Schoharie, Wright. 
Second District. Towns of Carlisle, Cobleskill, Fulton, Jefferson, Rich- 
mondville, Seward, Sharon, Summit. 

SCHUYLER COUNTY — Comprises a single district, 

SENECA COUNTY — Comprises a single district. 

STEUBEN COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Avoca, Bath, Bradford, Campbell, Cohocton, 

Dansville, Fremont, Howard, Prattsburgh, Pulteney, Thurston, Ur- 

bana. Way land, Wayne, Wheeler, 
Second District. Towns of Addison, Cameron, Canisteo, Caton, Corning,- 

Erwin, Greenwood, Hartsville, Hornby, Hornellsville, Lindley, Rath- 

bonevilie, Troupsburgh, Tuscarora, West Union, Woodhull. 

SUFFOLK COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Easthampton, Riverhead, Southampton, South- 
old, Shelter Island. 

Second District. Towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip, 
Smithtown. 

SULLIVAN COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Bethel, Cohocton, Delaware, Forestburgh, High- 
land, Lumberland, Mamakating, Thompson, Tusten. 

Second District. Towns of Callicoon, Fallsburgh, Fremont, Liberty, 
Neversink, Rockland. 

TIOGA COUNTl" — Comprises a single district. 

.TOMPKINS COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Danby, Enfield, Ithaca, Newfield, Ulysses. 
Second District. Towns of Caroline, Dryden, Groton, Lansing. 

ULSTER COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Hurley, Kingston, Kingston City, Saugerties, 
Ulster. 

Second District. Towns of Esopus, Gardner, Lloyd, Marbletown, Marl- 
borough, New Paltz, Plattekill, Rosendale, Shawangunk. 

Third District. Towns of Denning, Hardenburgh, Olive, Rochester, 
Shandaken, Wawarsing, Woodstock. 

WARREN COUNT Y — Comprises a single district. 



School Commissionek and Commissioi^-er Districts. 233 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Argyle, Cambridge, Easton, Fort Edward, 
Greenwich, Jackson, Salem, White Creek. 

Second District. Towns of Dresden, Fort Ann, Granville, Hampton, Hart- 
ford, Hebron, Kingsbury, Putnam, Whitehall. 

WAYNE COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Butler, Galen, Huron, Lyons, Rose, Savannah, 

Sodus, Wolcott. 
Second District. Towns of Arcadia, Macedon, Marion, Ontario, Palmyra, 

Walworth, Williamson. 

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of East Chester, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, Pel- 
ham, Rye, Scarsdale, Westchester. 

Second District. Towns of Greenburgh, Harrison, Mount Pleasant, North 
Castle, Ossining, White Plains. 

Third District. Towns of Bedford, Cortlandt, Lewisboro, New Castle, 
North Salem, Poundridge, Somers, Yorktown. 

WYOMING COUNTY. 

First District. Towns of Attica, Bennington, Covington, Middlebury, 

Orangeville, Perry, Sheldon, Warsaw. 
Second District. Towns of Arcade, Castile, Eagle, Genesee Falls, Gaines- 
ville, Java, Pike, Wethersfield. 

YATES COUNTY — Comprises a single district. 

ELECTION OF. 
§ 3. The school commissioner for each school commissioner 
district shall be elected by tlie electors thereof, by separate ballot, 
at the general election, in the year one thousand eight hundred 
and sixty-six, and triennially thereafter, and the ballots shall be 
indorsed " school commissioner." The laws regulating the elec- 
tion of and canvassing the votes for county officers shall apply to 
such elections. And it shall further be the duty of county clerks, 
and they are hereby required, as soon as they shall have official 
notice of the election or appointment of a school commissioner, 
for any district in their county, to forward to the superintendent 
of public instruction a duplicate certificate of such election or 
appointment, attested by their signature and the seal of the county. 
{As amended hy sec. 1, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

The portion of this section relating to ballots for school commissioner is 
superseded by subdivision 1, section 9, art. II, title IV, chapter 6, part I, 
Revised Statutes, as amended by section 1, chapter 553, Laws of 1880. " The 
names of the persons voted for by any elector at any election for any local 
office, in whose election all of the voters of a county have the right alike to 
participate, except representatives in congress, senators and members of 
assembly, shall be upon one ballot, which ballot shall be endorsed " County." 
* * * 

30 



234 School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 

From these two acts it would appear tliat in counties where but one school 
commissioner is elected, and his district is coterminous with the county, the 
name of the person voted for shall be placed upon the ])allot indorsed " County.'^ 
In all other districts section 3, title II, of the Consolidated School Law applies^ 
and separate ballots are required endorsed " School Commissioner." 

TERM — OATH OF OFFICE. 
§ 4. The term of office of such commissioner shall commence 
on the first day of January next after his election, and shall be 
for three years and nntil his successor qualifies. Every person 
elected to the office, or appointed to fill a vacancy, must take the 
oath of office prescribed by the constitution, before the county 
clerk, or a judge of a court of record, and file it with the county 
clerk, within ten days after the commencement of the term, or 
after notice of his appointment ; and if he omit so to do, the 
office shall be deemed vacant. 

The following oath is prescribed by section 1, article 12, of the State Con- 
stitution : 

" I do solemnly swear {or affirm, as the case may he) that I will support the 
Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of New- 
York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of school 
commissioner according to the best of my ability. 

And I do further solemnly swear {or affirm) that I have not directly or indi- 
rectly paid, offered or promised to pay, contributed, or offered or promised to 
contribute, any money or other valuable thing as a consideration or reward 
for the giving or withholding a vote at the election at which I was elected to 
said office, and have not made any promise to influence the giving or with- 
holding any such vote." 

Sworn before me this day of , 18 . 

This oath or affirmation must be subscribed and taken before the county 
clerk, or a judge of a court of record. It cannot, therefore, be taken before 
any other officer. If the oath be not filed within ten days, then the office is 
vacant, as the previous incumbent cannot hold over longer than ten days, and 
the vacancy must be filled under the provisions of section 6. 

VACATES HIS OFFICE. 
§ 5. A commissioner may, at any time, vacate his office, by fil- 
ing his resignation with the county clerk. His removal from the 
county, or his acceptance of the office of supervisor, town-clerk or 
trnstee of a school district, shall vacate his office. 

APPOINTMENT OF. 
§ 6. The county clerk, so soon as he has official or other notice 
of the existence of a vacancy in the office of commissioner, shall 
give notice thereof to the county judge, or, if that office be va- 
cant, to the superintendent of public instruction. In case of a 



School Commissioj^er and Commissioner Districts. 235 

vacancy, the county judge, or, if there be no county judge, then 
the superintendent shall appoint a commissioner, who shall hold 
his office until the first of January succeeding the next general 
election, and until his successor, who shall be chosen at such gen- 
eral election, shall have qualified. A person elected to fill a va- 
cancy shall hold the office only for the unexpired term. {As 
amended hy sec. 1, chap. 6-i:7, Laws of 1865.) 

There is an apparent conflict between this section and section 4, In section 
4 it is provided that a commissioner may hold over after the expiration of his. 
term of office for a period not exceeding ten davs, until his successor qualifies. 
In section 6 it is provided that a person appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold 
his office until the first day of January succeeding the next general election, 
and until his successor shall have qualified. It will be observed that the first 
sentence of section 4, if taken alone, woald make all commissioners hold over 
until their successors qualified. But in the same section is embodied the law on 
the subject of a person, elected or appointed, qualifying, and but one sentence 
is used for this purpose. The last part of this sentence declares that if a per- 
son does not qualify as therein directed the office shall be deemed vacant. 
Section 6 does not change this provision. It merely provides as does the first 
sentence of section 4, that the commissioner shall hold over until his succes- 
sor qualifies. But how and when shall he qualify, and what if he fails to 
qualify ? For this we must go back to section 4, and find it in the last sen- 
tence. The law upon this point will apply to all alike; the same to the succes- 
sor of a person who had been appointed as to the successor of one whose reg- 
ular term had expired. The sentence on that subject cannot be divided. It 
will, therefore, follow that all incambents of the ofiice can hold over until 
their successors qualify, provided they qualify within ten days, and if they fail 
to qualify within that time the office becomes vacant. 

SALARY. 

§ T. After the first day of October, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-five, every school commissioner shall receive an annual 
salary of one thousand dollars, payable quarterly out of the free 
school fund appropriated to this purpose, or to the support of 
common schools. {As amended hy sec. 1, chap. 84:, Laws of 1867, 
and sec, 3, chap. 1, Laws of 1881, and hy sec. 6, chap. 340, Laws 
of 1885.) 

The annual salary of a school commissioner from the State moneys was firsfr 
fixed at $500 — chap. 84, Laws of 1867, increased it to $800 — and sec. 5, chap. 
340, Laws of 1885, raised it to $1,000, where it still remains. 

§ 8. Whenever a majority of the supervisors from all the towns 
composing a school commissioner district shall adopt a resolution 
to increase the salary of their school commissioner beyond the 
one thousand dollars payable to him from the free school fund. 



236 School Commissioker ai^^d Commissionee Districts. 

it shall be tlio duty of the board of supervisors of the county to 
give effect to such resolution, and they shall assess the increase 
stated therein upon the towns composing such commissioner dis- 
trict, ratably, according to the corrected valuations of the real and 
personal estate of such towns. {As amended hy sec. 6, chap, 667, 
Laios of 1875, and sec. 6, chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) 

The supervisors, under this section, can increase the salary of a commissioner 
beyond the $1,000 he receives from the State to such amount as they may desire. 
The increase authorized by this section is entirely separate and independent 
from the $200 directed to be paid them for expenses in section 9. 

§ 9. The board of supervisors shall annually audit and allow to 
each commissioner within the county the fixed sum of two hun- 
dred dollars for his expenses, and shall assess and levy that amount 
annually, by tax, upon the towns composing his district. {As 
amended by sec. 2, chap. 84, Laws of 1867.) 

§ 10. Whenever the superintendent of public instruction is sat- 
isfied that a school commissioner has persistently neglected to per- 
form his duties, he may withhold his order for the payment of 
the whole or any part of such commissioner's salary as it shall 
become due, and the salary so withholden shall be forfeited ; but 
the superintendent may remit the forfeiture, in whole or in part, 
upon the commissioner disproving or excusing such neglect. 

DUTIES. 
§ 11. A commissioner, upon the written request of the commis- 
sioner of an adjoining district, may perform any of his duties for 
him, and upon requirement of the state superintendent of public 
instruction must perform the same. 

The jurisdiction of the school commissioner is strictly limited to the district 
for which he is elected. But the commissioner may at times be necessarily 
absent, or he may from sickness or injury be unable to perform his duties, or 
he may be incapacitated by some legal disability. In such cases his written 
request will authorize a commissioner in an adjoining district to act for him. 
The Superintendent of Public Instruction can require a commissioner to per- 
form any of the duties pertaining to the office for a commissioner in an adjoin- 
ing district. 

But whenever a commissioner is so called upon to exercise any powers or 
perform any duties out of his own jurisdiction, and the acts are of an impor- 
tant and permanent character, such as ought to be recorded or be put in writ- 
ing, as for instance, granting certificates, or alterations of districts, he should 
in every instrument recite the written request or requirement under which he 
is acting, substantially or in full. It would also be advisable to file such writ- 



School Commissioner aisD Commissioker Districts. 237 

ten request or requirement in tlie office of tlie county clerk, for safe -keeping 
and future reference, in case any question should arise as to tlie validity of 
liis acts. 

This section provides for the contingency cited under section 12, title I, bet- 
ter than the appointment of a visitor would do, as the visitor cannot be vested 
with any legal powers, such as the statute here confers upon the school com- 
missioner of an adjoining district. 

§ 12. No school commissioner shall act as agent for any author, 
publisher or bookseller, nor directly or indirectly receive any gift, 
emolument, reward or promise of reward, for his influence in 
recommending or procuring the use of any book, or school appa- 
ratus, or furniture of any kind whatever, in any common school, 
or the purchase of any book for a district library. Any one who 
shall procure or solicit a violation of this provision, or of any part 
thereof, shall be gnilty of a misdemeanor ; and any such violation 
shall subject the guilty commissioner to removal from his ofiice 
by the superintendent of public instruction. 

Commissioners must not have any pecuniary interest in the matter of recom- 
mending or securing the sale of text-books, school apparatus or furniture, or 
any book for a district library. For a violation of this section the penalty 
against the commissioner is removal from office, and the person who solicits a 
violation is guilty of a misdemeanor. 

The present law relieves commissioners not only from numerous importu- 
nities, but from the imputation of recommending text-books on account of 
self-interest. Commissioners are not forbidden to interest themselves on these 
subjects. What the law forbids is that they shall " directly or indirectly 
receive any gift, emolument or reward " for so doing. It is one of their duties 
to examine and advise as to text-books, school apparatus and furniture. 

It is very desirable that the books used in the same school should be uni- 
form; but it is not desirable, among the first acts of a new school commis- 
sioner, that a general change of text-books should be made. Reforms in the 
school depend more upon the teacher than upon the influence of any series of 
books. 

§ 13. Every commissioner shall have power, and it shall be his 
duty : 

The subdivisions of this section enumerate some, but not all, of the duties 
and powers of commissioners. The majority of the subdivisions are upon sub- 
jects which in the arrangement of this work have been placed in chapters. A 
reference only is here made to the chapters where they can be found with the 
annotations thereon. 

1. To inquire as to the records of school district boundaries, and when 
necessary to amend the same. {8ee School Districts.) 

2. To visit and examine all the schools and school districts 
within his district as often in each year as shall be practicable; to 
inquire into all matters relating to the management, the course of 



238 School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 

study and mode of instruction, and the text-books and discipline 
of such schools, and the condition of the school-houses, sites, out- 
buildings and appendages, and of the district generally ; to exam- 
ine the district libraries ; to advise with and counsel the trustees 
and other officers of the districts in relation to their duties, and 
particularly in respect to the construction, wanning and ventila- 
tion of school-houses, and the improving and adorning of the 
school grounds connected therewith ; and to recommend to the 
trustees and teachers the proper studies, discipline and manage- 
ment of the schools, and the course of instruction to be pursued. 

3. Upon such examination to direct alterations or repairs upon the school- 
house or out-buildings, and the abatement of any nuisance upon the school- 
house premises. {8ee School- Houses and Appendages.) 

4. May condemn a school -house. {See School-Houses and Appendages) 

5. To examine and license persons proposing to teach in the common schools 
within his district. {See Teachers.) 

6. To re-examine a teacher and annul his certificate. {See Teachers.) 

7. To examine charges affecting the moral character of any teacher, and to 
annul the teacher's certificate if the charges are sustained. {See Teachers.) 

8. And, generally, to use his utmost influence and most stren- 
uous exertions, to promote sound education, elevate the character 
and qualifications of teachers, improve the means of instruction, 
and advance the interests of the schools under his supervision. 

Subdivisions 2 and 8 will be considered together. The duties of commis- 
sioners comprised in subdivision 2 may be stated under two heads: 

1. Visiting and examining the schools. 

2. Advising and counseling trustees and other school oflBcers. 

Each commissioner is required to visit all the schools in his district each 
year, as often as is practicable. The greatest number of districts to be visited 
by any one commissioner is one hundred and ninety-eight; and, in most cases, 
is less than one hundred; in some, a few more. 

The object of a commissioner's visit is two-fold. He must first obtain a 
knowledge of the schools of his district and familiarize himself with their 
actual condition. In this respect he is an inspector and should go into the 
different school districts and schools unheralded and unexpected. There is a 
natural and perhaps commendable spirit among trustees, teachers and pupils 
to make a good impression upon the commissioner, but this should not be 
done by placing the school upon dress parade. No unusual drill or preparation 
should be given the pupils because of an expected visit of the commissioner. 
If the time is set for bis visit, and the teacher is so informed, the chances are 
that the commissioner will find the school on the day of his visit in a flourish- 
ing condition such as it had not attained upon any day previous and will not 
continue for another day of the whole term. Upon such a visit has an actual 
knowledge of the school been obtained ? Certainly not. But why is it essen- 
tial that he should see the schools in their every day routine? Because he can 
then, and, then only, report to his superior, the Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, the true condition of the common schools, and this knowledge can be 



SciiouL Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 239 

conveyed tlirougli the Superintendent to tlie Legislature that tlie State may 
liave a correct basis upon wliicli to make tlie laws governing the common - 
school system. And in the second place, the commissioner acts not only as an 
examiner but he is the supervising and advising officer of his district. In order 
to give correct and valuable advice concerning the conduct of the school he 
must know its true condition. 

A visit without notice w^ill often disclose conditions concerning which the 
commissioner ought to be informed, but which might be disguised or con- 
cealed from him if his visit were anticipated. 

He will find that he will be greatly assisted in his examination if prepara- 
tory to his visit he should ascertain from the teacher the number of classes, 
the studies pursued by each, the routine of the school, the successive exer- 
cises of each class during each hour of the day, the play-spells allowed, etc., 
and thus obtain a general knowledge of the school, which will be found 
greatly to facilitate his subsequent duties. Every commissioner is enjoined 
to call for and examine the list of scholars in the book which the statute re- 
quires the teacher to keep, in order that he may see whether the names are 
correctly and neatly entered. He should be particular in his examination of 
the record of attendance, and, in case it be not kept according to the plan pre- 
scribed in the directions accompanying the register, he should call the atten- 
tion of the teacher to his omission or neglect, and instruct him how to keep it 
correctly. Young teachers often find difficulty in following the plainest rules, 
and the commissioner will serve them and the people of the districts by exact- 
ing from the teachers constant care as to the safety, neatness and correctness 
with which they keep the school registers. The commissioner should not 
omit to inform them of their duty to keep the registers under lock and key, 
and, at the close of their schools, to make oath to their being correctly kept, 
and to deliver them in good order to the district clerk. 

The commissioner will then hear each class recite the ordinary lesson of 
the day. The class will then be examined on the subjects of study. Generally 
it will be better to allow the teacher to conduct the exercises and examina- 
tions, as the pupils will be less likely to be intimidated, and an opportunity 
"will be given to judge of his qualifications. 

To enable him to compare the school with itself at another time, and with 
other schools, and to comply with the regulations hereinbefore contained re- 
specting the annual reports, the commissioner should keep notes of his obser- 
vations, and of the information he obtains on all the subjects on which he is 
required to report; and he should particularly note any peculiarities which 
seem to require notice, in the mode of instruction, in the government and dis- 
cipline of the school, and in the appearance of the pupils in respect to their 
cleanliness of person and neatness of apparel. 

2. Advising and consulting with the officers of the district. 

This duty is, by the act, especially enjoined upon commissioners. The law, 
in the broadest terms, requires them to advise and counsel the trustees and 
other school officers in relation to all their duties. 

The performance of this duty will demand great care and circumspection. 
It should be constantly borne in mind that the office of an adviser and coun- 
selor is to ascertain facts and learn the true condition of things, and then to 
suggest and propose improvements and remedies. Interrogatories judiciously 
aimed at abuses, errors, mistakes and omissions will call attention to them as 
clearly as if they were condemned outright, and at the same time give no 
ofEense. 

The advice and counsel needed will generally relate to proper studies; the 
discipline and conduct of the school; the course of instruction; the elementary 
books; the erection of school-houses, and the ability of the district to maintain 
a school. 

1. The Proper Studies. — These vary with the age and advancement of the 
scholars. The great object of the common schools is, unquestionably, to 
instruct the youth of the State in the ordinary branches of a good English 
education. To spell^ to read and write, should be the first care. As soon as 



240 School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 

a child can write, spelling and writing should be one exercise. The meaning 
of the words spelled should also be explained to the scholar, as a great assist- 
ance to the memory. Correct spelling and a clear comprehension of the words 
are essential to good reading. A distinct articulation of every syllable is the 
most important requisition. A correct and not too forcible accent, an utter- 
ance neither too rapid nor too slow, and a clear understanding of the subject, 
are important requirements. 

The commissioner will carefully note the capabilities of the scholars and 
their grade of improvement, and advise that no studies be imposed or per- 
mitted until the pupil can enter upon them understandingly. 

2. The Discipline and Conduct of the School. — The commissioner cannot too 
strongly inculcate the necessity of a punctual and continuous attendance dur- 
ing school hours for the whole term. Teachers should be advised to insist 
upon this. The first hour of a session, in the morning or afternoon, should 
not be interrupted by the noisy dropping in, every few minutes, of truant and 
tardy children. The interruption is not the worst of the evil. The want of 
punctuality involves the loss of time that should be applied to study; and the 
tardy and irregular attendants soon lag behind their associates, become dis- 
heartened, relax their ejfforts, and acquire habits of irregularity, insubordina- 
tion and negligence, which mark their character through life. 

Order and system should prevail in the whole conduct of the school. The 
routine of recitations and other exercises should be regular and seldom changed. 
The people should give a ready obedience to the commands of the teacher, 
and a strict compliance with rules and regulations should be exacted. Pupils 
should be instructed that those commands, rules and regulations are not im- 
posed upon them as a restraint or humiliation, but for their good, as the best 
means of expediting the sole business of the school, the acquisition of knowl- 
edge and the formation of character. 

The commissioners should also observe whether the teachers possess the 
respect of their scholars, and whether their deportment in and out of the 
school is such as to deserve it. They should particularly note how the 
authority of the teacher is maintained; whether it is the result of a mild and 
conciliatory but firm and steady government, or whether it is an unwilling 
submission to arbitrary rule and the fear of the rod. 

3. The Course of Instruction. — The order of studies which long experience 
has decided to be the best, and which is generally followed, is the alphabet, 
spelling, reading, arithmetic, geography, history and grammar. To learn the 
names of things is among the earliest efforts of the infant mind. It is the 
work of several years to master the simplest combination of language. In 
teaching the elements of knowledge, therefore, great discretion and discrimi- 
nation are necessary in graduating instruction to the capacity of pupils. Pri- 
mary books should contain only familiar household words and the commonest 
forms of speech. When these have been mastered others of a higher grade 
should be substituted. 

The four simple rules of arithmetic are easily taught, not by arbitrary rules 
and a few examples, but by constant practice and repetition, with blocks or 
balls, by which the numbers are presented to the eye. The little boy who sells 
newspapers, or peddles peanuts or apples, will learn in a few weeks all the 
combinations of simple numbers less than one hundred. Make a purchase of 
him, and hand him a quarter of a dollar, and he will make his computation 
and give you the change as promptly as the readiest bank teller. 

Geography, by means of maps, charts and globes, may be taught at a very 
early age. The study of history and geography may be combined. In the 
course of the reading lessons and during the lesson in history, whenever a 
place is named the pupil should be required to point it out on the map. A 
daily newspaper may be of essential service in teaching geography and cur- 
rent history. The use of a map, with a daily paper, will very soon make the 
pupils acquainted with all the principal commercial ports and political divisions 
of every part of the world. Geography and history, thus learned, would be 
indelibly impressed unon the memory. Biography, however, has a charm for 



School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 241 

the very young, and many brief narratives might be made a part of the school 
exercises. Grammar, treating of the structure and composition of language, 
is a difficult study, and should not be undertaken till the mind of the pupil 
has attained a maturity and strength capable of comparing, analyzing and 
combining phrases and sentences. To read, to speak and to write, correctly 
and elegantly, may all be learned without consulting a grammar. But a 
knowledge of English grammar is a very important part of a good common 
education, and its study is a useful exercise of the intellectual powers. 

4. Books of Elementary Instruction. — Within the last few years a great im- 
provement has been made in elementary books. A great many series of books 
elucidating and illustrating every branch of education in our common schools 
have been published. None of them are so defective as to demand their exclu- 
sion from the schools, and none of them are so superior to others as to merit 
exclusive recommendation. A teacher is very poorly qualified who cannot use 
any set of text-books with advantage. 

Chapter 413, Laws of 1877, has divested trustees of school districts of the pow- 
ers concerning text-books which they held under previous expositions of the law. 
The power and duty of designating these is now devolved upon the legal voters. 

Whenever the commissioner finds in any school a number of pupils of the 
same grade using different books, and classed separately, he should show how, 
if all had the same books, one class and one recitation would suffice for all, 
and the teacher's corrections and observations, repeated to several classes, 
might be limited to one, and valuable time of pupils and teacher be saved. 

As under the act above cited the inhabitants have the exclusive po-'ver in the 
matter of the text-books, it becomes the duty of the commissioners to try and 
reach the inhabitants by personal visitations at their homes, or by gathering 
them together for that purpose, and urging upon them attention to the duty 
imposed by the law referred to. 

In cities and large villages, the adoption of uniform text- books is a pecu- 
niary advantage to the people, particularly to the transient population that 
frequently move from one district to another, and are generally least able to 
purchase new books. But the positive necessity of uniformity is less apparent 
in rural districts. The inhabitants there do not often change their residence. 
It is not well to be indifferent as to the merits of the text-books, but to exer- 
cise judgment in recommending them. Let parents understand that while the 
interests of their children command the first attention, the subject of expenses 
receives also a fair consideration. Their confidence and co-operation will thus 
be secured. 

School- Houses and Grounds. — Commissioners are directed to advise with 
trustees concerning the school-houses and grounds. This subject is treated of 
at length in another chapter. {See School-Houses and A2')pendages. ) 

Subdivisions. — A whole volume is contained in the directions to commis- 
sioners is this subdivision. Commissioners who will faithfully obey its injunc- 
tions are the men needed. No other civil officer in this State is directed by 
law to go so far beyond the discharge of certain fixed routine duties as the 
school commissioner. It has long been the hope of the Department to place 
this office out of the reach of men who seek to obtain it as a reward for party 
service, and who hold it for the emoluments only. L^pon the success of such 
an effort and the election of competent and willing men rests to an unlimited 
extent the success and efficiency of our common schools. A commissioner 
should be an educational man, and of irreproachable character. If he does 
not have both these qualifications, how can he "promote sound education'" 
and " elevate the character and qualifications of teachers ?" To obey this sec- 
tion, a man must bring to the office a knowledge of educational work and 
continue to make it a constant study. He must not aim to see with how little 
work he can get through his duties, but must make a continual effort to ad- 
vance as far as possible the interests of the schools in his district. 

31 



242 School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 

§ 15. The coininissiouers shall be subject to such rules and regu- 
lations as the superintendent of public instruction shall, from time 
to time, prescribe ; and appeals from their acts and decisions may 
be made to him, as hereinafter provided. ^ ^ ^ ^ 

The latter part of this section is in reference to reports. {See ReporU.) 

REMOVAL OF COMMISSIONER. 
Title I. 

§ 18. Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any 
school commissioner, or other school officer, has been guilty of 
any \villful violation or neglect of duty under this act, or any 
other act pertaining to common schools, or of willfully disobeying 
any decision, order or regulation of the superintendent, the super- 
intendent may, by an order under his hand and seal, which order 
shall be recorded in his office, remove such school commissioner 
or other school officer from his office. 

In section 15, title II, commissioners are made subject to the rules and regu- 
lations of the Superintendent, and in this section (18) of title I, the Super- 
intendent is given the authority to remove a commissioner from oflBce for a 
"willful violation or neglect of duty or for willfully disobeying any order of 
the Superintendent. No commissioner will be removed without an oppor- 
tunity to defend himself. The practice in cases where charges for a willful 
violation or neglect of duty are made is the same as in the case of any school 
oflficer and is set out at length in the chapter on Superintendent of Public In- 
struction. 

If it is for a disobedience of the Superintendent's decision, order or regula- 
tion, the practice is for the Superintendent, upon some proof being presented 
to him of the fact, to issue an order reciting the facts and directing the com- 
missioner to show cause before him at a stated date why he should not be 
removed from office. This can also be the practice in case of any charge 
against the commissioner. An opportunity will thus be afforded him to pre- 
pare for and make any defense he may have. The determination of the Super- 
intendent is final. An officer removed by him has no appeal. 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

Title III, § 27. The commissioners of each county are required to proceed to 
the county seat on the third Tuesday of March in each year, to ascertain, appor- 
tion and divide the State and other school moneys. {See State School Moneys.) 

Title VI. The different sections of this title provide for the formation, disso- 
lution and alteration of school districts by school commissioners. {See School 
Districts. ) 

Title VII, § 1. Commissioners must call first meeting in a new school dis- 
trict, or neighborhood, prepare the notice and deliver it to a taxable inhabitant 
to serve. 

Title VII, ^ 3. When the first meeting called for a new district or neighbor- 
hood is not held according to call, the commissioner may prepare a new notice 
and deliver it to a taxable inhabitant of the district to serve. 



School Commissionek and Commissioner Districts. 243 

Title VII, § 18. Commissioner to give bis approval to a sum larger than 
$500, for building a new scbool-bouse before a tax can be levied for the same. 
Also his approval of the plans, so far as ventilation, heat and lighting is con- 
earned. (/See ScJiool-Hou&es and Appendages.) 

Title VII, § 23. No school commissioner is eligible to the oflB^e of trustee or 
member of a board of education. {See Trustees.) 

Title XI. The duties of commissioners in relation to teachers' institutes are 
prescribed by this title. {See Teachers' Institutes.) 

Title III, i^ 10. The commissioner can recommend to the Superintendent that 
a district be allowed to participate in the public money that employed a teacher 
not duly qualified. {See State School Moneys.) 

Chapter 585, Laws of 1865, as amended by chapter 291, Laws of 1887, § 9. 
Commissioners are to hold examinations for candidates for appointment to free 
scholarships in Cornell LTniversity. {See Cornell University, page 486.) 

Title VII, § 4. Commissioner may call a special meeting in school district 
when the trustees and clerk are away, or their offices are vacant. {See Meet- 
ings.) 

Title IX, § 5. The commissioner must give to a newly formed union free 
school district, its number. {See Union Free Schools.) 

Title XI, § 14. Commissioners can take affidavits and administer oaths in all 
matters pertaining to common schools; and under the direction of the Super- 
intendent can take and report testimony in appeal cases. {See Appeals.) 



SCHOOL DISTRICTS 



FORMATIOX, ALTERATION AXD DISSOLUTIOX OF. 

Title YI. 

Section 1. It shall be the duty of each school commissioner, in 
respect to the territory within his district : 

1. To divide it, so far as practicable, into a convenient number 
of school districts, and alter the same as herein provided. 

2. In conjunction with the commissioner or commissioners of 
an adjoining school commissioner district or districts, to set off 
joint districts composed of adjoining parts of their respective 
districts. 

3. To set off by itself any neighborhood adjoining any other 
State of the Union, where it shall be found most convenient for 
the inhabitants to send their children to a school in such adjoin- 
ing State. 

4. To describe and number the school districts, and joint dis- 
tricts, and to deliver, in writing, to the town clerk the description 
and number of each district lying in whole or in part in his town, 
together with all notices, consents, and proceedings relating to the 
formation or alteration thereof, immediately after such formation 
or alteration. Every joint district shaU bear the same number in 
every school commissioner district of whose terrritory it is in 
part composed. 

5. To deliver to the town clerk of the town in which it lies, in 
whole or in part, a description of each such separate neighbor- 
hood. 

In the formation of school districts no part of the territory of the State ca« 
be omitted from such division, and every commissioner should see that ui 



School Districts. 245 

drawing boundary lines all the territory within his commissioner district is 
included in the school districts. 

The jurisdiction of a school commissioner to form, alter or dissolve school 
districts extends only over his own commissioner district. When it becomes 
necessary for him to act in this matter, over territory extending beyond the 
limits of his commissioner district, he must act jointly with the other com- 
missioner commissioners. 

Joint districts. — The statute in subdivision 2 of this section defines a district 
which lies in two or more commissioner districts as a joint district. A joint 
district may lie entirely within one county, or it may be compose d of parts of 
two or more counties. If it lies in two or more school commissioner districts, 
it is a joint district, and must be formed, altered or dissolved by the joint ac- 
tion of all the commissioners in whose territory it lies, or of a majority of them, 
as prescribed in the following sections: 

Subdivision 4 of this section directs that the proceedings for forming, alter- 
ing or dissolving school districts, with a description and number of each dis- 
trict, shall be filed with the town clerk. When a school district lies in two or 
more towns, this description must be filed with the town clerk of each town in 
which the school district lies. All orders, either from the commissioner or the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, affecting such districts, must in like 
manner be filed with the town clerks. 

Description. — It is of extreme importance that the description of a district 
should be so complete and definite that a surveyor, at any future day, may be 
able to run its boundaries without reference to any other document than the 
order forming, altering or describing it. For this purpose the exterior lines 
should be defined by reference to natural monuments, marked trees, creeks, 
etc. , or to township lines of historical notoriety, such as the lines of the great 
original subdivisions into lots, or the course of highways. Where these fail, 
the courses and distances as ascertained by the compass and chain should be 
given. The practice of stating the boundary as that of ' ' the farm now in the 
occupation of C. D.," or by means of similar designations, frequently renders 
it very difiicult to ascertain them, as the occupation of land is continually 
shifting. In Gray v. Sheldon, 8th Verm. R. 402, a resolution "to set off Isaac 
Gray, Jr., to school district No. 3," was held void on the ground that school 
districts should be defined by geographical limits, and be made to consist of 
territory and not of persons. 

NuiT^ering districts. — The school districts are known and distinguished by 
their numbers. Every district must be numbered. 

During the year 1867, the school commissioners, by direction of the depart- 
ment, examined into the numbering of all the school districts in the State. 
Mistakes were corrected, and every district in each town numbered in con- 
secutive order from number one to the highest number in the town. Care was 
taken that a district lying partly in two or more towns not joint, should have 
but one and the same number in the town where the school-house was located. 
Previously some districts had two or more numbers; a district lying in two or 
more towns had a different number in each town; and in some cases two dis- 
tricts had the same number. The result was confusion and error in the reports, 
and in the apportionment of money. The records in the department now show 
the number of every district in the State. Hereafter the commissioners will 
promptly communicate to the department every alteration of districts, whereby 
a new district is formed, or two or more are consolidated, or one is dissolved 
and its territory annexed to other districts; and also what new number is 
given to any new, or consolidated district, and what changes have been made 
in the numbers in any town — and thus one principal and fruitful source of 
error and confusion will be removed. 

Joint districts were numbered in the several towns in which such districts 
were located, and the number in each town was made the same. For example, 
a joint district lying in the towns of Arcadia and Lyons was given the same 
number in each town, to- wit: Joint district No. 5, Arcadia and Lyons. No other 



246 School Districts. 

district in Arcadia or Lyons - can be numbered 5. All districts wbicli are not 
joint, but lie in more than one town must be numbered only in the town where 
the school-house is located. 

§ 2. With the written consent of the trustees of all the districts 
to be affected thereby, he may, by order, alter any school district 
within his jurisdiction, and fix, by said order, a day when the alter- 
ation shall take efiect. {As amended hy sec. 5, chap. 406, Laws 
of 1867.) 

Commissioners proceed under this section when the consent in writing of the 
trustees of all the districts to be affected is given to the proposed alteration. 
A district is affected when the order of alteration changes the boundaries of 
such district so as to take territory from or add thereto. It is also affected 
when the order is one dissolving the district. 

Whenever a commissioner determines to alter any school district or districts, 
he should first endeavor to obtain the consent of the trustees. This consent must 
be in writing, and accurately state the alteration to which they consent. If 
a district has three trustees, their consent must be given at a regular meeting 
of the board. The consent of a majority at such meeting is the action of the 
board, and valid. Having obtained the consent of the trustees of all the dis- 
tricts, the commissioner next proceeds to draw and file the order. The order 
must recite that the consents had been given, and the written consents attached 
to and made a part of the order or proceeding. 

FORM OF CONSENT. 

At a meeting of the trustees of District No. , in the town of 

county of , called for the parpose of considering certain proposed 

alterations thereof, held on the day of , at which were present 

J. D. and R. S,, and in the absence of P. T., a trustee, who, having been duly 
notified of such meeting, failed to attend, it was 

Besolved, That the consent of the trustees of District Xo. , in the town 

of , be and is hereby given to the alteration of said district so that 

said district be hereafter bounded as follows: (describing the new boundaries 
fully). 

In witness whereof the undersigned, a majority of the said trustees, have 
hereunto subscribed our hands this day of 

j^ g* t Trustees. 

This form can be easily altered to suit any proposed alteration. 
A trustee cannot consent to the setting off of his own lands from one district 
to another. 

FORM OF ORDER. 



In the Matter of the formation 
(OR Alteration) of School Dis- 
trict No. 23, IN THE Town op 
Corn WELL, County of 
and the Consequent Alteration 
OF School District No. 5, Corn- 
well, AND No. 2, Moon, in said 
County. 



The consent in writing of the trustees of school district No. 5, town of Corn- 
well, and No. 2, town of Moon, in the county of , having been given 



School Districts. 247 

to the alteration of said districts, wliich is herein made as will more fully ap- 
pear from said consents which are hereto attached and made a part of this pro- 
ceeding, 

I, (insert name), school commissioner of the commissioner district 

of said county, and in which commissioner district the said school districts do 
wholly lie, do hereby order, that a school district be and the same hereby is 
erected out of parts of territory heretofore forming school districts No. 5, 
Corn well, and No. 2, Moon, in said county, and that said new district be known 
and numbered No. 23 of the town of Cornwell. The district, No. 23, Coruwell, 
hereby erected, shall be composed of the territory taken from the aforesaid 
districts, and bounded and described as follows: (give accurate description). 

This order shall take effect on the day of , 18 . 

School Commissioner, for the commissioner } 
district of county, N. T. f 

The foregoing is a form where a new district is erected, and can easily be 
changed by the commissioner to suit any case of formation or alteration which 
he may desire to make. The different alterations are so numerous that to pre- 
scribe forms for all cases would be an endless task. 

It is of frequent occurrence that a whole district is to be wiped out by attach- 
ing parts thereof to other districts. If this is done at the same time and for the 
purpose of dissolving the district, it may be found best to make an order first 
dissolving the district and then different orders attaching the territory of the 
dissolved district to other districts. This method will nearly always save 
complications in the orders and description of boundaries. 

The order, when made under this section, may take effect immediately, or at 
some future day as the school commissioner may, in his judgment, consider the 
best time for all interests. 

A. joint district cacn. be altered under this section, but it must be done by the 
joint action, or order, of the commissioners, or a majority of them, in whose 
districts the school districts to be altered lie. 

§ 3. If the trustees of any such district refuse to consent, he 
may make and file with the town clerk his order making the altera- 
tion, but reciting the refusal, and directing that the order shall 
not take effect, as to the dissenting district or districts, until a day 
therein to be named, and not less than three months after the 
notice in the next section mentioned. {As amended hy sec. 6, 
chap. 406, Laws o/ 1867.) 

This section, with the following one, prescribes the proceedings to be taken 
when the consent Of the trustees of all the districts to be affected is not ob- 
tained. In such cases the steps are more complicated. The proceedings through- 
out are purely statutory, and any failure to follow the statute strictly will 
vitiate the order. 

Although the trustees of all districts will not consent to the alteration, the 
school commissioner can make the order and file it with the town clerk. 

Two things are required to be inserted in this order, as follows: 

1. The order must recite the refusal of the trustees of any district or dis- 
tricts to give their consent to the alteration. 

2. The commissioner must direct that the order shall not take effect, as to 
the dissenting district or districts, until a day therein to be named, and not 
less than three months after the notice in the next section mentioned. This 
part of the statute is clear excepting the clause "as to the dissenting district 
or districts." There are some, although rare, instances in which this clause 
can be followed, and it seems that the Legislature must have entirely lost sight 



248 School Districts. 

of the fact that it would be impossible in a large majority of the cases to make 
an order altering districts take effect as to one or more of the districts immedi- 
ately, and as to other districts affected by the same alteration, not until over 
three months from the date of the order, and the notice mentioned in section 4. 
To illustrate: Districts Nos. 1 and 4, town of Hooper, are to be altered by tak- 
ing a part of the territory of No. 1 and annexing it to No. 2. The trustees of 
No. 1 refuse to consent to the alteration. The trustees of No. 2 consent. Now, 
how can the commissioner make his order to take effect as to district No. 2 
immediately, and as to the " dissenting district," or No. 1, not until three 
months or more in the future ? How can the territory be annexed to No. 2 and 
not be taken from No. 1 ? 

There can be instances where a district is annulled and its parts annexed to 
other districts in so general an order, that it can be made to take effect as to 
part immediately, and as to the dissenting district at a future time, as in the 
case of Williams v. Larkin (3 Denio, 114), it was held by the supreme court, 
where an alteration of school districts made by the proper officers affected 
three districts, and the trustees of tioo of the districts consented to the altera- 
tion, but the trustees of the other districts did not consent, that the alteration 
took effect immediately as to those districts whose trustees consented. In that 
case a part of District No. 14 was annexed to No. 3 with the consent of the 
trustees of both districts; the residue of No. 14 was annexed to No. 13 without 
the consent of the trustees of the latter. Judge Bronson, delivering the opinion 
of the court, says: "Although both alterations were made at the same time, they 
were not in their nature inseparable acts, and I see no reason why they might 
not take effect at different periods." It is obvious that alterations may be so 
connected and dependent upon each other as to render the principle of this case 
inapplicable. For example, so much of the order as annulled District No. 14 
could not take effect until the expiration of three months, notwithstanding its 
trustees consented, because it was dependent upon the annexation of so much 
of said district as remained to No. 13. No. 14 was a district lying wholly 
within one town. 

According to the opinion of Superintendent Spencer an order for the dissolu- 
tion of a joint district might be valid, although the annexation of its parts to 
other districts might be void; and consequently its dissolution might take effect 
immediately, though the annexation of its parts to other districts might be 
suspended for three months. 

It will be seen from the foregoing that it is impossible in the great majority 
of cases to make the same order take effect at different times, and the depart- 
ment has followed the ruling that the commissioner should fix a date when the 
order as a ichole will take effect, which date shall not be less than three months 
after the notice in section 4 mentioned. This will not be a violation of the 
statute, as it is nowhere directed that an order, whether the trustees consent 
or not, shall take effect immediately; and in this section, while it directs that 
the order shall not take effect "as to the dissenting district or districts," until 
a later day, it does not fix the time when it shall take effect as to the assenting 
district or districts. It must, therefore, follow that if the order is made to 
take effect as a whole, at a date not less than three months after the notice in 
section 4, the clause "as to the dissenting district or districts" will be com- 
plied with. 

§ 4. Within ten days after making and filing such order, he 
shall give at least a week's notice in writing to one or more of the 
assenting and dissenting trustees of any district or districts to be 
affected by the proposed alterations, that at a specified time, and 
at a named place within the town in which either of the districts 
to be affected lies, he will hear the objections to the alteration. 



School Districts. 249 

The trustees of any district to be affected by such order may 
request the supervisor and town clerk of the town or towns 
within which such district or districts shall wholly or partly lie, 
to be associated with the commissioner. At the time and place 
mentioned in the notice, the commissioner or commissioners, with 
the supervisors and town clerks, if they shall attend and act, shall 
hear and decide the matter ; and the decision shall be final, unless 
duly appealed from. Such decision must either confirm or vacate 
the order of the commissioner, and must be filed with and recorded 
by the town clerk of the town or towns in which the district or 
districts to be affected shall lie. {As amended hy sec. 6, chap. 
647, Law^ of 1865.) 

The first imperative duty of the commissioner, after making and filing the 
order of alteration, is to give at least one week's notice in writing to the 
trustees of all the districts affected by the proposed alteration. This notice must 
state that he has made an order of alteration, reciting such order, and that at 
a stated time and place within the town in which either of the districts to be 
affected lies, he will hear the objections to the alteration. 

FOKM OF NOTICE. 



In the Matter of the Alteration 
OF School Districts No. 2, Town 
OF , AND JSo. 1, Town 

OF , County of Col- 

umbia, New York. 



To the trustees of school District No 2, town of , county of Columbia, 

N. Y. : 

Take notice that I, , school commissioner for the com- 

missioner district of Columbia county, N. Y., in which commissioner district 
school districts No. 2, town of , and No. 1, town of , do wholly 

lie, did on the day of , 18 , make an order altering said districts ; 

that such order was filed in the town clerk's office (or offices) on the day 

of 18 , and is as follows (give copy of order in full) : 

You are also notified that on the day of , 18 , at 10 o'clock, A. M., 

and at the office of , Esq., in , I will attend and hear 

objections to the foregoing order and to the proposed alterations. 

You are also notified that you may request the supervisor and town clerk 
of the town or towns within which your school district does wholly or partly 
lie, to be associated with me at such time and place for the purpose of con- 
firming or vacating the said order. 

School Commissioner for the commissioner \ 
district of Columbia county, N. T. ) 

Tlao date for the hearing of objections can be fixed by the commissioner at 
any time before the order is to take effect. In fixing the time and place the 
commissioner should exercise a spirit of fairness toward all the interested 
parties, and particularly to select a place that is accessible to all parties. 

32 



^50 School Districts. 



LOCAL BOARD. 

The trustees, having received the notice of the commissioner, may request 
the supervisor and town clerk of the town or towns in which their respective 
districts lie to be associated with the commissioner at the time and place 
mentioned in the commissioner's notice for the hearing of the objections. This 
forms what is commonly known as the local board. The request of the trustees 
must be made in writing. Each supervisor and town clerk should present 
this request with proof of service to the board, so as to establish their juris- 
diction to act. Any supervisor or town clerk that the trustees do not request 
to act, can have no voice in the proceedings of the board. Should they attempt 
to act without first having been requested so to do by the trustees, all pro- 
ceedings carried by their votes will be void for want of jurisdiction. 

The determination of the trustees to associate the supervisor and clerk, like 
every other official act, should result from the resolution of a majority, adopted 
at a meeting at which all are present or which the absent one has been duly 
notified to attend. No jurisdiction is obtained by the supervisor and clerk upon 
the application of less than a majority. Their want of jurisdiction vitiates the 
action of a board in which they may assume to take part. Upon this point the 
language of Vice-Chancellor Sandford (2 Sandf. Ch. R. 229) is very instructive. 
Discussing the effect of certain proceedings of a church council at which a 
majorit}" of the trustees were present and in which they unanimously con- 
curred, but in which the ministers, elders and deacons also participated, he 
says : " The trustees in this case are by the charter the select class or body 
which is to exercise the corporate functions. In order to exercise them, they 
must meet as a hoard, so that they may hear each other's views, deliberate and 
then decide. Their separate action, individually, without consultation, although 
a majority in number should agree upon a certain act, would not be the act of 
the constituted body of men clothed with the corporate powers, Nor would 
their action in a meeting of the whole body of corporators, or of another and 
larger class in which they are but a component part, be a valid corporate act. 
In thus acting they are not distinguishable from their associates, and their 
action is united with that of others who have no proper or legal right to join 
with them in its exercise. All proper responsibility is lost. The result may 
be the same that it would have been if they had met separately, and it may 
be different. In the general assemblage influences may be brought to bear 
upon the trustees which in their proper board would be unheeded ; and no one 
can say with certainty that their vote in the latter event would have been the 
same." 

If the trustees have given the proper notice to the supervisor and clerk, 
the school commissioner can at the time and place appointed proceed to act 
in conjunction with either of them, in case the other omits to attend. It is 
true that the general rule is, when persons are appointed by the law to act as 
special tribunals of a quasi-judicial character, then both parties are entitled to 
the presence of all the judges, and to have the benefits of the consultation of 
each with every other ; all must, therefore, meet together and consult, but 
then a majority may decide. In this case, however, though the law authorizes 
the trustees to apply to the supervisor and clerk, it furnishes no means of com- 
pelling their attendance, nor does it even in express terms declare it their duty 
to attend. It is only that one of them who accepts and acts under the applica- 
tion of the trustees who can be said to be appointed or vested with any power 
in the premises. The absence of the town officers from the board will not in 
any way prevent the commissioner or commissioners from acting, or invalidate 
the proceedings taken by the commissioners at the time fixed for the hearing 
of the objections, otherwise regular. But if the commissioners do not attend 
the town officers are not authorized by law to make any order in the premises, 
and the preliminary order must fall. 

Where the requisite officers are concerned, their power to adjourn from 
time to time would seem to be clear. 



School Districts. 251 

If, at tlie time appointed, tlie commissioner fails to attend, lie may give notice 
specifying another day and place of meeting. But the commissioner cannot 
postpone the time of meeting to any day later than three months after the first 
notice. The first order will be void, unless it is confirmed by a second order 
made by the board thus duly convened and formed, or by the commissioner in 
the absence of the other officers. 

The arguments for and against the proposed alteration are to be made before 
the board. Each member of the board has a vote upon the question as to 
whether the order of the commissioner shall be affirmed or vacated. Their 
decision is final unless duly appealed from. If they decide by a majority vote 
to vacate the order the whole matter terminates with such decision. A record 
of this action of the board must be filed in the town clerk's office. 

If on the other hand the board decides to confirm the order of the commis- 
sioner, it becomes necessary for the commissioner to make and file the final 
order, or the order of alteration. The board does not make the alteration. 
This the commissioner must do, the board uniting with him in the order, 
such order reciting the first or preliminary order and all the proceedings taken 
thereafter, including the actions of the local board and concluding with the 
final order of alteration made by the commissioner. 

FORM OF CONFIRMATORY ORDERS. 



In the Matter of the Alteration 
OF School Districts No. 2, Town 
of , and No. 1, Town 

of , County of Col- 

umbia, New York. 



Whereas, on. the day of 18 , I, , school commissioner 

for the commissioner district of Columbia county, and in which com- 

missioner district school districts No. 2, town of , and No. 1, town of 

, do wholly lie, did make and file with the town clerks of the towns of 
and an order altering school districts No. 2, town of , 

and No. 1, town of , which order was as follows (recite the first order 

in full) : 

And whereas, the trustees of district No. 2, town of , did not con- 

sent to the proposed alteration as set out in said order, the following proceed- 
ings after the making and filing of said order were duly taken, viz. : On the 
day of , 18 , I gave notice in writing, the proof of service of which 

is attached to the proceedings herein, to the trustees of said district No. 2, 
town of , and to the trustees of said district No. 1, town of , 

county of Columbia, that on the day of , 18 , at 10 o'clock A. m., 

at the office of , Esq. , in ,1 would attend and hear the 

objections to the proposed alteration. In pursuance to said notice and at the 
said time I did attend at the office of , Esq., in . At such 

place and time there were also present, , supervisor of the town 

of ; , supervisor of the town of ; , 

clerk of the town of ; , clerk of the town of ; all of whom 

produced proof that they had been requested by the trustees of the said school 
districts situated respectively in their said towns, to be associated with the 
school commissioner upon such hearing. Opportunity was given to all persons 
who desired to be heard to present their objections, and after due deliberation, 
the board by a vote of to , decided to confirm the order of the commis- 
sioner heretofore made on the day of , 18 . Those voting in 
favor of such confirmation were: , supervisor of the town of ; 
, town clerk of the town of ; , school commissioner of 
district, Columbia county. Those voting against confirming such 



252 School Districts. 

order were: , supervisor of the town of ; , town clerk 

of the town of 

Now, Therefore, in accordance with such decision of the said local board, 

I, , school commissioner of the district of Columbia county, do 

hereby order, that school districts No. 2, town of , and No. 1, town of 

, county of Columbia, be and the same hereby are altered in manner 

following, viz. (give the alteration the same as in previous order) : 

It is also ordered, that this order take effect on the day of 

18 . 

(Signed) 

School Commissioner of school commissioner district, Colurribia county, N. Y. , 
Supermsor of the town of , Colurnbia county, N. T. 

Town Clerk of the town of . Columbia county, iV. Y. 

The confirmatory order is the one by which the alteration is made, and the 
first order merely preliminary, inchoate and of no effect whatever until the 
same has been duly confirmed by the local board. 

PAY OF SUPERVISOR AND CLERK. 
§ 5. The supervisor and town clerk shall be entitled each to 
one dollar and fifty cents a day, for each day's service in any such 
matter, to be levied and paid as a charge upon their town. 

JOINT ACTION OF COMMISSIONERS. 
§ 6. Whenever it may become necessary or convenient to form 
a school district out of parcels of two or more school commis- 
sioner districts, the commissioners of such districts, or a majority 
of them, may form such district ; and the commissioners within 
whose districts any such school district lies, or a majority of them, 
may alter or dissolve it. 

The jurisdiction of a school commissioner to form or alter school districts 
was by section 1 of this title made to extend over his commissioner district only. 
School districts frequently lie in two or more commissioner districts forming 
joint school districts. A joint district cannot be formed or altered without the 
joint action of the commissioners, or a majority of them, in whose districts such 
joint school district lies. If the district lies in two commissioner districts both 
commissioners must unite in the order. The proceedings, however, are exactly 
the same as under the preceding sections, except that the concurrent action of 
the school commissioners is required. 

DISSOLUTION OF JOINT DISTRICT BY DISTRICT MEETING. 

§ 7. If a school commissioner, by notice in writing, shall require 

the attendance of the other commissioner or commissioners, at a 

joint meeting for the purpose of altering or dissolving such a joint 

district, and a majority of all the commissioners shall refuse or 



School Districts. 253 

neglect to attend, the commissioner or commissioners attending, or 
any one of them, may call a special meeting of such school dis- 
trict, for the purpose of deciding whether or no such district shall 
be dissolved ; and its decision of that question shall be as valid as 
though made by the commissioners. 

This section can become operative only in the rare case where a joint district 
lies in three or more commissioner districts, as it is only in such cases that the 
majority can neglect to attend. If a majority attend they can act under the 
preceding section. 

The meeting has power only to elect to dissolve the district. It does not 
extend to the question of alteration. If the meeting decides to dissolve the 
district a record of such action must be signed by the oflBcers of the meeting, 
and attached to the order of the commissioner or commissioners making the 
dissolution ; the whole proceedings to be filed in the town clerks' offices. 

After the dissolution is made the territory must be annexed to another dis- 
trict or districts. Each commissioner has jurisdiction over the part lying in 
his commissioner district, 

DEFINING BOUNDARIES. 

Title II. 

§ 1 3. Every commissioner shall have power, and it shall be his 
^lity: 

1. From time to time to inquire and ascertain whether the 
boundaries of the school districts within his district are definitely 
and plainly described in the records of the proper town clerks ; 
and in case the record of the boundaries of any school district 
shall be found defective or indefinite, or if the same shall be in 
dispute, then to cause the same to be amended, or an amended 
record of the boundaries to be made. All necessary expenses in- 
curred in establishing such amended records shall be a charge upon 
the district or districts affected, to be audited and allowed by the 
trustee or trustees thereof, upon the certificate of the school com- 
missioner. {As amended hy chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) 

The law requires that the record of the boundaries of all school districts 
shall be kept in the town clerks' offices of the towns in which the districts are 
situated. The duty is imposed upon the school commissioner to examine these 
records in the town clerks' offices, and whenever he shall find a record lost or 
injured to make a new record. In case the record is found to be defective or 
indefinite, to amend the same ; or if the boundaries are in dispute to make a 
new record defining such boundaries. 

Where, in pursuance of the provisions of this section, it becomes the duty 
of the commissioner to cause an amended record of the boundaries of a school 
district to be made, he should establish the district lines as they were before, 
according to the best evidence he can obtain, and his order in the matter will 



254 School Districts. 

not be considered as an alteration of the district boundaries. His order should 
recite the fact that no aheration of district boundaries is intended to be made, 
but that a defective record is to be amended, under the provisions of the sec- 
tion and title above quoted. This order should be filed in the town clerk's 
office, and notice thereof should be given by the commissioner to the trustees 
of the affected district. The previous consent of the trustees is not necessary. 
The commissioner can employ a surveyor if necessary to assist him in ascer- 
taining and defining the boundaries, and the expense shall be a charge upon 
the district. 

DISSOLVED DISTRICTS, DEBTS, OFFICERS AXD PROPERTY OF. 

Title YL 

§ 8. When two or more districts shall be consolidated into one, 
the new district shall succeed to all the rights of property possessed 
bj the annulled districts. 

Where two or more districts are consolidated, the united territory forms a 
new district. It is necessary to elect new trustees and other district officers, 
and the commissioner should give the notice provided by section 1 of title vii 
of this act. 

The public money which either district may have in the hands of the super- 
visor, unexpended, becomes applicable to the payment of teachers' wages and 
to the library of the consolidated district, without any distinction between the 
inhabitants or pupils of the former districts. If there is any money due to a 
teacher of either district, it should be drawn before the consolidation takes 
effect; or so much of it as is applicable to the payment of wages during the 
term in which they were earned. 

§ 9. When a district is parted into portions, which are annexed 
to other districts, its property shall be sold by the super yisor of 
the town within which its school-house is situated, at pubhc auc- 
tion, after at least five days' notice by notices posted in three or 
more public places of the town in which the school-house is, one 
of which shall be posted in the district so dissolved. The super- 
visor after deducting the expenses of the sale, shall apply its pro- 
ceeds to the payment of the debts of the district, and apportion 
the residue, if any, among the owners or possessors of taxable 
property in the district, in the ratio of their several assessments 
on the last corrected assessment roll or rolls of the town or towns, 
and pay it over accordingly. {As amended hy sec, 14, chap, 567, 
Laws of 1S7 6.) 

A district is annulled only when all its parts are annexed to other districts, 
so that nothing of the original district remains. If any of it remains as a 
distinct district, although designated by a new name and number, it is not a 
case of annulling. 

In respect to the property to be sold: Property is defined in the Code of 
Procedure as including lands, tenements and hereditaments, money, goods. 



School Districts. 255 

chattels, things in action and evidence of debt. The only point upon which 
much question is likely to arise regards the library of the annulled district. 
A portion of the books may have been purchased with money voted by the 
district and raised by tax upon the district. So far as these are concerned, 
they undoubtedly belong to the district and may be sold when it is annulled. 
In respect to those which have been purchased by the library money appor- 
tioned from the income of the United States deposit fund, the case is different. 
The money of the State was appropriated to the support of common schools by 
furnishing a library, and there is nothing to imply an intention that it should 
ever be diverted from its public purpose by becoming private property. The 
trustees of the district are made trustees of the library, but the property in it, 
it is declared, " shall be deemed to be vested in such trustees, so as to enable 
them to maintain any action relative to the same." The legislature seems to 
have designed hereby to confer only a qualified property, for a specific purpose, 
retaining the general property in the people of the State of New York, pre 
cisely as the property of the library of the court of appeals, of the Attorney- 
General, etc., is held. 

It is believed, therefore, that the books, so far as they have been purchased 
from the funds of the State, should be distributed precisely as the money 
itself would be if it came to the hands of the commissioner for distribution 
on the day of the annulling of the district ; that is, should be assigned to the 
respective districts to which parts are annexed, in proportion to the number of 
children between four and twenty-one resident in such parts, according to the 
last report of the trustees. 

The debts must be ascertained from the trustees, and the supervisor should 
only pay them upon the written order of a majority of the trustees. If debts 
are claimed which are not admitted by the trustees, the money should be 
retained until any legal proceeding instituted for their collection is determined. 

The last corrected assessment roll is that which was delivered by the 
assessors to the supervisor to be laid before the board of supervisors. If in 
the equalization by the board of supervisors the valuation of real estate 
has been changed, the roll as thus varied by them is to be followed in dis- 
tributing the money. But the completion of a new roll by the assessors, and 
its delivery to the supervisor, supersedes the roll of the preceding year, 
although the latter has been and the former has not been passed upon by the 
board of supervisors. (7 Wend. 89.) 

In a district embracing parts of more than one town, where the proportion 
of taxes to be assessed upon the parts of such districts lying in different 
towns has been established by the supervisors of such towns, under section 89 
of title 7, the proceeds of the sale are to be divided between the parts of the 
districts in the proportion thus established, and the shares of such parts then 
apportioned to the owners or possessors of taxable property, as these shall 
appear on the last corrected assessment roll of» the town in which each part 
lies. 

§ 10. The supervisor of the town within which the school-house 
of the dissolved district was situate may demand, sue for, and col- 
lect, in his name of office, any money of the district, outstanding 
in the hands of any of its former officers, or any other person ; 
ind, after deducting his costs and expenses^ shall report the bal- 
ance to the school commissioner, who shall apportion the same 
equitably among the districts to which the parts of the dissolved 
district were annexed, to be by them applied as their district meet- 
ing shall determine. 



256 School Districts. 

The collector and trustees are the only officers of a district in whose hands 
there can be legitimately any money; such money may be the proceeds of a tax 
collected but not expended. In such case, the equitable mode of distribution 
would be to apportion it to the districts according to the amount which the 
owners or possessors of taxable property set off to each have contributed 
thereto; the same rule would hold in regard to the proceeds of the sale of 
school-houses or other property acquired by taxation. 

In case, however, the money is applicable to the payment of the current ex- 
penses of schools, such as the share of a town fund, the income of a school 
lot or the districts' proportion of fines for gambling, under chapter 504 of the 
Laws of 1851, the equitable rule of apportionment is to assign it to the districts 
in proportion to the number of pupils resident in the parts annexed to them 
respectively. 

§ 11. Though a district be dissolved, it shall continue to exist 
in law, for the puqDose of providing for and paying all its just 
debts ; and to that end the trustees and other officers shall con- 
tinue in office, and the inhabitants may hold special meetings, 
elect officers to supply vacancies, and vote taxes ; and all other 
acts necessary to raise money and pay such debts, shall be done by 
the inhabitants and officers of the district. 

Though the statute contains no limitation of the time within which the 
trustees of a dissolved or consolidated district are required to discharge their 
duties under this section, there can be no valid reason for any longer delay than 
may be essential to ascertain its outstanding liabilities. The pendency of liti- 
gation, in respect to some of them, may put it out of the power of the trustees 
to act immediately, and their powers doubtless continue so long as any legal 
liability subsists; the existence of the district is maintained for this special 
purpose, with power to elect officers to fill vacancies, and to vote taxes, or any 
other legal act necessary for "the single purpose of paying its just debts. 

§ 12. The commissioner, or a majority of the commissioners in 
whose district or districts a dissolved school district was, shall, by 
his or their order in wanting, delivered to the clerk of the district, 
or to any person in whose possession the books, papers and records 
of the district, or any of them, may be, direct such clerk or other 
person to deposit the same in the clerk's office in a town in the 
order named. Such clerk or other person, by neglect or refusal 
to obey the order, shall forfeit fifty dollars, to be applied to the 
benefit of common schools of said town. The commissioner or 
commissioners shall file a duplicate of the order with such clerk. 

LOSS OF PUBLIC MONEY TO A DISTRICT. 
Title XIII. 
Section 1. Whenever the share of school moneys, or any por- 
tion thereof, apportioned to any town, school district or separate 



School Districts. 257 

neighborhood, or any money to which a town, school district or 
separate neighborhood would have been entitled, shall be lost, in 
consequence of any willful neglect of official duty by any school 
commissioner, town clerk, trustees or clerks of school districts, 
the officer or officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the 
town, school district or separate neighborhood so losing the same, 
the full amount of such loss, with interest thereon. 

33 



SCHOOL-HOUSES AND APPEND- 
AGES. 



Title YII. 

§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled 

in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the 

votes of those present : 

•X- * * * * * * 

7. To vote a tax upon the taxable property of the district to 
purchase, lease or improve such site or sites, and to hire, build 
or purchase such school -houses, and to keep in repair and furnish 
the same with necessary fuel and appendages. {As amended hy 
sec. 17, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) 

§ 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- 
trict, and they shall have power : 

^ **•«•* -jf * 

5. To purchase or lease a site for the district school-house or 
school-houses, as designated by a meeting of the district, and to 
build, hire or purchase such school-house as may be so designated, 
and to keep in repair and furnish such school-house with necessary 
fuel and appendages, and to pay the expense thereof by tax, but 
such expense shall not exceed fifty dollars in any one year, unless 
authorized by the district or by law. {As amended hy sec. 13, 
chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

Tte order of procedure in the matter of building a new school-house can be 
made a very simple one, although the proceedings oftentimes become confused 
through the lack of proper care to take each step alone and to have the record 
carefully and correctly made. In so important a matter as this every resolu- 
tion submitted to the meeting should be. reduced to writing and recorded by 
the clerk. 

The first thing for the meeting is to decide what they propose to do. A 
difference of opinion in districts is the rule. Bitter controversies resulting in 
appeals to the State Superintendent are frequent. A resolution either to pur- 
chase, hire or build as the case may be should first be passed upon. If the 
resolution be to build a new school house, the meeting can proceed at once to 
vote an amount for this purpose. But considering the fact that it is diflBicult 
to make plans and build to fit a certain sum, it is the better way after the 
meeting has voted to build, to procure plans and specifications. This may 
require an adjournment. Some plan for the building should be adopted by 
the meeting. Let the estimate be carefully made and then the amount neces- 
sary to build in accordance with the accepted plans, voted. The meeting 
should order in what manner they desire the building to be erected, whether 
a contract shall be let or the work be done by the trustees. 



School-Houses and Appen"dages. 259 

The trustees cau, liowever, let the contract for building without a resolu- 
tion of the meeting. The building, when completed, should be carefully ex- 
amined to see that it complies with the plans and specifications, and that the 
contractor has fulfilled his part of the contract in all particulars. If the work 
has not been done according to contract the building need not be accepted. 

Changes. — The question frequently arises as to what changes can be made 
after the district meeting has acted upon the matter of building, or when a 
change can be made. A district meeting has the power under subdivision 12, 
section 16, title 7, " to alter, repeal and modify their proceedings from time 
to time, as occasion may require." At any time before a contract is let, or the 
building commenced under the direction of the meeting, the whole matter 
can be altered or the resolutions to build rescinded. The am nt voted for 
this purpose can also be increased or diminished. This is not the case where 
the proceedings have been taken under section 18 of title 7, and the amount 
voted to be raised in installments. 

When in the process of building it is found that the amount voted will not 
be sufficient to build according to plans adopted, the meeting, if the job is 
not let to a contractor, can change the plans or vote an additional amount. 

Building committee. — It is an old custom to appoint a building committee. 
While there is no authority of law for such a committee, there can be no harm 
done by their appointment so long as they do not attempt to usurp the powers 
of the trustees. They can act as an advisory board. They are those inhabit- 
ants which the district has requested the trustees to consult with in matters 
where the trustees do not desire to rely exclusively upon their own j udgment. 
But otherwise the building committee has no powers. The trustees are the 
agents of the district, and the only persons who can make contracts therefor. 

Erecting with other buildings. — While it is very desirable that every district 
should own an ample and commodious school-house, entirely separate from 
every other building, it sometimes happens in feeble districts that the scanti- 
ness of their means renders it necessary to consult economy by uniting with a 
religious society or other association in erecting two houses under the same 
roof; the upper story, for example, being a church or town hall, while the 
lower is a school-house. 

No legal objection is conceived to exist to such an arrangement, provided 
there is no objection raised in the district to such a course, and provided 
the district secures, by proper covenants: First, The undivided control at 
all times of the school rooms and of the doors and passages affording access 
thereto. Second, That the other rooms shall not be used at any time during 
school hours for an assemblage or purpose which can distract the attention of 
pupils or interfere, by noise or otherwise, with their instruction. Third, That 
the parties using the other rooms shall pay the whole, or a definite proportion, 
of the expense of such repairs upon those rooms, or the roof or other parts of 
the building, as the district shall, from time to time, deem necessary for main- 
taining the school-house in good condition and protecting it from injury by 
leakage or otherwise. Fourth, That those parties shall pay the expense of 
any insurance necessary to protect the district from the increased risk of fire, 
caused by any use to which the other parts of the building may be put. The 
best mode to secure the performance of these covenants is for the district to 
insert them as a condition, in a lease of the rooms, to be executed by the 
trustees — the district retaining the general title to the site and every thing 
upon it — and the lease to terminate upon a breach of any of the conditions, 
besides authorizing, in express terms, the trustees to recover any damages the 
district may sustain by a failure to perform any of the conditions. It should 
also contain an express provision that whenever a district meeting shall deter- 
mine that the residue of the building is needed for school purposes, the same 
shall become its property upon payment of the then appraised value of the 
labor and materials used in its construction. 

In regard to the power to vote a tax for a school-hous(i, the question some- 
times arises how far it is permissible that the house should be connected with. 



260 School-Houses akd Appeintdag es. 

other erections made for different purposes, and subject to other control than 
that of the district. It is held that there can be no partnership in the erection 
of a school-house which will prevent the district from controlling it entirely 
for the purpose of a district school, and that a tax cannot be voted for a build- 
ing for joint use as a church and school-house, or an academy and school- 
house. It is not essential, however, to constitute a house, that it should 
include the whole of the building on wnich it is contained. Apartments, with 
an outer door to each, and having no communication with each other, are con- 
sidered as distinct houses, though they originally made but one. 

If, under color of this corporate power of a district, the district should vote 
to erect an expensive and ornamental building, with a view to improve the 
neighborhood, to enhance the value of real estate, to accommodate societies, 
lecturers, dramatic exhibitions, or even to have a convenient place for reli- 
gious meetings or public worship, or for any other use than that of a district 
school, it would not be within the legitimate authority of a school district, and 
any vote to levy a tax on the inhabitants for such purpose would be void." In 
that very case, however, the court sustained a tax of $1,700, voted with lib- 
erty of certain persons "to build a hall over the school-house, with the privi- 
lege of an entrance and stair- way in the front entry of said house, in consid- 
eration that the district may have the use of said hall, free of charge, for all 
school district meetings, for all examinations of its schools, and for the deliv- 
ery of lectures on the subject of education, no public meeting being held in 
said hall during the usual school hours unless by consent of the prudential 
committee of the district, and the proprietors of said hall insuring the whole 
building." {Supreme Court of Massachusetts, 6 Mete. 510.) 

Recommendations concerning. — In subd. 3, § 18, title 2, it is made the duty 
of the school commissioner to visit all the school districts in his district and 
to examine into the condition of the school-houses, sites, out-buildings and 
appendages, and to advise with and consult the trustees and other officers of 
the district in relation to their duties, and particularly in respect to the con- 
struction, warming and ventilation of school-houses and the improving and 
adorning of the school grounds connected therewith. 

It is highly important that an earnest appeal be made to the trustees and 
inhabitants of the several school districts to give attention to the condition and 
improvement of school-houses and grounds. It is not possible to have schools 
high-toned and in healthy spirit where inattention to comfort and beauty exists. 
If any element of character unfavorable to order and progress is called into 
morbid activity, it may often be traced to this source. 

Health of body and vigor of mind should be carefully regarded. There 
should never be too long confinement in school rooms. Pure air is absolutely 
indispensable. It has been suggested, by distinguished writers on education, 
that six hours of daily confinement will impair the health of the great majority 
of pupils; that, with the very best ventilation, no school room containing a 
score or more of children can be as healthy as the open air; hence, that no 
pupil should be kept in school for a longer time than is necessary to fix his 
attention upon his lessons. Growth and development of body are indispensa- 
ble to the future well-being of the child .and to realize the ideal of a well-con- 
stituted man or woman. To this end the enjoyment of pure, fresh air, uncon- 
strained attitudes of body, ample exercise and exhilarating play, are absolutely 
necessary; and these, the school-house, its location and grounds, should sup- 
ply. The mind of every child craves, receives and assimilates knowledge. 
We should so adapt our educational facilities that the desire for intellectual 
acquirement shall remain through dfe unimpaired. But very many children 
are so stupefied by the noxious air which they are compelled to breathe six 
hours every day, their vital apparatus so wearied, that they acquire an abhor- 
rence of school and a disgust for study which are never eradicated. It is in 
the nature of things that any exertion, connected with physical suffering or 
oppressive sense of constraint, induces repugnance. Hence, in spite of the 
efforts employed to impress such children with an earnest conviction of the 
importance of a good education, they regard the school room as a prison, the 



School-Houses and Appendages. 261 

vacation as a season of delight, and adult age as the era of emancipation from 
an arduous bondage. 

It is tlie vocation of the commissioners to discover and suggest a correction 
for these evils. When they visit school-houses, they should notice whether 
they are properly located. Many are situated on the line of the highway. 
They should be removed from it suflBciently far to escape its noise, dust and 
other inconveniences. If they are old, and a few boards and shingles and a 
little paint will improve their external appearance, and make them internally 
more safe and comfortable, these should be applied. If the doors are broken 
or the seats and desks marred, they should be repaired and adapted to the 
physical comfort of the pupils; if the grounds need grading it should be done; 
if pools of stagnant water are near, they should be drained and filled; if proper 
fencing is required, let the subject receive prompt attention. Trees should be 
planted, shrubs and flowers should be set. Let free application be made of 
broom, brush and lime, to renovate the interior of the school room. Willing 
hands enough can be found in every school district to make all the improve- 
ments suggested, provided attention is directed to their importance. Certainly 
it is the school-house, if any building, which ought to be constructed and pre- 
served with care and surrounded with pleasant scenery. Few parents would 
reside in a dwelling constructed with as little regard to beauty and comfort as 
are many of our school-houses. They should care as well for the place where 
their children congregate for instruction. They should be impressed with the 
conviction, that there the associations of nature and art should be attractive, 
to secure on the part of scholars a love for their school; that associations with 
order and beauty give birth, in the minds of the young, to pure and holy emo- 
tions, whose happy influence will establish them in purity of desire and thought. 

The attention of trustees should be called to this subject; and, if possible, 
they should be induced to appoint a suitable day for making necessary improve- 
ments and embellishments. 

§ 17. No school-house shall be boilt so as to stand, in whole or 
in part, upon the division line of any two towns. 

§ 18. No tax voted by a district meeting for building, hiring 
or purchasing a school-house, exceeding the sum of five hundred 
dollars, shall be levied by the trustees unless the commissioner in 
whose district the school-house of said district is situated shall 
certify in writing his approval of such larger sum. And no 
school-house shall be built in any school district of this State 
until the plan of such school-house, so far as ventilation, heat and 
lighting is concerned, shall be approved in writing by said school 
commissioner. But nothing herein contained shall invalidate any 
tax that shall or may be hereafter levied for building or repair- 
ing school-houses which in other respects comply with existing 
statutes. {As amended hy sec. 9, chap. 406, Zaws of 1867, and hy 
sec. 1, chajp, 528, Laws of 1881, and hy sec. 1, chap. 294, Laws 
of 1883.) 

The district meeting can vote any amount they desire for the erection of a 
new school-house, but the trustees by this section are prohibited from levying 
any tax for this purpose of over $500, without the approval in writing of the 



262 School-Houses akd Appekdages. 

school commissioner of siicli larger sum. It is the tax that is limited to $500, 
not the expense of building the house, which may include, in addition, the 
avails of the sale of the former house and site. 

If, after the expenditure of $500 in building the house, the tax is found in- 
sufficient to finish it, the commissioner may certify that a further sum 
necessary, specifying it, ought to be raised, and the inhabitants may vote a 
tax for the amount so certified. If this additional amount prove insufficient, 
the commissioner may again certify and the inhabitants vote a further tax. 

The commissioner whose certificate is to be obtained is the one having juris- 
diction of the town in which the school-house is to he erected. The law for- 
bids the division of a town in forming an assembly district or in dividing a 
county into school commissioner districts. Section 17 of this title also pro- 
vides that ' ' no school-house shall be erected so as to stand on the division line 
of any two towns." 

The limitation of this section applies only to the school-Tiouse. The amount 
of tax which may be voted for purchase or lease of site, and for repairs, 
furniture, fuel and appendages, is left wholly to the discretion of the district. 

It is not necessary that the approval of the commissioner to the tax be ob- 
tained before the tax can be voted. The meeting can vote it, but before it can 
be levied the approval must be received. 

The plans of a new school-house ' ' so far as ventilation, heat and lighting is 
concerned," must be approved by the school commissioner before the builcfing 
can be erected. 

§ 19. Whenever a majority of all the inhabitants of any school 
district entitled to vote, to be ascertained by taking and record- 
ing the ayes and noes of such inhabitants attending at any annual, 
special, or adjourned school district meeting, legally called or 
held, shall determine that the sum proposed and provided for in 
the next preceding section shall be raised by installments, it shall 
be the duty of the trustees of such district, and they are hereby 
authorized to cause the same to be raised, levied and collected in 
equal installments in the same manner and with like , authority 
that other school taxes are raised, levied and collected, and to 
make out their tax list and warrant for the collection of such in- 
stallments, with interest thereon as they become payable accord- 
ing to the vote of the said inhabitants ; but the payment or col- 
lection of the last installment shall not be extended beyond ten 
years from the time such vote was taken ; and no vote to levy 
any such tax shall be reconsidered except at an adjourned general 
or special meeting to be held within thirty days thereafter, and 
the same majority shall be required for reconsideration that was 
had to impose such tax. For the purpose of giving effect to 
these provisions, trustees are hereby authorized, whenever a tax 
shall have been voted to be collected in installments for the pur- 
pose of building a new school-house, to borrow so much of the 



School-Houses and Appei^dages. 263 

sum voted as may be necessary at a rate of interest not exceed- 
ing six per cent, and to issue bonds or other evidences of in- 
debtedness therefor, which shall be a charge upon the district 
and be paid at maturity, and which shall not be sold below par ; 
due notice of the time and place of the sale of such bonds shall 
be given at least ten days prior thereto. {As amended hy sec. 18, 
chap. 667, Laws of 1S7 6, and hy sec. 2, chap. 528, Zaws of ISSl.) 

When an amount over $500 is voted for building, hiring or purchasing a 
school-house it can be raised in installments, and if it is for the purpose of 
building a new school-house, the trustees can issue bonds bearing not to ex- 
ceed six per cent interest for the payment of the several installments. When 
this method is adopted it is necessary that the vote at the meeting ordering it, 
be taken by the ayes and noes and that the same be recorded. The meaning 
of the statute is that the clerk shall record the name of each person voting 
and the way such person voted upon the question. A meeting once having 
taken this action the proceedings can be changed or rescinded at an adjourned 
meeting held within thirty days after the meeting at which the action was 
taken. But if the action is not changed at an adjourned meeting within 
thirty days, it must stand and no subsequent meeting can alter it. The install- 
ments must be equal and the time for the payment of each fixed. 

After the amount and date of payment is fixed tnd the bonds (in cases where 
bonds are issued) sold it would be the greatest injustice for the district to 
change either the amount of the installment, the rate of interest or the date of 
payment. The bondholders must know upon what they can depend. 

As each installment becomes due the trustees must issue the tax-list and 
warrant for the amount of the same, including the interest due thereon. No 
direction or authority of the district meeting is necessary. Such authority was 
given when the tax was first voted. 

The general practice has been, and is believed to accord best with the intent 
of the statute, for the trustees to make out their tax-list for the first install- 
ment upon the taxable property as it then exists, and for their successors to 
make separate tax-lists thereafter upon the taxable property as it exists at the 
time the installments respectively become payable. Persons may thus become 
subject to the tax who had no means of resisting its imposition; but the erec- 
tion of a school-house is to be regarded as a permanent benefit to the district, 
and they voluntarily assume the burden of paying for it by becoming inhabi- 
tants. It would seem necessary that the warrant for the collection of the last 
installment should be returned within ten years from the time of taking the 
vote, and therefore that the tax -list for it should be made out at least thirty 
days before that time. 

It will be noticed that bonds can only be issued when the tax to be raised in 
installments is for the purpose of building a new school-house. The tax can 
be raised in installments to purchase or hire a building, but the money cannot 
be borrowed by the trustees and bonds issued to pay the same. The rate of 
interest that all bonds are to bear must be fixed by the district meeting. The 
trustees should sell the bonds at public sale, giving ten days' notice of such 
sale, and cannot sell the bonds below the par value thereof. 

PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR SCHOOL-HOUSES. 
Chapter 6Y5, Laws of 1887. 
Section 1. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is 
hereby authorized and directed to procure architect's plans and 



264: School-Houses axd Appejs"dages. 

specifications for a series of school buildings, to cost sums rang- 
ing from six hundred to ten thousand dollars, together with full 
detail working plans and directions for the erection of the same. 
After procuring said plans and specifications, he shall accompany 
the same with blank forms for builders' contracts and with sug- 
gestions in relation to the preparation of the grounds and the ar- 
rangement of the building with regard to lighting, heating, venti- 
lating and the health and convenience of teachers and pupils, 
and then publish the whole in convenient form for distribution 
to trustees and others having use for the same. 

CONDEMNING SCHOOL-HOUSE. 
Title II. 
§ 13. Every commissioner shall have power, and it shall be his 
duty: 

* * * ^ ^ -Sf ^ 

4. By an order under his hand, reciting the reason or reasons 
to condemn a school-house, if he deems it wholly unfit for use 
and not worth repairing, and to deliver the order to the trustees 
or one of them, and transmit a copy to the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. Such order, if no time for its taking effect 
be stated in it, shall take effect immediately. He shall also state 
what sum, not exceeding eight hundred dollars, will, in his opin- 
ion, be necessary to erect a school-house capable of accommodat- 
ing the children of the district. Immediately upon the receipt 
of said order, the trustee or trustees of such district shall call a 
special meeting of the inhabitants of said district for the purpose 
of considering the question of building a school-house therein. 
Such meeting shall have power to determine the size of said 
school-house, the material to be used in its erection, and to vote a 
tax to build the same ; but such meeting shall have no power to 
reduce the estimate made by the commissioner aforesaid by more 
than twenty-five per centum of such estimate. And where no 
tax for building such house shall have been voted by such district 
within thirty days from the time of holding the first meeting to 
consider the question, then it shall be the duty of the trustee or 
trustees of such district to contract for the building of a school- 
house capable of accommodating the children of the district, and 



School-Houses ai^^d Appendages. 265 

to levy a tax to pay for the same, which tax shall not exceed the 
sum estimated as necessary by the commissioner aforesaid, and 
which shall not be less than such estimated sum by more than 
twenty-five per centum thereof. But such estimated sum may be 
increased by a vote of the inhabitants at any school meeting sub- 
sequently called and held according to law. (As amended hy sec. 
% cha;p, 406, Laws of 1867, anid chap. 692, Laws of 1887.) 

The power conferred upon tlie commissioner in the foregoing subdivision, 
though highly arbitrary, is nevertheless important and may be found in some 
cases indispensably necessary. It is probable, however, that the fact of such 
a power in reserve will render quite infrequent the occasion for its exercise. 
But when its exercise is found to be necessary, it should be put forth with 
firmness and resolution. 

The use of this power is generally reserved until after a district has refused 
to build or it becomes apparent that it is not the intention of the inhabitants 
to take any steps in the proper direction. 

The commissioner should inspect the building, and if in his opinion it is 
wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing, make an order condemning it. 

Form of Order. 

In the matter of condemning the 
school-house in school district ! 
No. , town of , county i 

of . I 

: J 

I, A. B., school commissioner of the commissioner district of the 

county of , do hereby certify that I did, on the day of , 18 , 

make an examination of the school-hoiise in school district No. of said town, 
which said school house is situated in the town and school commissioner dis- 
trict aforesaid. I further state that I find the said school-house ( here state 
the condition of the building). For these reasons I deem the said school-house 
wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing, and I do hereby order that the 
said school-house be and the same hereby is condemned. 

I do further certify that in my opinion the sum of $ will be necessary 

to erect a school-house in said district capable of accommodating the children 
of the district. 

Signed this day of , 18 . A. B., 

School Commissioner of the com- 
missioner district of County. 

Such order must be immediately served upon the trustees of the district and 
a copy thereof transmitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

The first duty of the trustees is to call a special meeting immediately upon 
the receipt of the order for the purpose of considering the question of building a 
new school-house. Such meeting has all the powers hereinbefore enumerated in 
this chapter for providing for the building of a new school-house. The tax 
for a new house must not be more than twenty-five per cent less than the 
amount certified by the commissionei. A larger amount can be voted if the 
meeting desires. 

If the district meeting does not vote a tax for building such house within 
thirty days from the time of holding the first meeting to consider the question, 
the trustees are directed to proceed with the building without a vote of the 

34 



266 School-Houses and Appendages. 

district. The tax-list and warrant can be issued by tbe trustees, but the 
amount must not exceed the estimate of the commissioner and must not be less 
than such estimated sum hy more than twenty-five per cent thereof. 

INSURANCE. 

Title Yll. 

§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled 

in any district meeting, shall have power by a majority of the 

votes of those present : 

* 4f ^ -jf ^ « * 

11. To authorize the trustees to cause the school-house or 
school-houses, and their furniture, appendages and school appa- 
ratus to be insured by any insurance company created by or under 
the laws of this State. 

The foregoing section and sub-division thereof gives the district meeting 
power to authorize the trustees to insure the school-house, furniture, append- 
ages and apparatus in any insurance company created by or under the laws of 
this State, and the following sub-division of section forty-nine makes it the 
duty of the trustees to procure such insurance. 

§ 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- 
trict, and they shall have power: 

•X- * •» -St -H- -5^ * 

7. When thereto authorized, by a meeting of the district, to 
insure the school-house or school-houses, and their furniture, and 
the school apparatus, in some company created by or under the 
laws of this State, and to comply with the conditions of the 
policy, and raise the premiums by a district tax. 

CUSTODY AND USE OF SCHOOL-HOUSE. 
§ 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- 
trict and they shall have power : 

■X- -x- * * * * * 

6. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the district school- 
house or houses, their sites and appurtenances. 

§ 52. The trustees, or any one of them, if not forbidden by 
another, may freely permit the school-house, when not in use for 
the district school, to be used by persons assembling therein for 
the purpose of giving and receiving instruction in any branch of 
education or learning, or in the science or practice of music. 

Trustees are charged with the custody of the school-house for the purpose of 
public instruction; and it is their duty to exercise a general supervision over its 
care and management that the instruction of the pupils in the schools shall not 
be embarrassed by any use of the house other than for school purposes, andthat 
the property of the district, and the furniture, books and papers belonging to 
the school or the pupils shall not be destroyed or injured. Any use of the 



School-Houses an"d Appekdag^es. 267 

"house in subordination to these restrictions, and not inconsistent with the 
main purposes, for which it was designed, may be allowed by the trustees, or 
any one of them, under authority of section 52 of this title, which was passed to 
prevent the disputes continually arising about the right and power of the trust- 
ees to permit the school-house to be used for any purpose but a common school. 
Whenever the trustees do permit the house to be used for instruction in music, 
or for lectures, or for any other educational purpose, 'it would seem to be the 
duty of the trustees to require such a remuneration for the use as may be suf- 
ficient to clean the rooms, and to indemnify the district against casual damage 
and wear. There is no good reason why the expenses of the district should 
not be lightened by the trifling revenue derivable from the occasional use of 
its house, when not wanted for school purposes, and in a manner not to inter- 
fere with them. The trustees, however, cannot make any permanent contract 
for the occupation of the school-house. They can simply give a license, revoc- 
able at their own discretion, which they cannot by contract foreclose them- 
selves from exercising as the public good may require at any moment. Strictly 
speaking, under section 52, they can grant no right to use the district property 
for any other than educational purposes ; they can only by their acquiescence 
estop themselves from bringing an action for the act of entering the school 
house, which would otherwise be a trespass. Nothing should he tolerated 
which may give occasion to a controversy among the inhaUtants. 

As the custody of the building is vested in all the trustees, all have the right 
of visiting and inspecting it at all times, and a majority of the trustees cannot 
exclude the third. 

Any one of the trustees may prevent the school-house from being used for any 
purpose except the common school, by forbidding the others to give their con- 
sent to such use. 

Religious meetings — The purpose for which the use of the school-house is 
most frequently asked is that of holding religious meetings ; and it is also a 
most prolific source of dispute in the district. The department has always 
ruled the same upon this question. It is in the power of the trustees to grant 
the use of the school-house for this purpose, provided the district school is not 
in anyway interfered 'with and the property of the district is not injured. 
The custody of the school-house is given to the trustees and a district meeting 
has no control over the matter. It sometimes seems that where a trustee refuses 
to allow the school-house to be used for this or the purpose named in section 52 
against the wish of the inhabitants of the district they will direct the trustees 
to permit such use of the building at a district meeting, or appeal to the State 
Superintendent. While there is a certain respect trustees should pay to the 
wishes of the district they are not legally bound to obey such instructions in 
this matter ; neither can the Superintendent order thein to allow the school- 
house to be so used. If, on the other hand, the power vested in the trustees 
is used so that injury results to the school or the district property, the Super- 
intendent will restrain them. 

So common is the desire of one class or another in a district to put school 
property to other than school uses, and so constant and bitter is the contro- 
versy engendered thereby, that it seems inevitable that the position must 
sooner or later be taken that school buildings must be used for no other than 
purely educational purposes, where objection to such other use is offered by 
any interested resident of the district. 

REPAIRS, OUTBUILDINGS AND NUISANCES. 
Title II. 
§ 13. Every scliool commissioner shall have power, and it shall 
be his duty : 



268 School-Houses and Appeistdages. 

2. To visit and examiue all the schools and school districts 
within his district * * ^ * and the condition of the 
school-houses, sites, outbuildings and appendages ^ * * -st 

3. Upon such examinationj to direct the trustees to make any 
alteration or repair on the school-house or outbuildings which 
shall, in his opinion, be necessary for the health or comfort of the 
pupils, but the expense of making such alterations or repairs shall, 
in no case, exceed the sum of two hundred dollars, unless an 
additional sum shall be voted by the district. He may also direct 
the trustees to abate any nuisance in or upon the premises, pro- 
vided the same can be done at an expense not exceeding twenty- 
five dollars. (As amended hy see, 2, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

In the same section and subdivision thereof that gives the power to district 
meetings to vote a tax to build is given the power to vote a tax to repair the 
school-house or outbuildings, {^ub. 7, sec. 16, title 7.) 

The district meeting is not limited in the amount it can vote for the purpose 
of repairing. It may direct what the repairs are to consist of, or leave it to 
the discretion of the trustees ; the former, however, is the better plan. A 
meeting sometimes will order repairs without voting a tax therefor. In such 
cases the direction of the meeting should be very plain, so that the trustees 
can follow it. The trustees can then, after the repairs are made, and the cost 
ascertained, issue their tax-list and warrant without any further direction of 
the meeting under the authority given them in section 51, title 7, 

It is the duty of the inhabitants of the district to look jealously after the 
interests of the children in the matter of a good, convenient, well- warmed 
and ventilated school-house. When this duty is disregarded? and the district 
meeting will not direct the proper repairs, and the trustees do not settle for 
the reason that the amount that they can expend on their own motion will 
not be sufficient, or that they possess the same neglectful spirit as the district, 
it becomes the duty of the school commissioner to examine the premises, and 
if he finds the building worth repairing, to make an order in writing directing 
the repairs. This order must be served on the trustees, who are bound to 
obey it; and for a refusal can be removed from office. It may be advisable in 
many cases after such an order has been made by the commissioner for the 
trustees to call a special meeting of the inhabitants to consider the subject of 
repairs. The order can only provide for repairs to the cost of two hundred 
dollars, and this may be less than the building needs. The inhabitants, seeing 
that this amount will have to be expended, may be willing to vote an increase 
so that the building can be put in thorough repair. 

It is the ruling of the department that the order will cover all repairs in or 
upon the school-house or outbuildings, and will include the reseating of the 
school-room, where the seats are fastened to and intended to become a part of 
the building. 

Title YII. 

§ 50. The trustees may expend in necessary and proper repairs 
of each school-house under their charge a sum not exceeding 
twenty dollars in any one year ; and they may also expend a sum, 



School-Houses akd Appendages. 269 

not exceeding fifty dollars, in the erection of necessary outbuild- 
ings, when the district is wholly unprovided with such buildings, 
upon the direction of the school commissioner in whose district 
such school-house is situated, or of the State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. They may also make any repairs, and abate 
any nuisances, pursuant to the direction of the school commis- 
sioner as hereinbefore provided, * * ^ * -)f * *^ 

It becomes necessary, constantly, to make slight repairs upon the 
buildings. Windows are breaking, doors, locks, black boards, chimneys, steps 
and many other parts of the school-house require immediate repairing. It is 
the duty of the trustees to look after these matters and make the repairs. For 
this purpose they can use not to exceed twenty dollars, in any one year without 
a vote of the district meeting, and can include the amount in their tax-list. 
This can be expended by the trustees, also, in addition to any amount that the 
district meeting may have voted or the school commissioner ordered. 

OUT-HOUSES. 

The school premises should be provided with suitable out-houses for both 
sexes. The district meeting should make provision for the building, and the 
repairs necessary from time to time if not of too expensive a nature can be 
made by the trustees. An old dilapidated or filthy out-house is a nuisance 
and can be removed by order of the school commissioner (subd. 3, § 13, title 2). 
Alterations or repairs can also be ordered by the commissioner to the amount 
of two hundred dollars. This order before referred to is not confined to repairs 
for the school-house, but may be in part or wholly for the outbuildings. 

When the district is wholly unprovided with the necessary outbuildings, the 
trustees can expend a Sum not exceeding fifty dollars upon the direction of the 
school commissioner in whose district the school-house is situated or of the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



Chapter 538, Laws of 1887. 

Section 1. From and after the first day of September, eighteen 
hundred and eighty-seven, the board of education, or the trustee 
or trustees having supervision over any school district of this State, 
shall provide suitable and convenient water-closets or privies for 
each of the schools under their charge, at least two in number, 
which shall be entirely separated each from the other and having 
separate means of access, and the approaches thereto shall be 
separated by a substantial close fence not less than seven feet in 
height. It shall be the duty of the ofiicers aforesaid to keep the 
same in a clean and wholesome condition, and a failure to comply 
with the provisions of this act on the part of the trustees shall be 



270 School-Houses and Appendages. 

sufficient grounds for removal from office, and for withholding 
from the district any share of the public moneys of the State. 
Any expense incurred by the trustees aforesaid in carrying out 
the requirements of this act shall be a charge upon the district, 
when such expense shall have been approved by the school com- 
missioner of the district within which the school district is located; 
and a tax may be levied therefor without a vote of the district. 

This chapter does not disturb the existing provisions of law, hereinbefore 
given, but makes it obligatory upon trustees to provide and keep in repair 
suitable water-closets or privies, and prescribes penalties for a failure so to do. 

From and after the first day of September, 1887, each public school in the 
State must be provided with at least two water-closets or privies in respect to 
which the statute gives the following direction : 

1. They shall be suitable and convenient. 

2. They shall be entirely separated from each other. 

3. They shall have separate means of access. 

4. The approaches thereto shall be separated by a substantial close fence not 
less than seven feet in height. 

5. They shall be kept in a clean and wholesome condition. 

It is not contemplated by this act that there must be separate vaults. The two 
privies or water-closets can be built over the same vault, and still answer all 
the requirements of the law. 

The district meeting can provide for such outbuildings, but if it does not 
move in the matter, the trustees mtcst act themselves. No excuse is sufficient 
to take them out from the provisions of the statute. If it is not promptly and 
strictly complied with, the State Superintendent may remove them from office. 
And if a district is so derelict that it may neither elect trustees who will obey 
the law, nor at its meetings make ample provision for carrying out the direc- 
tions of this chapter, the public money may be withheld from such district. 

The expense should be provided for by the district meeting, but if no action is 
taken, the trustees can issue a tax list and warrant for the necessary amount, 
provided the school commissioner first approves of such sum. For this reason 
it will always be desirable first to consult with the commissioner before making 
the expenditur3 so that the trustees will not use a greater amount than he will 
approve of. 

SALE OF SCHOOL- HOUSE. 

When a district having an old school-house elects to build a new one the 
district meeting should direct the disposition to be made of the old building. 
The best way is to have the trustees sell it at public auction, and apply the 
proceeds toward the construction of the new one. 

The sale of the school-house is authorized under two other conditions, as 
follows: 

First. When a district has been annulled and all its territory annexed to 
other districts the supervisor of the town in which the school-house of the an- 
nulled district is situate is directed to sell the same at public auction, giving 
five days' notice of such sale. (Sec. 9, title 6. See, also, chapter on School- 
districts — Property of.) The proceeds are to be used for the payment of any 
debts owing by the district, and the residue should be apportioned among the 
taxable inhabitants of the district. 

Second. Where the site of a school-house has been changed, the sale of the 
old building is authorized by the following: 



School-Houses akd Appendages. 271 

Title VII. 

§ 21. Whenever the site of a school-house shall have been 
changed, as herein provided, the inhabitants of a district entitled 
to vote, lawfully assembled at any district meeting, shall have 
power, by a majority of the votes of those present, to direct the 
sale of the former site or lot, and the buildings thereon and appur- 
tenances, or any part thereof, at such price and upon such terms 
as they shall deem proper ; and any deed duly executed by the 
trustees of such district, or a majority of them, in pursuance of 
such direction, shall be valid and effectual to pass all the estate or 
interest of such school district in the premises, and when a credit 
shall be directed to be given upon such sale for the consideration 
money, or any part thereof, the trustees are hereby authorized to 
take, in their corporate name, such security, by bond and mortgage 
or otherwise, for the payment thereof as they shall deem best, 
and shall hold the same as a corporation and account therefor, to 
their successors in office, and to the district, in the manner they 
are now required by law to account for Inoneys received by them ; 
and the trustees of any such district for the time being may, in 
their name of office, sue for and recover the moneys due and 
unpaid upon any security so taken by them or their predecessors. 

The next section provides for the disposition of the moneys arising from 
the sale of the school-house. 

§ 22. All moneys arising from any sale made in pursuance of 
the last preceding section, shall be applied to the expenses incurred 
in procuring a new site, and in removing or erecting thereon a 
school-house, and improving and furnishing such site and house, 
and their appendages, so far as such application shall be necessary ; 
and the surplus, if any, shall be devoted to the purchase of school 
apparatus and the support of the school, as the inhabitants at any 
annnal meeting shall direct. 

Cross References — As to what property is exempt from tax to build a new 
school-house, see chapter on Taxes (sec. 73, title ?). 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 
A school-house built by the contributions of the inhabitants was burned by 
the enemy, and compensation was subsequently awarded by the government. 



272 School-Houses and Appendages. 

tlie village liaving been in tlie meantime organized as a scliool district. Held, 
that the money belonged to the school district, and to those who contributed 
to the building. {Chancery, 1837, Potter v. Chapin, 6 Paige, 639.) 

Repairs. — A vote of the district to raise a tax, directing that it shall not be 
levied until the repairs it is designed to pay for are made, held valid under 1 
Revised Statutes, 478, section 61, subdivision 5. {Supreme Court, 1840, Fol- 
som V. Streeter, 24Wend. 266.) 

A vote to raise $400, by tax to build a school-house, and directing the trustees 
to sell the old building and treat the avails as so much of the fund in hand, 
held, valid. (5 Hill, 46.) 



SCHOOL-HOUSE SITES- 



TrrLE YII. 
§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assem- 
bled in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the 
votes of those present : 

* * 45- * -Jf * * 

6. To designate a site for a school-house, or, with the consent of 
the commissioner or commissioners within whose district or dis- 
tricts the school district lies, to designate sites for two or more 
school-houses for the district . 

7. To vote a tax upon the taxable property of the district to 
purchase lease or improve such site or sites, * * *^ 

* * 4f * ¥: * * 

§ 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- 
trict, and they shall have power : 

^ ***** 

6. To purchase or lease a site for the district school-house or 
school-houses, as designated by a meeting of the district. * -^^ * 

By these sections a district meeting when legally assembled has the power to 
designate a site for the school-house, and with the consent of the school com- 
missioner, two or more sites for the school-houses of the district. The trustees 
are made the agents of the district to carry out the instructions of the meeting 
in the matter. This is the power and duty of the trustees, and cannot be 
delegated by the meeting to other persons. 

The designation of a site must be made by a written resolution, in which the 
description is given by metes and bounds. The selection may be made in 
advance by the trustees or any other person, the title investigated, the price 
agreed on, and all preliminary terms of the purchase settled. A survey should 
be actually made, and the dimensions precisely known. The passage of a 
resolution designating a site will then be the formal act of the meeting. But 
the site will not be determined by such a vote so as to require a special meeting 
to change it, until a legal title has been acquired by the execution and delivery 
of a deed, or by the making of a valid contract for the purchase, which, to be 

35 



274 School-House Sites. 

binding under tlie statute of frauds, must be in writing, under seal, and sub- 
scribed by tbe parties to be bound thereby. 

There is a great difference between an additional site and an addition to a 
site. An additional site is a separate and distinct site, when the district 
already owns one or more, thus making two or more school-house sites in the 
same district. Au addition to a site is neither an additional site nor a change 
of site; but it is merely adding more land to or enlarging the site. The dis- 
trict meeting can enlarge or add to the site without the consent of the com- 
missioner. 

The question frequently arises whether the district has a title to a site, so 
as to render a new designation equivalent to an additional site requiring the 
consent of the school commissioner, or a change of site requiring a meeting 
called by special notice for that purpose. It is ordinarily started in consequence 
of doubts as to the title of a site actually occupied or claimed by the district, 
growing out of the want of a deed, or the loss of a deed without its having 
been recorded, where one was originally executed. 

A right in real estate may be acquired either by grant, by deed duly exe- 
cuted and delivered, or by an adverse possession of twenty years under claim 
of title, in which case the law presumes a grant, or by a valid contract for the 
conveyance, where a court of equity will enforce a specific performance, or, 
in the case of the public, by dedication. 

In reference to the first mode: In the case of occupation under a grant, it is 
not material that the deed has been lost, for the paper itself is but evidence 
of the fact, and, upon showing its loss, the existence and contents of the deed 
may be proved by other testimony; nor is the fact of its not having been re- 
corded material, for the recording act is only for the benefit of purchasers in 
good faith and without notice, and the possession of real estate is held by the 
courts to be sufficient notice to put a purchaser upon inquiry as to the rights 
of the party in possession, and to charge him with notice of all facts to 
which such inquiry might have led. 

As to the second mode of acquiring title, by adverse possession, it may be 
first remarked, that a mere naked possession, without any claim of right or 
title, will not constitute a defense against one who can prove a better right of 
possession. The possession of a person who has no title, no right of posses- 
sion, and sets up no claim of right, will be deemed the possession of the real 
owner, and will inure to his benefit. 

Many school-house sites in the State are held by adverse possession. The 
school trustees sometimes failed to procure deeds of conveyance, and some- 
times failed to have them recorded; and so, in process of time, they have been 
mislaid and lost, and all evidence of their existence is gone. In all such cases, 
when the district has claimed title and kept possession for twenty years and 
upward, the title is held adversely. But there must be a claim of title, and 
this claim must be of the entire title, and one which necessarily excludes the 
idea of title in any other. A squatter's forcible entry cannot ripen into a valid 
title, for it lacks the element of a claim of title. It is a possession under the 
lawful owner only. An adverse possession must be an actual and hostile pos- 
session. It involves an assumption of the right to the land in question, from 
the time it is alleged to have commenced, and a continued holding with the 
assertion of right. It must be visible and notorious, and exclude the exercise 
of ownership by the other party, and must be hostile in such sense as to indi- 
cate intent to occupy exclusively. (9 Wend. 511; 9 Johns. 180; 5 Coic. 74; 17 
Barh. 668; 3 Smith's 8. C. 39; 9 Cow. 530; 5 id. 346; id. 539; 5 Wend. 533; 
9 Johns. 174.) 

The district can hold only what has been actually occupied. If there is no 
written title, and reliance is placed upon possession with an assertion of title, 
only so much land can be retained as is under actual improvement. If there has 
been possession of the house only, and the land on which it stands, then only 
so much land can be retained. If there has been a yard inclosed by a fence, 
then all the land that has been so inclosed can be retained. (1 Johns. 158; 3 
.id. 334; id. 330; 7 Wend. 63.) 



School-House Sites. 275 

Where there lias been an actual occupation of premises in any of the modes 
above described, an oral claim of exclusive right is sufficient, without the pre- 
tension that such claim is founded upon a written instrument, and a claim of 
title even under a paper a-Itogether void and inoperative as a deed will yet 
characterize a possession as adverse. (24 Wend. 604.) The possession is evi- 
dence only of such title as the party has asserted. If, therefore, the claim 
has been only to hold at sufferance, or conditionally, or for a term of years, it 
can never ripen into a better title. 

If land has been conveyed to a district to be held so long as it shall be used 
for a school house site or for school purposes, then upon the abandonment 
of the site, and the removal of the house to some other location (and the house 
should be removed before the site is abandoned), the land will revert to the 
original grantor, or to his heirs and assigns. If adjoining land be purchased, 
and the house removed to the new purchase, but the former premises be still 
retained and used as a yard or play ground, the district will still hold it. 

If a house has been built upon land held under a lease, and the title has 
come from the lessee, then the district can hold only during the term of the 
lease. 

It behooves a district to see that land is not bought of persons who have 
only a life estate, or a leasehold, or any title less than a fee-simple, for it is a 
general rule that a man cannot grant any higher title or greater estate than 
he owns. 

A district may, in the fourth place, acquire title to a site by dedication, 
which means the setting apart for public use, in some solemn manner, a lot 
of land, for a street, or a park, or a square, or a market, or a church, or a 
school-house, or other public purpose. This may be done by deed, or by a 
map on which lots are marked off for public use. In the case of Potter v. 
Chapin, 6 Paige, Q"^^, the inhabitants of a village and others contributed 
money, labor and materials, and built a school-house for the general benefit 
of the inhabitants, and the court held that this was a dedication to the village 
public for the purposes of education, which w^ould be upheld in equity. 

This dedication may be with or without writing, if it be for public, pious 
or charitable purposes, provided the person making it devotes it by some open 
and public declaration, or refers io it in deeds, or maps, as a plot, or piece of 
land set apart for such use; as if a man should lay out a tract of land into city 
or village lots, and mark some of them " school lot," "market lot," " church 
lot." {.See Penn. St. R., p. 443.) All that is required is the assent of the 
owner of the land, clearly manifesting his purpose to make a permanent 
appropriation, and the fact of its being used for the public purpose intended 
by the appropriation. (See 6 Sill, 412.) 

If the district has need of more than one site, the power to designate is 
qualified, and must be preceded by the consent of the school commissioner, or 
commissioners, within which the district, or districts, are situated. The pro- 
vision for more than one site and school-house is intended to obviate the in- 
ducements to a division of districts. There are great advantages in large and 
populous districts; and it has always been the policy of the department to 
discourage their division, unless it becomes necessary on account of the great 
distance which children are compelled to travel in going to school. It may 
often be convenient to have a school -house for very young children separate 
from that attended by those more advanced. In cases of dissatisfaction with 
a teacher, there is the opportunity for parents to exercise a choice without 
the serious injury to the course of instruction which results from withdraw- 
ing their children entirely from the public schools. It may frequently be 
profitable to hire temporarily a building or rooms for an additional school- 
house, and the trustees should be prompt to exercise that power under the 
last clause of section 50 of this title. 

In answer, therefore, to the question, what title to a site a district should 
have, in order to require the consent of the commissioner to the purchase of 
an additional site, or a change of site requiring a meeting called by special 
notice for that purpose, it may be said : "A title in fee simple or a right to 



276 School-House Sites. 

occupy as long as the site is used for school purposes, or as long as a stipu- 
lated rent is paid; or a title by adverse possession or dedication. In these 
cases a district may be said to own the site, which it hardly does when a site 
is leased for a year or a defined term of years. 

Tax for site.— It is not necessary to designate a site before laying a tax to 
build a school-house. (17 Wend. 437; 3 Denio, 116.) The same rule will ap- 
ply to a tax for the purchase of a site. The inhabitants may vote such tax as 
they " deem sufficient," and if, upon the selection of a site and the negotiation 
for its purchase, the tax is found to be, in fact, insufficient, may vote a further 
tax If it be found unnecessarily large, they may vote to refund the excess 
to the tax payers or appropriate it to any purpose for which they have power 
to lay a tax. 

The amount a district can vote for a site is unlimited, but the tax cannot 
be raised in installments. 

Lease of site. — It is not uncommon for districts to hold land under lease, 
granted for a consideration paid in advance, so long as the same shall be used 
for the site of a school-house or the purpose of a district school. It is greatly 
to be preferred that the district school should obtain an indefeasible estate in 
fee-simple, and whenever possible, it should be procured, and since the 
statute {chap. 800, Laws of 1866), has authorized the compulsory taking of 
land for sites, by right of eminent domain, there is no longer any necessity for 
leasing a site, and it is recommended to districts, whenever they cannot pur- 
chase an indefeasible estate in fee simple, that they resort to the law which 
now gives them power to select in every district the most eligible situation for 
their school-house. 

In cases where heretofore land has been leased, the question will frequently 
arise as to the right of the district to the school-house at the expiration of 
the term for which the land is held. The law is thus stated by Judge Harris 
(7 Barb. 266): "Any one who has a temporary interest in land, and who makes 
additions to it or improvements upon it for the purpose of the better use or 
enjoyment of it, while such temporary interest continues, may, at any time 
before his right of enjoyment ceases, rightfully remove such additions and 
improvements. If he omit to sever the addition or improvement until his 
right of enjoyment ceases, such omission is to be deemed an abandonment of 
his right, and thereafter the addition or improvement he has made becomes, 
to all intents, a part of the inheritance, and the tenant, as well as any other 
person who severs it, becomes a trespasser. I think this may now be stated 
to be the general rule in respect to fixtures which a tenant attaches to the 
freehold. To this extent has the original rule of the common law yielded to 
the changed condition of society. There may be exceptions to the general 
rule I have stated, but I think they will be found limited to cases where the 
removal of the additions or improvements made by the tenant would operate 
to the prejudice of the inheritance, by leaving it in a worse condition than 
when the tenant took possession, 

CHANGE OF SITE. 
§ 20. So long as a district shall remain unaltered, the site of a 
school-house owned by it, upon which there is a school-house 
erected or in process of erection, shall not be changed, nor such 
school-house be removed, unless by the consent, in writing, of the 
supervisor or supervisors of the town or towns within which such 
district shall be situated, stating that in his or their opinion such 
removal is necessary ; nor with such consent, unless a majority of 
all the legal voters of said district present and voting, to be ascer- 



School-House Sites. 277 

tained by taking and recording the ayes and noes, at a special 
meeting called for that purpose, shall be in favor of such new- 
site. {As amended hy sec, 8, chap. 647, Laws of 1865.) 

7}itle. — While it is no objection to a tax that a title has not been acquired, 
it is the duty of the trustees not to part with the money without receiving a 
conveyance, and, in respect to this duty, a question frequently arises about in- 
cumbrances by way of mortgage. The vote appropriating money for the pur- 
chase of a site is to be construed as limiting the amount the district can at any 
time be called upon to pay for it, and therefore implies (unless the contrary 
expressly appears) a title free from any incumbrance. Where a portion of a 
tract subject to mortgage is purchased, the rule of law is that upon a foreclos- 
ure the land remaining as the property of the mortgagor shall be first sold, 
and if that prove insufficient to satisfy the mortgage, then that which he has 
conveyed is to be sold in the inverse order of alienation; that is to say, that 
which he conveyed latest is to be sold first. It may frequently happen that 
the district will have ample security, in the land retained by the person from 
whom it derives title to a site, for its indemnity against a mortgage, and that 
the existence of a mortgage covering land greatly exceeding in value the 
amount secured thereby, will be but a nominal incumbrance, and no serious 
objection to the title. If this be clear, however, there will ordinarily be little 
difficulty in procuring from the holder of the mortgage a release of the site 
from its lien. If the trustees fail in obtaining it, they will be justified in re- 
quiring an express vote of the district, after laying the facts before a meeting, 
before paying for the site or making any expenditure or contract for building 
upon it. 

The first clause of the first sentence of this section, " So long as a district 
shall remain unaltered," refers to the boundaries of the district. Where the 
boundaries have not been altered since the formation of the district, the 
school-house site, upon which there is a school -house erected or in process of 
erection, cannot be changed without the consent, in writing, of the supervisor 
or supervisors of the town or towns in which such district is situated. An 
appeal from a refusal to give such consent can be made to the State Superin- 
tendent. When the school-house is to be removed the consent of the super- 
visor or supervisors must state that such removal is necessary. It is not neces- 
sary that the supervisors' consent be obtained before the meeting passes the 
resolution to change the site; but it must be obtained before such resolutions 
can be carried into effect. Any alteration that has been made in the district 
boundaries will do away with the necessity for this consent. 

The site may be changed, so far as the prohibition of this section affects the 
question, at any time before a school-house standing thereon shall have been 
built or purchased. But after the site has been purchased, or the trustees 
have made themselves legally responsible by a valid contract to purchase it, 
in pursuance of a resolution of the district, it becomes an established site, so 
that the resolution cannot be rescinded, under the general principle that a 
resolution which has been executed cannot be revoked to the prejudice of 
those who have acquired rights under it. 

If the title to a site fails, the designation of a new one is not to be regarded 
as a change of site. The resolution in such case should recite the fact that 
the district is destitute of a site, in consequence of its title to one formerly 
occupied having failed by the termination of a lease, judgment in an action of 
ejectment, or whatever other circumstance may have brought it to an end. 

The majority requisite to a change of site is a majority of those present and 
wting, as ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and noes at a special 
meeting called for that purpose. The clerk must record the names of the per- 
sons voting. The resolution designating the new site must describe the same 
by metes and bounds. 

A change of site can only be made at a special meeting called for that purpose. 



278 School-House Sites. 

In a district composed of parts of two towns, both tlie supervisors must 
unite in the certificate; if composed of tliree or more, the case comes under 
the provision of section 27, title 17, chapter 8, part 3, of the Revised Statutes: 
" Whenever any power, authority or duty is confided by law to three or more 
persons, and whenev-er three or more persons are authorized or required by 
law to i^erform any act, such act may be done, and such power, authority 
or duty may be exercised and performed by a majority of such persons or 
officers, upon a meeting of all the persons or officers so intrusted or empow- 
ered, unless special j)rovision is otherwise made." 

The act in thia case being of a judicial character, all must meet and confer, 
but a majority may decide. The certificate should state that all met. 

SALE OF SITE. 
§ 21. Whenever the site of a school-house sliall liave been 
changed, as herein provided, the inhabitants of a district entitled 
to vote, lawfully assembled at any district meeting, shall have 
power, by a majority of the votes of those present, to direct the 
sale of the former site or lot, and the buildings thereon and 
appurtenances, or any part thereof, at such price and upon such 
terms as tliey shall deem proper; and any deed duly executed by 
the trustees of such district, or a majority of them, in pursuance 
of such direction, shall be valid and effectual to pass all the estate 
or interest of such school district in the premises, and when a 
credit shall be directed to be given upon such sale for the con- 
sideration money, or any part thereof, the trustees are hereby 
authorized to take, in their corporate name, such security, by bond 
and mortgage or otherwise, for the payment thereof as they shall 
deem best, and shall liold the same as a corporation and account 
therefor, to their successors in office and to the district, in the 
manner they are now required by law to account for moneys 
received by them; and the trustees of any such district for the 
time being may, in their name of office, sue for and recover the 
moneys due and unpaid upon any security so taken by them or 
their predecessors. 

Neither the trustees nor the inhabitants have any power to sell land belong, 
ing to the district, unless it be the site of a school-house, for which a new one 
has been substituted. 

If any credit is to be given upon the sale, the inhabitants in district meet- 
ings should, by resolution, specify the exact terms thereof, and should also 
fix the lowest price to be accepted. When a bond and mortgage are executed, 
they should run, to "A. B., C. D. and E. F., trustees of school district No. 
, in the town of , and their successors in office or assigns." 

The trustees become personally responsible to the district for the amount 
bid at the sale for so much cash received, unless they take a bond and mort- 
gage or some other secuHiy. This implies some pledge or obligation collateral 
and in addition to the personal responsibility of the purchaser, such as the 



ScHOoL-HocjSE Sites. 279 

signature of a solvent indorser, or surety to a promissory note, in accepting 
Avhicli they are responsible for tlie same care wliicli a prudent person would 
exercise in' taking security for a debt due to himself. 

In cases of annulled districts, the supervisor of the town in which the 
school-house is situate is directed to sell the property of the annulled district, 
which includes the school-house site. (See see. 9, title 6; also chapter on School 
Districts.) 

§ 22. All moneys arising from any sale made in pursuance of 
the last preceding section shall be applied to the expenses incurred 
in procuring a new site, and in removing or erecting thereon a 
school-house, and improving and furnishing such site and house, 
and their appendages, so far as such application shall be neces- 
sary ; and the surplus, if any, shall be devoted to the purchase of 
school apparatus and the support of the school, as the inhabitants 
at any annual meeting shall direct. 

If the money is not needed to pay for a new site or to remove or erect 
a school-house;' it may be appropriated by the district to any purpose for which 
it would be authorized to levy a tax; and in the absence of any vote by the 
district the trustees may appropriate it to any purpose, such as the purchase 
of fuel, or the rent of temporary school-rooms, for which they are authorized 
to levy a tax without a vote of the district. 

ACQUIRING TITLE TO SITE. 
Chapter 800, Laws of 1866. 

Section 1. Land for the site of a district school-house, or addi- 
tional land adjoining to and for the enlargement of an established 
site, not exceeding one acre, may be acquired in cases where the 
owner or owners thereof, or some of them, shall not consent to 
sell the same for such purpose, or the trustee or trustees of the 
district cannot agree with such owner or owners, or some of them, 
upon the price or value thereof, as follows : 

A petition shall be prepared for presentation to the county 
court of the county in which the land is situated, at some regu- 
lar term thereof signed b}^ the trustee or trustees of the district, 
or a majority of them, setting forth that the inhabitants of the 
district have designated or desire to obtain the land for the site of 
a district school-house, or in addition to and for the enlargement 
of that already established as such site, describing such land by 
its locality and by particular metes and bounds, stating the quan- 
tity thereof as nearly as may be, with the name or names, and 
place or places of residence of the owner or owners, and that 



280 School-House Sites. 

the consent of such owner or owners, or some of them, to sell such 
land for said purpose, cannot be obtained, or that the trustee or 
trustees cannot agree with him or them, or some of them, upon a 
reasonable price therefor, and praying for the appointment of ccm- 
missioners to appraise the same. 

Said petition shall be filed in the office of the county clerk of 
the county in which the land is situated, and at the time of filing 
thereof, or at any time afterwards, the petitioners may cause a 
notice of the pendency of the proceeding to be filed in said 
office, which notice the county clerk shall file and record in the 
same manner that similar notices in actions in the supreme court 
are required to be filed and recorded ; which notice shall state the 
object of the proceeding, and contain a description of the land 
and the names of the parties affected thereby. And all persons 
who shall acquire in whatsoever way, any title to, interest in, lien 
or incumbrance upon said land, after the filing of the notice of 
the pendency of the proceedings as aforesaid, shall be bound and 
affected by said proceedings in the same manner and to the same 
extent as if they had been named in the petition as parties thereto ; 
and said person shall also be bound in the same manner and to 
the same extent, by notice of the existence of said proceeding, 
whether notice of the pendency thereof has been filed or not. 
The petitioners may appear and prosecute such proceedings by an 
attorney. 

A copy of said petition, with a notice thereto annexed of the 
time and place when and where the same will be presented to 
said county court, addressed to the owner or owners of the re- 
quired lands, shall be served in all cases, except as hereinafter 
allowed, as follows : Upon each person to whom the notice is 
addressed, who resides in the county in which the land is situated, 
by delivering to each such person, or in case of his absence by 
leaving at his dwelling-house or usual place of abode or business, 
such copy and notice, "at least thirty days before the da}^ specified 
in the notice for the presentation of the petition. Upon each 
such person who shall reside out of such county, by depositing 
such copy and notice in one of the post-offices nearest to said 
land, directed to such person at his reputed place of residence, 
and paying the proper postage thereon, at least forty days be- 



School-House Sites. 281 

fore the day specified in the notice for the presentation of the 
petition, if such place of residence be within this State, and at 
least sixty days before that day if such place of residence be ont 
of this State, except that if such place of residence be in the upper 
peninsula of Michigan, or in any State or territory of the United 
States west of the Mississippi river, except the States of Iowa, 
Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana, or any place out of the juris- 
diction of the United States, then at least four months before 
such specified day of presentation. If any such owner or owners 
shall reside out of the State, and shall have an agent or attorney 
residing therein, authorized "to convey or contract for the sale of 
his or their interest in said lands who shall not consent, or with 
whom the trustee or trustees cannot agree as aforesaid, then 
and in that case the service of the copy of petition and of notice 
aforesaid may be made upon such agent or attorney instead of 
upon such owner or owners, either personally or by depositing 
the same in a post-office as aforesaid, directed to such agent 
or attorney at his place of resident, and paying postage as 
aforesaid, the same number of days or months before the said 
specified day for the presentation of the petition, as if the service 
were upon sucli owner or owners, as hereinbefore required. If 
any such owner shall be an infant, under the age of twenty-one 
years, such service shall be made on. his general guardian ; if 
there be no such guardian, on the infant, if over fourteen years of 
age, and if under that age, on the person with whom such infant 
shall reside, in each case in the same mode, and the same number 
of days or montlis before the specified day for the presentation 
of the petition, as if the service were upon an adult owner, accord- 
ing to the place of residence of such guardian, infant or person 
with whom such infant resides, upon whom service is made. If 
any such owner shall be an idiot, or of unsound mind, service 
shall be made upon the committee of his person or estate ; or, if 
there be no such committee, then upon the person who shall have 
the care of such idiot or person of unsound mind, in the same 
mode and the same number of days before presentation of the 
^ petition, as in other cases. In all other cases service of copies 
of the petition, of notices, appointments of guardians or com- 
36 



282 School-House Sites. 

mittees, orders or otlier papers in the proceedings under this act, 
or in connection therewith, shall be made as the court in which 
the proceedings are had shall direct. 

§ 2. On presenting such petition to the county court aforesaid, 
on the day specified for its presentation as aforesaid, with proof 
of service of a copy or copies thereof and notice, and of other 
papers as hereinbefore required, all persons whose estate or interest 
are to be affected by the proposed proceedings, relative to the land 
described in the petition, may appear in person or by attorney, 
or other proper representative, before the said court, and show 
cause against granting the prayer of the petitioners. The said 
court shall hear the proofs and allegations of the parties, and if 
no sufficient cause be shown against granting the prayer of the 
petitioners, shall make an order appointing three disinterested and 
suitable persons, residing in the same county, neither of whom 
shall be an inhabitant of the school district named in the petition, 
or interested in any taxable property therein, or who shall be 
within two degrees of relationship, by blood or marriage, to any 
owner of such taxable property, or to any owner of the land 
described in such petition, as commissioners to appraise the said 
land, and to award the compensation to be. made to the owner 
or owners thereof for the same, for the purposes specified in said 
petition ; and the said court shall specify and appoint in such 
order the time and place within said school district, for the first 
meeting of said commissioners, and also the time and place, when 
and where said county court will receive the report of said com- 
missioners of their proceedings and award in the premises, for 
confirmation. 

§ 3. The said commissioners, before entering upon their duties, 
shall be sworn before some officer authorized to administer oaths, 
that they will fairly and impartially view the land in question, 
hear the proofs and allegations of the parties interested, and make 
a just and reasonable award of the compensation to be paid by 
the school district for the said land, to be appropriated for a site 
or part of a site for a district school-house. The said commis- 
sioners shall have power to issue subpoenas and administer oaths 
to witnesses, and a majority of them may adjourn the proceedings 



School-House Sites. 283 

from time to time, if necessary. They shall also view the land 
in question, hear the proofs and allegations of parties, reduce the 
testimony given, if any, to writing ; and without nnnecessary 
delay they, or a majority of them, shall appraise the said land 
and determine and award the compensation which ought to be 
made therefor by said school district, to the party or parties own- 
ing the same. They shall make a written report of their pro- 
ceedings and award in the case, signed by them, or a majority 
of them, which shall be accompanied by the minutes of the testi- 
mony taken by them, and shall deliver the same to the county 
judge of the county on or before the day named in the order 
appointing them, for receiving such report for confirmation. The 
said commissioners shall be entitled to two dollars per day for 
their services, which shall be a charge upon and be paid by the 
school district in whose behalf the land in question has been 
appraised by them as aforesaid. 

§ 4. On the day and at the time and place appointed in the 
order aforesaid for receiving such report, the county court afore- 
said, on being satisfied of the regularity and fairness of the previ- 
ous proceedings, shall make an order reciting the proceedings, 
giving a description of the land appraised, confirming the report 
and directing to whom the compensation awarded shall be paid, 
or where and with whom the same shall be deposited. A certi- 
fied copy of the last-mentioned order shall, without unnecessary 
delay, be delivered by the judge holding said county court to the 
trustee or trustees aforesaid, or to one of them, whose duty it 
shall be forthwith to cause the same to be recorded at the expense 
of the said school district, in the office of the count}^ clerk of the 
county in which the land therein described is situated. The 
trustee or trustees are hereby authorized and directed, on the 
filing of said order with the county clerk as aforesaid, forthwith 
to levy a district- tax for a sum sufficient to pay the compensation 
named in said award and the expense of recording said order. 

§ 5. Upon said order being recorded as aforesaid, and upon the 
payment or deposit of the amount of compensation awarded for 
said land, all the right, title and interest of the owner and owners 
aforesaid, in and to the said land, shall vest in the school district 
in whose behalf the proceedings aforesaid were instituted ; and 



284 School-House Sites. 

the trustee or trustees of such district shall be entitled to enter 
upon, take possession of, occupy and use said land for the purpose 
set forth in their petition aforesaid ; and all land acquired by any 
school district pursuant to the provisions of this act, shall be 
deemed to be taken for public use. 

§ 6. The proceeds of every such award shall be divided amongst 
the parties whose rights and interests shall have been sold, in pro- 
portion to their respective rights in the premises ; and the share 
of such of the parties as are of full age shall be paid to them or 
their legal representatives by the commissioners, or shall be 
brought into court for their use. 

§ 7. When any of such known parties are infants, the court 
may, in its discretion, direct the share of such infants to be paid 
over to the general guardian on proper security being filed, or to 
be invested in permanent securities at interest, in the name and 
for the benefit of such infants, or be deposited in some trust com- 
pany or savings bank to abide the further order of the court. 

§ 8. When any of the parties whose interests have been sold are 
absent from the State, or are not known or named in the proceed- 
ings, the court shall direct the shares of such parties to be invested 
in permanent securities at interest, or to be deposited in some trust 
company or savings bank to abide the further order of the court, 
for the benefit of such parties, until claimed by them or their legal 
representatives. 

§ 9. When the proceeds of a sale belonging to any tenant in 
dower, or by the curtesy, or for life, shall be brought into court 
as hereinbefore directed, the court shall direct the same to be 
invested in permanent securities at interest, so that such interest 
shall annually be paid to the parties entitled to such estate during 
their lives respectively, unless such parties shall elect to accept a 
sum in gross in lieu thereof. 

§ 10. The court may, in its discretion, require all or any of the 
parties, before they shall receive any share of the moneys arising 
from such sale, to give security to the satisfaction of such court to 
refund the said shares with interest thereon, in case it shall there- 
after appear that such party was not entitled thereto. 

§ 11. The amounts of all commissioners' fees, and of all expenses 
incurred by or in behalf of any school district, in pursuance of the 



School-House Sites. 285 

provisions of this act, shall be a charge upon such district, and be 
levied and collected by tax in the same manner as other district 
taxes are levied and collected therein. 

§ 12. This act shall not apply to cities of more than thirty 
thousand inhabitants; nor shall it be lawful under this act to 
acquire title to less than the whole of any city or village lot, with 
the erections thereon, if any, nor to any premises occupied as a 
homestead by the owner or owners thereof, without the consent of 
such owner or owners ; nor beyond the corporate limits of cities, 
to any garden or orchard, or any part thereof, nor to any part of 
any yard or inclosure necessary to the use and enjoyment of build- 
ings, or any fixtures or erections for the purposes of trade or manu- 
factures, with out the consent of the owner or owners thereof. 

§ 13. Boards of education in cities of not more than thirty thou- 
sand inhabitants^ are hereby clothed with all the powers of trustees 
under the act hereby amended, and the title to any and all lands 
acquired in any city under the provisions of said act, shall vest in 
the board of education thereof, or such other corporate body as is 
by law vested with the title to the school lands in such city. But 
nothing in the act hereby amended contained, shall be construed 
to limit or circumscribe the powers and duties heretofore lodged 
in such boards of education by law. 

§ 14. The provisions of this act, and of subsequent amendments 
thereto, shall be extended and apply to the city of Brooklyn, and 
the board of education of that city is hereby clothed with all 
the powers of trustees under the provisions of this act and the 
amendments thereto, and the title to any and all lands acquired in 
said city under the provisions of this act shall vest in the board of 
education thereof. The proceedings mentioned in section one of 
this act may be authorized by a vote of said board of education, 
and the petition may be signed by the officers of said board. The 
commissioners provided for in section two of this act may be 
inhabitants of the city of Brooklyn and owners of taxable property 
therein, but shall not be owners of nor interested in the property 
proposed to be taken, nor related to the owners of the land pro- 
posed to be taken. The proceedings authorized by this act may 
be taken in the city of Brooklyn before the supreme court or city 



286 ScHOOL-HorsE Sites. 

court of Brooklyn, and if taken in the latter court the petition 
shall be filed in the office of the clerk of that court, and the notice 
of lis pendens in the office of the clerk of Kings county. The 
compensation named in the award, the fees of the commissioners 
and the costs and expenses of said board of education of the city 
of Brooklyn in such proceeding shall be paid by said board out of 
the special fund in their hands, and such fees, costs and expenses 
may be taxed and allowed in the final order. {Added hy § 1, 
chajp. 121, Laws of 1886.) 

§ 15. The provisions of this act and subsequent amendments 
thereto shall be extended and apply to the city of Xew York, 
and the board of education of that city is hereby clothed with all 
the powers of trustees under the provisions of this act and the 
amendments thereto, and the title to any and all lands acquired in 
said city under the provisions of this act shall vest in the mayor, 
aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York. The pro- 
ceedings mentioned in section one of this act may be authorized 
by a vote of said board of education, and the petition may be 
signed by the officers of said board. The commissioners provided 
for in section two of this act shall be inhabitants of the city of 
In ew York, but shall not be owners of nor interested in the prop- 
erty proposed to be taken, not related to the owners of the land 
proposed to be taken. The proceedings authorized by this act 
shall be taken in the city of Xew York before the supreme court 
and the notice of lis pendens shall be filed in the office of 
the clerk of the city of iS'ew York. The compensation named in 
the award, the fees of the commissioners and the costs and expenses 
of said board of education of the city of New York, in such pro- 
ceedings shall be paid by said board out of the special fund in 
their hand?, and such costs, fees and expenses may be taxed and 
allowed in the final order. {Added ly chap. 318, Laws of 1887.) 

The foregoing act was furtlier amended by sections 2, 3, cliapter 819, Laws 
of 1867, by tlie addition of the following sections: 

§ 2. The act hereby amended shall apply to union free school 
districts and to districts organized under special laws ; and the 
trustees of such districts, or the boards of education organized 
under special laws, shall be and are hereby clothed with all the 
powers vested in trustees under said act. 



School-House Sites. 287 

§ 3. Nothing in this act contained shall prejudice or impair any 
right acquired or proceeding had or instituted, under or bj virtue 
of the act hereby amended. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Fixing site. — The meeting cannot delegate their power to designate the site 
of a school-house. If they vote a tax to build a school-house, where the trus- 
tees shall think proper, the trustees are trespassers in proceeding to collect the 
tax. (18 Johns. 351; 9 Wend. 36; Supreme Court, 1837, Benjamin v. Hull, 17 
id. 437.) 

It seems that it is not necessary to designate a site for the school-house before 
imposing a tax to build. {Id.; Williams v. Larkin, 3 Denio, 114.) 

Tax before acquiring title. — It is no objection to the tax that the title to the 
property has not been acquired. {Supreme Court, Williams v. LarJdn, dBenio, 
114.) 

Changing site. — Although, by Laws of 1847, chapter 480, section 73, the con- 
sent of the supervisor of the town is necessary to change the site of a school- 
house, it is not essential that such consent should have been given before the 
district meeting votes for such change. (17 Wend. 439; Supreme Court, 1862, 
Colton V. Beardsley, 38 Barb. 29.) 

Interest in land. Trustees of school districts may acquire an Interest in land 
as tenants in common with others. {King v. Phillips, 1 Lansing, 421, Sup. Gt.., 
1868.) 

There is nothing in the law, or the directions of the Superintendent, or the 
decisions of our courts prohibiting the trustees of a school district from acquir- 
ing an interest in real estate as tenant in common with others. {Id.) 

A school district can authorize its trustees to accept a conveyance of land to 
be used as a school site, and to agree as part of the consideration that the 
district shall maintain the whole division fence between such land and the ad- 
joining land of the grantor. This is not beyond its power as a lease, but an 
obligation of the same nature as the law imposes, differing only in extent. 
(22 Hun, 367.) 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

Chap. 482, Laws of 1875, as amended by sec. 1, chap. 239, Laws of 1878. 
Boards of Supervisors can in certain cases authorize trustees and boards of 
education to sell or exchange the school-house site. 

See Supervisors. 



STATE SCHOOL MONEYS. 



The moneys furnished by the State for the support of the common schools 
are divided into three classes or funds, as follows: 

First. — The United States Deposit Fund. This fund was created by an 
act of Congress passed June 23, 1836, by which there were distributed among 
the States for safe-keeping the surplus revenues in the United States treasury. 
The portion which New York received was about $4,000,000. By an act of the 
Legislature passed April 4, 1837, this sum was apportioned among the counties 
of the State, according to the population thereof, and placed in the hands of two 
loan commissioners in each county, who were appointed by the Governor, to 
be loaned therein upon bond and mortgage at interest. From the income of 
this fund there was appropriated for the support of common schools, by chap- 
ter 237 of the Laws of 1838, $165,000. This sum was annually appropriated 
until 1881, when, owing to a reduction in the revenue, only $75,000 was ap- 
propriated. Since 1881, $75,000 has been the amount annually appropriated 
by the Legislature from this fund for the support of the common schools; 
$50,000 of this amount is used for district libraries, in accordance with section 
2, title 8, of the Consolidated School Act, and $25,000 for supervision in cities 
and villages, under section 6, title 8 of the same act. 

Second. — The Common School Fund. This fund had its origin in chapter 
66 of the Laws of 1805, passed in response to a recommendation contained in 
a special message of Governor Morgan Lewis. The act provided that "the' 
net proceeds of 500,000 acres of the vacant and unappropriated lands of the 
people of this State, which shall be first sold by the Surveyor-General, shall 
be and are hereby appropriated as a permanent fund for the support of com- 
mon schools." No distribution was to be made until the annual revenues of 
the fund amounted to $50,000. It was, therefore, not until 1815, that the first 
distribution was made. During this period the income of the fund, which 
was divided among the counties on the basis of population, together with an 
amount required to be raised in the counties equal to the amount received, 
constituted the State school moneys applicable to the payment of teachers' 
wages, any deficiency therefor to be raised by rate-bill. The capital of the 
fund at its beginning, in 1805, was about $59,000, and up to 1886 it had in- 
creased to nearly $4,000,000. From the revenue of the fund there is annually 
appropriated for the common schools, $170,000. This money is used as will 
be seen further on in this chapter. 

Third. — The Free School Fund. This fund is the amount raised annually 
by tax, the rate being fixed by the Legislature each year. By authority of 
chapter 151 of the Laws of 1851, the first State tax was levied, the law pro- 
viding for the sum of $800,000. This amount was annually raised until 1856, 
when the Legislature substituted therefor a tax of three-fourths of a mill on 
each dollar of valuation. In 1867, district rate-bills were abolished, and the 
tax increased to one and one-fourth mills on the dollar, with a view of making 
the proceeds of the tax, together with the revenues of the school funds, sup- 
port the common schools for at least twenty-eight weeks in each year, in most 
of the districts. 



State School Moneys. 289 

The State school moneys do not, however, support the common schools. 
The balance is raised by school district tax. The amount appropriated 
from the free school fund for common schools was, in 1886, $3,250,000, and the 
same amount in 1887. The total cost of the maintenance of the common schools, 
for the school year ending August 20, 1886, was 113,284,886.46. The appro- 
priations for the common schools by the Legislature, in 1886, were as follows : 

From the United States Deposit Fund $75,000 00 

From the Common School Fund 170,000 00 

From the Free School Fund 3,250,000 00 

Total $3,495,000 00 

In addition to the above, appropriations were made from the Free School 
Fund for normal schools, teachers' institutes and the American Museum of Nat- 
ural History 

APPORTIONMENT BY THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT. 

Title III. 

Section 1. There shall be raised by tax, in the present and 
each succeeding year, upon the real and personal estate of each 
county within the State, one mill and one-fourth of a mill upon 
each and every dollar of the equalized valuation of such estate, 
for the support of common schools in the State ; and the proceeds 
of such tax shall be apportioned and distributed as herein pro- 
vided. {As ame7ided hy sec. 3, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

This section is not followed. The Legislature each year fixes the rate and 
makes the appropriation. 

§ 2. N'o clerk of any board oi supervisors, or other person who 
shall make out the tax-list or assessment-roll of any town, shall 
omit to include and apportion among the moneys to be raised 
thereby, the amount hereby required to be raised for the support 
of schools, by reason of the omission o"^ the board of supervisors 
to pass a resolution for that purpose. 

§ 3. The moneys so raised shall be paid into the State treasury, 
and the treasurer may transfer them from one depository to 
another, by his draft, countersigned and entered by the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction. On the first working day of each 
month the treasurer shall make to the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction a written statement of the condition of the free school 
fund, showing the amount received and paid during the preceding 
month, and the balance remaining on hand. The bank in which 
such moneys are deposited shall furnish the Superintendent of Pub- 
37 



290 State School Moi^eys. 

lie Instruction a book, in which the officers of such bank shall 
make entries of all sums deposited therein by the treasurer, from 
time to time, to the credit of said free school fund. Ko such 
money shall be paid out of the treasury except upon such war- 
rant of the Superintendent, countersigned by the comptroller, re- 
ferring to the law under which it is drawn. The Superintendent 
shall countersign and enter all checks drawn by the treasurer in 
payment of his warrants, and all receipts of the treasurer for such 
money paid to the treasurer, and no such receipt shall be evidence 
of payment unless it be so countersigned. {Amended by section 
8, chap, 567, Laws of 1875.) 

§ 4. The comptroller may withhold the payment of any nioneys, 
to which any county may be entitled, from the appropriation of 
the incomes of the school fund and the United States deposit 
fund for the support of common schools, until satisfactory evi- 
dence shall be furnished to him that all moneys required by 
law to be raised by taxation upon such county, for the support of 
schools throughout the State, have been collected and paid, or 
accounted for to the State treasurer ; and whenever, after the first 
day of March in any year, in consequence of the failure of any 
county to pay such moneys on or before that day, there shall be a 
deficiency of moneys in the treasury applicable to the payment of 
school moneys, to which any other county may be entitled, the 
treasurer and Superintendent of Public Instruction are hereby au- 
thorized to make a temporary loan of the amount so deficient, 
and such loan, and the interest thereon at the rate of twelve per 
cent per annum, until payment shall be made to the treasury, 
shall be a charge upon the county in default, and shall be added 
to the amount of State tax, and Jevied upon such county by the 
board of supervisors thereof at the next ensuing assessment, and 
shall be paid into the treasury in same manner* as the other taxes. 
{Amended hy section 3, chap. 406, Laws of 1 867.) 

The object of the Legislature in the preceding provision was to prevent the 
moneys raised for school purposes in the several counties from being withheld 
from the State treasury, and being temporarily employed to supply the defi- 
ciencies m the county treasuries arising from delay in the collection of taxes 
imposed for county purposes. It is, therefore, required that the county's pro- 
portion of the school tax shall have been actually collected, and either paid 
into the State treasury or accounted for — as it might be by receipts from the 
supervisors of their respective towns, showing the payment to them, on account 
of the apportionment to their towns made by the State Superintendent and the 



State School Moneys. 291 

school commissioners, of an amount equal in the aggregate to the school tax 
due from the county — before the county treasurer is authorized to require 
from the comptroller a warrant for the amount apportioned to his county from 
the incomes of the school fund and United States Deposit Fund. 

It also subjects the county to the payment of interest upon so much of 
its school tax as is withheld from the State treasury, whenever it becomes 
necessary to make a loan to furnish the State treasury with the funds for the 
payment of school moneys to any other county which is not in default, and 
which is therefore entitled to immediate payment. 

It is obviously, therefore, the duty of the county treasurer, for the purpose 
of protecting his county from the liability to the payment of interest on a loan 
to be made on its account, to regard the first moneys which come into his 
hands from the town collectors as belonging exclusively to the school fund. 
Other claims may be postponed without incurring a charge for interest, 
while this cannot. The power and duty of the treasurer and State Super- 
intendent to make loans under this section is not suspended, when, as is often 
the case, the Legislature extends the time for the collection of taxes. It 
would be most unjust that the schools in those counties which have collected 
their taxes promptly should suffer for want of the exercise of that power, at 
the expense of the counties where their collection has been delayed, either by 
an extension of the time for collection or by the return of non-resident lands. 
In the latter case, the county treasurer can obtain the money or a credit thereof 
from the comptroller, for all the arrears of taxes admitted by him, and should 
not therefore subject the school tax to any deduction or reservation on ac- 
count of return lands. It will be observed that the designation "school 
fund," is here given to the moneys raised by State tax for the support of com- 
mon schools. In section six they are called the ** free school fund." 

§ 5. The moneys raised by the State tax or borrowed as afore- 
said to supply a deficiency thereof, and such portion of the in- 
come of the United States deposit fund as shall be appropriated, 
and the income of the common school fund, when the same are 
appropriated, to the support of common schools, constitute the 
State school moneys, and shall be divided and apportioned by 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on or before the twen- 
tieth day of January in each year, as follows : and all moneys so 
apportioned, except the library moneys, shall be applied exclu- 
sively to the payment of teachers' wages. 

§ 6. He shall apportion and set apart from the income of the 
United States deposit fund so appropriated, the amounts required 
to pay the annual salaries of the school commissioners elected or 
elective under this act, to be drawn out of the treasury and paid 
to the several commissioners, as hereinbefore provided ; and he 
shall also apportion to each of the cities of the State, and to each 
of the incorporated villages of the State, having a population of 
five thousand and upwards, which, under a special act, employs a 
superintendent of common schools, or a clerk of the board of 
•education^ who does the duty of supervision, out of the income of 



292 State School Moneys. 

the said fund, and if insufficient the deficiency out of the free 
school fund, so appropriated, the sum of ei^ht hundred dollars ^ 
and in case any city is entitled to more than one member of as- 
sembly according to the unit of representation adopted by the 
legislature, five hundred dollars for each additional member of 
assembly, to be expended according to law, for the support of 
the common schools of the city. He shall then set apart, from 
the income of the United States deposit fund, for and as library 
moneys, such sum as the legislature shall appropriate for that 
purpose. He shall also set apart from the free school fund a 
sum not exceeding four thousand dollars for a contingent fund. 
He shall then set apart and apportion, for and on account of the 
Indian schools under his supervision, a sum which will be equit- 
ably equivalent to their proportion of the State school money, 
upon the basis of distribution estabhshed by this act, such sum 
to be wholly payable out of the proceeds of the State tax for 
the support of common schools. After deducting said amounts, 
he shall divide the remainder of the State school moneys into two 
equal parts, and shall apportion them as hereinafter specified. 
{As amended hy chap. 374, Laws of 1876, and chap. 340, Laws 
of 1885.) 

The first part of this section (6) has been repealed by the following: 

Chapter 1, Laws of 1881 

§ 2. The salaries now due and hereafter to become due to the 
several school commissioners of the State, shall be paid out of 
any unexpended balances in the treasury credited to the free 
school fund. 

§ 3. In making the annual apportionment of school moneys, 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall hereafter set apart 
a sum sufficient to pay the salaries of the several school commis- 
sioners from the free school fund, instead of from the United 
States deposit fund as heretofore. 

§ 4. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are 
hereby repealed. 

The Superintendent's apportionment is made as follows: 

From the United States Deposit Fund. 
1. The sum of $50,000 for district libraries, in accordance with section 2, title 
VIII of the Consolidated School Act. 



State School Moneys. 293 

2, To each, city and village of tlie State employing under a special act a 
superintendent of schools, the sum of $800, pursuant to the provisions of sec- 
tion 6 of this title. 

From the Common School Fund. 

The sum of $170,000 appropriated by the Legislature for common schools. 

From the Free School Fund. 

1. The salaries of the school commissioners. 

2. The balance which may be necessary for supervision money when the 
United States Deposit Fund is not sufficient. 

3. To each city having more than one member of assembly, $500 for each 
additional member. 

4. A sum not exceeding $4,000 for a contingent fund. 

5. An equitable sum for the support of Indian schools, upon the same basis 
as apportioned to the counties of the State. 

After deducting these several amounts there is a balance left. This bal- 
ance, of the free school fund, is added to the whole of the common school 
fund and apportioned according to the provisions of the following section: 

§ 7. He shall apportion one-half of such remainder equally 
among the school districts and cities from which reports shall 
Lave been received in accordance with law as follows : 

To entitle a district to a distributive portion or district quota, 
a qualified teacher, or successive qualified teachers must have act- 
ually taught the common school of the district, for at least the term 
of time hereinafter mentioned, during the last preceding school 
year. For every additional qualified teacher and his successors who 
shall have actually taught in said school during the whole of said 
term, the district shall be entitled to another distributive por- 
tion or quota ; but pupils employed as monitors, or otherwise, 
shall not be deemed teachers. The aforementioned term, during 
the current school year shall be six months, and thereafter shall 
be twenty-eight weeks of five school days each, inclusive of New 
Year''s day,Washington's birthda}^, the fourth day of July, Christ- 
mas day, and any other day which shall be, by law, declared a 
holiday, which shall occur during the term. A deficiency not 
exceeding three weeks during the current year, or in any subse- 
quent year, caused by a teacher's attendance upon a teachers' 
institute within the county, shall be excused. {Amended hy sec, 
% chap. 340, Laios of 1885.) 

The following existing provisions of law concerning holidays are found in 

Chapter 289, Laws of 1887. 

Section 1. Section one of chapter twenty-seven of the Laws of eighteen 
iundred and seventy-five, entitled, as amended by chapter thirty of the Laws 



294 State School Moneys. 

of eigliteen hundred and eighty-one, " An act to designate the holidays to her 
observed in the acceptance and payment of bills of exchange, bank checks and 
promissory notes, and relating to the closing of public offices," is herebjr 
further amended so as to read as follows: 

§ 1. The following days and half days, namely: The first day of January, 
commonly called New Year's day; the twenty-second day of February, known 
as Washington's Birthday ; the thirtieth day of May, known as Decoration 
Day; the fourth day of July, called Independence Day; the first Monday of 
September, to be known hereafter as Labor Day; the twenty-fifth day of De- 
cember, known as Christmas Day; any general election day in this State; every 
Saturday from twelve o'clock at noon until twelve o'clock at midnight, which 
is hereby designated a half-holiday; and any day appointed or recommended 
by the Governor of this State, or the President of the United States, as a 
day of thanksgiving, or fasting and prayer, or other religious observance, shall, 
for all purposes whatever as regards the presenting for payment or accept- 
ance, and of the protesting and giving notice of the dishonor of bills of ex- 
change, bank checks and promissory notes, made after the passage of this act, 
be treated and considered as the first day of the week commonly called Sun- 
day, and as public holidays or half -holidays; and all such bills, checks and 
notes otherwise presentable for acceptance or payment on any of the said days 
shall be deemed to be payable and be presentable for acceptance or payment 
on the secular or business day next succeeding such holiday; but in che case 
of a half-holiday shall be presentable for acceptance or payment at or before 
twelve o'clock noon of that day. Provided, however, that for the purpose of 
protesting or otherwise holding liable any party to any bill of exchange, check 
or promissory note, and which shall not have been paid before twelve o'clock 
at noon on any Saturday, a demand of acceptance or payment thereof may be 
made and notice of protest or dishonor thereof may be given on the next suc- 
ceeding secular or business day. And provided, further, that when any per- 
son shall receive for collection any check, bill of exchange or promissory note,, 
due and presentable for acceptance or payment on any Saturday, such person 
shall not be deemed guilty of any neglect or omission of duty, nor incur any 
liability in not presenting for payment or acceptance, or collecting such check, 
bill of exchange or promissory note on that day. And provided, further, 
that in construing this section every Saturday, unless a whole holiday as afore • 
said, shall until twelve o'clock noon be deemed a secular or business day. 
And the days and half days aforesaid shall be considered as the first day of the 
week, commonly called Sunday, and as public holidays or half-holidays, for 
all purposes whatsoever as regards the transaction of business in the public 
oflfices of this State, or counties of this State. On all other days, or half days, 
excepting Sundays, such offices shall be kept open for the transaction of busi- 
ness. 

§ 2. Section two of said act is hereby amendea so as to read as follows: 
§ 2. Whenever the first day of January, the twenty-second day of February,, 
the thirtieth day of May, the fourth day of July or the twenty-fifth day of 
December shall fall upon Sunday, the Monday next following shall be deemed 
a public holiday for all or any of the purposes aforesaid; provided, however, 
that in such case all bills of exchange, checks and promissory notes, made after 
the passage of this act wliich would otherwise be presentable for acceptance or 
payment on the said Monday shall be deemed to be presentable for acceptance 
or payment on the secular or business day next succeeding such holiday. 

The information upon which the Superintendent makes this apportionment 
is obtained from the reports of the school commissioners. The districts in 
order to obtain their share of this money must first make the report according- 
to law. {See chapter on reports.) These reports will among other things show: 
1. The number of weeks the school was taught by duly licensed teachers. 2. The- 
number of such teachers employed for twenty-eight weeks or more during the 
preceding school year. The school year commences on the 21st day of August, 



State School Mojs^eys. 395 

and ends with tLe 20tli day of the following August. It is required by the 
foregoing section (7) that the district school shall have been taught by a duly 
licensed teacher during such year for at least twenty-eight weeks of five days 
each, inclusive of legal holidays, and the time spent by the teacher or teachers 
at a teachers' institute held in the county not exceeding three weeks. 

If one or more days during a week are lost, the time cannot be made up by 
teaching a corresponding number of days during another vi^eek. The week in 
which such days were lost cannot be counted as one of the twenty-eight 
for the reason that the twenty-eight weeks required by the statute must 
be of '' five days each.'' Instances have been brought to the attention of the 
Department where the school was commenced too late to get twenty- eight 
weeks before the 20th of August, and an attempt has been made to make 
the full time by teaching Saturdays, or more than five days each week, and 
making an extra week or two out of the Saturdays taught. But this will not 
answer the requirements of the statute. Where a district has not made its 
full time, the case should be submitted to the State Superintendent, and if 
such failure is excusable, he may, under the authority of section 10 of this 
title, make to it an equitable allowance. 

The apportionment of this "one-half of the remainder" is for district 
quotas. The amount to be apportioned is divided by the whole number of 
duly licensed teachers who have taught the public schools during the preced- 
ing school year for the term of twenty-eight weeks or more. This gives the 
amount of each quota. 

If a district has employed a single teacher for the whole term, or has 
employed one or more teachers, whose terms of service make up the requisite 
time of twenty-eight weeks, it is entitled to a single quota. If a district has 
employed two or more teachers, it is entitled to an additional quota for every 
teacher, or succession of teachers whose terms of service amount to twenty - 
eight weeks. 

Evening schools, when conducted under the supervision of trustees, are con- 
sidered simply as a continuation of the day schools, not as separate branches 
of the day schools. Those persons attending the evening, and not the day 
schools, may be included in the trustees' report of aggregate attendance, and 
public money may be drawn upon their attendance. But persons attending 
both the day and evening schools, should be counted but once in the report of 
attendance. 

The amount apportioned each county for district quotas is certified to the 
county clerk, county treasurer, school commissioner and city treasurer or cham- 
berlain thereof by the Superintendent, and to the school commissioners, the 
number of quotas allowed each school district. 

§ 8. Having so apportioned and distributed the said one-half, 
the superintendent shall apportion the other half of said re- 
mainder, and also the library monej^s separately, among the 
counties of the State, according to their respective population, 
excluding Indians residing on their reservations, as the same shall 
appear from the last preceding State or United States census ; but 
as to counties in which are situated cities having special school 
acts, he shall apportion to each city the part to which it shall 
so appear entitled, and to the residue of the county the part to 
which it shall appear to be so entitled. If the census according 
to which the apportionment shall be made does not show the sum 
of the popnlation of any county or city, the Superintendent shall, 



296 State School Moneys. 

bj the best evidence lie can procure, ascertain and determine the 
population of such county or city at the time the census was 
taken, and make his apportionment accordingly. {As amended 
hy sec. 3, chaj). 340, Laws of 1885.) 

After liaving made the apportionment for the district quotas, the Superin- 
tendent apportions the remaining one-half, and the library money separately to 
the several counties, and to the cities having special school acts according to 
the population thereof. 

A census of the United States is taken every tenth year of the century, as 
1810, 1820, and so on. A census of the State is taken once in ten years, also, 
as 1805, 1815, and so on. The population upon which the apportionment must 
be based is the last preceding census, whether of the State or the United 
States. 

The provision in the last sentence of this section was made to meet cases 
which might arise from the erection of new cities, or counties, or from the 
alteration of their boundaries by the Legislature, thereby changing their popu- 
lation, after the last preceding census has been taken. 

A certificate of this apportionment is also sent the county clerk, county treas- 
urer and the school commissioners and city treasurer or chamberlain in each 
county. 

§ 9. The Superintendent shall apportion to each separate neigh- 
borhood which shall have duly reported, such fixed sum as will, 
in his opinion, be equitably equivalent to its portion of all the 
State school moneys upon the basis of distribution established by 
this act ; such sum to be payable out of the contingent fund here- 
inbefore established. 

The separate neighborhoods formed to accommodate inhabitants whose 
children can more conveniently attend school in an adjoining State have always 
been few in number. The apportionment for 1887 recognized two only, one 
in Westchester and one in Chautauqua counties, the amount apportioned to 
both being $85.39. 

§ 10. Whenever any school district or separate neigborhood shall 
have been excluded from participation in any apportionment made 
by the Superintendent, or by the school commissioners, by reason 
of its having omitted to make any report required by law, or to 
comply with any other provision of law, or with any rule or reg- 
ulation made by the Superintendent under the authority of law, 
and it shall be shown to the Superintendent that such omission 
was accidental or excusable, he may, upon the application of such 
district or neighborhood, make to it an equitable allowance ; and 
if the apportionment was made by himself, cause it to be paid out 
of the contmgent fund ; and, if the apportionment was made by 
the commissioners, direct them to apportion such allowance to it, 



State School Moneys. 297 

at their next animal apportionment, in addition to any apportion- 
ment to which it may then be entitled. And the Superintendent 
may, in his discretion, upon the recommendation of the school 
commissioner having jurisdiction over the district in default, direct 
that the money so equitably apportioned shall be paid in satisfac- 
tion of teachers' wages earned by a teacher not qualified in accord- 
ance with the provisions of the law as hereinafter set forth. {As 
amended hy sec. 1, chap. 2T, Laws 1880.) 

It has been noticed that before a district can receive its share of the public 
money, the district reports must be duly made and filed showing affirmatively 
that the district is legally entitled to participate. But there are many things 
that can cause the failure to make the report in time. The school may 
not have been taught twenty-eight weeks; or a part of the time a teacher not 
duly licensed may have been employed. If the district has been excluded from 
participation in the apportionment for any of such reasons and it is shown to 
the Superintendent upon affidavit that the failure was accidental or excusable, 
he can direct that the quota due it be paid from the contingent fund at once. 
But the apportionment made by the school commissioners upon the aggregate 
attendance cannot be made until the next annual apportionment. It does not 
follow as a matter of course that the omissions will be excused by the Super- 
intendent. The power is not to be exercised arbitrarily and without good 
cause. The Superintendent does not want excuses and argument, but facts. 
The sickness or death of a trustee would excuse a failure to report. A deep 
snow, an unexpected storm, or a railroad accident would explain delay. The 
burning of a school-house, the sickness or death of a teacher, or the prevalence 
of an epidemic or contagious disease might excuse a failure to keep school for 
the whole twenty-eight weeks required by law. The facts must be sufficient 
to relieve the trustees from all blame. If they are guilty of a willful violation 
of duty, or of sheer neglect, the Superintendent cannot lawfully grant the dis- 
trict any relief. 

The last sentence of this section was added by the amendment of 1880. 
Before that there was no power to pay public money to a district that had failed 
to employ a duly licensed teacher. The Superintendent cannot now excuse 
without the recommendation of the school commissioner. This omission is a 
more difficult one to find an excuse for than any other. It is the duty of the 
trustee to know positively that the teacher has a license before the school is 
opened. There are, however, some cases in which it would seem that justice 
would require that the commissioner and Superintendent exercise this discre- 
tion by excusing the default and allowing the district the public money. To 
provide against an injustice, this part of the section was added. 

§ 11. If money to which it is not entitled, or a larger sum than 
it is entitled to, shall be apportioned to any county, or part of a 
county, or school district, and it shall not have been so distributed 
or apportioned among the districts, or expended, as to make it 
impracticable so to do, the Superintendent may reclaim such money 
or excess, by directing any officer in whose liands it may be, to pay 
it into the State treasury, to the credit of the free school fund ; 
and the State treasurer's receipt, countersigned by the Superintend- 
38 



298 State School Mon^eys. 

ent, shall be bis only voucher ; but, if it be impracticable so to 
reclaim such money or excess, then the Superintendent shall deduct 
it from the portion of such county, part of a county, or district, 
in his next annual apportionment, and distribute the sum thus 
deducted, equitably among the counties and parts of counties, or 
among the school districts in the State entitled to participate in 
such apportionment, according to the basis of apportionment in 
which such excess occurred. 

§ 12. If a less sum than it is entitled to shall have been appor- 
tioned by the Superintendent to any county, part of a county or 
school district, the Superintendent may make a supplementary 
apportionment to it, of such a sum as shall make up the deficiency, 
and the same shall be paid out of the contingent fund, if suffi- 
cient, and if not, then the Superintendent shall make up such 
deficiency in his next annual apportionment. 

The errors provided for by tliese two sections are clerical errors arising 
from wrong computations or mistakes in transcribing. The Superintendent 
will correct such errors as soon as they are brought to his notice. 

§ 13. As soon as possible after the making of any annual or 
general apportionment, the Superintendent shall certify it to the 
county clerk, county treasurer, school commissioners and city 
treasurer or chamberlain, in every county in the State; and if it 
be a supplemental apportionment, then to the county clerk, 
county treasurer and school commissioners of the county in which 
the neighborhood or the school-house of the district concerned is 
situate. 

§ 14. The moneys so annually apportioned by the Superintend- 
ent shall be payable on the first day of April next after the 
apportionment, to the treasurers of the several counties and the 
chamberlain of the city of New York, respectively ; and the said 
treasurers and the chamberlain shall apply for and receive the 
same as soon as payable. {As amended hy sec. 10, chap. 567, 
Laws of 1875.) 

While this section makes the State school moneys payable on the first day 
of April, the money cannot be paid at such time for the reason that chapter 
760, of the Laws of 1873, allows a later date for the payment of all State 
moneys from the counties into the State treasury, and the Superintendent can- 
not pay out before the moneys have been paid in. This provision is as follows: 

" And every county shall pay its quota of State taxes into the State treasury, 
the one-half on or before the fifteenth day of April, and the other half on or 
before the first day of May, in each and every year thereafter." 



State School Moneys. 299 

APPORTIONMENT BY THE SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS. 

Title III. 

The public money apportioned to tlie several counties by tbe State Superin- 
tendent, according to the population thereof, must be re-apportioned by the 
school commissioners, to the several school districts and parts of districts in 
their respective counties. The commissioners are directed to make their ap- 
portionment at the county-seat on the third Tuesday of March. A careful 
reading of the following sections, with the explanatory notes, will enable com- 
missioners to perform this duty intelligently and without that great amount 
of perplexing labor incident to the method of apportionment in former years. 

§ 27. The school commissioner, or commissioners of each 
county, shall proceed, at the county seat, on the third Tuesday of 
March in each year, to ascertain, apportion and divide the State 
and other school moneys, as follows : 

1. They shall set apart any library moneys apportioned by the 
Superintendent. 

2. From the other moneys apportioned to the county, they 
shall set apart and credit to each separate neighborhood and school 
district the amount apportioned to it by the State Superintendent, 
and to every district which did not participate in the apportion- 
ment of the previous year, and which the Superintendent shall 
have excused, such equitable sum as he shall have allowed to it. 

The Department furnishes commissioners with blanks upon, which to regis- 
ter and certify their apportionment. The first step for the commissioners is 
to take the certificate made to them by the Superintendent and transcribe upon 
their own blank certificate the amounts apportioned by the Superintendent to 
each school district and neighborhood. The Superintendent's apportionment 
consists of the number of district quotas for each duly qualified teacher, having 
taught in the district twenty-eight weeks or more, and the amount allowed each 
neighborhood. He may, also, have directed the commissioners to apportion to 
a certain district, or districts, a specific amount to make up for a loss the pre- 
vious year, occasioned by a failure to report or otherwise comply with the law,, 
and which has been excused hy the Superintendent. This step completed^ 
the commissioners will divide the balance of the money between the school 
districts in the manner provided in the following subdivisions of section 27. 

3. They shall procure from the treasurer of the county a tran- 
script of the returns of the supervisors hereinafter required, show- 
lag the unexpended moneys in their hands applicable to the pay- 
ment of teachers' wages and to library purposes, and shall add 
the whole sum of such moneys to the balance of the State moneys- 
to be apportioned for teachers" wages. The amounts in each su- 
pervisor's hands shall be charged as a partial payment of the 



300 State School Mon^eys. 

sums apportioned to tlie town for library moneys and teachers' 
wages respectively. 

4. They shall procure from the county treasurer a full Hst and 
statement of all payments to hira of moneys for or on account of 
fines and penalties, or accruing from any other source, for the 
benefit of schools and of the town or towns, district or districts 
for whose benefit the same were received. Such of said moneys 
as belong to a particular district, they shall set apart and credit to 
it ; and such as belong to the schools of a town, they shall set 
apart and credit to the schools in that town, and shall apportion 
them together with such as belong to the schools of the county, as 
hereinafter provided, for the payment of teachers' wages. 

The Superintendent's certificate shows the amount of the State moneys to be 
divided among the school districts. But there may be some slight change in 
the total before the computations can be made. The commissioners must first 
procure from the county treasurer transcripts and statements which will show: 
1. All moneys remaining in the hands of the supervisors that have not been 
used from the apportionment of the previous year. 2. All fines and penalties 
collected for the use of the schools of county, town or district. 

In the first case, viz. : where there is a balance of money in the hands of the 
supervisor from previous apportionment, that has not been used by the district 
entitled to it, the amount thereof must be added to the money apportioned to 
the county by the Superintendent. If it is a balance of library money, add it 
to the library fund; or if it is a balance for teachers' wages, add it to such 
fund. A district which has not used its public money before the supervisor 
makes his return, on the first Tuesday of March, as required by section 4, title 
IV, loses it, excepting that part which it will receive back in the re-apportion- 
ment. The money will not be drawn from the hands of the supervisor, but 
he will be charged for such sum in the present apportionment, and the sum 
paid for such district to the supervisor decreased by the sum in his. hands. In 
other words, the money in the supervisor's hands, not used by the district en- 
titled to the same, will be considered as a partial payment of the moneys ap- 
portioned to the district in the next apportionment. 

The moneys in the supervisors' hands for fines and penalties are usually for 
the schools of a town or district. Such money is to be apportioned as the act 
under which it has been collected may direct. If there is no direction, ex- 
cepting that it be for the schools of the county, town or district, as the case 
may be, the apportionment must be upon the same basis as the other public 
money. It will be made separately; places upon the blanks are prepared for 
this. 

5. They shall apportion library moneys to the school districts, 
and parts of school districts, joint with parts in any city or in any 
adjoining county, which shall be entitled to participate therein as 
hereinafter specified, in proportion to the aggregate number of 
days of attendance of children in each between the ages of five 
and twenty-one years, as the same shall appear from the reports 



State School Moneys. 301 

of the trustees for the last preceding school year. {As amended 
hy chap. 602, Laws of 1887.) 

6. They shall apportion in like manner and upon the same 
basis, until the apportionment of the year eighteen hundred and 
sixty-six, the remaining unapportioned moneys among such school 
districts and parts of school districts. 

Subdivision 6 is no longer operative. 

Y. In the apportionment of eighteen hundred and eighty-nine 
and in every subsequent apportionment, they shall apportion all 
of such remaining unapportioned moneys, in like manner and 
upon the same basis, among such school districts and parts of dis- 
tricts ; in proportion to the aggregate number of days of attend- 
ance of the pupils resident therein, between the ages of five and 
twenty-one years, at their respective schools during the last pre- 
ceding school year. The aggregate number of days of attend- 
ance of the pupils is to be ascertained from the records thereof 
kept by the teachers as hereinafter prescribed, by adding to- 
gether the whole number of days' attendance of each and every 
such pupil in the district, or part of a district. {As amended hy 
sec, 1, chap. 492, Laws of 1881 ; sec. 4, chap, 340, Laws of 1885, 
and chap. 602, Laws of 1887.) 

The apportionment of 1889, and thereafter, is to be made to the different dis- 
tricts in proportion to tbe aggregate number of days' attendance at tbe schools 
therein of the resident children of school age. The money for teachers' wages 
and the library money are to be apportioned separately, but upon the same 
basis. 

It has been noted that the amount to be divided can be increased by the ad- 
ditions of moneys mentioned in subdivisions 3 and 4. It can also be decreased 
by any sum or sums which the Superintendent shall have, under section 10 of 
this title, directed the commissioners to make to a district on account of a 
failure to participate in the apportionment of the previous year, by reason of 
its failure to comply with some provisions of law and which failure had there- 
after been excused by the Superintendent. When this direction is made, de- 
duct such sum from the whole amount apportioned the county, and add it to 
the money apportioned to the district in the present apportionment. 

When mistakes have been made in the previous apportionment the commis- 
sioners must, under the provisions of section 28 of this title, make the proper 
correction. 

The commissioners, before proceeding to make their apportionment, should 
examine their statistical abstracts of the reports of the trustees, and see that 
they are correct. If errors have been discovered since the abstracts have been 
made, let them be corrected. 

These preliminaries attended to, commissioners can proceed to make their 
computations. 



302 State School Moneys. 

Computations. 

1. From the reports of the trustees ascertain the whole number of days' at- 
tendance in the county and divide the amount of money to be apportioned by 
such number of days' attendance. This will give the amount for one day's 
attendance. 

2. Taking each school district separately, multiply the amount found for one 
day's attendance by the whole number of days' attendance of children of 
school age residing in the district. The product will be the amount the school 
commissioners must apportion to the school district. 

Example. 

The amount of public money apportioned by the Superintendent 
to Wayne county, for the school year ending August 20, 1886, 
according to the population, for teachers' wages was $17,217 97 

For libraries 508 57 

The aggregate attendance at the schools of the county, as ascer- 
tained from the trustees' reports, was 1,099,694. 

Dividing $17,217.97 by 1,099,694 gives the sum to be apportioned 

for teachers' wages for one day's attendance 015657 

Dividing $508.57 by 1,099,694 gives the sum of library money to 

be apportioned for one day's attendance .00046245 



From these figures the amount for each district can be computed. Take 
two districts of the county; No. 6, Lyons, and No. 6, Palmyra. 
No. 6, Lyons, reports an aggregate attendance of 119,506. 

Multiplying $.015657 by 119,506 gives the amount to be apportioned 

the district for teachers' wages $1,871 10 

Multiplying $. 00046245 by 119,506 gives the library money 55 26 

No. 6, Palmyra, reports an aggregate attendance of 1,060. 
Multiplying $.015657 by 1,060 gives the amount to be apportioned 

this district for teachers' wages 16 59 

Multiplying $.00046245 by 1,060 gives the library money for the 

district 49 



8. They shall then set apart to each town the moneys so set 
apart and apportioned to each separate neighborhood ; to each dis- 
trict the school-house of which is therein ; and to each part of a 
joint district therein the school-honse of which is located in a 
<iity or in a town in an adjoining county. 

If a district, not joint, lies in two or more towns the public money is to be 
paid to the supervisor of the town in which the school-house of the district is 
situated. In joint districts lying in one county the money is paid the same, i. e., 
to the supervisor of the town in which the school -house of the district is situ- 
ated. In case of a joint district lying in two or more counties, the reports are 
made by the trustees of each part of it lying in a different county, and each is 
filed in the office of the clerk of the town in which the part of the district to 
which it especially relates lies. And the money is apportioned and paid to the 
supervisors according to the aggregate attendance of the children who reside 
in their respective towns, excepting the towns, if there be more than one, of 
the county where the school-house of the joint district is situated; in which 
case ail the money apportioned for the aggregate attendance of the children 
residing in that county as well as the money apportioned by the Superintendent 
is paid to the supervisor of the town in which the school-house is situated. 



State School Moj^eys. 303 

9. They shall sign, in duplicate, a certificate, showing the 
amounts appropriated and set apart to each separate neighbor- 
hood, school district and part of a district, and the towns in which 
they are situated, and shall designate therein the source from 
which each item of the aggregate to each district and town was de- 
rived ; and shall forthwith deliver one of said duplicates to the 
treasurer of the county and transmit the other to the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction. 

10. They shall certify to the supervisor of each town the 
amount of school moneys so apportioned to his town, and the 
portions thereof to be paid by him for library purposes and for 
teachers' wages, to each such distinct separate neighborhood, dis- 
trict and part of a district. 

The two subdivisions 9 and 10 direct that three certificates of the apportion- 
ment shall be made, for the Superintendent, county treasurer and supervisor, 
respectively. Blanks are sent the commissioners from the Department for this 
purpose. These certificates contain not only the commissioners' apportion- 
ment, but also the apportionment made by the Superintendent. 

The blanks in the printed forms of statements showing the amount of school 
moneys received and apportioned, and the blanks for special statement in re- 
gard to local funds, should be properly filled. The ' ' certificate " following the 
forms for statements should be signed by all the commissioners of the county. 

After making, for any supervisor, the statement of the apportionment for 
the school districts, the school-houses of which are in his town, and the parts 
of joint districts in his town, write at the right hand of the words " Amount 
now in supervisor's hands," the amount reported by the county treasurer as in 
his hands. Subtract, and write the balance at the right hand of the words 
" Balance to be drawn from county treasurer." 

A statement of the apportionment in the example used above would be as 
follows: 

STATEMENT. 

State school moneys apportioned for school year ending August 20, 1886, 

School District No. 6, Lyons: 

Pifteen district quotas apportioned by the Superintendent at $76.08, $1,141 20 

Apportioned by the commissioners for teachers' wages upon the ag- 
gregate attendance 1 , 871 10 

Apportioned by the commissioners for library money upon the ag- 
gregate attendance , 55 26 

Total amount of public money apportioned the district $3,067 56 

School District No. 6, Palmyra. 

One district quota apportioned by the Superintendent $76 08 

Apportioned by the commissioners for teachers' wages upon the ag- 
gregate attendance 16 59 

Apportioned by the commissioners for library money upon the ag- 
gregate attendance 49 

Total amount of public money apportioned the district $93 16 



304 State School Moneys. 

In making the enumeration of the school districts of each town, in the ap- 
portionment, arrange them according to their present numbers, in regular con- 
secutive order from the lowest to the highest number, inserting in its proper 
order the number of every district, whether any money is apportioned to it or 
not. In some cases there may be diflBculty in identifying certain districts, 
since, in many instances, commissioners may have changed the district num- 
ber, and inserted the new number in the abstracts, and afterward again changed 
the district number; making, in all, three numbers by which the district has 
been known. By an examination of the blanks for the apportionment, it will 
appear to be necessary to give the three numbers in each case. By no other 
means can the Superintendent know that the apportionment is correctly made, 
and that the commissioners understood all the changes as they have been re- 
ported to the Department. 

Send to each supervisor, with the apportionment for his town, a blank for 
his use in making a copy to file with the town clerk. 

The apportionment should be made at the earliest possible day, and the du- 
plicate be sent forthwith to the Department of Public Instruction. 

APPORTIONMENT TO ORPHAN ASYLUMS. 

By the provisions of chapter 261, Laws of 1850, the incorporated orphan 
asylums in the State, other than those in the city of New York, can partici- 
pate in the public money. A report must, however, have been made to the 
commissioner, and the institution must, in all respects, have subjected itself 
to the rules and requirements of the law and regulations of the Superintend- 
ent respecting common schools. When this has been done the apportionment 
will be made to the institution in the same manner as though it were a sepa- 
rate school district of the county. 

Chapter 261, Laws of 1850. 

Section 1. The schools of the several incorporated orphan asylum societies in this 
State, other than those in the city of New York, shall participate in the distribution 
of the school moneys, in the same manner and to the same extent, in proportion to 
the number of children educated therein, as the common schools in their respective 
cities or districts. 

3. The schools of said societies shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the 
common schools in such cities or districts, but shall remain under the immediate 
management and direction of the said societies as heretofore. 

§ 28. If in their apportionment, througli any error of the com- 
missioners, any district shall have apportioned to it a larger or a 
less share of the moneys than it is entitled to, the commissioners 
may in their next annual apportionment, with the approbation of 
the Superintendent, correct the error by an equitable deduction 
from or augmentation of the share of such district. 

The simplest method of correcting the error of an excess of money appor- 
tioned to one or more districts is as follows: If one district had an excess of 
$10; another of $6.45; a third of $4.50; and a fourth of $15; add them together, 
and the sum $35.95 add to and apportion with the money to be apportioned 
among all the districts. Then deduct from the sum thus apportioned to each 
district the excess paid to it the last year, and the remainder will be its share 
of the present apportionment. Apply the same rule in case the excess be of 
library money. If the error be one of deficiency in the former apportionment, 
the correction is made by setting apart from the money to be apportioned a 
sum equal to the sum of the deficiency, or several deficiencies, and then having 
apportioned the residue among all the districts, out of the money so set apart 



State School Moneys. 305 

add to the sum thus apportioned to each district an amount equal to its former 
deficiency. 

Excepting the library money, the public money can be used for no other 
purpose than the payment of teachers' wages. 

Trustees will see that as the public money is now apportioned upon the 
aggregate attendance, the longer the school is maintained in the year, and the 
larger the attendance, the greater will be the amount of money the district 
will receive. A district which has a school only twenty-eight weeks will not 
receive as much as one with the same number of pupils that has a school a 
longer time. 

§ 29. 1^0 district or part of a district shall be entitled to any 
portion of such school moneys on such apportionment unless the 
report of the trustees for the preceding school year shall show 
that a common school was supported in the district and taught by 
a qualified teacher for such a term of time as would, under sec- 
tion seven of this title, entitle it to a distributive share under the 
apportionment of the Superintendent. 

DUTIES OF SUPERVISORS CONCERNING THE STATE SCHOOL 

MONEYS. 

After all the school moneys reach the county treasurers, and the several cer- 
tificates of apportionment before-mentioned are made and filed, they are next 
paid to the supervisors of towns, and to such oflScer of each city having a 
special school act, as the act shall direct. 

§ 30. On receiving the certificate of the commissioners, each 
supervisor shall forthwith make a copy thereof for his own use, 
and deposit the original in the office of the clerk of his town ; and 
the moneys so apportioned to his town shall be paid to him imme- 
diately on his compliance with the requirements of the next sec- 
tion, and not before. 

§ 31. Immediately on receiving the commissioners' certifi- 
cate of apportionment, the county treasurer shall require of each 
supervisor, and each supervisor shall give to the treasurer, in 
behalf of the town, his bond, with two or more sufficient sureties, 
approved by the treasurer, in the penalty of at least double the 
amount of the school moneys set apart or apportioned to the 
town, and of any such moneys unaccounted for by his predecessor, 
conditioned for the faithful disbursement, safe-keeping and 
accounting for such moneys, and of all other school moneys, that 
may come into his hands from any other source. If the condi- 
tion bhall be broken the county treasurer shall sue the bond in 
his own name in behalf of the town, and the money recovered 
39 



306 State School Moneys. 

shall be paid over to the successor of the supervisor in default, such 
successor having first given security as aforesaid. Whenever the 
office of a supervisor shall become vacant, bj reason of the expira- 
tion of his term of service or otherwise, the county treasurer shall 
require the person elected, or appointed to fill such vacancy to 
execute a bond, with two or more sureties, to be approved by the 
treasurer, in the penalty of at least double the sum of the school 
moneys remaining in the hands of the old supervisor, when the 
office became vacant, conditioned for the faithful disbursement, 
safe-keeping and accounting for such moneys. J3ut the execution 
of this bond shall not relieve the supervisor from the duty of exe- 
cuting the bond first above mentioned. {As amended hy sec. 11, 
chap. 567, Laws of l^'J^.) 

Tlie latter part of the above section provides for the case of an incoming- 
supervisor who takes simply the balance of moneys left in the hands of his 
predecessor and gives his bond for a corresponding amount. When, during his 
term, a new apportionment is made, he must execute a new bond as required 
in the first part of the section. 

This bond, as a matter of prudence, should be acknowledged before a com- 
missioner of deeds or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments, and 
the sureties should be required to indorse upon the bond an affidavit that each 
of them is a freeholder, and worth the amount of the penalty over and above 
all debts incurred or liabilities assumed by him. It is only upon such an affi- 
davit that bonds required in legal proceedings are approved; and it is a matter 
of justice to the county treasurer that he should protect himself from personal 
liability for taking an insufficient bond by following the legal method of ascer- 
taining its sufficiency. If, after such affidavits are indorsed on the bond, the 
county treasarer is satisfied with the sureties, he should indorse his approval. 

The bond to be given under this section must be renewed every year, as its 
penalty in each case is to be double the amount of the school moneys there 
to be paid. 

Form of Bond. 

Know all men by these presents, that we supervisor of the town of 

, in the county of , and and of the town of as 

his sureties, are held and firmly bound unto treasurer of said county of 

, in the penalty of dollars and - cents, to be paid to the said 

treasurer, his successors in office, attorney or assigns; to which pay- 
ment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, 
administrators and assigns jointly and severally, by these presents. Sealed 
with our seals, and dated .this day of , in the year of our Lord, 

one thousand eight hundred and 

The condition of this obligation is such, that if the above Bounden 
supervisor, shall safely keep, faithfully disburse and justly account for all the 
school moneys which have or shall come into his hands, apportioned and paid 
from the State treasury, and all other school moneys that have or may come 
into his hands from any other source, then this obligation to be void, other- 
wise to remain in full force and virtue. 



State School Moiteys. 307 

State of New York, ^ oo • 

County, f ■* 

the sureties within named, being severally duly sworn, each for himself deposes 
and says, that he is a freeholder and is worth the sum of over and above 

all debts and liabilities incurred by him. 

Sworn before me this day ) 

of , 18 . f 

I hereby approve the within bond as to its form and manner of execution, 
and the sufficiency of the sureties therein. 
Dated , 18 . 

, Treasurer 

of iJie county of 

Another bond must be given by supervisors for trust funds. {8ee Trusts.) 

§ 32. The refusal of a supervisor to give such security shall be 
a misdemeanor, and any fine imposed on his conviction thereof 
shall be for the benefit of the common schools of the town. 
Upon such refusal, the moneys so set apart and apportioned to 
the town shall be paid to and disbursed by some other ofiicer or 
person to be designated by the county judge, under such regu- 
lations and with such safe-guards as he may prescribe, and the 
reasonable compensation of such officer or person, to be adjusted 
by the board of supervisors, shall be a town charge. 

RETURN TO COUNTY TREASURER. 
Title IY. 

§ 4. On the first Tuesday of March in each year, each super- 
visor shall make a return in writing to the county treasurer for 
the use of the school commissioners, showing the amounts of 
school moneys in his hands not paid out on the orders of trustees 
for teachers' wages, nor drawn by them for library purposes, and 
the districts to which they stand accredited (and if no such moneys 
remain in his hands, he shall report that fact) ; and thereafter he 
shall not pay out any of said moneys until he shall have received 
the certificate of the next apportionment; and the money so re- 
turned by him shall be re-apportioned as hereinbefore directed. 

§ 5. Any supervisor who neglects to make the said return, or 
shall make a false return, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars, to be 
recovered by his successor in office, or if he be re-elected, by the 



308 State School Moneys. 

county treasurer of the county in which the town lies, for the 
benefit of the common schools of the county. 

This is the return mentioned in subdivision 3, section 27, title 3. 

Accounts and Disbursements. 
§ 6. It is the duty of every supervisor : 

1. To disburse the school moneys in his hands, applicable to 
the payment of teachers' wages, upon and only upon the written 
orders of a sole trustee, or of a majority of the trustees, in favor 
of qualified teachers, or upon the order of the trustee of a separate 
neighborhood in favor of any teacher of a school in an adjoining 
State, recognized by him and patronized by the inhabitants of 
such neighborhood. Such teacher shall be deemed a qualified 
teacher. {As amended hy sec. 12, chajp. 567, Laws <2/*1875.) 

2. To disburse the library moneys upon, and only upon, the 
written orders of a sole trustee, or of a majority of the trustees. 
{As amended ly sec. 13, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) 

3. In the case of a union free school district, to pay over all 
the school money apportioned thereto, whether for the payment 
of teachers' wages, or as library moneys, to the treasurer of such 
district, upon the order of its board of education. 

4. To keep a just and true account of all the school moneys re- 
ceived and disbursed by him during each year, and to lay the 
same, with proper vouchers, before the board of town auditors at 
each annual meeting thereof. 

5. To have a bound blank book (the cost of which shall be a 
town charge), and to enter therein all his receipts and disburse- 
ments of school moneys, specifying from whom and for what 
purposes they were received, and to whom and for what purposes 
they were paid out ; and to deliver the book to his successor in 
office. 

6. Within fifteen days after the termination of his office, to 
make out a just and true account of all school moneys thereto- 
fore received by him and of all disbursements thereof, and to de- 
liver the same to the town clerk, to be filed and recorded, and to 
notify his successor in office of such rendition and filing. 

7. So soon as the bond to the county treasurer, by the third ar- 
ticle of the third title of this act required, shall have been given by 
him and approved by the treasurer, to deliver to his predecessor the 



State School Mokeys. 309 

treasurer's certificate of these facts, to procure from the town 
clerk a copy of his predecessor's account, and to demand and re- 
ceive from him any and all school monej^s remaining in his 
hands. 

8. Upon receiving such a certificate from his successor, and 
not before, to pay to him all school moneys remaining in his 
hands, and to forthwith file the certificate in the town clerk's 
ofiice. 

The law wMcli governs the supervisors, in the disbursement of so much of 
the school moneys as is apportioned for the payment of teachers' wages, 
requires them to pay it upon written orders drawn upon them by a sole trustee 
or by a majority of the trustees of each district in favor of qualified teachers. 
If the order is regular upon its face — that is to say, if it bears the signature 
of a majority of the persons acting in fact as trustees of a district, under color 
of an election, in favor of a person whom it states to be a duly qualified 
teacher employed by them in the district during the year in which it is drawn, 
.and in payment of his wages as such teacher — it is a sufficient voucher for 
the supervisor, and it is not for him to inquire whether the trustees have 
exceeded their authority or acted improperly in drawing the order. If pre- 
sented by any other person than the teacher in whose favor it is drawn, it 
should bear his written indorsement or order for payment to a specified 
person. 

Form of Order. 

To , supervisor of the town of 

Pay to (or order) dol- 

lars and cents, on account of wages earned by h while duly qualified 

as a teacher in school district No. in said town, between the 

day of A, D. 188 and the day of A. D. 188 . Dated 

A. D. 188 

) * Trustee of 

[• School Dist. No. 

) Town of 

Library money may be paid to any person upon the written order of a 
majority of the trustees. 

The account to be kept under this section may be a simple cash account in 
which the supervisor, personally, and in his individual name, is charged with 
all school moneys received by him and credited with each payment, specifying 
the date, the person to whom and the account on which it was made! It 
would conduce to accuracy and convenience, in passing his accounts before the 
board of town auditors, to number each credit consecutively, and to affix the 
same number to the order, receipt or other voucher to be produced in proof of 
payment and in support of such credit. This account should be kept in a 
bound book, to be handed over to his successor in office, and a transcript of 
such account should be drawn off, and, with the accompanying vouchers, 
should be presented to the board of town auditors for their examination. As 
that examination may take place before the close of his official term, it would 
be well, upon its completion, to have the town auditors enter upon the original 
account, in the blank book, their certificate that they have examined such 
account and the vouchers therefor, up to and including the last preceding 
entry (giving its date), and have audited and allowed the same. 

♦ Insert "sole,'" if the district has but one trustee. 



310 



State School Moneys. 



In addition to the cash account of the supervisor personally, a continuous 
account is to be kept between each district and the supervisor, oflficially with- 
out break or change when a new incumbent succeeds to the office. 

The board of town auditors is required by law to meet annually in each 
town, at the place of holding the last town meeting, on the last Thursday pre- 
ceding the annual meeting of the board of supervisors of the county. {Chap- 
ter 228, Laws of 1844.) It consists, for the purpose of examining the super- 
visor's account, of the town clerk and justices, or any two of the justices of 
the peace. The supervisor, who is ordinarily a member, cannot, of course, 
act in his own case. The account to be presented to them is to be accompanied 
by an affidavit, attached to, and to be filed with, such account, made by the 
person presenting or claiming the same, that the items of such account are 
correct, and that the disbursements charged therein have been in fact made. 
{Sec. 2, cliap. 490, Laws o/1847.) 

The account to be rendered by the supervisor to his successor in office 
includes not only that portion thereof which has been examined by the town 
auditors but that also which relates to his subsequent receipts and disburse- 
ments. Inasmuch as it is to be filed and recorded in the office of the town 
clerk, it must, independent of and in addition to the original cash account, be 
entered upon the blank book. 

The object of an account book to be kept by the supervisor and to pass to 
his successor in office, is to enable the latter to ascertain at any future time 
the state of the accounts of each district with any previous supervisor at any 
given date. To effect this object it is essential that a separate account should 
be kept with the trustees of each district and separate neighborhood, regard- 
ing them as a perpetual corporation. It is in substance an account between 
the district and the town, which is not broken or affected by any change in 
the officers of either. It may be in the following form: 



Trustees of District No. 2, in account with the Supervisor of- 



Dr. 






Cr. 






1878 






1878 






July 27th. To paid Miss Anna 






June 7th. By cash received 






Davis, teacher's wages, 
on order of J. D. and C. 






from late supervisor for 










teachers' wages 


$63 


80 


S., trustees (voucher No. 






Do. for library 


4 


18 


12) 


142 


60 


1879 

April 2d. Cash of county 






Sep. 3d. Paid Noah Parsons, 


teacher's wages, on order 






treasurer for teachers' 














166 


60 


tees (voucher No. 33) 


21 


20 


Do. for library 


8 


36 


Sep. 25th. Paid Z. M. and F. 






May 12th. Cash of county 






S., trustees, library 






treasurer on supple- 






money (voucher No. 46). 


4 


18 


mental apportionment 






Oct. 22d. To copy Code of 






for teachers' wages 


2 


10 


Public Instruction 


3 


00 


Do. for librarv 




16 







The orders and other vouchers of the account of the supervisor going out 
of office belong to him only in his official character, and should be delivered 
to his successor, precisely as if he was vacating an official place of business 
in which such vouchers were by law required to be filed and kept. On 
turning them over to his successor, the latter should give to his predecessor 
a receipt which may be substantially in the following form: 



Received of John Doe, late supervisor of the town of ^ , dol- 

lars and cents, the balance of school moneys remaining in his hands. 

Also, vouchers from No. to Xo. , both inclusive, in support 

of his charges for disbursements, bearing the same numbers in his cash account, 
and amounting in the aggregate to the sum of dollars and cents. 



State School Moneys. 311 

Also, one (or two or more, as tlie case may be) bound account book, one copy 
Hull's Treatise on Town Officers (or whatever other books, papers or other 
property are in his custody as supervisor). Dated 

R. ROE, Supervisor of 

The account book should contain an inventory of all books or other prop- 
erty which may from time to time come into the custody of the supervisor in 
the discharge of his duties as a school officer. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Asylum Societies. Law of 1848. The provision of chapter 75, of 
the Laws of 1848, 85, declaring that the orphan asylum societies of the 
city of Brooklyn shall participate in the distribution of the common school 
moneys raised in said city, is not to be construed to apply to the public 
moneys arising from the State fund. First, the language restricts the right 
to moneys raised in that city. Second, if the broader construction were given, 
the act would be unconstitutional. {Supreme Court, 1851, People v. Board of 
Education of Brooklyn, 13 Barb. 400.) 

The dictum of the court in No. 2 does not prevent the execution of the act, 
chapter 261, Law of 1850, page 500, permitting all the incorporated orphan 
asylums in the State to share in the distribution of the school moneys. 

Common School Fund. A statute (Laws of 1848, 85) authorizing an orphan 
asylum, whose trustees have a right to reject or admit applicants, to share in 
the revenues of the common school fund, is unconstitutional. Such an asylum 
is not a common school. {Id.) 

Law of 1850. Under chap. 261, Laws of 1850, orphan asylums are en- 
titled to share in the moneys raised by tax in school districts as well as in 
those raised by the State; but they must employ qualified teachers and other- 
wise conform to the laws of the State concerning schools. {People, ex rel. St. 
Thomas' Orphan Asylum, v. Olowacki, 2 Sup. Ct. Rep. 436, 1873. See p. 166, 
ante.) 



STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF 
PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 



Section 1. The office of State SuperintendeDt of Public In- 
struction is continued and the term of said office shall be three 
years, commencing hereafter on the seventh day of April. Such 
Superintendent shall be elected by joint ballot of the Senate and 
Assembly on the second Wednesday of February next preceding 
the expiration of the term of the then incumbent of said office, 
and on the second Wednesday of February next after the occur- 
rence of any vacancy in the office. {As amended hy sec, 1, chap. 
75, Laws ofl^^Z, and ly sec. 1, chap, 691, Laws ^1886.) 

HISTORICAL. 

Superintendent op Common Schools. 

The title of tlie first State officer wliose duty it was to have supervision of 
the common schools was '' Superintendent of Common Schools." The office was 
created by the first section of the "Act for the establishment of common 
schools," passed June 19, 1813, and the Superintendent was appointed by the 
council of appointment under the provisions of the act. But two persons held 
the office, viz.: 

Gideon Hawley, from January 14, 1813, to February 22, 1821. 
Welcome Esleeck, from February 22, 1821, to April 8, 1821. 

Secretary of State, ex officio, Superintendent of Common Schools. 

The general feeling of indignation caused by the removal of Gideon Hawley 
for purely political reasons, resulted in the abolition of the office by a clause 
in the supply bill passed April 3, 1821. The duties of the office were by the 
same act devolved upon the Secretary of State, which officer continued to be 
ex officio Superintendent of Common Schools until April 4, 1854. The office 
was administered by the following secretaries: 
John VanNess Yates, from April 3. 1821, to February 14, 1826. 
Azariah C. Flagg, from February 14, 1826, to February 1, 1833. 
John A. Dix, from February 1, 1833, to February 4, 1839. 
John C. Spencer, from February 4, 1839, until October 11, 1841, when he 
resigned to accept the appointment of secretary of war by 
President Tyler. 



State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 313 

Samuel S. Randall, aa deputy, from October 11, 1841, to February 7, 1843. 
Samuel Young, from February 7, 1842, to February 3, 1845. 
Nathaniel S. Benton, from February 3, 1845, to December 31, 1847. 
Christopher Morgan, from December 31, 1847, to December 31, 1851. 
Henry S. Randall, from December 31, 1851, to December 31, 1853. 
Elias W. Leavenworth, from December 31, 1853, to April 8, 1854. 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Chapter 97, Laws of 1854, passed March 30, created the office of State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. It provided that he should be chosen 
by joint ballot of the senate and assembly, and that he should " be invested 
with all the powers, perform all the duties, and be subject to all the responsi- 
bilities now conferred or imposed by law upon the Secretary of State in his 
capacity of Superintendent of Common Schools." The Consolidated School 
Act of 1864 continued the office. 

The following is a list of the different superintendents and their terms of 
service. 

Victor M. Rice, from April 8, 1854, to April 7, 1857. 

Henry H. Van Dyck, from April 7, 1857, to April 19, 1861, when he resigned, 
having been elected by the legislature Superintendent of the 
Banking Department. 
Emerson W. Keyes, as Acting Superintendent, from April 19, 1861, to Feb- 
ruary 1, 1862. 
Victor M. Rice, from February 1, 1862, to April 8, 1868. 
Abram B. Weaver, from April 8, 1868, to April 8, 1874. 
Neil Gilmour, from April 8, 1874, to April 7, 1888. 

William B. Ruggles, from April 7, 1883, to January 2, 1886, when he resigned. 
James E. Morrison, as Acting Superintendent, from January 2, 1886, to April 

7, 1886. 
Andrew S. Draper, commenced his term April 7, 1886, and now holds the office. 

§ 2. He shall appoint a deputy ; and in case of a vacancy in the 
office of superintendent, the deputy may perform all the duties of 
the office until the day hereinbefore fixed for the commencement 
of the term of said office. In case the office of both Superintend- 
ent and deputy shall be vacant, the Governor shall appoint some 
person to perform the duties of the office until the Superintendent 
shall be elected and his term of office commence, as hereinbefore 
provided. {As amended hy sec. 2, chap. 75, Laws of 1883.) 

The duties of the Superintendent of Common Schools were largely performed 
by that officer without an assistant or clerk, until the duties were imposed upon 
the Secretary of State. After that time the work was chiefly performed by a 
clerk. 

Deputy Superintendent of Common Schools. 

In 1841 the legislature authorized the appointment by the Secretary of State 
of a general Deputy Superintendent of Common Schools. 
The following persons served as such officer: 

Samuel S. Randall, from July 12, 1841, to October 1, 1846, a part of which time 

he was acting superintendent. 
Samuel L. Holmes, from October 1, 1846, to February 1, 1848. 

40 



314 State SuPERiNTEKDEi^T of Public Ikstruction^. 

Alexander G. Johnson, from February 1, 1848, to December 8, 1849. 

Samuel S. Randall (re-appointed), from December 8, 1849, to January 1, 1852. 

Henry W. Johnson, from January 1, 1852, to January 1, 1854. 

Samuel S. Randall (re-appointed), from January 2, 1854, to April 8, 1854. 

Deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

After the creation of the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction 
with the power to appoint a deputy, the following persons served as such 
deputy: 

Samuel S. Randall, from April 8, 1854, to June 14, 1854, when he resigned to 
accept the office of superintendent of common schools in the 
city of New York. 

Joseph J. Chambers, from June 14, 1854, to December 26, 1854. 

Erasmus Pershine Smith, from December 26, 1854, to August 1, 1857. 

Emerson W. Keyes, from August 1, 1857, to August 19, 1865. 

Samuel D. Barr, from August 19, 1865, to November 30, 1868. 

James C. Brown, from November 30, 1868, to January 9, 1869. 

Edward Danforth, from January 9, 1869, to August 1, 1874. 

Jonathan Tenney, from August 1, 1874, to December 16, 1875. 

Addison A. Keyes, from December 16, 1875, to April 7, 1883. 

James E. Morrison, from April 7, 1883, to January 2, 1886. 

Eugene Bouton, from January 5, 1886, to February 16. 1886. 

George B. Weaver, from February 16, 1886, to April 7, 1886. 

Charles R. Skinner, appointed April 7, 1886, and now holds the office. 

§ 3. The Superintendent's office shall continue to be in the 
State Hall, and maintained at the expense of the State. 

§ 4. His salary shall be five thousand dollars a year, payable 
quarterly, by the treasurer, on the warrant of the comptroller. 
{As amended hy sec. 1, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) 

§ 5. He may appoint as many clerks as he may deem necessary, 
but the compensation of such clerks shall not exceed in the aggre- 
gate the sum of nine thousand dollars in any one year, and shall 
be payable monthly by the treasurer, on the warrant of the comp- 
troller, and the certificate of the Superintendent. {As amended 
hy sec. 2, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) 

§ 6. The seal of the Superintendent, of which a description and 
impression are now on file in the office of secretary of State, shall 
continue to be his official seal, and when necessary, may be re- 
newed from time to time. Copies of all papers deposited or filed 
in the Superintendent's' office, and of all acts, orders and decisions 
made by him, and of the drafts or machine copies of his official 
letters, may be authenticated under the said seal, and when so 
authenticated, shall be evidence equally with and in like manner 
as the originals. 



State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 315 

Chapter 129 of tlie Laws of 1838 provides that no "record, whereof a tran- 
script duly certified may by law be read in evidence, shall be removed by vir- 
tue of any subpoena duces tecum from the proper office in which such record 
shall be kept, * * * * unless by order of some court of record, 
made in open court, and entered in the minutes thereof, which order shall 
specify that the production of such record instead of such transcript is neces- 
sary." 

The Revised Statutes, section 74, title III, chapter 7, part 3, provide that 
" whenever a certified copy of any affidavit, record, document, or other paper 
is declared by law to be evidence, such copy shall be certified, by the clerk or 
officer in whose custody the same is required by law to be, to have been com- 
pared by him with the original, and to be a correct transcript therefrom and 
of the whole of such original; and, if such officer have any official seal bylaw, 
such certificate shall be attested by such seal." The seventy-sixth section of 
the same title provides that "in all cases, where the seal of any court or of 
any public officer shall be authorized or required by law, the same may be 
affixed by making an impression directly on the paper, which shall be as valid 
as if made on a wafer or on wax.' 

§ 7. The Superiatendent shall be, ex officio, a trustee of Cor- 
nell University, and of the New York State Asylum for Idiots, 
and a Regent of the University of the State of Kew York. He 
shall also have general supervision over the State normal schools 
at Brockport, Buffalo, Cortland, Fredonia, Geneseo, Oswego and 
Potsdam, and over any other State normal school which may 
hereafter be established ; and he shall provide for the education 
of the Indian children of the State, as required by chapter 
seventy-one of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six. {As 
amended hy sec. 3, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) 

§ 12. The Superintendent may, in his discretion, appoint per- 
sons to visit and examine all or any of the common schools in the 
county wherein such persons reside, and to report to him all such 
matters respecting their condition and management, and the 
means of improving them, as he shall prescribe ; but no allow- 
ance or compensation shall be made to such visitors for their ser- 
vices or expenses. 

This section is copied from section 8, chapter 330, Laws of 1839. Soon 
after its passage visitors were appointed in all the counties of the State. The 
visitors did not generally enter upon the work. Of the 10,700 school districts 
in the State at that time, only 1,865 were visited. From twenty-three counties 
no reports were received. The Superintendent of Common Schools, April 13, 
1840, sent to the legislature, an abstract of the reports received by him, from 
visitors appointed under this law, which were published in Assembly Docu- 
ment No. 307. The power vested in the Superintendent by this section has 
not since been exercised, except perhaps in a single instance in 1861, where a 
school commissioner, having volunteered for three months at the beginning of 
the war, the Acting Superintendent appointed a visitor to examine teachers 
and visit schools, the Superintendent issuing temporary certificates upon the 



316 State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

recommendation of tlie visitor. In this way the patriotic impulse of the com- 
missioner was gratified without the sacrifice of his office, and at the same time 
without prejudice to the public service. The commissioner, of course, drew 
his salary which, by arrangement, he turned over to the visitor. 

§ 13. So often as he can, consistently with his other duties, he 
sliall visit such of the common schools of the State as he shall 
see fit, and inquire into their course of instruction, management 
and discipline, and advise and encourage the pupils, teachers and 
officers thereof. 

§ 18. Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any 
school commissioner, or other school officer, has been guilty of any 
willful violation or neglect of duty under this act, or any other 
act pertaining to common schools, or of willfully disobeying any 
decision, order or regulation of the Superintendent, the Superin- 
tendent may, by an order under his hand and seal, which order 
shall be recorded in his office, remove such school commissioner 
or other school officer from his office. 

Any school officer can be removed by the Superintendent for either of two 
causes: 

1. The willful violation or neglect of duty under this act, or any other act 
pertaining to common schools. 

2. The willful disobedience of any decision, order or regulation of the 
Superintendent. 

The practice where removal is sought is similar to that in appeal cases, in 
fact the proceedings are generally termed appeals asking for the removal of 
the officer against whom the charges are made. 

All the papers must be prepared under the rules established by the Super- 
intendent in cases of appeal. 

The petition, after distinctly stating the charge, should proceed with a specifi- 
cation of the facts by which it is established, which must be set forth with such 
certainty as to time, place, etc., as to furnish the officer with precise information 
as to what he is expected to meet, and to enable him to look for repelling tes- 
timony. The charges must not only be distinctly alleged, but they must be 
specifically proved. • After being verified, a copy of the affidavits, including 
the jurat or certificate of the officer administering the oath, must be served 
upon the officer whose removal is sought, together with a notice of the applica- 
tion, which may be substantially in the following form. 

Sir: Take notice that the petition and affidavits, with copies of which you 
are herewith served, will be presented to the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion at Albany, and application thereupon made for your removal from the 
office of trustee of Joint District No. , of , in county, 

and , in county; and that you are required to transmit your 

answer to such application, duly verified, to the Department of Public Instruc- 
tion within ten days after the service hereof, or the charges contained in such 
affidavits will be deemed to be admitted by you. 

A B . 

Post-office address, , 

A copy of this notice, together with an affidavit proving the service thereof 
and of the affidavits therein referred to, and the date and manner of such 



State Supeeintejs^dent of Public Instruction. 317 

service, must be transmitted, with _tlie original aflBdavits, to the Department 
of Public Instruction, He cannot be prejudiced by any statement which, he has 
not been called upon to answer. 

The form of the notice above given indicates the course of the respondent. 
He is to transmit his sworn answer, together with the affidavits of other per- 
sons, if he deems them necessary, to the department within ten days. If, for 
any reason, as the absence of material witnesses, he is unable to complete his 
defense in that time, he should before its expiration transmit his own answer 
duly verified, with a statement, under oath, of the facts which render it nec- 
essary that the time to procure further evidence should be extended, and 
stating the earliest day at which he expects to be able to obtain such evidence. 
If a probable defense appears from his answer, and the application for further 
time is reasonable, an order will be made granting it. 

The practice generally followed in cases of disobedience of an order or 
decision of the Superintendent is the same as in appeals, excepting that upon 
filing the charges in the Department or upon his own motion, the Superintend- 
ent issues an order, directing the respondent to show cause before him on 
or before a certain day fixed in the order, whyrhe should not be removed from 
office. If no answer is made, the allegations contained in the moving papers 
are considered to be admitted as true, and if as such, a case is established 
against the officer, the Superintendent at once removes him. 

If, on the other hand, an answer is interposed, the questions must be decided 
by the Superintendent after an examination presented by both sides. 

From an order removing a school officer by the Superintendent, there is no 
appeal. 

§ 19. He shall prepare suitable registers, blanks, forms and 
regulations for making all reports and conducting all necessary 
business under this act, and shall cause the same, with such infor- 
mation and instructions as he shall- deem conducive to the proper 
organization and government of the common schools, and the due 
execution of their duties by school officers, to be transmitted to 
the officers and persons intrusted with the execution of the same. 

The registers to be used by teachers in keeping an account of the attendance 
at school, and the blanks for the report of trustees to school commissioners, 
are prepared in July or August of each year and sent by the Department to 
school commissioners: by those officers they are usually transmitted to town 
clerks, and by town clerks to the trustees of school districts. 



The powers and duties of the State Superintendent are so numerous, that it 
is impracticable to treat of others than those of a general nature under this 
heading. Others are herein referred to under the various headings to which 
they specially relate, and for convenience cross-references are made to them, . 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

Appeals. 

Title XII. This whole title is devoted to the subject of appeals, and the 
Superintendent's jurisdiction and powers are found fully stated therein. 



318 State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Blind. 

Title I, § 9. All appointments of state pupils to tlie New York Institution 
for the Blind are made by the Superintendent under the provisions of this sec- 
tion, and chapter 166, Laws of 1870. 

Chap. 166, Laws of 1870. The Superintendent may appoint the blind pupils 
to the New York Institution for the Blind for a term of five years, and may 
under certain conditions extend such term. 

Title 1, ^ 11. The Superintendent may make regulations and directions so as 
to prevent pupils entering the institution at irregular periods. 

Cornell University. 

Title I, § 7. The Superintendent is made ex-officio, a trustee of Cornell Uni- 
versity. Chapter 581, Laws of 1865, as amended by chap. 291, Laws of 1887. 
This chapter provides for the examination of candidates for free scholarships 
in Cornell University, and the appointment to such scholarships. The super- 
intendent has charge of such examinations as well as other and important 
powers and duties in relation to the subject. (See page 486.) 

Deaf and Dumb. 

Title I, § 9. All appointments of State pupils to the deaf and dumb institu- 
tions are made by the Superintendent under the provisions of this section. 
He may also impose conditions whereby some proportionate share of the ex- 
pense of educating and clothing such pupils shall be paid by their parents, 
guardians or friends. 

Title I, § 10. The Superintendent may, in his discretion, extend the term of 
a pupil three years beyond the regular term of five years. 

Title I, § 11. The Superintendent may make regulations and directions so 
as to prevent pupils entering the institutions at irregular periods. 

Fines and Penalties. 

Title III, § 22. Whenever a fine or penalty for the benefit of the common 
schools of a county is collected and paid into the county treasury of a county 
comprising a city having a special school act, the Superintendent shall appor- 
tion the amount of such fine or penalty between the city and the residue of 
the county. 

Indian Schools. 

Title XIII, § 12. Directs the Superintendent to make an equitable appor- 
tionment to Indian schools. 

Chapter 71, Laws of 1856. The Superintendent is charged with providing 
the means of education for all the Indian children in the State. The whole 
chapter is a direction to the Superintendent to this end. (See page 85.) 

Librarian and Libraries. 

Title VIII, § 3. The Superintendent may approve of the application of the 
library money apportioned to a district to the payment of teachers' wages, 
under certain circumstances. 

Title VIII, § 9. The Superintendent may order that an agreement forming a 
joint library be terminated. 

Title VIII, § 10. When a joint library is dissolved, and the trustees cannot 
agree upon a division of the books, the Superintendent may select some officer 
or person to make such division. 

Title VIII, § 11. The Superintendent shall make all rules and regulations 
respecting the use of district libraries. 



State Superintendekt of Public Ii^structiok. 319 

Title VIII, § 12. The Superintendent may require the trustees to make such 
report as he shall prescribe to the school commissioner or to him concerning 
the district library. 

Title VIII, § 12. The Superintendent may impose it as a duty upon the 
teacher to assist in making an examination of the library; and the school may 
be closed one day for such purpose, without its being accounted lost time. 

Title VIII, § 13. Superintendent may withhold library money from a dis- 
trict when a report as required by him has not been made. 

Title VIII, § 14. When so requested by the trustee, the Superintendent may 
select the books for the district library and cause the same to be delivered to 
the clerk of the county. 

Meetings. 

Title VII, § 10. When the annual meeting in a district was not held, and if 
no special meeting be called by the trustees or clerk within twenty days to 
transact the business of the annual meeting, the Superintendent may order 
any inhabitant of such district to give notice of such special meeting. 

Miscellaneous. 

Chapter 248, Laws of 1878. The Superintendent has power to decide all 
disputes concerning the validity of any election held under this act, or of any 
votes cast thereat, or of any of the acts of the inspectors or clerk, and his de- 
cision shall be final. He may, in his discretion, order a new election. 

American Museum of Natural History. — Chapter 248, Laws of 1886. Duties 
and powers of Superintendent relating to this institution. (See page 483.) 

Plans and specifications for school-houses. — Chapter 675, Laws of 1887. The 
Superintendent is directed to procure plans and specifications for school-houses, 
and publish the same in convenient form for distribution. {See page 118.) 

Code of Public Instruction. — Chapter 672, Laws of 1887. The Superintend- 
ent is directed to distribute the Code of Public Instruction of 1887, to the 
school districts of the State. {See page 117.) 

Reports. 

Title I, § 14. The Superintendent shall submit to the legislature an annual 
report. The items of such report are enumerated in the subdivisions of this 
section. 

Title VII, § 60, sub. 5. The Superintendent may require trustees to report 
any information he may desire concerning the common schools of their dis- 
trict. 

Title VII, § 62. Superintendent may prescribe the form and subject matter 
of all reports from trustees of joint districts lying in two or more counties. 

Title VII, ^ 63. The Superintendent may require reports from trustees of 
separate neighborhoods upon such matters as he shall prescribe. 

School Commissioner. 

Title II, § 6. The Superintendent can appoint school commissioners in case 
of a vacancy in that office when there is no county judge to make the appoint- 
ment. {See School Commissioner.) 

Title II, § 10. Superintendent may withhold the salary of a school commis- 
sioner when that officer persistenly neglects to perform his duties; he may 
also remit such forfeiture. {See School Commissioner.) 

Title II, § 12. Superintendent may remove a school commissioner from 
office, for a violation of this section which forbids him to act as agent for any 
author, publisher or bookseller, or directly or indirectly receive any gift, 
emolument, reward or promise of reward, for his influence in recommending 



320' State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

or procuring the use of any book, or school apparatus, or furniture of any 
kind whatever, in any common school, or the purchase of any book for a dis- 
trict library. 

Title II, § 14. Superintendent may direct school commissioner to take and 
report to him testimony in any case of appeal. {See, also, Appeals.) 

Title II, ^ 15. To prescribe rules and regulations for school commissioners, 
and to require them to make report to him as to any particular act or matter 
that he may desire. {See, also, Reports,) 

School-Houses and Appendages. 

Title VII, § 50. The Superintendent may direct the trustees to expend a 
sum not exceeding $50 in the erection of necessary outbuildings, when the 
district is wholly unprovided with such buildings. 

State Normal Schools. 

The powers and duties of the Superintendent are found in the chapter on 
State Normal Schools. {See page ^Qd.) 

State School Moneys. 

Title III, § 3. Must unite with State Treasurer in transferring the State 
moneys from one depository to another. 

Title III, § 3. No state school moneys are paid out except upon the warrant 
of the Superintendent, countersigned by the comptroller. 

Title III, § 3. The Superintendent shall countersign and enter all checks 
drawn by the treasurer in payment of his warrants, also all receipts of the 
treasurer for moneys paid to the treasurer. 

Title III, § 4. The Superintendent and the Comptroller are authorized to 
make a loan when a county has not paid into the state treasury by the first day 
of March of each year, the moneys required by law to be raised by taxation 
upon such county, and such loan shall be a charge upon the. county in default. 

Title III, § 5. The state school moneys shall be apportioned by the Superin- 
tendent on or before the twentieth day of January in each year. 

Title III, §§ 6, 7, 8 and 9, direct the manner of the apportionment by the 
Superintendent. 

Title III, § 10. The Superintendent may make an equitable allowance to any 
district or neighborhood that was excluded from participation in any appor- 
tionment by reason of its having omitted to make any report required by law, 
or to comply with any other provision of law, or with any rule or regulation 
made by the Superintendent under the authority of law, where it shall be shown 
to him that such omission was accidental or excusable. He may also direct 
that the money so equitably apportioned be paid in satisfaction of teachers' 
wages earned by a teacher not duly qualified. 

Title III, § 11. The Superintendent may reclaim any money apportioned to 
any county, or district not entitled to such money, when not impracticable to 
do so. If paid into the State treasury the Superintendent countersigns the 
Treasurer's receipt for the same. 

If it be impracticable to reclaim such money he shall deduct it in his next 
annual apportionment. 

Title III, § 12. When a less- amount has been apportioned to any county or 
district than it was entitled to, the Superintendent may make a supplemental 
apportionment to be paid from the contingent fund, if sufiicient, and if not, 
then to be made up in his next annual apportionment. 

Title III, § 13. The Superintendent certifies his annual apportionment, as 
soon as made, to the county clerk, county treasurer, school commissioners and 
city treasurer or chamberlain, in every county in the State. He certifies a sup- 
plemental apportionment to the county clerk, county treasurer and school com- 
missioners of the county in which the district or neighborhood is situated. 



State Superintenden't of Public In-struction. 321 

Title III, § 28. Superintendent may give liis approval so that school commis- 
sioners can correct errors made by them in their apportionment. 

Title XIII, § 13. Directs the Superintendent to make an equitable apportion- 
ment to the Indian schools. 

Teacheks. 

Title I, § 15. The Superintendent may grant under his hand and seal of 
office, a certificate of qualification to teach in the public schools of the State, 
and may revoke the same. 

Title I, $^ 16. He may for cause annul any certificate held by a teacher. 

Title I, § 16. He shall keep in his office alphabetical lists of all persons who 
have received, or shall receive certificates of qualification from himself or 
diplomas of any normal school of the State. 

Teacheks' Institutes. 

Title XI, § 2. The Superintendent shall advise and direct commissioners in 
relation to giving notice of a teachers' institute. 

Title XI, § 3. The Superintendent shall advise aud co-operate with the com- 
missioners in fixing the times and places of holding institutes. 

He shall have power to employ, or cause the school commissioner to employ 
suitable persons to conduct the institute. 

He shall visit, or cause to be visited by persons employed in the Department, 
such and so many of the institutes as he possibly can. 

He shall establish the basis upon which the yearly appropriation for the 
support of teachers' institutes shall be distributed. 

Title XI, § 4. The Superintendent may establish such regulations in regard 
to certificates of qualification, issued by commissioners, as will furnish incen- 
tives and encouragement to teachers to attend the institutes. 

Title XI, § 5. The Superintendent may include a district in his apportion- 
ment of public moneys that has complied with the requirements of the law 
concerning teachers' institutes, and which shall in other respects be entitled to 
be included in such apportionment. 

Title XI, § 6. The amount which the' Superintendent shall certify to be 
due to commissioners as expenses of holding an institute shall be paid, them, 
and also to any person employed by the Superintendent. 

Title XI, § 7. The Superintendent may direct reports from school commis- 
sioners concerning the institutes. 

Taxes. 

Title VII, § 87. Superintendent may approve and consent to the withdrawal 
and correction of a tax list and warrant. 

Town Clerk. 

Title V, § 5. Superintendent may send blanks and circulars to town clerks 
and direct the distributions thereof. 

Title V, § 6. Superintendent may require town clerk to send to him a copy 
of the supervisors' annual account of school moneys submitted to the town 
auditors, together with the action of the town auditors thereon. 

Trust Funds. 

Title III, ^ 15. The Superintendent may hold real or personal estate in 
trust, for the support or benefit of common schools within the State. 

Title III, § 17. The Superintendent shall supervise and advise trustees of 
such funds and hold them to a regular accounting as he shall prescribe. 

Title III, § 18. Every trust created for the benefit of common schools shall 
be reported to the Superintendent as soon as created. 

41 



322 State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Title III, § 21. The Superintendent shall report to the legislature annually 
a statement and account of all gospel and school lots, or moneys arising from 
the lease or sale of such lands, and also, of all town school funds created under 
the " Act relative to moneys in the hands of overseers of the poor," passed 
April 27, 1829. For this purpose he can require from the supervisor, board of 
town auditors, or any officer of a town, a report concerning such trusts or 
funds. 

Union Free Schools. 

Title IX, § 1. If the trustees of a common school district, when petitioned 
according to law to call a meeting for the purpose of organizing a union free 
school district, refuse or neglect to give such notice for twenty days, the 
Superintendent may authorize and direct any inhabitant to give the notice. 

Title IX, § 4. He may also make the like order in case the petition is 
made to trustees of two or more adjoining districts. 

Title IX, § 18. The Superintendent may decide what are ordinary contin- 
gent expenses, and his decision shall be conclusive. 

Title IX, § 25. Every union free school district, in all its departments, shall 
be subject to the visitation of the Superintendent. He is charged with a gen- 
eral supervision of its board of education and their management and conduct 
of all its departments of instruction. 

Title IX, § 25. The Superintendent has power to require reports from 
boards of education as he shall prescribe. 

Title IX, 8i 26. For cause shown, or for willful disobedience of any lawful 
requirement'' of the Superintendent, or a want of due diligence in obeying 
such requirement, he may remove any member of a board of education. 



SUPERVISORS. 



The supervisors of towns are officers who have important trusts, and are 
charged with many and important duties in the school system of the State, 
and the administration of laws pertaining thereto. The duties are in reference 
to certain subjects which in this part of the Code are treated of in chapters 
under their respective names. For this reason, after giving a few sections 
and laws which stand comparatively alone, a reference is made to all sections 
and laws relating in any way to supervisors, and to the chapter where the 
same is placed with the annotations thereon. 

CANNOT BE TRUSTEE. 
Title YII. 
§ 23. 1^0 school commissioner or supervisor is eligible to the 
office of trustee, nor can either be a member of any board of 
education within his district or town j * * * . . 

The reason of this prohibition may be found in the incongruity of a man's 
holding two offices by one of which he is subject and responsible to himself 
in his other capacity. If a supervisor were also trustee, he would as super- 
visor hold money that he is forbidden to hold as trustee, and would as trustee 
draw orders on himself as supervisor. He is also directed to bring certain 
actions against the trustees of districts, which he would not be able to do if he 
held both offices. 

EMBEZZLEMENT. 
Title IY. 
§ 3. A supervisor who shall embezzle or apply to his own 
private use any money or security received by him under any 
provision of this act, including the two preceding sections of this 
title, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and any fine imposed upon 
a conviction thereof shall be for the benefit of the common schools 
of the town. 

§ 6. It is the duty of every supervisor. 

* -x- * * ' -^ -Jt * 

9. By his name of office, when the duty is not elsewhere im- 



324 Supervisors. 

posed by law, to sue for and recover penalties and forfeitures 
imposed for violations of this act, and for any default or omission 
of any town officer or school district board or officer under this 
act ; and after deducting his costs and expenses, to report the 
balances to the school commissioner. 

The moneys so collected are apportioned by the school commissioner. {See 
State School Moneys.) 

10. To act, when thereto legally required, in the erection or 
alteration of a school district, as in the sixth title of this act pro- 
vided, and to perform any other duty which may be devolved 
upon liim by this act, or any other act relating to common schools. 

BOARDS OF SUPERVISORS. 

Chapter 482, Laws of 1875. 
Section 1. Further powers of local legislation and administra- 
tion are hereby conferred on the boards of supervisors in the sev- 
eral counties of this State, except in cities whose boundaries are 
the same as those of the county, to make and administer, within 
their respective counties, laws and regulations as follows : 

28. To authorize boards of trustees or of education in any 
imion free school districts, or trustees of common school districts, 
established in conformity to the general or to any special law of 
the State on the application of a majority of the taxable inhabi- 
tants of the district, voting on the question at a duly called meet- 
ing, to sell or exchange real estate belonging to tlie district, for 
the purpose of improving or changing school-house sites, and to 
increase or diminish the number of members of said boards. {As 
amended hy sec. 1, chap. 239, Laws qf 1878.) 

36. To divide any school commissioner district which con- 
tains more than two hundred school districts and to erect there- 
from an additional school commissioner district, and when such 
district shall liave been formed, a school commissioner for said 
district shall be elected in the way and manner now provided by 
law for the election of scliool commissioner. {Added hy chap, 
h^Z, Laws of U^l.) 



Supervisors. 325 

Chapter 414, Laws op 1883. 

Section 1. Section sixteen of chapter one hundred and seventy- 
nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six is hereby 
amended so as to read as follows : 

§ 16. The several cities which have already or which shall 
hereafter, under special acts, elect superintendents of common 
schools, or whose board of education choose clerks doing the duty 
of supervision under direction of the board of education, shall not 
be included in any commissioner's district created by this act or 
authorized to be formed by the board of supervisors; and the 
several boards of supervisors in counties in which such cities are 
joined to towns in the formation of an assembly district may 
divide the county, exclusive of such cities, into school com- 
missioner's districts as they may deem advisable, but no town 
shall be divided in forming such districts. 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

Title II, § 8. When the supervisors of the towns comprising a school 
commissioner district adopt a resolution to increase the pay of school commis- 
sioners, the board of supervisors shall assess such amount upon the towns 
composing such commissioner district. {See School Commissioner.) 

Title VII, § 78. To assess unpaid taxes' upon real estate. {See Taxes.) 

Title III, I 15. Real or personal estate may be granted to any supervisor 
in trust, for the benefit of the schools of his town or school district. {See 
Trust Funds.) 

Title III, § 18. Shall report to State Superintendent all trusts held by 
him, and whenever a trust is created, and the terms thereof. {See Trust 
Funds.) 

Title III, § 19. Shall report to the State Superintendent concerning the 
gospel and school lots. {See Trust Funds.) 

Title III, § 20. Shall report to State Superintendent the particulars con- 
cerning any town school fund. {See Trust Funds.) 

Title III, § 21. Shall report to State Superintendent concerning trust 
funds whenever so required. {See Trust Funds.) 

Title III, § 30. To make and file copy of commissioner's certificate of the 
public moneys apportioned to his town, and deposit the original in the office 
of the clerk of the town. The moneys are to be paid to him immediately upon 
his compliance with the requirements of the next section. {See State School 
Moneys. ) 

Title III, ^ 31. Shall give, immediately upon receipt of commissioner's 
certificate, a bond to the county treasurer; a bond with two or more sufficient 
sureties in the penalty of at least double the amount of the school moneys. 
County treasurer shall also require person elected or appointed to fill vacancy 
in the office of supervisor to give a bond. {See State School Moneys.) 

Title III, § 32. The refusal of the supervisor to give security a misde- 
meanor. {See State School Moneys.) 

Title IV, § 1. Are made the trustees of gospel and school lots. {See 
Trust Funds.) 



326 SuPEiivisoES. 

Title IV, § 2. Are made the trustees of town school fund. {See Trust 
Funds.) 

Title IV, § 4. To make return in writing on the first Tuesday of March 
in each year, to the county treasurer, of the State school moneys in his hands 
and not paid out on the order of trustees, {^ee State School Moneys.) 

Title IV, § 5. Forfeit $25 for neglect to make return directed in preced- 
ing section. {See State School Moneys.) 

Title IV, § 6. This section prescribes duties of supervisors in the sub- 
divisions thereof as follows: 

1. To disburse the school moneys in his hands upon the written order of the 
trustees, for the payment of teachers' wages. {See State School Moneys.) 

2. To disburse the library money upon the written order of the trustees. 
{See Librarian and Libraries.) 

3. To pay the public money apportioned to a union free school district, to 
the treasurer thereof upon the order of the board of education. {See State 
School Moneys.) 

4. To keep an account of all the school moneys received and disbursed by 
him, and to lay the same, with the vouchers, before the board of town auditors 
at their annual meeting. {See State School Moneys.) 

5. To keep a book of account of all the school moneys. {See State School 
Moneys.) 

6. Within fifteen days after the termination of his term of oflBce, to deliver 
to the town clerk an account of school moneys received and disbursed by him, 
and to notify his successors of the rendition and filing thereof. {See State 
School Moneys.) ' 

7. So soon as his bond is given and approved, to deliver the certificate of the 
county treasurer of these facts to his predecessor; to procure from the town 
clerk a copy of his predecessor's account, and to demand and receive from him 
any school moneys remaining in his hands. {See State School Moneys.) 

8. Upon receiving such certificate, and not before, to pay to his successor 
all school moneys remaining in his hands, and file the certificate in the town 
clerk's office. {See State School Moneys.) 

Title VI, § 4, May be associated with town clerk and school commis- 
sioner in confirming or vacating commissioner's order altering district bound- 
aries. {See School Districts.) 

Title VI, § 5. Entitled to $1.50 per day as member of such board, to be 
paid by the town. {See School Districts.) 

Title VI, § 9. To sell the property of dissolved districts. {See School 
Districts.) 

Title VI, § 10. May sue officers of dissolved district for moneys due 
the district, and report the same to the school commissioner. {See School 
Districts.) 

Title VII, § 10. Where the time for the annual meeting passes with- 
out the meeting being held, and the trustees do not call a special meeting for 
transacting the business of the annual meeting within twenty days, the sup- 
ervisor may order an inhabitant to give notice of such meeting. {See Meet- 
ings.) 

Title VII, § 20. To give consent to change of site and removal of school- 
house, when the district had not previously been altered. {See School-House 
Sites.) 

Title VII, § 30. Can appoint trustee after a vacancy of one month. {See 
Trustees.) 

Title VII, § 35. May accept written resignation of district officers. {See 
Fines and Penalties.) 

Title VII, § 69. To equalize the tax in school districts lying in two or 
more towns. {See Taxes.) 

Title VII, ^ 87. Where more than one renewal of a warrant is made, it 
must be with approbation of the supervisor. {See Taxes.) 

Chapter 694, Laws of 1867, as amended. Where the assessors neglect 
to make apportionment of the property of railroad, telegraph, telephone and 



SUPEKVISOKS. 327 

pipe-line companies, it is the duty of the supervisor, on tlie application of the 
trustees or board of education of any district, or of any such companies, to 
make the apportionment in the same manner and with the like effect as if 
made by said assessors. {See Taxes.) 

Chapter 78, Laws of 1866, requires that supervisors give bonds for trust 
funds. {See Trust Funds.) 

Boards of supervisors are under certain conditions to raise money to pay for 
clothing of State and county blind pupils and deaf-mutes. {See Deaf and 
JDumb, aUo, Blind.) 



TAXES. 

ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION. 

TITLE VIL 

§ 65. Within thirty days after a tax shall have been voted by 
a district meeting, the trustees shall assess it, and make out the 
tax list therefor, and annex thereto their warrant for its collection. 
But they may at the same time assess two or more taxes so voted, 
and any tax or taxes they are authorized to raise without such 
vote, and make out one tax list and one warrant for the collection 
of the whole. They shall also prefix to the tax list a heading 
showing for what purpose the different items of the tax is levied. 

The first part of this section is merely directory, and in cases where the tax- 
list and warrant were not issued until after the expiration of thirty days from 
the time the tax was voted, the trustees can act the same as within the time 
set in this section. 

The first sentence is substantially the same as section 99, chapter 480, Laws 
of 1847. Of that section the supreme court said (2 Denio, 161): " There are 
no negative words in the statute, such as would necessarily make it impera- 
tive; and in such a case, for the benefit of the public, the act may be done 
after the time has elapsed; the statute, as to time, being regarded as directory 
only." The court remark, however: "Had it appeared, in this case, that 
there was such a change in the taxable persons or property in the district, be- 
tween the expiration of the month and the time the tax-list was made out, a 
different question would have been presented. But it does not appear that 
there was any such change, or that the plaintiff was in any way injured by the 
delay." 

The policy of the statute is, that the tax shall affect only the persons and 
property of the district, as nearly as possible, in the district at the time the 
tax was voted, and such persons as shall voluntarily expose themselves to lia- 
bility while the tax-list is being made out. 

Land purchased after a tax is voted, but before the tax -list is made out, 
should be assessed to the purchaser, if he has taken possession; and the seller 
may be taxed for the purchase-money secured by mortgage, as personal prop- 
erty, although he has reserved the possession to a tenant until a period which 
will not arrive until after the tax -list is made out. Persons about to remove 
from the district must be included in the tax-list, if inhabitants when it is 
completed. 

By section 83 of this title the trustees are forbidden to deliver the tax-list 
and warrant to the collector until the thirty -first day after the tax was voted. 
A tax-list cannot be regarded as completed until it has been delivered with 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 329 

the warrant to the collector. While it remains in the hands of the trustees it 
may be altered and amended at any time The actual making up of a tax-list 
and warrant may be the work of a clerk or amanuensis. Although it may be 
in due form and contain all that is legally necessary, even to the signatures, 
it cannot be deemed complete until it has passed from their hands to the 
proper officer to collect it. There is an analogy between such a paper and a 
deed, mortgage or lease. They may be complete as to form and execution, 
but the transaction between grantor and grantee is not complete without de- 
livery. 

It is the clear duty of trustees to proceed in the making out of every tax-list 
with such dispatch that it may be completed within thirty days, whenever 
practicable. It should not be postponed because circumstances may render it 
expedient to delay the collection. 

The district meeting can vote a tax for a specified purpose and not an im- 
mediate necessity, such as the running expenses of the school, and fix a time 
when the tax-list and warrant shall be issued. Such date cannot be before 
the thirty-first day after the tax was voted, but can be for a period beyond 
such time. 

The bringing an appeal from the proceedings of a meeting voting a tax, will 
not of itself stay the issuing of the tax-list and warrant, unless an injunction 
order is issued by the State Superintendent, in which case the time during 
which the inj unction is pending is to be deducted in counting the thirty days. 

FORM OF TAX-LIST. 
The trustees in making out the tax-list should follow the form prescribed 
by law for town assessors. {Title 2, chap. 13, art. 2, part 1, M. 8., Ith ed.) 

'• § 9. They shall prepare an assessment-roll, in which they shall set down in four sep- 
arate columns, and according to the best information in their power: 

"1. In the flrst column the names of all the taxable inhabitants in the town or ward, 
as the case may be; 

"2. In the second column, the quantity of land to be taxed to each person; 

"3. In the third column, the full value of such land, according to the definition of 
the term land, as given in the first title of this chapter; 

'•4. In the fourth column, the full value of all the taxable personal property owned 
by such person, after deducting the just debts owing by him. 

"§ 10. "Where a person is assessed as trustee, guardian, executor or administrator, he 
shall be assessed as such, with the addition to his name of his representative character, 
and such assessment shall be carried out in a separate line from his individual assess- 
ment; and he shall be assessed for the value of the real estate held by him in such rep- 
resentative character, at the full value thereof, and for the personal property held by 
him in such representative character, deducting from such personal property the just 
debts due from him In such representative character." 

It is necessary, to give validity to a tax-list, that the trustees follow the di- 
rections of this section and " prefix to their tax-list a heading showing for 
what purpose the different items of the tax is levied." A tax-list which does 
not show this will be set aside upon appeal to the State Superintendent. 
Every tax payer is entitled to see the tax-list, which will show him at a glance 
for what purpose the tax is levied. As a matter of record it will serve to show 
the correctness of the trustees' and collectors' accounts with the district and 
the trustees' report to the school commissioner. The items on the tax-list 
which were ordered by a district meeting should be so designated, giving the 
date of the meeting which authorized their levy. Items which the trustees 
are authorized to insert can be included in the same list. 

Trustees frequently inquire whether the items of an account should be set 
out in the heading. The section does not require this. It is the particular 
purpose for which the item of tax is raised that should be mentioned. For 
example, if the trustees have expended $20 for repairs upon the school-house, 
it will be sufficient to state that the $20 is for repairs, and not to give the dif- 
ferent items making up the bill for repairs. In the same way where a new 
school-house has been erected, fuel or other necessaries furnished. The fol- 
lowing is a correct form of heading: , , 

42 



330 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 



lAst of taxes assessed hy the trustees of common school district No. 1, in the town, 
of Lyons, county of Wayne, in accordance with the provisions of title 7 of the 
Oejieral School Laws of the State of New York. 

For repairs upon school-house voted by the annual school meeting, 

August 30, 1886 $225 00 

For fuel voted at said meeting 25 00 

For teachers' wages voted at said meeting 150 00 

For maps and globes 10 00 

For j anitor 18 00 

Total $428 00 



The tax-list should be prepared in the following form: 



NAMES OF TAXABLE INHABITANTS AND COBPORA- 
TiONS. 




3 
m 

o . 
> 




P 


James Thomas 

James Thomas, executor of estate of John Thomas, 

deceased 

Clark Cotton Manufacturing Company 


80 acres. 

5 acres. 
X acres. 


^400 

11250 
625 


$1,025 
25,000 


$6 81 

17 45 

446 91 

10 64 





Statement and description of unoccupied and unimproved lands of non- 
residents of said district on which a tax has been imposed as above stated. 



NUMBER AND DESCRIPTION OP LOTS AND PARTS OF 
LOTS. 


Quantity of 
land therein 
liable to tax- 
ation. 


o a 

> 




+i 

a 

3 

< 


No, 17, short tract , 

That part of the south-west quarter of lot No. 23, short 
tract, which lies east of a line running north 43° west 
from the south-east corner of lot No. 12, in the same 
tract , being the district boundary line 


10 acres. 
2X acres. 


$25 00 
600 


$0 75 
18 



ASSESSMEN^T A^ND COLLECTION OF TaXES. 331 

Trustees caunot place upon a tax-list the uncollected taxes upon some for- 
mer tax-list, or when there was a failure to assess property upon a former list, 
increase the assessment against such property so as to make up for such loss. 
If property is omitted from a tax-list, and it is not discovered until the taxes 
are collected and the warrant returned, it is too late to remedy the mistake. 

WARRANT OF TRUSTEES. 

To the Collector of school district No. in the toion- of in the county 

of , State of New York: 

You are hereby commanded to receive from each of the taxable inhabitants 
and corporations named in the foregoing list, and of the owners of the real 
estate described therein, the several sums mentioned in the last column of the 
said list, opposite to the persons and corporations so named, and to the several 
tracts of land so described, or so much thereof as may be voluntarily paid to 
you for two successive weeks after the delivery to you of this warrant, to- 
gether with one cent on each dollar thereof for your fees, and after the expi- 
ration of the time above mentioned, to proceed forthwith to collect the residue 
of the sums not so paid in as aforesaid, with five cents on each dollar thereof for 
your fees; and in case any person upon whom such tax is imposed shall neg- 
lect or refuse to pay the same, you are to levy the same by distress and sale of 
the goods and chattels of the person or corporation so taxed, in the same man- 
ner as on warrants issued by the board of supervisors to the collectors of taxes 
in towns; and you are to make a return of this warrant within thirty days 
after the delivery thereof to you; and if any tax on real estate or the taxes 
upon non-resident stockholders in banking associations organized under the 
laws of Congress, mentioned in the said list, shall be unpaid at the time when 
you are required to return this warrant, you are to deliver to the trustees of 
the said district an account thereof, according to law. All moneys received or 
collected by you by virtue of this warrant yon are to keep safely, and to pay 
out the same on the written order of a majority of the trustees. 

Given under hand this day of" , 188 . 

, Trustee , 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

When the tax is levied and assessed by all the trustees their judicial duties 
are at an end; it is unimportant whether all are present at the signing of the 
warrant, which is but a ministerial act. (19 Bai'b. 167.) 

It is because the issuing of the warrant is a ministerial act, and the statute 
prescribes the legal effect of the process, that the trustees will be trespassers 
if they adopt a form which departs from it and directs the collector to act 
otherwise than the law directs. (16 Wend. 607.) 

The statute no longer prescribes thirty days, or any other period, within 
which the warrant shall be made returnable; but the trustees must prescribe 
a time in the warrant, and should not depart from the former usage except 
for strong reasons. (18 Barb. 331.) 

A majority of the trustees of a school district may, after notice to all, law- 
fully make the assessment and issue the warrant for the school tax. {Porter 
V. BoUnson, 12 Week. Dig. 209.) 

Seal. 

The trustees of a school district made out and issued their warrant without 
a seal, though a seal was required by the statute; and, after several renewals 
without seal, renewed it with seal. Held, valid, as in effect a new warrant. 
(Supreme Court, 1842, Smith v. Bandall, 3 Hill, 495; followed, 1845, in a fur- 
ther decision in S. C, 1 Denio, 214; to similar effect, 1853, Parker v. Brown, 
17 Barb. 145.) 



332 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 



Requirement of the Warrant. 

The provisions of Revised Statutes, 484, section 88, required that the war- 
rant should command the collector to proceed in the same manner as on exe- 
cutions issued by a justice of the peace. By the laws of 1831, 248, section 2; 
1832, 547, section 1, this provision was repealed, and it was required that the 
warrant should command the collector to proceed in the same manner as on 
warrants issued by the board of supervisors to the collectors of towns, Held, 
that a warrant issued in the old form, after the latter provision took effect, 
was void, and afforded no protection to the officer. {Supreme Court, 1837, 
Clark V. Hallock, 16 Wend. 607.) 

Warrant Exceeding Tax. 

The warrant directed one dollar more than the amount of the tax voted to 
be collected. Held, that the plaintiff, suing in trespass for selling his prop- 
erty under it, as he did not take the objection at the trial, could not take it on 
error. The inclusion of the additional dollar might have been proper for ex- 
penses under the statute. {Supreme Ct., 1846, Williams v. Larkin, 3 Denio, 114.) 

The statute requiring the tax to be assessed, and the tax-list therefor to be 
made out by the trustees, and a proper warrant attached thereto within thirty 
days after the district meeting in which the tax shall have been voted, is merely 
directory as to time. It being for the benefit of the public, those acts may be 
done after the time specified in the statute has elapsed. (2 Berdo, 160; Su- 
preme Court, Sp. Term, 1855, Thomas v. Clapp, 20 Barl). 165.) 

§ QQ. School district taxes shall be apportioned by the trustees 
upon all real estate within the boundaries of the district which 
shall not be by law exempt from taxation, except as hereinafter 
provided, and such property shall be assessed to the person or 
persons or corporation owning or possessing the same at the time 
such tax list shall be made out; but land lying in one body and 
occupied by the same person, either as owner or agent for the 
same principal, or as tenant under the same landlord, shall, though, 
situated partly in two or more school districts, be taxable in that 
one of them in which such occupant resides. This rule shall not 
apply to land owned by non-residents of the district, and which 
shall not be occupied by an agent, servant or tenant residing in 
the district. Such unoccupied real estate shall be assessed as non- 
resident, and a description thereof shall be entered in the tax list. 
The trustees shall also apportion district taxes upon all persons 
residing in the district, and upon all corporations liable to taxa- 
tion therein, for the personal estate owned by them and liable to 
taxation. They shall also apportion the same upon non-resident 
stockholders in banks or banking associations situated in their 
districts for the amount of stock owned by them therein, and 
upon individual bankers doing business in their district, in accord- 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 333 

ance with the provisions of chapter seven hundred and sixty-one 
of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixtj-six. — [As amended hy 
section 20, chapter 567, La,ios ^"1875.] 

In assessing the property liable to taxation in school districts, trustees should 
first observe that section 67 of this title directs that "The valuations of tax- 
able property shall be ascertained, so far as possible, from the last assessment- 
roll of the town, after revision by the assessors." It must be a roll completed 
and revised, and not one upon vi^hich the assessors may be at work, or one 
which may have been completed but has not been revised. The law requires 
that the town assessors shall complete their assessment-rolls on or before the 
first day of August in every year, and the review of this roll is made on the 
third Tuesday of August. After such review is made the roll becomes the 
last town assessment-roll and the one that school district trustees must follow 
in making out the school district tax-list. If the trustees should find it abso- 
lutely necessary to issue their tax-list in the fore part of August, before the 
town assessment-roll for that year has been revised, they must follow the 
valuations in the roll of the year before, which, at such time, is the last assess- 
ment-roll of the town. This, if possible, should be avoided by the trustees, 
as it is better in many respects to take the valuations from the new roll, and 
trustees can, by using a little calculation, prepare for this. A district tax 
which should be raised, and especially for the payment of teacher's wages 
when such wages are due, should not be postponed even for the purpose of 
waiting for the completion and revision of the new rolls. 

With one or two exceptions, it is the intention of the school laws that the 
whole duty of the trustees in making their assessments will be to follow the 
assessments and valuations of the last town assessment-rolls. This, however, 
does not relieve them from making a thorough search for and becoming 
familiar with all the taxable property in their district and placing such upon 
their tax-list whether they find it on the town roll or not; neither are they 
bound by the valuations in the town roll, as will be seen further on in this 
chapter. For these reasons reference will be made in this chapter to the prin- 
cipal laws upon the subject of taxation. 

The statute requires the trustees to ascertain and determine who are the 
persons or corporations owning or possessing the real estate in the district at 
the time of making out the tax-list, and to apportion the tax thereon without 
regard to the time when the same was voted, and without discrimination on 
account of the purpose for which it was voted, except that in favor of any 
inhabitants under section 73 of this title. 

Taxes for school purposes are to be levied and assessed in the same manner, 
and on the same species of property, as those for town, county and State pur- 
poses. (35 N. Y. 196.) 

PERSONAL PROPERTY. 

The Revised Statutes {section 3, title 1, chapter 13, part 1, 1th ed.) defines per- 
sonal property as follows: " The terms ' personal estate ' and ' personal prop- 
erty,' whenever they occur in this chapter, shall be construed to include all 
household furniture, moneys, goods, chattels, debts due from solvent debtors, 
whether on account, contract, note, bond or mortgage, public stocks, and 
stocks in moneyed corporations. They shall also be construed to include such 
portion of the capital of incorporated companies liable to taxation on their 
capital as shall not be invested in real estate." 

" All debts and obligations for the payment of money due or owing to persons 
residing within this State, however secured or wherever such securities may be 
held, shall be deemed, for the purposes of taxation, personal estate within this 
State, and shall be assessed as such to the owner or owners thereof in the 
town, village or ward in which such owner or owners shall reside at the time 
such assessment shall be made." 



334 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

§ 2 When a person shall have acquired a residence in any town, village or 
ward in this State, and shall have been taxed therein, such residence shall be 
presumed to continue for the purpose of taxation until he shall have acquired 
another residence in said State, or shall have removed therefrom. {Chapter 
392, Laws of 1883.) 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

The statute that "all lands and personal estate, within this State, should be 
liable to taxation," subject to certain exemptions, is not modified or enlarged 
by subsequent legislation directing that " every person shall be assessed in the 
town or ward where he resides, when the assessment is made, for all personal 
estate owned by him," etc., so as to make personal property not within this 
State liable to taxation. (51 Barb. 352.) 

The liability of personal property to taxation depends upon whether or not 
it is, at the time the assessment is made, within the State. Money, owned by 
a resident of this State, but invested in loans in other States, upon securities 
taken and retained by agents of the owner, in those States, is not liable to 
taxation in this State. {Id.) 

A resident of this State is not liable to taxation on personal property situate 
out of the State; on the other hand, the personal property of a non-resident, 
situate here, is liable to taxation with such exceptions only as are prescribed 
by the law of the State. (23 N. Y. 224.) 

The statute relating to personal property was not intended to subject to taxa- 
tion personal securities actually in another State, held, managed and con- 
trolled there. (88iVr. 576.) 

If the owners or their agents become temporary sojourners in the State, for 
the purpose of managing such business, their residence for the purpose of 
such taxation is defined in the following statute: 

Every person shall be assessed in the town or ward where he resides when the assess- 
ment is made, for all personal estate owned by him, including all personal estate in his 
possession or under his control as agent, trustee, guardian, executor or administrator ; 
and in no case shall property, so held under either of these trusts, be assessed against 
any other person; and incase any person, possessed of such personal estate, shall re- 
side, during any year in which taxes may be levied, in two or more counties, towns or 
wards, his residence, for the purposes and within the meaning of this section, shall 
be deemed and held to be in the county, town or ward in which his principal business 
shall have been transacted; but the products of any State of the United States con- 
signed to agents in any town or ward of this State, for sale on commission, for the 
benefit of the owner thereof, shall not be assessed to such agent, nor shall such agents 
or moneyed corporations or capitalists be liable to taxation under this section, for any 
moneys in their possestion or under their control transmitted to them for the purposes 
of investment or otherwise. {Section 5, title 3, chapter 13, part 1st, Revised Statutes^ as 
amended by section 3, chapter 176 of 1851.) 

All persons and associations doing business in the State of New York, as 
merchants, bankers or otherwise, either as principals or partners, whether 
special or otherwise, and not residents of this State, shall be assessed and 
taxed on all sums invested in any manner in said business, the same as if they 
were residents of this State, and said taxes shall be collected from the prop- 
erty of the firms, persons or associations to which they severally belong. 
{Laws of 1855, chap. 37.) 

Non-residents, taxable under the above cited statute, are to be deemed tax- 
able inhabitants of the district in which they may be doing business. 

" § 1. All debts, owing by Inhabitants of this State to persons not residing within the 
United States, for the purchase of any real estate, shall be deemed personal property, 
within the town or county where the debtor resides, and as such shall be liable to tax- 
ation in the same manner and to the same extent as the personal estate of citizens of 
this State. {Laws of 1851, chap. 371, p. 731.) 

The debt taxable under this section must be for the purchase of real estate, 
and is to be taxed in the district where the debtor resides, irrespective of the 
fact that the real estate may lie elsewhere. 



Assessment and Collection op Taxes. 335 

Personal property held by an agent, who is a resident of this State, subject 
to the control of the owner, who is also a resident of the State, but of another 
county, should be taxed to the owner at his place of residence. (85 JV. T. 359.) 

Trustees cannot assess an individual for personal property, if he has been 
taxed for none on the last assessment- roll of the town, on the mere supposition 
that they may have more than his debts amount to. The assessment-roll of 
the town settles the matter, and the trustees cannot vary the amount but from 
some knowledge of an alteration after that roll was made out, or to correct some 
known and acknowledged error. 

But if the trustees have actual knowledge that any person residing in the 
district has personal property liable to taxation, not assessed upon the town 
roll, their duty is to include it in the tax list, giving notice to the person so 
assessed, in order that he may obtain a reduction if the assessment be too 
much. 

The principle on which our laws rest in the taxation of personal property 
is that a man must be taxed only for what he is actually worth. Hence, he is 
permitted to set off his debts against his personal property in possession, and 
is taxable for the excess. 

If a man be the owner of $15,000 in bonds and mortgages, and $15,000 in 
United States bonds, and at the same time is indebted in the sum of $15,000, 
he cannot be allowed to set off his indebtedness against his bonds and mort- 
gages, and so claim that he has no taxable personal property. The only legal 
mode of ascertaining his liability is to deduct his whole indebtedness from the 
total of his personal property — his $15,000 from $30,000 — leaving him liable 
to assessment for $15,000. 

Where a taxable inhabitant sells his farm and remains in the district, he is 
liable to be taxed on the amount of the purchase-money paid, or secured to be 
paid, as personal property (unless he shows that, notwithstanding the increase 
of his personal property, its value is still exceeded by his debts), and the farm 
is taxable to the purchaser according to its assessed value on the last assess- 
ment-roll of the town. 

TAXATION OF REAL ESTATE. 
The trustees are commanded by the foregoing section (66) to apportion the 
school district taxes upon all real estate within the boundaries of the district, 
which shall not be by law exempt from taxation. The trustees should have 
a thorough knowledge of the district boundaries so as to enable them to take 
from the town assessment-roll a correct list of the residents and real estate of 
their district. The following provisions relate to the assessment of real estate: 

All lands and personal estate within this State, whether owned by individuals or by 
corporations, shall be liable to taxation, subject to the exemptions hereinafter speci- 
fied. {Section 1, title 1, chapter 13, part I, Revised Statutes, 7th ed.) 

The terra " land," as used in this chapter, shall be construed to include the land 
itself , above and under water; all buildings and other articles and structures, sub- 
structures and superstructures erected upon, under or above, or affixed to the same : 
all wharves and piers, includinor the value of the right to collect wharfage, cranage or 
dockage thereon; ail bridges, all telegraph lines, wires, poles and appurtenances; all 
surface, underground or elevated railroads; all railroad structures, sub-structures and 
superstructures, tracks and iron thereon; branches, switches and other fixtures per- 
mitted or authorized to be made, laid or placed in, upon, above or under any public 
or private road, street or grounds; all laid or placed in, upon, above or under any pub- 
lic or private street or place ; all trees or underwood growing upon land, and all mines, 
minerals, quarries and fossils in and under the same, except mines belonging to the 
State. The term "real estate " and ''real property," whenever they occur in this chap- 
ter, shall be construed as having the same meaning as the term "land " thus defined. 
lSectio7i 3, title 1, chap. 13, pay-t 1, R. S., as amended by c/iap.203, L. 1881.) 

If the town assessors have omitted any property located in the school dis - 
trict coming under the foregoing definitions of " land," the trustees must put 
it upon their tax-list as an original assessment. 

Real estate is to be assessed to the owners or possessors of the same at the 
time the tax-list is made out; that is to say to all persons who have the gen- 



336 ASSESSMEN'T AND COLLECTION- OP TaXES. 

eral property in the soil or who occupy it as tenants liaving a temporary riglit 
to its possession under a landlord. The latter, although tenants at will, may 
be assessed for the land in their occupation, as appears from section 70 of this 
title. The distinction is between a tenant, for howev^er brief a period, who 
occupies the land for his own profit and is entitled to a notice to quit before 
he can be divested, and a mere agent or servant, managing the land or employed 
upon it for the profit of another, under wages and without any title to the 
possession of the land or to its products. In respect to land within the dis- 
trict occupied by such agents, the employer, whether holding the fee or a 
leasehold estate, and though residing outside of the district, is declared, by 
section 71 of this title, to be a taxable inhabitant in respect to the liability of 
such property to taxation, in the same manner as if he actually resided within 
its bounds, 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

An owner of real estate at the time of its assessment for taxes is primarily 
liable for their payment, although he conveys his interest after the assess- 
ment, and before the levy. (29 Huny 485.) 

If the owner resides in the town or ward, the lands shall be assessed to him, 
unless they are actually occupied by another, and then they may be assessed 
either to the owner or occupant. If the owner does not reside in the town or 
ward and the lands are unoccupied, they must be assessed as non-resident 
lands. These provisions are imperative, and there is no authority for making 
the assessment otherwise (23 N. T. 281.) 

But lands occupied by another than the owner may be assessed either to the 
owner or occupant, whether such owner be a resident or not (30 Barh. 616.) 

Chapter 842 of the laws of 1883, as amended by chapter 59 laws of 1886, 
applies to. school district taxes, and reads as follows: 

§ 1. In all cases where theboundary line of a town or city, or the boundary line between 
two towns in the same or in different counties, passes through any dwelling-house or 
building, which, together with the land on which it stands and owned in connection 
therewith, shall be assessed at the same time in both said town or city, or in both said 
towns in the same or in different counties, and taxes levied thereon, which shall remain 
unpaid by the owner or occupant in both said town and city, or in both said towns in 
the same or in different counties at the time of the passage of this act, it shall be law- 
ful for the occupant of such house or building to elect as his place of residence either 
said town or city, or either of said towns in the same or in different counties, and said 
house or building, and the adjacent land owned and occupied in connection there- 
with, shall be assessed and taxed only in the town or city which the occupant elects as 
his place of residence, and such residence shall remain as fixed by said election, 

§ 2. The occupant shall cause to be served upon the assessors, or upon one of them in 
both said town and city, or in both of said towns in the same or in different counties, 
at least thirty days prior to the day fixed by law for the date of assessment, a written 
notice of his said election, together with a copy of this act, or his said election shall 
be invalid. Said election shall be final and conclusive upon said owner or occupant. 

§ 3. In all cases where taxes have been heretofore levied in more than one place, town 
or city, upon the same real property which was or is intersected by the boundary line 
of a town or city, or the boundary line between two towns in the same or in different 
counties, and remain unpaid by the owner or occupant at the time of the passage of 
this act, payment of said taxes shall be enforced by that place, city or town only which 
the occupant shall elect as his place of residence pursuant to sections one and two of 
this act. 

OF LAND LYING IN ONE BODY BUT IN TWO OR MORE DISTRICTS. 

This part of section 68 occasions more complications and questions than any 
other provision on the subject of school district taxation. Trustees should 
read carefully its provisions and notice what facts are necessary in order that 
the whole tract or body of land shall be taxed in one district, although it may 
lie in two or more. 

First. The land must lie in one body. 



Assessment and Collection" of Taxes. 337 

The statute requires that there shall be something more than an imaginary 
contact of the two parcels in a mathematical point, as where they have only 
an angle in common. They must be so connected as to have at least a line of 
contact, and not a mere point. Where, however, two parcels in the possession 
of the same owner are separated by a public highway the fee of which he 
owns, subject to the right of passage in the public, this is not to be regarded 
as preventing their contact. 

The cases are numerous where railroads cross or cut through such lands. 
The land of the railroad company being taxable property and coming between 
the two parcels of land divides them so that the tracts of land on each side of 
the railroad will not, under the meaning of this section, " lie in one body." 

Second. The whole hody of land must he occupied hy one person, a/id he must 
be either the owner or agent or tenant of one and. the. same landlord. 

This is the second condition necessary before the laud can be taxed in one dis- 
trict. Examine carefully the facts in reference to the ownership and occupancy 
of the land, and if in any one particular it will not comply with the above rule, 
then it is certain that it cannot be taxed in one body. The relations of land- 
lord and tenant, or ownership and occupancy, are of so large a number or dif- 
ference that it would be next to an impossibility to give here those instances in 
which the land would and would not come under the above rule or condition. 
The course of reasoning, however, which must be pursued is, first, to ascertain 
whether the land lies in o?ie body. If it does not that ends the matter, and 
the several parts must be taxed in the districts in which they respectively lie. 
But if the land does lie in one body, then proceed to examine the second con- 
dition. First, how is it owned? Is it by a sole owner, or is there a joint own- 
ership of some kind ? If more than one person owns the land, or if a part of 
it is owned by one person and the other part by another person, either of these 
facts will be sufficient to take it from the provisions of this section. But if 
the ownership to the whole body is in one person, then the next inquiry must 
be directed as to the occupancy. If it is occupied also by the owner, then it 
has answered fully all the conditions of the statute and must be taxed in the 
district in which such owner and occupant resides. It is not necessary that 
such owner and occupant reside upon the land; a residence in one of the dis- 
tricts in which a part of the land lies is sufficient under the statute. 

Again, when the ownership is in the same person, but the land is occupied 
by another as agent or tenant, such occupancy must be of the whole body of 
land and not of a part only. 

It will be seen from the foregoing that three questions are to be determined. 
First, does the land lie in one body ? Second, the ownership. Third, the 
occupancy. 

If, however, the possession is severed, as in case the land is owned by the same 
person, but the part within the district is occupied by the owner, and that 
which lies outside the district by a tenant, or vice ners'i, or if the respective 
parts are occupied by different tenants of the same owner, or if one of them 
only is occupied by a tenant and the other is vacant and unimproved, then the 
respective parcels are to be taxed, each in the district within whose boundaries 
it is actually contained. So, if one of the parcels is occupied by a person as 
owner, and the other is also occupied by him as tenant of a third person, the 
parts must be taxed in the districts containing them respectively, for the trus- 
tees of the district containing the portion under lease have the right to assess 
it to the owner, disregarding the occupant. 

There are serious difficulties growing out of the fact that the statute, under 
the most restricted interpretation that can be put upon it, sometimes permits 
the resources of a district to be weakened by the purchase of a part of its ter- 
ritory by the inhabitants of an adjoining district. Though the district boun- 
daries are not thereby altered, yet, for the eminently practical object of 
taxation, the result is the same as if they were. 

The foregoing does not apply to the taxation of non-resident land, which is 
taxed under section 74 of this title. 

43 



SSR Assessment and Collectiox of Taxks. 



DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

The plaintiff was an actual resident of school district Xo. 4, in which his 
farm lay, but he improved and occupied a lot of thirty-seven acres, belonging 
to him, which lay in district No. 6; but this lot was not a part of his farm, 
nor attached to it nor adjoining. Held, that this lot of thirty-seven acres was 
properlv taxed for school purposes in the sixth district. {Supreme Court, 
1858, Myer v. CHspell, 28 Barh. 54.) 

It is the general rule that if " assessors should assume to assess land lying 
in another town or ward, their act would unquestionably be void for want of 
jurisdiction." (7 Barh. 129.) 

The same general rule applies to trustees in making an original assessment, 
or in selecting from the town assessment-roll the lands to be included in a 
district tax-list. To make an assessment legal they must have jurisdiction of 
the particular case. If they transcend the limits of their authority, and under- 
take to assess property exempt by statute, they cease to be judges, and are 
responsible for all the consequences. A public oflBcer is not responsible, in a 
civil suit, for a judicial determination in a matter over which he had jurisdic- 
tion, however erroneous it may be, but no officer can acquire jurisdiction by 
deciding that he has it. (5 Barh. 611; and see 19 Barb. 22.) 

ASSESSMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS OF BANKS, AND THE SURPLUS 
FUNDS OF SAVINGS BANKS. 

{Chapter 761, Laws o/ 1866.) 

Section 1. No tax shall hereafter be assessed upon the capital of any bank 
or banking association organized under the authority of this State, or of the 
United States, but the stockholders in such banks and banking associations 
shall be assessed and taxed on the value of their shares of stock therein; said 
shares shall be included in the valuation of the personal property of such 
stockholder, in the assessment of taxes at the place, town or ward where such 
bank or banking association is located, and not elsewhere, whether the said 
stockholders reside in said place, town or ward or not, but not at a greater rate 
than is assessed upon other moneyed capital in the hands of individuals in this 
State. And in making such assessment there shall also be deducted from the 
value of such shares such sum as is in the same proportion to such value as is 
the assessed value of the real estate of the bank or banking association, and in 
which any portion of their capital is invested, in which such shares are held, 
to the whole amount of the capital stock of said bank or banking association. 
And provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall be held or construed 
to exempt from taxation the real estate held or owned by any such bank or 
banking association; but the same shall be subject to State, county, municipal 
and other taxation to the same extent and rate and in the same manner as other 
real estate is taxed. 

§ 2. Every individual banker doing banking business under the laws of this 
State is hereby required to declare upon oath before the assessor the amount 
of capital invested in such banking business, and each one hundred dollars of 
such capital for the purpose of this act, and for the purpose of taxation shall 
be held and regarded as one individual share in such banking business, and 
such shares are hereby declared to je personal property. If such banker have 
partners, he shall declare upon oath before the assessor the number of shares 
held by each of them in such banking business, ascertained as above provided, 
and the shares so held by any partner shall be included in the valuation of his 
taxable property in the assessment of all taxes levied in the town, school dis- 
trict or ward where such individual banker is located, and not elsewhere; and 
such individual banker shall pay the same and make the amount so paid a 
charge in the accounts with such partners; and if such individual banker have 
no partners he shall be held to be sole owner of all the shares in such business 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 339 

of banking, and the same shall be included in the valuation of his personal 
property in the assessment of all taxes levied in the town, school district or 
ward where his bank is located, and not elsewhere. 

^ 3. There shall be kept at all times in the office where the business of such 
bank or banking associations, organized under the authority of this State or of 
the United States, shall be transacted, a full and correct list of the names and 
residences of all the stockholders therein, and of the number of shares held 
by each; and such list shall be subject to the inspection of the officers author- 
ized to assess taxes during the business hours of each day in which business 
may be legally transacted. 

§ 4. Sections ten and eleven of chapter ninety-seven of the session laws of 
eighteen hundred and sixty-five are hereby repealed. 

4^ 5. When the owner of stock in any bank or banking association, organized 
under the laws of this State or of the United States, shall not reside in the 
same place where the bank or banking association is located, the collector and 
county treasurer shall, respectively, have the same power as to collecting the 
tax to be assessed by this act, as they have by statute, when the person assessed 
has removed from the town, ward or county in which the assessment was made; 
and the county treasurer, receiver of taxes, or other officers authorized to re- 
ceive said tax from the collector, may all or either of them have an action to 
collect the tax from the avails of the sales of his shares of stock and the tax 
on the share or shares of said stock shall be and remain a lien thereon till the 
payment of said tax. 

§ 6. For the purpose of collecting such taxes, and in addition to any other 
laws of this State, not In conflict with the Constitution of the United States, 
relative to the imposition of taxes, it shall be the duty of every such bank or 
banking association, and the managing officer or officers thereof, to retain so 
much of any dividend or dividends belonging to such stockholders as shall be 
necessary to pay any taxes assessed in pursuance of this act, until it shall be 
made to appear to such officers that such taxes have been paid. 

Section 7 of this act repealed by section 56, chapter 371, laws of 1875. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Taxation op Banks. The fact that a bank owns stocks, bonds and other 
securities of the United States, in amount exceeding its capital and surplus 
earnings, and that the total value of all its other personal property does not 
exceed the amount of the debts it owes, will not exempt it from taxation on 
account of personal property, on the ground that the capital of the bank is 
its surplus after paying all its debts, and that in the given case it will require 
all its personal property, other than its investments in United States securities 
which are not taxable. {The People, ex rel. The Lockport City Bank, v. The 
Board of Education, Supreme Court, 1866, 46 Barh. 588.) 

The relator was a bank organized under the general banking law of 1838, 
with a capital of $104,000. The cost of its real estate was about $14,000, its 
surplus profits were about $34,000 or $35,000, and it had about $203,500 of 
United States stocks or bonds, and had about $65,000 of other stocks depos- 
ited as security with the bank department of the State and about $120,000 of 
United States stocks. It held and owned stocks and bonds and other securi- 
ties of the United States, to an amount exceeding its entire capital, including 
all its surplus profits, earnings and reserved funds; and the total value of all 
its other personal property and estate did not exceed the amount of debts due 
the bank. The bank was assessed, on account of its personal property or 
estate, the sum of $102,400, being, as alleged, the whole amount of its capital 
stock paid in, and of all its surplus profits, or reserved funds, less ten 
per cent thereof, after deducting therefrom the value of its real estate. Held, 
that the relator, not having shown that any of its capital stock was invested 
in United States securities, or that it was assessed for any part of its prop- 
erty invested in such securities, was not entitled to a writ of mandamuSy 



340 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

Commanding the assessors to amend tlie assessment and tlie assessment-roll, 
by striking therefrom the assessment of the bank, for or on account of per- 
sonal property. {Id.) 

Tlie ])rovision of the statute requiring the assessors to set down in the 
assessment- roll the full value of all the taxable personal property of the per- 
son, after deducting the just debts owing by him, has no relation to the taxa- 
tion of moneyed corporations. 

The effect of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the 
•cases of The Peoi^le, ex rel. The Bank of the Commonwealth, v. The Commis- 
sioners of Assessments, etc. , in the City of New York, and TJie Same, ex rel. The 
Bank of Commerce, v. The Same (2 Wall. 200), was neither more nor less than 
that the State cannot by any system of taxation assess and tax the securities 
of the United States, whether held or owned by corporations or individuals; 
nor can such holder or owner be taxed on account of such securities, or their 
value. {Id.) 

That decision does not declare the act of the legislature "in relation to the 
taxation of moneyed corporations and associations," passed AprlL 29, 1863 
{Laws of 1863, p. 435), to be unconstitutionaL The effect of the decision, 
however, may be to annul the act, and render it inoperative in cases where 
the capital of the bank is wholly, or in part, invested in securities of the 
United States. In such cases the statute might, perhaps, be impracticable; 
or, possibly, our courts would hold the statute operative to the extent of the 
capital stock not invested in United States securities. {Id.) 

The capital of the Exchange Bank at Lockport was $150,000; the value of 
its real estate was $7,000, and its surplus earnings, less than ten per cent, 
were $41,151.16. Its State stocks and bonds and mortgages, deposited with 
the superintendent of the banking department, amounted to $18,300, and its 
United States stock so deposited amounted to $32,000. Its other bonds and 
mortgages amounted to $14,000. It held and owned in all, $72,000 in United 
States stocks. The total value of all its personal property and effects, ex- 
clusive of the stocks, bonds and other securities of the United States, held and 
owned by it, did not exceed the sum of $112,000, over and above the debts 
due and owing by it. It was assessed on account of its personal property for 
$165,980. Held, that the proper mode of assessment was adopted, under the 
act of the legislature of 1863, relative to the taxation of moneyed corporations, 
etc., that is, by taking into the account the capital stock, the value of the real 
estate and the surplus earnings less the ten per cent, and that upon this prin- 
ciple the assessment was not excessive. {The Peo2')le, ex rel. The Exchange 
Bank at Lockport, v. Ihe Board of Education, etc.. Supreme Court, 1866, 46 
Barh. 598.) 

Held, also, that it was incumbent upon the bank to show that the assessment 
included and operated upon a portion of its property invested in United States 
securities; and that, this not having been shown, no case was made for a 
mandamus, directing the assessors to correct the assessment-roll for personal 
property, by reducing the amount therein from $165,980 to $112,000. {Id.) 

Chapter 761, of 1866, was passed in conformity with the decision of the 
supreme court of the United States (3 Wallace's R. 573) that "the act of June 
3, 1864, 'to provide a national currency,' etc., rightly construed, subjects the 
shares of the banking associations authorized by it, and in the hands of share- 
holders, to taxation by the States, under certain limitations (set forth in its 
forty-first section) without regard to the fact that a part of the whole of the 
capital of such association is invested in national securities, declared, by the 
statutes authorizing them, to be ' exempt from taxation by or under State 
authority.' " 

The town assessment-rolls will contain an assessment of all taxable shares 
of banks, banking associations and individual bankers, and for such shares 
the trustees will copy the town roll in the same manner and to the same extent 
as for all other taxable property. 



Assessment axd Collectio:n" of Taxes. 341 



CHAPTER 477, LAWS OF 1881. 

§ 4. The stockholders in every bank or banking association organized under 
the authority of this State, or of the United States, shall be assessed and taxed 
on the value of their shares of stock therein; said shares shall be included in 
the valuation of the personal property of such stockholders in the assessment 
of taxes at the place, city, town or ward where such bank or banking associa- 
tion is located, and not elsewhere, whether the said stockholders reside in said 
place, city, town or ward or not ; but in the assessment of said shares, each 
stockholder shall be allowed all the deductions and exceptions allowed by law 
in assessing the value of other taxable personal property owned by individual 
citizens of this State, and the assessment and taxation shall not be at a greater 
rate than is made or assessed upon other moneyed capital in the hands of indi- 
vidual citizens of this State. In making such assessment, there shall also be 
deducted from the value of such shares such sum as is in the same proportion 
to such value as is the assessed value of the real estate of the bank or banking 
association, and in which any portion of their capital is invested, in which said 
shares are held, to the whole amount of the capital stock of said bank or bank- 
ing association. Nothing herein contained shall be held or construed to exempt 
the real estate of bankers or banking associations from either State, county or 
municipal taxes, but the same shall be subject to State, county, municipal and 
other taxation to the same extent and rate, and in the same manner according 
to its value as other real estate is taxed. The local authorities charged by law 
with the assessment of the said shares shall, within ten days after they have 
completed such assessment, give written notice to each bank or banking associa- 
tion of such assessment of the shares of its respective shareholders, and no 
personal or other notice to such shareholders of such assessment shall be neces- 
sary for the purpose of this act. 

^ 5. There shall be kept at all times in the office where the business of each 
bank or banking association organized under the authority of this State, or of 
the United States, shall be transacted, a full and correct list of the names and 
residences of all the stockholders therein, and of the number of shares held 
by each; and such list shall be subject to thfe inspection of the officers author- 
ized to assess taxes during the business hours of each day on which business 
may be legally transacted. 

Under the provisions of chapter 140, laws of 1880, no discrimination shall 
be made between state and national banks in the manner of assessing taxes, 
consequently the same rules apply to both. 

Shares of stock in national banks may be taxed at their market value. 
{Hepburn Y. School Directors of Carlisle, 23 Wall. 113.) 

The following rules are laid down for the assessment of bank stock in 
Thompson's Assessors, Collectors and Town Clerks' Manual, 1886: 

1. The assessment must be upon the stockholders on the value of their 
shares of stock. 

2. It must be at the place where the bank is located. 

3. It must not be at a greater rate than other moneyed capital either by a 
discrimination in the estimate of value or otherwise. 

4. A deduction must be made from the assessed value of each share of an 
amount in proportion to such share equal to the proportion the assessed value 
of the real estate of the bank bears to its capital stock. 

5. All deductions allowed by law in assessing other taxable property, in- 
cluding a deduction on account of the owner's indebtedness, must be allowed. 

6. A deduction need not be made on account of the investment of the capi- 
tal stock of the bank in Federal securities. 

EXEMPTIONS. 
Section 4, title 1, chapter 13. part 1, R. S. 
The followiuo: property shall be exempt from taxation: 

"1. All property, real or personal, exempted from taxation by the Constitution of 
this State or under , the Constitution of the United States; 



342 Assessment an"d Collectiox of Taxes. 

"2. All lands belonprinjr to this State or to the United States, and all vessels enrolled 
and licensed under and pursuant to the laws of tbe United States and engaged in the 
coasting trade; 

"3. Every building erected for the use of a college, incorporated academy or other 
seminary of learning; every building for public worship, every school-house, court- 
house and ;jail; and the several lots whereon such buildings are situated, and the 
furniture belonging to each of them; 

"4. Every poor-house, alms-house, house of industry, and every house belonging to 
a company incorporated for the reformation of offenders, or to improve the moral 
condition of seamen, and the real and personal property belonging to or connected 
■with the same; 

"5. The real and personal property of every public library; 

"6, All stocks owned by the State or by literary or cliaritable institutions; 

"7. The personal estate of every incorporated company not made liable to taxation 
on its capital in the fourth title of this chapter; 

"8. The personal property of every minister of the gospel, or priest of any denomi- 
nation; and the real estate of such minister, or priest, when occupied by him, pro- 
vided such real and personal estate do not exceed in value one thousand five hundred 
dollars; and 

"9. All property exempted by law from execution. 

*'§5. If the real and personal estate, or either of them, of any minister or priest 
exceed the value of one thousand five hundred dollars, that sum shall be deducted 
from the valuation of his property, and the residue shall be liable to taxation. 

"§6. Lands sold by the Stale, though not granted or conveyed, shall be assessed in 
the same manner as if actually conveyed. 

"§7. The owner or holder of stock in any Incorporated company liable to taxation 
on its capital shall not be taxed as an individual for such stock." 

The exemption from taxation of every building for public worship, and 
every school-house aud other seminary of learning, under the provisions of 
subdivision 3 of section 4, title 1, chapter 13 of part first of the Revised 
Statutes, or amendments thereof, shall not apply to any building or premises 
in the city of Ne^v York, unless the same shall be exclusively used for such 
purposes, and exclusively the property of a religious society, or of the New 
York Public School Society. {Laws o/1852, chapter 282.) 

Every building for the use of a college, incorporated academy or other 
seminary of learning, and in actual use for either of such purposes, every 
building for public worship, every school-house, court-house and jail used for 
either of such purposes, and the several lots whereon such buildings so used 
are situated, and the furniture belonging to each of them. {Chapter 397, laws 
0/1883.) 

The personal property of every minister of the gospel or priest of any 
denomination, or every such minister or priest who is permanently disabled by 
impaired health from performing the active duties of the ministry, and every 
such minister or priest who has reached the age of seventy-five years, and the 
real estate of such minister or priest or disabled or aged minister or priest 
when occupied by him, provided such real or personal estate do not exceed 
the value of $1,500.- {Chapter 537, laws o/1884.) 

All lands now held, or which may hereafter be held by any agricultural 
society in this State, and permanently used for show grounds by any such 
society, shall be exempt from taxation during the time so used. {Laws of 
1856, chap. 183.) 

"When any bond, mortgage, contract or other demand, belonging to any per- 
son not being a resident of this State, shall be sent to this State for collection, 
or shall be deposited in this State for the same purpose, such property shall be 
exempt from taxation; and nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed 
to render any agent of such owner liable to be assessed or taxed for such prop- 
erty; but every such agent shall be entitled to have such property deducted 
from his assessment, upon making affidavit, before the assessors, at the time, 
appointed by them for reviewing their assessments, that such property belongs 
to a non-resident owner, and therein specifying his name and residence. 
{Sec. 3, title 5, chap. 13, part 1, R. S., 7th ed.) 

Toll-houses and other fixtures, and all property belonging to any plank or 
turnpike road company, shall be exempt from assessment and taxation for any 
purpose whatever, until the surplus annual receipts of tolls on their respective 
roads, over necessary repairs, and a suitable reserve fund for repairs and relay- 



Assessment ak^d Collection of Taxes. 343 

ing of plank, shall exceed seven per cent per annum on the first costs of such 
road. In case of any disagreement between the assessors of any town, village 
or city and any such company concerning such exemption claimed, said com- 
pany may appeal to the county judge of the county in which such assessment 
is proposed to be made, who shall, after due notice to the appealing party of 
such appeal, examine the books and vouchers of such company, and take such 
further proofs as he shall deem proper, and shall decide whether such com- 
pany is liable to taxation under the section, and his decision shall be final. 
{Laws 1855, chaj). 546, sec. 6.) 

No tax shall hereafter be assessed or imposed on either of said reservations 
(Allegany or Cattaraugus reservations), or on any part thereof, for any purposes 
whatever, so long as said reservations remain the property of the Seneca 
nation; and all acts of the legislature of the State confiicting with the provis- 
ions of this section are hereby repealed. {Laics of 1857, chap. 45, sec. 4.) 

From and after the passage of this act, the lands of the corporation "The 
Sackett's Harbor and Saratoga Railroad Company," by whatever name the said 
corporation may hereafter be lawfully called, or which it shall hereafter 
acquire on existing contracts or existing pre-emption rights, shall be free and 
exempt from all taxation until the twelfth day of September, one thousand 
eight hundred and seventy- nine; but this section shall not apply to the road- 
bed or track, nor to the lands occupied or used for structures necessary to the 
working of its road, nor to any lands after the same shall be sold by said cor- 
poration. {Laws of 1857, chap. 98, sec. 1.) 

It has been held that this act was not intended to affect any of the provisions 
of the general law declaring what property shall be liable to taxation, but 
merely exempts such reservations from taxation so long as they remain the 
property of that nation. (41 iV. Y. 619.) 

Land belonging to the Allegany Indian reservation, which a railroad com- 
pany has acquired a right to occupy for the construction, occupancy and main- 
tenance of its road by contract with the chief of the nation to whicli it belongs, 
not limited as to time, is owned by the company within the meaning of the 
statutes relating to taxation. Although the fee of the land cannot legally pass 
under such contract, yet, to the extent specified therein, such land has ceased 
to be the property of the Indian nation, and is no longer exempt from taxation 
as such. {Id.) 

No tax or assessment shall at any time be imposed, assessed or collected upon 
the mint or branch mint of the United States, which may be authorized by act 
of Congress to be established in the city of New York; neither upon the land 
on which the buildings used or to be used therefor shall or may be erected, 
nor upon. the buildings used or to be used therefor, nor upon the machinery 
used or to be used therein, nor upon bullion or metal deposited for coinage, 
nor upon the coin stamped at said mint or branch mint, while in the custody 
of the officers of said mint or branch mint of the United States in the city of 
New York. {Laics of 1852, cJiap. 46.) 

No assessment or tax of any description, general or local, shall be imposed, 
assessed or collected upon the assay office of the United States, which, by act 
of Congress of March, 1853, it is provided shall be established in the city of 
New York; neither upon the land owned by the United States on which the 
building used or to be used therefor shall be erected; nor upon the buildings 
used or to be used therefor; nor upon the machinery used or to be used 
therein; nor upon the metal, bullion or coin deposited for melting, remelting 
or assaying; nor upon the bars or ingots, after melting, remelting or assaying, 
while the same is in the custody, possession or under the control of the officers 
of the assay office of the United States in the city of New York. {Laics of 
1853, chap. 406.) 

The cemetery lands and property of any association, formed pursuant to 
this act, shall be exempt from all public taxes, rates and assessments, and 
shall not be liable to be sold on execution, or be applied in payment of debts, 
due from any individual proprietors. {Sec. 10, c7iap. 133, Laics of 1847.) 



344 Assessment akd Collection of Taxes. 

Land set apart, aud a portion of which has beeu actually used, for a family 
or private buryiug ground, not exceeding one-quarter of an acre, and provided 
a description of the same has been made and duly acknowledged and recorded 
in the county clerk's office, is also exempt. {Laws of 1847, chap. 85, sections 
1 and 2.) 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Buildings used for a private boarding school are not exempt from taxation, 
by 1 Revised Statutes, 388, section 4, which exempts every building erected 
for the use of a college, incorporated academy, or other seminary of learning, 
and every building for public worship, every school-house, court-house and 
jail. The word " school-house" means only buildings for public schools; and 
the words "other seminary of learning" are to be understood as incorporations 
bv force of the general words preceding. {Appeals, 1855, Chegary v. Mayor, 
etc., ofN. r., 13 N. Y. [3 Kern.'] 220; to similar effect N. Y. Superior Court, 
1855, Chegary v. Jenkins, 3 Sandf. 409.) 

Same. A lot wholly devoted to the use of the schools mentioned (§ 5, 1 
Rev. Stat., oth ed., 906), either by supporting its buildings, supplying its daily 
wants, or contributing the means of exercise, recreation and diversion, is 
entitled to the exemption thereby created. {People, ex rel. Acad. Sacred Heart, 
V. Commissioners of Taxes, etc., iV, Y. city, 6 Hun, 109, Sup. Ct., 1875.) 

College grounds that have been divided by the construction of a highway 
into two lots on one of which stands the college buildings, and the other of 
which is used for a garden and walks for the college, the same as before the 
division, are still exempt. {People v. Commissioners, 10 Hun, 246.) 

Under the provision of Laws of 1852, chapter 282, premises in the city of 
New York used by a religious society for a school under a lease, and of which 
it is not the owner, are not exempt from taxation. {Hebrew Free School Asso- 
ciation V. Mayor, 99 iV. Y. 488.) 

Nor are buildings used for a private boarding school exempt. The word 
" school-house " means only the buildings for public schools, and the words 
"other seminary of learning" are to be understood as referring to incorpora- 
tions. {Chegary \. New York, 13 N. Y. 220.) 

A person cannot build a school-room aud establish a private school in his 
house, aud thereby exempt the building and the lot from taxation. The 
statute was intended to exempt only property used by the public for the pur- 
poses of education, or which belonged to a corporation created for the advance- 
ment of learning. (3 Sandf. 409.) 

A building erected for a school-house and so used during a large part of the 
year is not rendered liable to taxation from the fact that it is used as a board- 
ing-house during summer vacation. (26 Hun, 309.) 

A private dwelling and lot, hired for school-house purposes by a public 
board of education, is not exempt from taxation under 1 Revised Statutes, 388, 
section 4, providing for exemption of educational, religious and public build- 
ings, as the act does not applv to property rented from private individuals. 
(32 Han, 457.) 

The building in the city of New York owned -by the Association for the Benefit 
of Colored Orphans, and used by it to fulfill the object of the corporation, 
namely, to provide a refuge for colored orphans where they could be boarded 
and clothed and suitably educated in religion and other branches of knowledge, 
is a school-house and place of .public worship within the terms of the revised 
statutes, and as such is exempt from taxation thereunder. 

Chap. 283, Laws of 1852, re-enacted in ^ 827 of the Consolidation Act, does 
not require that a school-house, in order to be exempt from taxation, should 
be exclusively the property of a religious corporation. What is required by 
said act is that where the building is a school-house or other seminary of 
learning, in order to be exempt from taxation it must be exclusively devoted 
to that purpose, and where it is a building for public worship that it must also 
be exclusively the property of a religious society. {The Association for the 



ASSESSMElfT AXD COLLECTION^ OF TaXES. 345 

Benefit of Colored Orphans v. The Mayor, etc., of N. F., 33 Weekly Dig, 
115.) 

In respect to property exempt from taxation, it has been decided that a min- 
ister of the gospel, or priest, to bring himself within the exemption, must 
show that the value of both his real and personal property did not exceed 
$1,500, and it seems that only that sum is to be deducted from the valuation of 
both, and not $1,500 from the valuation of each, if each exceeded that amount. 
(5 Barh. 609.) The latter point, however, was not necessarily involved in the 
decision. 

Since the provisions of 1 K. S. 888, § 4 (sub. 8), exempting from taxation the 
real estate of a minister, when occupied by him, apply only when his real 
and personal estate do not exceed the value of $1,500, a minister may avail 
himself of the provisions of § 5 enabling him to deduct from the valuation of 
his property, real and personal estate, to the extent of $1,500, without show- 
ing that he has occupied the real estate. (31 Hun, 421.) 

A minister who, by reason of old age and accompanying infirmities, has for 
many years withdrawn from the active duties of his profession, but during 
that period has performed its duties occasionally as opportunity offered, and is 
not engaged in any secular occupation, is entitled to exemption under the 
statute. {Id.) 

By section 3701 of the United States Revised Statutes it is provided that all 
stocks, bonds, treasury notes, and other obligations of the United States shall 
be exempt from taxation by or under State or municipal or local authority. 
By section 5413 of the same statutes it is provided that the words " obligation 
or other security of the United States," shall be held to mean all bonds, cer- 
tificates of indebtedness, national bank currency coupons, United States notes, 
treasury notes, fractional notes, certificates of deposit, bills, checks or drafts 
for money drawn by or upon authorized oflBcers of the United States, stamps, 
and other representatives of value of whatever denomination which have 
been or may be issued under any act of Congress. 

This exemption is not for the benefit of the holder of the securities, but for 
that of the national government. States cannot control the national govern- 
ment, within the constitutional powers, for there it is supreme; nor can they 
tax its obligations for the payment of money issued for purposes within that 
range of powers, because such taxation necessarily implies the assertion of 
the right to receive such control. {People v. Donnelly, 36 How. Pr. 258.) 

§ 67. The valuations of taxable property shall be ascertained, 
so far as possible, from the last assessment roll of the town, after 
revision by the assessors ; and no person shall be entitled to any 
reduction in the valuation of such property, as so ascertained, 
unless he shall give -notice of his claim to such reduction to the 
trustees of the district before the tax list shall be made out. 

The first duty of trustees is to determine who are the owners or possessors 
of the taxable real estate in the district. In doing this they may find some 
persons not named in the town assessment -roll. Some of them may be tax- 
able, as the possessors of property which has been valued in that roll, and 
which belonged to other persons at the time it was made out. In the valua- 
tion of sijLch property, the trustees are to be governed by the assessment-roll. 
They are not to reduce it, unless the new owner shall give notice of his claim 
to such reduction before the tax-list shall be made out, and they are not to re- 
duce it without giving the notice provided by the next section. To reduce 
the valuation of one is precisely equivalent to raising that of every other tax- 
able inhabitant, for it increases his quota of the tax. He cannot be subjected 
to such increase of taxation beyond what his share would be according to the 
last town assessment roll, without being put upon his guard by the posting of 
a notice. {1 Denio, 214.) 
44 



346 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

Other persons may be found to be taxable on account of tbeir possession of 
property, real or personal, for which no person was assessed on the town as- 
sessment-roll. Such property may be real estate casually overlooked by the 
assessors or purposely omitted because it was then exempt by being occupied 
by a minister of the gospel, or for any other reason; or it may consist in acces- 
sions to real estate; to put an uncommon case: laud formed by the gradual 
washing up of sand on the shore of the sea or of our great lakes, which be- 
longs to the owner of the adjacent bank, or an island formed in the bed of a 
river not navigable, which is to be divided according to the original thread of 
the river between the proprietors on the opposite banks, or to him on whose 
side of the original thread it lies (17 Pick. 41); or in improvements, such as 
the building of a house or barn, not completed when the town assessment was 
made. Or the property may be personal, arising from the sale of real estate 
within the district, or the acquisition of personal estate by devise or other- 
wise to an inhabitant of the district, such property not being in the district, 
but following the person of its owner for the purpose of taxation. In all 
these cases an original valuation by the trustees is to be made, and a notice is 
necessary. Additions to the last assessment-roll, in consequence of buildings 
subsequently erected, should not be made by the trustees until they are so far 
completed that their valae is not contingent and uncertain. 

Where land, owned by the same person, is situated in different districts in 
the same town, but all included under one assessment by the town assessors, 
if all the land is of the same description, and was actually valued at the same 
rate per acre, without any variation on account of improvements or otherwise, 
or if it appears on the roll at what rates the separate parts were valued, then 
the valuation of the portion situate in any particular district may be ascer- 
tained by the trustees from such last assessment-roll. Bat if the valuation by 
the town assessor was general, and if the land was of different degrees of 
quality or value, or if a dwelling-house or other improvements are situated in 
one district and none in another, a new and original assessment must in such 
case be made, by the trustees giving the notices, etc., and proceeding in the 
mode required by law. 

Where a person, assessed for a greater number of acres than his farm con- 
tains, omits to claim a reduction when the tax is assessed by the trustees, he 
will not be relieved subsequently on appeal. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

The tax should be assessed according to the last assessment-roll df the town, 
and a more recent roll, which has not been perfected, should be disregarded. 
(Supreme Court, 1831, Alexander v. Hoyt, 7 Wend. 89. See 1 Rev. Stat. \^M 
ed.] 547, sec. 117.) 

Erroneous apportionment. Trustees of a school district in making out 
their tax-list from the town assessment-roll, act ministerially, and if they take 
the roll which has not been completed instead of the last roll, and issue their 
warrant accordingly, they are liable as trespassers. {Supreme Court, 1831, 
Alexander v. Hoyt, 7 Wend. 89; overruled in Supreme Court, 1855, Hill v. 
Sellick, 21 Barb. 207, and cases there cited.) 

The apportionment of the tax among the taxable inhabitants of a district 
is to a certain extent a judicial act, and if the trustees confine themselves 
within the limits of the statute, though they should err in point of law, or in 
judgment, they are not civilly' nor criminally answerable if their motives are 
pure. (8 Cow. 184; 1 Cai. 90; Supreme Court, 1833, Easton v. Calendar, 11 
Wend. 90; approved in i^o^50??i v. Streeter, 24 Wend. 266; Randall v. Smith, 
1 Denio, 214.) 

§ 68. "Wliere such reduction shall be duly claimed, and where 
the valuation of taxable property cannot be ascertained from the 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 347 

last assessment roll of the town, the trustees shall ascertain the 
true value of the property to be taxed from the best evidence in 
their power, giving notice to the persons interested, and proceed- 
ing in the same manner as the town assessors are required by law 
to proceed in the valuation of taxable property. 

Wlien trustees complete tlieir tax-list, copying the valuations from tlie last 
town assessment-roll, and without any addition of property or a claim of re- 
duction, no notice of the completion of such tax-list is required to be given by 
them. 

The foregoing section (68) relates to cases where the trustees do not follow 
the town assessment-roll. Where the valuations are increased, reduced, or a 
claim for such reduction is received, or new property is added thereto, in 
such cases the section requires that they must proceed in the same manner as 
town assessors are required by law to proceed in the valuation of taxable 
property. 

NOTICE. 

The notice which town assessors are required to give, and which the school 
trustees in cases of original assessment must follow, is found in the follow- 
ing sections of title 2, article 2, chapter 13, part 1, R. S., 7th ed.: 

§19. The assessors shall complete the assessment-rolls on or before the first day of 
August in every year, and shall make out one fair copy thereof to be left with one of 
their number. They shall forthwith cause notices thereof, to be left with one of their 
number; they shall forthwith cause notices thereof to be put up at three or more pub- 
lic places in their town or ward. 

§ aO. Such notices shall set forth that the assessors have completed their assessment- 
roll, and that a copy thereof is left with oneof their number, at a place tobespecifled 
therein, where the same may be seen and examined by any person interested, until 
the third Tuesday of August; and that on that day the assessors will meet, at a time 
and place also to be specified in such notice, to review their assessments. On the 
application of any person conceiving himself aggrieved, it shall be the duty of the said 
assessors on such day to meet, at the time and place specified, and hear and examine 
all complaints in relation to such assessments that may be brought before them; and 
they are hereby empowered and it shall be their duty to adjourn from time to time, as 
maybe necessary, to hear and determine, in accordance with the rule prescribed by 
section 15 of said title 2, such complaints; but in the several cities of this State the 
notices required by this section may conform to the requirements of the respective 
laws regulating the time, place and manner for revising the assessments in said cities, 
in all cases where a different time, place and manner is prescribed by said laws from 
that mentioned in this act. 

§21. The assessors with whom such assessment-roll is left shall submit the same, 
during the twenty days specified la such notice, to the inspection of all persons who 
shall apply for that purpose. 

Applying these sections to school district trustees, the following rules must 
lae followed: 

1. The tax-list, when completed, must be left with one of the trustees, or 
at some place where it can be inspected by the persons interested for at least 
twenty days from the time notice is given of the completion thereof. 

2. Notice of the completion of such tax-list, and of the original assessment, 
must be posted in at least three public places in the district. 

The department has uniformly held that in cases where the only alteration 
from the valuations of the town assessment-roll was the placing of new or ad- 
ditional property upon the tax-list, or increasing the valuation of property, a 
notice, complying with the provisions of section 20, above quoted, served upon 
the persons so assessed, will be a sufficient compliance with section 68 of this 
title, which reads: "giving notice to the persons interested." But where 
property is to be stricken from the tax -list, or the valuation thereof reduced, 



348 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

notices must be posted, as such action will necessarily increase the rate of tax- 
ation upon the remaining property of the district, and, therefore, all the tax- 
able inhabitants of the district are " the persons interested," and must have 
notice. 

The notice to be given by trustees necessarily varies somewhat from thai 
of assessors, and may be in the following form: 

Notice is hereby given that the trustees of school district No. in the 

town of , have completed their tax-list to raise the sum of $l0 for repairs 

of school-house, $8 to furnish the same with the necessary fuel (enumerating 
the several taxes included in the list), and that a copy thereof is left with the 
undersigned, A. B., at his office (mill, dwelling-house, or as the case may be), 
where the same may be seen and examined, by any person interested, during 
twenty days from the date of this notice; and that said trustees will meet at 
the house of , in said district, on the day of next 

(specifying a day subsequent, at least, twenty-one days to the posting), at 
o'clock, in the noon, to review the said tax-list, on the application of any 

person conceiving himself aggrieved. 

Dated this day of ,18 

A. B. 

C. T>.,y Trustees of District No. 

E. F. 

NOTICE OF ORIGINAL ASSESSMENT. 

Trustees are required to give notice, etc. , when they depart from assessment- 
roll of the town, and specify a day when they will meet for review, etc., same 
as town assessors. 

An omission to give such notice is a jurisdictional defect, invalidating the 
tax and making trustees liable as trespassers in levying to enforce collection. 
(Jewel V. Van Steenhurgh, 58 N. T. 85, 1874.) 

The assessment of the tracts of land was not taken from the town assess- 
ment-roll, but was made by the trustees, and the notice required in section 
68 was not given. Held, that while the regularity of the warrant in form 
protected the collector, the defendant (the trustee) in assisting him was liable 
from the fact that he issued the warrant; as to him the warrant was no pro- 
tection. {Supreme Court, Oen. Term, 24 Week. Dig. 191.) 

REDUCTION OF ASSESSMENT. 
Whenever any person on his own behalf, or on behalf of those whom he 
may represent, shall apply to the assessors of any town or ward to reduce the 
value of his real and personal estate, as set down in the assessment-roll, it 
shall be the duty of such assessors to examine such person under oath touch- 
ing the value of his or their said real or personal estate; and after such ex- 
amination, and such other supplementary evidence, under oath, as shall be pre- 
sented by the party or person aggrieved, they shall fix the value thereof at 
such sum as they may deem just, under the rule prescribed by section 17 of 
this title; but if such person shall refuse to answer any question as to the 
value of his real or personal estate or the amount thereof, or present sufficient 
supplementary evidence, under oath, to justify a reduction, the said assessors 
shall not reduce the value of such real or personal estate. The examination 
so taken shall be written and shall be subscribed by the person examined, and 
shall be filed in the office of the town clerk of the town or city in which such 
assessment shall be made; and any person who will wilfully swear false on 
such examination before the assessors, shall be deemed guilty of willful and 
corrupt perjury. It shall be the duty of the assessors, whenever the valua- 
tion fixed by them, after such examination, shall exceed that sworn to by the 
aggrieved party or person, to indorse on the written examination the words. 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 349 

" Disagreed to by the undersigned assessors, under the rule prescribed for mak- 
ing assessments, by section fifteen, article two, title two, chapter thirteen, part 
one of the Revised Statutes, and in view of the obligations imposed by the depo- 
sition and oath, subscribed and made on the completion of the assessment-roll, 
to which this disagreement refers." It shall be the duty of the assessors on 
the same occasion, to furnish the aggrieved party or person a duplicate copy 
of the before-mentioned written examination, together with the indorsement 
of disagreement aforesaid, duly signed. {Section 6, chapter 176, Laws 1851, as 
amended hy section 6, chapter 536, Laws of 1857.) 

Formerly, upon the making of an affidavit, by a person asking a reduction, 
that the value of his personal estate did not exceed a given sum, the assessors 
and trustees were bound to reduce his assessment to the amount fixed by him. 
Under the preceding sections they are required, instead of taking a mere affi- 
davit, to examine him orally, under oath to make true answers to such ques- 
tions as shall be put to him touching the value of his real or personal estate. 
They are at liberty to put any question, the answer to which may assist them 
in arriving at a correct conclusion on the subject, and are not at liberty to re- 
duce his valuation if he refuses to answer. An affidavit without the examina- 
tion, or without the examination being reduced to writing, is of no avail as 
evidence to reduce the valuation. (12 Hoio. Prac. R. 237.) After the exam- 
ination, the assessors 8.re to fix the valuation, and are not limited to that fixed 
by the person examined. 

The provision of section 5, chapter 536, of 1857, above cited, relates as well 
to those persons who apply for a reduction of assessments against them in a 
representative character, as executors, etc., as to those who ask it in their own 
behalf. They are entitled to a deduction for debts due from them in their 
representative character, and are to be examined as to the valuation of the 
property under their control, as such representatives, in the same manner as 
if it belonged to them in their private capacity. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Assessors are not bound to reduce the value- of the property of any party 
deeming himself aggrieved to the amount fixed in his sworn statement and 
examination before them, but they are to fix the value after such statement, as 
they may deem just, having in view the general duty to assess property "at 
its full and true value." {People v, Frederecks, 48 Barh. 173.) 

By the statutes of this State, assessors are made the judges of the value of 
property, for the purpose of taxation. They are not bound by proof pro- 
duced before them, but are required to use their own judgment notwithstand- 
ing such proof, and the case must be an extraordinary one which will author- 
ize the supreme court to review their judgment upon certiorari. (48 N. Y. 
390.) 

Relator resided in and was a taxable inhabitant of the city of Kingston. 
Certain personal property was in his possession. He was, in due time and 
form, placed on the assessment-roll and taxed, and, although due notice was 
given according to law, of the completion of the roll and that it was open to 
examination, review and correction, he omitted to appeal or make objection to 
the assessment during the time limited therefor. Held, that he was barred 
from asserting a remedy by certiorari to review and correct it for illegality, 
excessiveness or inequality. {The People, ex rel. Philip Hoffman, resp., v. 
Osterhoudt et al. Assessors, applts., 24 Weekly Digest, 101.) 

§ 69. Wheal a district embraces parts of more than one town, 
it shall be the duty of the supervisors of such towns so in part 
embraced, upon receiving a written notice from the trustee or 
trustees of such district, or from three or more persons liable to 



350 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

pay taxes upon real estate tlierein, to meet, at a time and place to 
be named in such notice, which time shall not be less than five 
or more than ten days from the service thereof, and a place 
within the bounds of the towns so in part embraced, and proceed 
to inquire and determine whether the valuation of real property 
upon the several assessment rolls of said towns are substantially 
just as compared with each other, so far as said districts are con- 
cerned, and if ascertained not to be so, they shall determine the 
relative proportion of taxes that ought to. be assessed upon the 
real property of the parts of such district lying in different towns, 
and the trustees of such district shall thereupon assess the pro- 
portion of any tax thereafter to be raised, according to the deter- 
mination of such supervisors, until new assessment rolls of the 
town shall be perfected and filed, using the assessment rolls of 
the several towns to distribute the said proportion among the per- 
sons liable to be assessed for the same. In cases when such su- 
pervisors shall be unable to agree, they shall summon a supervisor 
from some adjoining town, who shall unite in such inquiring, and 
the finding of a majority shall be the determination of such 
meeting. — [As amendedhy section 21, chapter 567, Laws of 
1875.] 

The necessity for the provisions of this section arises from the fact that the 
real estate in different towns is not assessed at its full value as the statute 
directs. In some towns it is assessed at full value, and in others at, perhaps, 
two-thirds or only one-half. In school districts composed of parts of two or 
more towns where the real estate of the different towns has been assessed 
upon the last town assessment-rolls at different valuations, it is an injustice to 
assess the school district taxes upon the real estate of the district, taking the 
valuations from the town assessment-rolls of the respective towns. 

If the assessors of the different towns have placed the same valuations upon 
the real estate of their towns no equalization under this section can be made 
as the valuations are already equal. 

It will also be observed that a tax-list made out by the trustees without 
the equalization provided for in this section having been made, will not be 
void. And supervisors have no jurisdiction to act under this section unless 
" upon receiving a written notice from the trustee or trustees of such district, 
or from three or more persons liable to pay taxes upon real estate therein." 

For the purpose of making the matter of equalizing plain to supervisors the 
following example is given. The method of arriving at the proper result is 
the same in every case whether there are two, or more than two, towns in the 
school district. The object is the same, viz. : to ascertain what part of a school 
tax would have been levied upon the real estate of each town, or part of town 
comprising the school district, had the real estate of the different towns been 
assessed at its full, or the same, value. When this is ascertained the order of 
the supervisors must be made in accordance therewith, or in other words, that 
such sums be assessed upon the real estate of the parts of the towns compris- 
ing the school district. 



Assessment and Collection" of Taxes. 351 

Example. — School district No. 5, Van Buren and Knox. 

Amount of tax to be raised $600 00 

Total valuation of the real estate in the district as taken from the 

assessment- rolls of the two towns 100 ,000 00 

Valuation of personal property 16,000 00 

Total valuation of taxable property 116,000 00 

First find what amount of the tax must be raised npon the per- 
sonal property. If $600 is to be raised from a total valuation 
of $116,000, the rate is found by dividing 600 by 116,000 and is 
.00ol73. 

At this rate the tax on $16,000 personal property will be 82 75 

Deducting the tax to be raised upon the personal property from 
the whole tax leaves the amount of tax to be levied upon the 
real estate of the district 517 20 

In the town of Van Buren the real estate is assessed at its full 
value, and in the town of Knox it is assessed at two-thirds of 
its full value. 

The value of the real estate in the town of Van Buren lying in 

school district No. 5 is 70,000 00 

The valuation of the real estate of the town of Knox lying in 

school district No. 5 as taken from the town assessment- roll is 30,000 00 

If the assessors of Knox had assessed at full value the same as 
was done in Van Buren the value of the real estate of Knox 
lying in said school district would be ... 45,000 00 

The total valuation of the real estate in said district when assessed 

at its full value is 115,000 00 

Upon this valuation there is to be taxed 517 20 

The rate found by dividing 517.20 by 115,000 is .004497. 

Tax on $70,000 valuation of the real estate of Van Buren at said 

rate is 314 79t 

Tax on $45,000 valuation of the real estate of Knox 202 36t 

Having found the amount that would have been raised on the real 
estate of each town in the district it only remains for the super- 
visors to frame their order so that these amounts will be raised. 
$517.20 is to be assessed upon the real estate of the district. 
$314.79 upon the real estate of Van Buren and $202.36 upon the 
real estate ot Knox. 

Three hundred and fourteen dollars and seventy-nine centb is 
in round numbers 61 per cent of $517.20, and $202.36 is 39 per 
cent of $517.20. 

The order of the supervisors which remains in force until new assessment- 
rolls are completed is that the real estate of the town of Van Buren lying in 
school district No. 5, Van Buren and Kdox, shall pay 61 per cent (or 61 
cents on the dollar) of all taxes levied on the real estate of the district and the 
real estate of the town of Knox lying in said district shall pay 39 per cent (or 
39 cents on the dollar) of all taxes levied upon the real estate of said district. 

FORM OF ORDER. 

In the matter of the equalization of assessments for school purposes, in Dis- 
trict No. of the towns of , in county, and in 
county. 

Application having been made to the supervisors of the town of and 

, by 3 (or more) persons liable to pay taxes in school district No. 
of said towns (or by the trustees), to inquire whether the valuations of real 
property upon the several assessment-rolls of said towns are substantially 
just, as compared with each other, so far as such district is concerned, and the 
said supervisors being unable to agree, have summoned J. D., Esq., super- 



352 Assessment and Collection oe Taxes. 

visor of the adjoining town of , to unite in such inquiry, and a meeting 

of said supervisors having been held for that purpose, in the said school dis- 
trict, at which meeting were present A. B. and C. D. (E. F. being duly noti- 
fied, and having failed to attend), and it having been determined that such 
valuations are not substantially just, as compared with each other, it was then 
and is hereby determined that the relative proportion of taxes that ought to 
be assessed upon the real property of parts of such districts lying in different 
towns is as follows, viz.: 61 per cent (or 6l cents of each dollar) of all taxes 
levied upon the real property of said district should be assessed upon the real 
property of the town of Van Buren lying in said school district, and 39 per 
cent (or 39 cents of each dollar) of all taxes levied upon the real property 
of said district should be assessed upon the real property of the town of Knox 
lying in said school district. 
Dated this day of , 18 . 

A. B. , Supervisor of 
C. D., Supervisor of 

This order should be filed with the clerk of the school district and in the 
office of the several town clerks of the towns forming the school district. 

After this equalization is made by the supervisors, trustees must follow the 
valuations of the real estate upon the last town assessment- rolls of the respect- 
ive towns. The amount of tax to be raised upon the real estate of each town 
or part of town lying in the school district "has been found from the super- 
visors' equalization. This will occasion two rates. In the example above 
given, the rate which the trustees must use in assessing the real property of 
Van Buren is .004497, and the rate for the real property of Knox, .006745^. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

The supervisors of the towns, parts of which are included in any district 
composed of parts of two or more towns, may act under this section, upon the 
written application of its trustees or of not less than three persons liable to 
pay taxes upon real estate in the district. In determining the proportion of 
taxes to be levied upon the respective parts of such district, the simplest form 
will be to state how many cents in the dollar, of each tax, shall be levied upon 
the real property of one part, and how many upon the other. A record of 
this determination should be made in duplicate or triplicate, according to the 
number of towns; each should be signed by the supervisors, and one copy 
filed in the clerk's office of each town. It may be in the following form, and 
should have annexed to it the original application upon which it was made, 
evidence of which is necessary to uphold the order. (21 Barh. 210.) 

The trustees are not liable as trespassers for an error as to the basis of the 
apportionment, anv more than for an error in the amount. (11 Wend. 90 ; 1 
Denio..2U\ 10 Barb. 290 ; Supreme Court, 1855, Hill v. Sellick, 21 Barb. 207. 

Under Laws of 1847, 696, section 72, providing for an equalization 
of the apportionment, when the school district embraces a part of more 
than one town, upon a comparison of the valuations of real property upon 
the several assessment-rolls of the towns with each other, so far as such 
district is concerned, and providing for the adjustment of the relative propor- 
tion of taxes that ought to be assessed upon the real property of the parts of 
such district so lying in different towns, the trustees are not liable for making 
their assessment in disregard of a determination made by town superintend- 
ents of common schools, unless it appears that a previous application upon 
the subject was made to the superintendents by the trustees of the district or 
persons liable to pay taxes upon real property therein. {Id.) 

§ 70. Any person working land, under a contract for a share of 
the produce of such hind, shall be deemed the possessor, so far as 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 353 

to render him liable to taxation tlierefor in the district where such 
land is situate. 

The meaning of this section is believed to be that a tenant, working land 
and paying a share of the produce as rent, is taxable, and not that a servant or 
agent is taxable who agrees to take a share of the produce as his wages for 
working the land. It may sometimes be a little difficult to ascertain whether 
the relation is that of landlord and tenant, or that of master and servant. (15 
Barb. 597.) It being the policy of the law (as will be apparent from section 
72 of this title) that a landlord leasing for a short term should pay the school 
taxes for permanent objects, unless there is an express agreement to the con- 
trary, it will be safest in cases of doubt, to avoid the question by assessing the 
owner. 

Non-residents. Lauds owned by a non-resident, but occupied, may be 
assessed either against the occupant or the non-resident owner. {Coxirt of 
Appeals, 1853, Van Rensselaer v. Gottrell, Seld. notes, Nos. 1, 2, 3; affirming 
S. C, 7 Barh. 127.) 

§ 71. Every person owning or holding any real property within 
any school district, who shall improve and occupy the same by his 
agent or servant, shall, in respect to the liability of such property 
to taxation, be considered a taxable inhabitant of such district, in 
the same manner as if he actually resided therein. 

This section must be construed in connection with section 66. It was de- 
signed to prevent the necessity of resorting to a sale of the land, and to 
authorize the collector to levy, under his warrant, upon the personal property 
of an owner of land not residing in the district, but managing the land him- 
self, or by agents or workmen instead of renting it. It clearly contemplates 
lands owned by a non-resident and not occupied by a tenant, but improved and 
occupied by his agent or servant. If such land be occupied by tenants or sub- 
tenants, they and not the non-resident owner are to be taxed for the parts 
occupied by them respectively. They are for the time being owners (8 Wend. 
518), and although they, too, should not reside on the land, are made taxable in- 
habitants, if they improve it. It is very plain that where land which comes 
within the description of the preceding section is situated partly in one 
district and partly in an adjoining one, it also falls within the description 
of lands in section 66, which are to be assessed only in the district in 
which the agent or servant occupying the same resides, but they are to be 
assessed to the owner and not to the agent or servant. Lands not so occupied 
are to be regarded and assessed as non-resident. 

§ 72. Where any district tax, for the purpose of purchasing a 
, site for a school house, or for purchasing or building, keeping in 
repair, or furnishing such school house with necessary fuel and 
appendages, shall be lawfully assessed, and paid by any person on 
account of any real property whereof he is only tenant at will, or 
for three years, or for a less period of time, such tenant may 
charge the owner of such real estate with the amount of the tax 
so paid by him, unless some agreement to the contrary shall have 
been made by such tenant. 
4.b 



354 Assessment an"d CoLLECTioiNr of Taxes. 

The tenant can charge his landlord only with such taxes as he may have 
paid for the specific purposes mentioned. If taxed for teachers' wages, for the 
hire of temporary school-houses or rooms, for the purchase of maps, globes, 
school apparatus, books for library, for district minutes, and for teacher's reg- 
ister of attendance, or any other object than those enumerated in the preced- 
ing section, he cannot set it off against his rent or make the landlord repay 
him. 

§ 73. Every taxable inhabitant of a district who shall have 
been, within four years, set off from any other district without 
his consent, and shall, within that period, have actually paid in 
such other district, under a lawful assessment therein, a district 
tax for building a school house, shall be exempted by the trustees 
of the district where he shall reside from the payment of any tax 
for building a school house therein. 

This exemption relates only to a tax for building a school-house and does 
not extend to one for repairs, fuel or any other current expense. A voluntary 
contribution for building a school-house in another district is not ground for 
an exemption, nor is the fact that a person has been taxed, if he has not 
actually paid the tax by the sale of his property or otherwise, nor is he exempt 
if he has been set off upon his own petition or consent. 

§ 74. When any real estate within a district, so liable to taxa- 
tion, shall not be occupied and improved by the owner, his servant 
or agent, and shall not be possessed by any tenant, the trustees of 
any district, at the time of making out any tax list by which any 
tax shall be imposed thereon, shall make and insert in such tax 
list a statement and description of every such lot, piece or parcel 
of land so owned by non-residents therein, in the same manner as 
required by law from town assessors in making out the assessment- 
roll of their towns ; and, if any such lot is known to belong to an 
incorporated company liable to taxation in such district, the name 
of such company shall be specified, and the value of such lot or 
piece of land shall be set down opposite to such description, which 
value shall be the same that was affixed to such lot or piece of 
land in the last assessment roll of the town ; and if the same was 
not separately valued in such roll, then it shall be valued in pro- 
portion to the valuation which was affixed in the said assessment 
roll to the whole tract of which such lot or piece shall be part. 

Non-resident real estate is real estate which is not occupied and improved 
by the owner, his servant or agent, and which is not possessed by any tenant; 
or, in other words, it is unimproved and unoccupied land. The preceding 
section requires that such lands shall be assessed by the district trustees, and 



Assessment an^d Collection- of Taxes. 355 

sliall be placed on their tax list in the same manner as required of town 
assessors in making out the town assessment rolls. It must be upon a sepa- 
rate part of the tax-list from the other assessments. The form of tax list, in- 
cluding the assessment of non-resident lands, was given under section 65. 
The name of the owner of the non-resident lands is not to be mentioned in the 
tax -list, unless such lands are known to be owned by an incorporated company, 
in which case the statute directs that the name of such company shall be 
specified. 

The description must be such that the State Comptroller can perceive that 
it will enable a purchaser at the tax sale to locate the land with certainty, and 
also enable the non resident owner to know, from such description alone, that 
it is his land which has been sold, so that he may redeem it. 

It is only real estate within the district that is to be described as non-resident 
property; and if it be part of a tract extending into other districts, the descrip- 
tion in the town assessment roll may not show how much is in one district and. 
how much in another. The trustees must supply this defect in making out 
their tax list, by giving an accurate description of the boundary line of their 
district which intercepts any unoccupied lot or subdivision of a tract. The 
description of each parcel separately taxed must be such that if that descrip- 
tion, copied literally from the tax list, were inserted in a deed by the Comp- 
troller, without adding any other words, it would suffice to identify the lot 
and determine the boundaries. 

Trustees must follow the provisions of the law applying to town assessors, 
in the assessment of non-resident lands, found in sections 11, 12 and 13, title 
3, article 2, chapter 13, part 1, Revised Statutes, 7th ed., as follows: 

"§ 11. The lands of non-residents shall be designated in the same assessment-roll, 
but in a part thereof separate from the other assessments, and in the manner prescribed 
in the two following sections. 

" § 12. If the land to be assessed be a tract which is so subdivided into lots, or be part 
of a tract which is so subdivided, the assessors shall proceed as follows 

•'1. They shall designate it by its name, if known Jay one, or if it be not distin- 
guished by a name, or the name be unknown, they shall state by what other lands it is 
bounded. 

"2. If they can obtain correct information of the subdivisions, they shall put down 
in their assessment-rolls, and in a first column, all the unoccupied lots in their town 
or ward, owned by non-residents, by their numbers alone and without the name of 
their owners, beginning at the lowest number and proceeding in numerical order to 
the highest. 

"3. In the second column, and opposite to the number of each lot, they shall set 
down the quantity of land therein liable to taxation. 

"4. In a third column, and opposite to the quantity, they shall set down the valua- 
tion of such quantity. 

"5. If such quantity be a full lot, it shall be designated by the number alone; if it be 
a part of a lot, the part must be designated by boundaries, or in some other way by 
which it may be known. 

" § 13. If the land so to be assessed be a tract which is not subdivided, or if its sub- 
divisions cannot be ascertained by the assessors, they shall proceed as follows: 

" 1, They shall enter in their roll the name or boundaries thereof, as above directed, 
and certify in the roll that such tract is not subdivided, or that they cannot obtain 
correct information of the subdivisions, as the case may be. 

" 2. They shall set down in the proper column the qujmtity and valuation as above 
directed. 

" 3. If the quantity to be assessed be the whole tract, such description by its name or 
boundaries will be sufficient; but if a part only is liable to taxation that part, or the 
part not liable, must be particularly described. 

' ' 4. If any part of such tract be settled and occupied by a resident of the town or 
ward, the assessors shall except such part from their assessment of the whole tract, 
and shall assess it as other occupied lands are assessed." 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Assessors are not authorized by the statute to insert in the assessment -rolls 
the names of non-resident owners of real property. In the case of a non- 
resident the land is to be assessed without naming the owner. Hence, the 
collector cannot levy a tax upon any personal property of non-residents. The 
warrant does not authorize the seizure and sale of the property of persons not 



356 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

named, or whose names it is apparent from the face of the papers the assessors 
had no right to set down. {Supreme Court, Sp. Term, 1853, iV. Y. & Harlem 
M, M. Co. V. L7/on, 16 Bai'b. 651.) 

An assessment of non-resident land is fatally defective and void if it con 
tain such a falsity in the designation or description of the parcel assessed as 
might probably mislead the owner and prevent him from ascertaining from 
the notices that his land was to be sold or redeemed. Such a mistake or 
falsity defeats one of the obvious and just purposes of the statute — that of 
giving the owner an opportunity of preventing the sale by paying the tax. (2 
iV. r. 66.) 

§ 75. If any tax on real estate placed upon the tax list and 
duly delivered to the collector, or the taxes upon non-resident 
stockholders in banking associations organized under the laws of 
congress, shall be unpaid at the time the collector is required by 
law to return his warrant, he shall deliver to the trustees of the 
district an account of the taxes remaining due, containing a de- 
scription of the lands upon which such taxes were unpaid as the 
same were placed upon the tax list, together with the amount of 
the tax so assessed, and upon making oath before any justice of 
the peace or judge of court of record that the taxes mentioned 
in any such account remain unpaid, and that, after diligent efforts, 
he has been unable to collect the same, he shall be credited by 
said trustees with the amount thereof. — [As amended hy section 
22, chapter 567, Laws of 1875, and ly sectio7i 1, chapter 250, 
Laws of 1883.] 

This section, since the amendment of 1883, provides for the return of all 
unpaid taxes upon real estate and upon non-resident stockholders in banking 
associations organized under the laws of congress. The collector is not ex- 
cused from any legal attempt or endeavor to collect such taxes, but if, after 
" diligent efforts," he fails to make the collection and they remain unpaid at 
the time he is required by law to return hite warrant, he must make a copy of 
the assessment-roll, in respect to such unpaid taxes, and must make oath 
before any justice of the peace or judge of a court of record, that the taxes 
mentioned in such account remain unpaid-, and that, after diligent efforts, he 
has been unable to collect the same. 

The statute being followed in this respect, the trustees are to credit the col- 
lector with the amount of said uncollected taxes, and the collector is thereby 
relieved from liability in respect thereto. 

The unpaid taxes should be drawn oft" in the same form as found upon the 
tax- list, and the collector's oath attached thereto in the following form: 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 



357 



Account of unpaid taxes assessed upon the lands in school district No. , 

in the town of , county of , in a tax-list made out by the trustees 

of said district, for and delivered to the collector on the day 

of , 18 . 



NAMES OF TAXABLE INHABITANTS AND COR- 
PORATIONS. 



James Thomas 

James Thomas, executor of estate of John Thomas, 

deceased 

Clark Cotton Manufacturiug Company. 

John Davison 



'='1-1 



80 acres. 



5 acres. 
U acres. 



o . 
3 a 
> 



S400 



1,250 
635 



3 ® 2 



$1,025 
25,000 



a 
3 . 

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$6 81 

17 45 

446 91 

10 64 



CODNTY, 

Town of 

John Doe, being duly sworn, deposes and says, that he is collector of taxes 
in and for school district No. , of the town of , aforesaid; that the 

foregoing is a true account of the taxes remaining due upon the real estate in 
said district assessed upon the tax-list and warrant delivered to said collector 
on the day of , 18 , and which said warrant is returnable on the 

day of , 18 ; that the taxes mentioned in such account remain 

unpaid, and that after diligent efforts he has been unable to collect thg. same. 

JOHN DOE. 
Sworn and subscribed before me, ) 
this day of , 18. S" . ' 

E. F., Justice of the Peace. 

If the uncollected tax is upon the non-resident stockholders in banking asso- 
ciations organized under the laws of congress, this fact must be stated in the 
account and in the foregoing affidavit of the collector. 

§ 76. Upon receiving any such account from the collector, the 
trustees shall compare it with the original tax list, and, if they 
find it to be a true transcript, they shall add to such account their 
certificate, to the effect that they have compared it with the orig- 
inal tax list and found it to be correct, and shall immediately 
transmit the account, affidavit, and certificate, to the treasurer of 
the county. 



358 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

The certificate of the trustees should be attached to the aflBdavit of the col- 
lector, upon the origiual account. It may be as follows: 

"The undersigned, trustees of school district No. , in the town of 

, county of , hereby certify that the preceding is an account 

of unpaid taxes assessed on the real estate or upon non-resident stockholders 
in a banking association organized under the laws of congress, in said dis- 
trict, delivered to the trustees thereof by John Doe, collector of taxes therein, 
and that we have examined and compared the same with the original tax-list 
for and found it to be correct. Dated this day of , 

18 ." 

This should be signed by a majority, at least, of the trustees. The purpose 
for which the tax-list was made out ought to be stated, so that it may appear 
to have been for objects for which taxes may be legally imposed by a dis- 
trict meeting or by the trustees. 

§ 77. Out of any moneys in the county treasury raised for con- 
tingent expenses, the treasurer shall pay to the collector the 
amount of the taxes so returned as unpaid, and if there are no 
moneys in the treasury applicable to such purpose, the board of 
supervisors at the time of levying said unpaid taxes, as provided 
in the next section, shall pay to the collector of the school dis- 
trict the amount thereof by voucher or draft on the county treas- 
urer in the same manner as other county charges are paid, and 
the collector shall be again charged therewith by the trustees. 
[As amended hy sec, 1, chap. 455, Laws of 1880, aiid chap. 333, 
Laws of 1887.] 

This section, before the amendment, required that "Out of the moneys in 
the county treasury, raised for contingent expenses, the treasurer shall pay to 
the trustees the amount of the taxes so returned as unpaid." 

In an application for a mandamus to compel the county treasurer to pay such 
taxes the court in 14 Wend. 226, held that the law in this respect could not be 
executed, for the reason that the contingent fund was raised for other pur- 
poses and that no fund or part of the contingent fund had been raised or 
could be raised by the supervisors in advance for the payment of such unpaid 
school taxes. 

The first part of this section is really without force as the county treasurer 
cannot pay until the board of supervisors has levied the taxes for such unpaid 
school tax, and the board of supervisors cannot levy the same in advance for 
the purpose of forming a contingent fund, but must proceed upon receipt of 
the account, affidavit and certificate , as directed in the next section. 

§ 78. Such account, affidavit and certificate shall be laid by the 
county treasurer before the board of supervisors of the county 
who shall cause the amount of such unpaid taxes with seven per 
cent, of the amount in addition thereto, to be levied upon the lands 
of non-residents on which the same were imposed ; and if imposed 
upon the lands of any incorporated company, then upon such com- 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 359 

pany ; and when collected, the same shall be returned to the 
county treasurer to reimburse the amount so advanced, with the 
expense of collection ; and if imposed upon the stock of a non- 
resident stockholder in a banking association organized under the 
laws of congress, then, the same with seven per cent, of the amount 
in addition thereto, shall be a lien upon any dividends thereafter 
declared upon such stock, and upon notice by the board of su- 
pervisors to the president and directors of such bank, of such 
charge upon such stock, the president and directors shall there- 
after withhold the amount so stated from any future dividends 
upon such stock, and shall pay the same to the collector of the 
town duly authorized to receive the same. — [As amended hy 
section 23, chajpter 567, Laws of 1875, and hy section 2, chajpter 
250, Laws of 1883.] 

This section seems to contemplate that the supervisors shall impose any tax 
returned, with the addition of seven per cent, upon the very same lands on 
which they were charged by the trustees, and therefore not to contemplate any 
correction of the description by them. This is a reason for great care on the 
part of the trustees in preparing the original description in the tax list, 

§ 79. Any person whose lands are included in any such ac- 
count may pay the tax assessed thereon to the county treasurer, 
at any time before the board of supervisors shall have directed 
the same to be levied. 

§ 80. The same proceedings in all respects shall be had for the 
collection of the amount so directed to be raised by the board of 
supervisors as are provided by law in relation to county taxes ; and, 
upon a similar account, as in the case of county taxes of the 
arrears thereof uncollected, being transmitted by the county 
treasurer to the comptroller, the same shall be paid on his war- 
rant to the treasurer of the county advancing the same ; and the 
amount so assumed by the State shall be collected for its benefit, 
in the manner prescribed by law in respect to the arrears of county 
taxes upon land of non-residents ; or if any part of the amount so 
assumed consisted of a tax upon any incorporated company, the 
same proceedings may also be had for the collection thereof as 
provided by law in respect to the county taxes assessed upon such 
company. 



360 Assessment and Collectiojs^ of Taxes. 

§ 81. The warrant for the collection of a district tax shall be 
under tlie hands of the trustees, or a majority of them, with or 
without their seals ; and it shall have the like force and effect as a 
Warrant issued by a board of supervisors to a collector of taxes 
in the town; and the collector to whom it may be delivered for col- 
lection shall be thereby authorized and required to collect from 
every person in such tax list named, the sum set opposite to his 
name, or the amount due from any person or persons specified 
therein, in the same manner that collectors are authorized to col- 
lect town and county charges. — [As amended hy sect{o7ilS, chap- 
ter 406, Laws of 1867.] 

The trustees ought to take a written receipt from, the collector for the tax- 
list and warrant, specifying the return day and the amount to be collected, 
that they may be prepared with the proper evidence in case it should be nec- 
essary to bring an action against him. 

The representatives of a deceased person are not entitled to any delay in the 
payment of a tax, but are bound to pay on demand; and on refusal or neglect, 
the collector may proceed to sell any property found on the premises. By 
section 27, subdivision 2, 2 Revised Statutes, 28, taxes of all kinds have pref- 
erence to any other demand. 

No property is exempt from levy and sale under a tax-list and warrant, ex- 
cept the military equipments. 

The collector may levy upon any goods and chattels lawfully in the pos- 
session of the person liable to pay the tax, that is to say, the person named in 
the tax-list, although such person be not the owner of such goods and chattels. 
(13 Wend. 629.) 

The individual property of an executor, administrator or trustee may be 
taken for a tax imposed on him in his representative character, when no prop- 
erty of the testator, intestate or cestui que trust can be found. (4 Wend. 223.) 

But the warrant does not protect the collector if he levies upon property in 
the possession of persons not named in the roll, or whose names, it is apparent 
from the roll itself, the assessors ought not to have set down; for example, 
persons whose lands are described in the part of the tax-list containing the list 
of lands taxed as non-resident. (16 Barh. 651.) 

The manner in which town collectors are authorized to collect town and 
county charges is pointed out by the following sections of title 3, chapter 13, 
part 1st of the Revised Statutes: 

• ' § 1. Every collector, upon receiving the tax-list and warrant, shall proceed to collect 
the taxes therein mentioned, and for that purpose shall call at least once on the person 
taxed, or at the place of his usual residence, if in the town or ward for which said col- 
lector has been chosen, and shall demand payment of the taxes charged to him on his 
property. 

" § 2. In case any person shall refuse or neglect to pay the tax imposed on him, the 
collector shall levy the same by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the per- 
son who ought to pay the same, or oi any goods and chattels in his possession where- 
soever the same may be found within the district of the collector; and no claim of 
property to be made thereto by any other person shall be available to prevent a sale. 

"5 3. The collector shall give public notice of the time and place of sale, and of the 
property to be sold , at least six days previous to the sale, by advertisements to be posted 
up in at least three public places in the town where euch sale shall be made. The sale 
shall be by public auction. 

" H. If the property distrained shall be sold for more than the amount of the tax, 
the surplus shall be returned to the person iu whose possession such property was 



Assessment aistd Collection" of Taxes. ^qi 

when the distress was made, if no claim be made to such surplus by any other person. 
if any other person shall claim such surplus, on the ground that the property sold 
belonged to him, and such claim be admitted by the person for whose tax the same 
was distrained, the surplus shall be paid to such owner; but if such claim be contested 
by the person for whose tax the property was distrained, the surplus money shall be 
paid over by the collector to the supervisor of the town, who shall retain the same 
until the rights of the parties shall be determined by due course of law." {R. S., bth 
ed., vol.1, i>. 918.) 

It is provided bv tlie Revised Statutes (volume 2, 1st edition, page 522) that 
" no replevin shall lie for any property taken by virtue of any warrant for the 
collection of any tax, assessment or fine, in pursuance of any statute of this 
State." 

A collector, like other ministerial officers bound to execute process, is pro- 
tected, if the process is regular on its face, and comes from a court or body 
having jurisdiction of the subject-matter, if nothing appears in such process 
to apprise him that there was a defect of jurisdiction as to the particular per- 
son or property to be affected by such process. That warrant and tax-list 
constitute a process in the nature of an execution, and must be construed to- 
gether (3 Seld. 517), so that if a defect of jurisdiction appears on either, the col- 
lector is not protected. But he is not bound to inquire whether the trustees 
have not erred in the exercise of their jurisdiction. Thus he was held to be 
protected in 7 Wend. 91, where the trustees had taken the valuations from the 
assessment-roll, which was incomplete and subsequently varied, though the 
trustees were held liable as trespassers. But the collector was held liable, in 
16 Wend. 607, where the warrant was irregular on its face, in commanding 
him to proceed "as on execution issued by justices of the peace," and in 18 
Barb. 327, where it commanded him to collect five per cent on all sums men- 
tioned m the tax-list, without excepting those which should be voluntarily 
paid him in two weeks. 

The rule for the protection of ministerial officers acting under process, regu- 
lar and legal on its face, is held to prevail, even though he- has knowledge of 
facts rendering it void for want of jurisdiction,' (5 Hill, 440.) . " He must be 
governed and is protected," say the court, "by the process, and cannot be 
affected by any thing which he has heard or learned out of it." 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

But two of the school trustees were present when the tax was levied and 
assessed and the warrant made out, and no notice to the other to attend any 
meeting for that purpose was shown. Held, that the assessment and tax- 
warrant were, therefore, void, and gave no protection to the collector. {Hal- 
lock V. Ramsey, 22 Hun, 89.) 

How FAR PROCESS IS A PROTECTION. The insertion by trustees of a school 
district in their warrant for a collection of a school tax for the same, of a 
charge which they are not authorized to collect, without a vote of the district, 
does not render the warrant void except for the excess, and does not render 
them personally liable in damages for enforcing it, but they are liable only to 
an action for recovering back the excess. {Supreme Court, 1860, Colton v. 
Beardsley, 38 Barb. 29.) 

New WARRANT. After a warrant for the collection of taxes had been used 
to collect an assessment, the assessment was detached from it, and a second 
assessment attached to it, and the warrant thus altered was delivered to the 
collector for collection. Held, that it was, in legal eSect, a new warrant and 
valid as such. {Id.) 

Expiration of warrant. The powers of a school district collector, 
derived from a warrant issued for the collection of a tax or rate bill, cease 
with the expiration of the time limited in the warrant for collection, when his 
liability for collecting, etc., becomes fixed, unless the warrant is renewed by 
the trustees. Without a renewal he is then a trespasser if he executes it. 
{Sapreme Court, 1854, Stroud v. Butler, 18 Barb. 327.) 
46 



362 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

The provision of the act of 1831, directing warrants for taxes for erecting or 
repairing school -houses to be executed as warrants issued by the supervisors 
to town collectors, is to be applied to warrants for all school taxes; and what- 
ever the tax, the collector is clothed with the powers of a town collector. 
Hence, he may take the property of any person which is lawfully in the pos- 
session of the person liable to pay the tax. {Supreme Court, 1835, Keeler v. 
Chichester, 13 Wend. 629.) 

§ 82. A warrant for the collection of a tax voted by the district 
shall not be delivered to the collector until the thirty-first day 
after the tax was voted. A warrant for the collection of any tax 
not so voted may bo delivered to the collector whenever the same 
is completed. — \_As amended hy section 19, chai^ter 406, Laxos of 
1867.] 

A distinction is here made between a tax voted by the district and one levied 
by authority of law without such vote, 

A tax-list made out for the collection of any money to defray the expenses 
incurred by the trustees, under sections fifty and fifty-one of this title, may 
have the warrant attached and be delivered to the collector " w)ienever the 
same is completed," which means just as soon as the trustees can make the 
assessment. No tax-list can be considered as complete until it has passed from 
the hands of the trustees, and is no longer open to their alteration and re- 
vision. The writing out of the tax-list and warrant is purely clerical. The 
completion of the tax-list must be found in the last official act of the trustees, 
that is, its delivery to the collector. 

A tax-list for the collection of a tax voted by the district cannot be com- 
pleted until the thirty-first day after the tax was voted; but a tax-list for the 
collection of a tax not so voted may be completed whenever the trustees are 
ready, and deliver it to the collector. 

§ 83. Withm such time, not less than ten days, as the trustees 
shall allow him for the purpose, the collector, before receiving the 
first warrant for the collection of money, shall execute a bond to 
the trustees, with one or more sureties, to be approved by a ma- 
jority of the trustees, in such amount as the district meeting shall 
have fixed, or if such meeting shall not have fixed the amount, 
then in such amount as the trustees shall deem reasonable, con- 
ditioned for the due and faithful execution of the duties of his 
ofl&ce. The trustees upon receiving said bond, shall if they ap- 
prove thereof, indorse their approval thereon, and forthwith de- 
liver the same to the town clerk of the town in which said col- 
lector resides, and said clerk shall file the same in his office and 
enter in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, a memoran- 
dum showing the date of said bond, the names of the parties and 
sureties thereto, the amount of the penalty thereof, and the date 
and time of filing the same, and said town clerk is authorized to 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 3r?^ 

receive as a fee for such filing and memorandum, the sum of 
twentj-five cents, which sum is hereby made a charge against the 
school district interested in said bond. — [As amended hy section 
24, chapter^ 567, Lcvios of 1875, and chapter 334, Laios of 1887.] 

If the collector does not execute the bond required he vacates his office and 
the trustees must supply the vacancy. 

It is not necessary to give a new bond for every tax-list; the one first given 
covers all tax lists during the collector's term of office. New or increased bail 
can, however, be required. 

The amount of bail to be given by the collector should be fixed at the 
annual meeting when the officers of the district are chosen. It may be fixed 
at any duly assembled meeting. 

The trustees should notify the collector of the time when a tax-list and 
warrant will be in readiness for delivery to him, and the statute gives him ten 
days to look up his sureties. This notice should be served not more than 
twenty days after a tax is voted, in order that no time may be lost in the col- 
lection. 

The following is a form of the collector's bond: 

Know all men by these presents, that we, A. B., C, D. and R. S. (the col- 
lector and his sureties), are held and firmly bound to E. F., G. H. and L. M., 
trustees of school district No. , in the town of , county of 

in the sum of (here insert the amount of bail fixed by the district meeting or 
by the trustees), to be paid to the said E. F., G. H. and L. M,, trustees as 
aforesaid, or to the survivor or survivors of them, or their successors ; to which 
payment, well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors 
and administrators, firmly by these presents, . Sealed with our seals, and dated 
this day of , 18 . 

Whereas, the above bounden A. B. has been chosen (or appointed) collector 
of the above-mentioned school district No. , in the town of , in 

conformity to the statutes relating to common schools; now, therefore, the 
condition of this obligation is such, that if the said A. B. shall well and truly 
collect and properly account for all moneys received by him as such collector, 
and shall, in all respects, duly and faithfully execute all the duties of his 
office as collector of such district, then this oWigation shall be void, otherwise 
to be in full force and effect. 

A. 

C. 

R. 
Signed, sealed and delivered^ 
in the presence of \ 

The actions sustainable on a collector's bond are: 1. For not executing his 
warrant; and 2. For laches, losing a tax; or for neglecting to pay a balance to 
his successor. (4 Hun^ 399.) 

§ 84. The collector, on the receipt of a warrant for the collec- 
tion of taxes, shall give notice to the tax payers of the district, 
by publicly posting written or printed, or partly written and partly 
printed, notices in at least three public places in such district, one 
of which shall be on the outside of the front door of the school- 
house, statins^ that he has received such warrant and will receive 



L B. [L. 6.1 

\ D. [L. S.J 
\. S. [L. S.J 



364 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

all such taxes as may be voluntarily paid to him, within two weeks 
from the time of posting said notice. Such collector shall also 
give a like notice, either personally or by mail, at least ten days 
previous to the expiration of the two weeks aforesaid, to the ticket 
agent at the nearest station of any railroad corporation assessed 
for taxes, upon the tax list delivered to him with the aforesaid 
warrant, and no school collector shall be entitled to recover from 
any railroad corporation more than one per cent fees on the taxes 
assessed against such corporations, unless notice shall have been 
given as aforesaid, and in case the whole amount of taxes shall 
not be so paid in, the collector shall forthwith proceed to collect 
the same. He shall receive for his services on all sums paid in 
as aforesaid, one per cent, and upon all sums collected by him 
after the expiration of the time mentioned, five per cent, except 
as hereinbefore provided, and in case a levy and sale shall be nec- 
essarily made by such collector, he shall be entitled to traveling 
fees, at the rate of ten cents per mile, to be computed from the 
school-house in such district. [As mnended hy chap, 33, Laws 
of 1877.] 

The trustees are not authorized to receive or hold any money collected on a 
district tax. Payment to them would not be payment of the tax, and the col- 
lector cannot so regard it. He must collect and hold the moneys and pay them 
out only on the written order of the trustees. 

The change made in this section by the amendment of 1877 is important. 
It will be seen that the collector is bound to give notice in the manner set 
forth, whenever a warrant for the collection of taxes is put into his hands. 
Within the two weeks mentioned in such notice he cannot, of course, demand 
payment nor levy upon property. He is to receive such taxes as may be paid 
to him within that time, with only one per cent thereon for his services. After 
that time he must proceed to collect and is entitled to five per cent upon the 
sums collected. 

In case a levy and sale is made, the collector must proceed in the same man- 
ner as town collectors, but is not entitled to any fees therefor excepting travel- 
ing fees at the rate of ten cents per mile, to be computed from the school -house 
in the district. 

The part of this section relating to collection of taxes against railroad com- 
panies is considered under the head of "Assessment and Collection of Taxes 
against Railroads." 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Liability of collector. A school district collector is bound to see that 
the trustees act within the scope of their legal duty; and if they assess the 
property of a person not taxable he is a trespasser in executing their warrant. 
(10 Co.^R. 70; 1 H. Blackstone, 68; 4 Taunt. 634; Supreme Court, 1816, Suy- 
dam V. Key 8, 13 Johns. 444; but Savacool v. Boughton, 5 Wend. 170.) 

When the illegality of a tax appears on the face of the warrant the collector 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 365 

who levies it is liable in trespass. {Chancery ^ 1834, Bank of Utica v. City of 
JJtica, 4 Paige, 399; Supreme Court,' 1%^1, Clarke, Eallock, 16 Wend. 607; S. 
T. applied in the case of an attachment, Court of Appeals, 1851, Castallanos Vo 
Jones, 5 N, Y. [1 Seld.] 164.) 

Taking exempt property. An officer is not protected by the execution in 
t&king property which is exempt from execution. {Supreme Court, 1853, Hoyt 
V. Van Alsttjne, 15 Barb. 568.) 

Tardy execution. If the collector of school taxes sells property after the 
expiration of the time limited in the warrant, he acts without authority and 
becomes a trespasser. {Supreme Court, 1854, Stroud v. Butler, 18 Barh. 327; 
distinguishing, Sheldon v. Van Buskirk, 2 N'. Y. [2 Comst.] 473,) 

Protected by warrant. The warrant is a protection to the collector, 
notwithstanding an error in the description of the lands assessed. {Court of 
Appeals, 1852, Van Rensselaer v. Gottrell, Seld. notes, Nos. 1, 2, 3.) 

If the trustees have jurisdiction of the subject-matter the collector is pro- 
tected by a tax-list and warrant regular upon their face. (9 Johns. 230; 3 
Johns. ^14.; 5 Wend. 170; Supreme Court, 1851, Alexander v. Hoyt,1 Wend. 89.) 

Distraining. An officer who collects a district school tax is not subject to 
the provisions of 2 Revised Statutes, 428, sections 20-24, relating to the duties 
of officers distraining on property, when no special provision is otherwise 
made. {Supreme Court, 1848, Panghurnv. Smith, 4 Barb. 246.) 

Levy on farm divided by county line. If a farm is divided by the 
division line between two districts it is to be considered as lying in the district 
in which the dwelling is, and the collector may make levy on any part of it, 
even though such part is in another county than the dwelling. {Supreme 
Court, 1832, Ward v. Aylesworth, 9 Wend. 281.) 

A levy by a school district collector on a wagon worth upward of $50 for a 
tax of between $6 and $7, — Held lawful, and that he was not liable for an 
excessive levy, although there was other property of less value he could have 
taken. (1873, Thorn v. Nott, 1 Supreme Court [T, & C.\ Adden, 22.) 

A failure to post a notice of a sale for a school tax upon the school-house 
door renders the collector a trespasser, and he is liable for the damages caused 
by a seizure and sale of property. (17 Hun, 353.) 

When receiver. For two weeks after receiving the warrant of the trus- 
tees of a school district the collector acts under it as the mere receiver of such 
taxes as shall be voluntarily paid to him. {Laios o/ 1849, 535, sec. 5.) If he 
assumes to enforce payment during that time he is a trespasser. {Supreme 
Court, 1853, Packer v. Broion, 17 Barb. 145.) 

Fees. In the apportionment the collector's percentage should not be in- 
cluded; he is directed by the warrant to collect that. {Easton v. Calendar, 11 
We7id. 90.) 

§ 85. Any collector to whom any tax list and warrant may be 
delivered for collection, may execute the same in any other district 
or town in the same county, or ia any other county where the dis- 
trict is a joint district and composed of territory from adjoining 
counties, in the same manner and with the like authority as in the 
district in which the trustees issuing the said warrant may reside, 
and for the benefit of which said tax is intended to be collected; 
and the bail or sureties of any collector, given for the faithful 
performance of his official duties, are hereby declared and made 
liable for any moneys received or collected on any such tax list 
and warrant. [As amended hy sec. 20, chwp, 406, Laws 1867.] 



366 Assessment akd Collectioi^ of Taxes. 

When a collector levies upon property out of his district, he should put up 
notices of the sale of such property, as well in the district where the sale is 
to take place, as in that of his residence. 

§ 86. If the sum or sums of money, payable by any persori 
named in such tax list, shall not be paid by him or collected by 
such warrant within the time therein limited, it shall and may be 
lawful for the trustees to renew such warrant in respect to such 
delinquent person ; or in case such j)erson shall not reside within 
their district at the time of making out a tax list, or shall not re- 
side therein at the expiration of such warrant, or in case the prop- 
erty assessed be real estate belonging in an incorporated company, 
and no goods or chattels can be found whereon to levy the tax, 
the trustees may sue for and recover the same in their name of 
office. [As amended hy sec. 25, clia^. 567, Laws of 1875.] 

The last part of this section is not repealed, but since the amendment to 
section 75 of this title, it will be found the better way for collectors and 
trustees to return the unpaid tax as therein provided. 

The last half of the following section (87) must be taken in connection with 
this section in relation to the power of trustees to renew the warrant. 

The renewal is to be under the hands of the trustees, or a majority of them, 
who are in office at the time of such renewal. For the purpose of preserving 
an authentic history of the process, it is better to append a renewal to the 
original warrant than to issue a new one, except in cases where the original 
may be discovered to have been defective in its form. It ought to specify the 
duration of the time for which it is renewed, and to be indorsed upon or writ- 
ten under the original warrant, in substantially the following form : 

We hereby renew the within (or above written) warrant in respect to delin- 
quents for the period of thirty days. Dated this day of , 18 . 

A. B., ] Trustees of District 
C. D., J- JVo. , in the town 

E. F., ) of 

A second or subsequent renewal requires the consent of the supervisor under 
the next section. In that case, the words " With the approbation of the 
supervisor of the town of (in which the school-house is located)," should 

precede the above form. 

Where the warrant is renewed by the trustees, the collector in office at the 
time of such renewal must execute it. 

It being a palpable absurdity to talk of those as delinquents who have never 
been called upon to pay , this language of the statute is an admonition to the 
trustees not to suffer a warrant to run out in their hands without issuing it. 

The latter clause of the above section, giving the trustees the right to sue, 
is confined to those persons who do not reside within the district at the time 
of making out the list, or who shall have ceased to reside therein at the expi- 
ration of the warrant, or to corporations having real property upon the tax- 
list. The warrant cannot be regarded as having expired until a renewal 
has run out, and in respect to both persons and corporations the inability to 
find gooas and chattels whereon to levy the tax should be proved by the swora 
return of the collector before a suit is brought. 



Assessment and Collection" of Taxes. 367 



DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Cliief Justice Nelson, delivering the opinion of the supreme court, in 24 
Wend. 269, where a warrant had been made out but not delivered to the col- 
lector, and the return day having passed, while it remained in the hands of 
the trustees, it was renewed and then delivered to the collector, says: " The 
renewal is in fact but a re-issuing of the process, and I can perceive no reason 
against regarding it as an original issuing. Nor can the difference be mate- 
rial whether it lies in the hands of the trustees for a time and is then revived 
by a renewal, or in the hands of the collector unexecuted, which confessedly 
would justify it." 

Where the objection was that the original warrant was not under seal (which 
as the law then stood rendered it void), but the renewal was signed by the 
trustees with their seals affixed, the court says : "The renewal of the war- 
rant made it new process for all the purposes of collecting the taxes then un- 
paid ; it is the same thing, substantially, as though the original warrant had 
been recited in the renewal; and thus we have a warrant under the hands and 
seals of the trustees." (3 Hill, 495.) 

A warrant not issued until after its renewal becomes by delivery to the col- 
lector with a renewal indorsed, valid and effectual process, as of that date; 
and the rights of tax payers and duties of the collector are the same as they 
would have been had the warrant been made out and dated as an original pro- 
cess on the day of its delivery to the collector. (17 Barb. 145.) 

Where three trustees signed the original warrant, but one of them refused 
to sign the renewal , the latter was held not liable for any act done under the 
renewal and after the original return day. (20 Barb. 165 . ) 

Under the power given to the trustees of school districts, by 1 Revised 
Statutes, 478, section 102, to renew warrants for the collection from delin- 
quents of such sum or sums of money as remain unpaid, they have the power 
to issue a new warrant for the same purpose. (24 Wend. 269; 3 Hill, 498; Su- 
preme Court, 1848, Seaman v. Benson, 4 Barb^ 444; Special Term, Thomas v. 
Glapp, 20 id. 165.) 

Under 1 Revised Statutes, 484, sections 98, 102, which provides that the 
warrant to collect school taxes must be signed by the trustees or a majority, 
and that the trustees may renew it, a majority of the trustees may renew the 
warrant, and it may be renewed more than once. {Supreme Court, 1840; Fol- 
som V. Streeter, 24 Wend. 266.) 

That a renewal signed by only a majority of the trustees is sufficient. {Fol- 
somr. Sweeter, 24 Wend. 266.)" 

It is not material that all be present when the warrant is signed. The sign- 
ing of the warrant is a . ministerial duty. (Supreme Court, Special Term, 
1885, Thomas v. aapp, 20 Barb. 165.) 

Defendant justified his taking and selling plaintiff's wagon, as collector of 
school taxes, by virtue of a warrant issued by the trustee. The warrant hav- 
ing expired in defendant's hands, the trustee indorsed it "Renewed for ten 
days." Defendant levied on and sold the wagon after the expiration of ten 
days, but within thirty days of the expiration of the warrant. Held, That 
the renewal and delivery of the warrant made it a new process of the same 
force and effect as the original warrant. {Baker v. Lee, J^. Y. Supreme 
Court, General Term, 24 Weekly Digest, 529.) 

§ 87. Whenever the trustees of any school district shall discover 
any error in a tax list made out by them, they may, with the 
approbation and consent of the superintendent of public instruc- 
tion, after refunding any amount that may have been improperly 
collected on such tax list, if the same shall be required by him, 



368 Assessment and Collection of Taxes, 

amend and correct such tax list, as directed by the superintendent, 
in conformity to law ; and whenever more than one renewal of a 
warrant for the collection of any tax list may become necessary 
in any district, the trustees may make such further renewal, with 
the written apjjrobation of the supervisor of any town in which a 
school-house of said district shall be located, to be indorsed upon 
such warrant. — [As amended hy section 22, cliaxjter 406, Laws of 
1S6T.] 

The application to tlie State Superintendent, for liis consent to correct an 
error, should be under the hands of a majority of the trustees, and should 
state specifically wherein the error is supposed to consist, and in what manner 
they propose to amend and correct the tax -list. 

The date of the tax list and number of district must be plainly stated in the 
application. It will ordinarily be the better mode to revoke the imperfect 
tax-list and to make out a new one, stating in the heading thereof that it is 
"Amended and corrected with the approbation and consent of the State Su- 
perintendent of Public Instruction, by his order bearing date the day 
of , 18 .'' The order should, of course, be carefully filed with the 
district clerk as evidence of the authority to collect under it. 

The approval of the supervisor may be given by his indorsing on the war- 
rant, under the form given in the preceding section, the words: 

" Approved this day of ,18 . ^. 'Y . , Supermsor of " 

The approval of the supervisor of any town in which a school-house is 
located seems to be all that is required. It is a matter of discretion witH the 
supervisor, in the first instance, to grant or withhold his approbation. If he 
improperly refuses it, the remedy is by appeal upon regular notice to him. 

§ 88. The collector shall keep in his possession all moneys re- 
ceived or collected by him by virtue of any warrant, or received 
by him from the county treasurer or board of supervisors for taxes 
returned as unpaid, to be by him paid out upon the order of 
a majority of the trustees ; and he shall report in writing at 
the annual meeting, all his collections and disbursements, and 
shall pay over to his successor in office, when he has duly quah- 
fied and given bail, all moneys in his hands belonging to the dis- 
trict. — [As amended hy chapter 333, Laws <9/1887.] 

The collector by this section is made the legal custodian of all moneys col- 
lected by tax upon the district; and he can pay them out only upon the order 
of a majority of the trustees. The collector should demand a written order. 
The collector and his sureties in his bond are responsible for the safe-keeping 
and legal disbursement of the moneys of the district. The orders of the trus- 
tees are the only proper vouchers for the disposal of the moneys. 

The collector should keep an account of all moneys collected and paid out 
by him, and be ready with his vouchers to report at the annual meeting. 

Before handing over the moneys in his hands to his successor, he should be 
certain that the bail required has been given, and should take a receipt foi 
the moneys piaid over. 



Assessment axd Collection of Taxks. 369 

§ 89. If by the neglect of any collector any moneys shall be lost 
to any school district, which might have been collected within the 
time limited in the warrant delivered to him for their collection, 
he shall forfeit to such district the amount of the moneys thus 
lost, and shall account for and pay over the same to the trustees of 
such district, in the same manner as if they had been collected. 

The collector's power to sell property ceases with the expiration of the time 
limited in the warrant for its return, even under a levy made before the return 
day; and unless the warrant is renewed by the trustees, his liability for not 
collecting becomes fixed. (18 Barh. 330.) It behooves him, therefore, not to 
intermit his efforts to collect a tax upon any verbal directions of the trustees. 
Having commanded him by a warrant, he is bound to complete its execution, 
unless the time is extended by the equally formal act of renewal. Nor is he 
bound to delay, against his own wishes, because the trustees desire it. They 
may sometimes desire to suspend proceedings, where he is indifferent, because 
a warrant, regular on its face, is sufficient for his protection, while they may 
be responsible from a defect of authority not apparent on its face. In such a 
case he should require a formal certificate from the trustees that they have 
withdrawn the warrant, and discharged him from the further execution 
thereof, and should make a return thereon to this effect: 

" Under the within warrant, I have received and collected of the following 
persons named in the tax-list thereto attached, the sum of money set opposite 
to their respective names, viz.: James Thomas, $6.81; James Thomas, 
executor of John Thomas, deceased, $17.45, etc., etc., and have this day ceased 
from the further execution thereof, by the written direction of C. D. and E. 
F., a majority of the trustees. 

"Dated this day of ,18 . 

"STEPHEN GRINNER. Collector." 

Transactions of this nature should never be left to rest upon loose conversa- 
tions, nor should any officer of a district permit his responsibility to the in- 
habitants to be confounded with that of other officers, who may have distinct 
accounts to render for their conduct in the affair. 

Where a warrant runs out in the collector's hands, he is answerable for any 
loss arising from his neglect, notwithstanding such warrant may have been 
afterward renewed and delivered to his successor. 

§ 90. For the recovery of all such forfeitures, and of all 
balances, in the hands of the collector, which he shall have neg- 
lected or refused to pay to his successor, the trustees, in their 
name of office, shall have their remedy upon the official bond of 
the collector, or any action and any remedy given by law ; and 
they shall apply all such moneys, when recovered, in the same 
manner as if paid without suit. 

The forfeiture referred to in this section is the amount of money which a col- 
lector might have collected by the exercise of proper diligence. The legal pre- 
sumption is, when the return day of a warrant arrives, that the collector has 
all the money in his hands. It is sufficient for the trustees to prove that they 
delivered to him a tax-list and warrant for the collection of a certain amount, 

47 



370 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

and that the time therein specified for its return has expired. They mav then 
rest their case, and it lies upon the collector to produce in his defense the orders 
of the trustees for such moneys as he may have paid, his account of non-resi- 
dent taxes, with his affidavit of his inability, after diligent efforts, to collect 
the same, and then to show as to taxable inhabitants named in the tax-list, that 
they had no personal property within the district upon which he could levy. 
The trustees may then prove in reply that such taxable inhabitants had per- 
sonal property outside of the district but within the county (or, if the district 
includes parts of more than one county, in either county), and they ought prob- 
ably to show, in addition, that the collector had express notice of the fact, or 
that he knew it, or that it was so far known in the district that the collector, 
by reasonable diligence in making inquiries, would have ascertained such facts 
as to make it his duty to look for property outside of the district. The ques- 
tion is, would an ordinary man — not a particularly keen or covetous man — 
armed with the power to appropriate any chattels of his debtor to the payment 
of a debt due himself, have failed to discover that such property was within 
his reach. 

§ 91. Within fifteen days after any tax list and warrant shall 
have been returned by a collector to the trustees of any school dis- 
trict, the trustees shall deliver the same to the town clerk of the 
town in which the collector resides, and said town clerk shall file 
the same in his office. \_Added hy chap. 334, Laws of 1887.] 

ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES AGAINST RAILROAD, 
TELEGRAPH, TELEPHONE AND PIPE-LINE COMPANIES. 

Chapter 694, Laws of 1867. 

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the town assessors, within fifteen days 
after the completion of their annual assessment-list, to apportion the valuation 
of the property of each and every railroad, telegraph, telephone and pipe-line 
company as appears on such assessment-list, among the several school districts 
in their town, in which any portion of said property is situated, giving to each 
of said districts their proper portion, according to the proportion that the value 
of said property in each of such districts bears to the value of the whole 
thereof in said town. \^As amended by sec. 2, chap. 414, Laws of 1884.] 

^5 2. Such apportionment shall be in writing and shall be signed by said 
assessors, or a majority of them, and shall set forth the number of each dis- 
trict and the amount of the valuation of the property of each railroad, tele- 
graph, telephone and pipe-line companies apportioned to each of said districts; 
and such apportionment shall be filed with the town clerk by said assessors, or 
one of them, within five days after being made; and the amount so apportioned 
to each district shall be the valuation of the .property of each of said com- 
panies, on which all taxes against said companies in and for said districts shall 
be levied and assessed, until the next annual assessment and apportionment. 
[As amended by sec. 2, c7iap. 414, Laws of 1884.] 

§ 3. In case the assessors shall neglect to make such apportionment, it shall 
be the duty of the supervisor of the town, on the application of the trustees 
or board of education of any district, or of any railroad, telegraph, telephone 
or pipe-line company, to make such apportionment in the same manner and 
with the like effect as if made by said assessors. [As amended by chap. 340, 
Laws of 1885.] 

§^ 4. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, furnish to the trustees or 
board of education of each district, a certified statement of the amounts appor- 
tioned to such district, and the name of the company to which the same 
relates. 



Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 371 

g 5. In case any alteration shall be made in any school district affecting tlio 
property of any railroad, telegraph, telephone or pipe-line company, the officer 
making such alteration shall, at the same time, determine what change in the 
valuation of said property in such district would be just, on account of the 
alteration of district, and the valuation shall be accordingly changed. [As 
amended hy cJtap. 340, Laics of 1885.] 

CnArxETi 6T5, Laws of 1881. 

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the school collector in each school dis- 
trict in this State, except in the counties of New York and Kings, within five 
days after the receipt by such collector of any and every tax or assessment-roll 
of his district, to prepare and deliver to the county treasurer of the county in 
which such district, or the greater part thereof, is situated, a statement show- 
ing the name of each railroad company appearing in said roll, the assessment 
against each of said companies for real and personal property respectively, and 
the tax against each of said companies. It shall thereupon be the duty of such 
county treasurer, immediately after the receipt by him of such statement from 
such school collector, to notify the ticket agent of any such railroad company 
assessed for taxes at the station nearest to the office of such county treasurer, 
personally or by mail, of the fact that such statement has been filed with him 
by such collector, at the same time specifying the amount of the tax to be paid 
by such railroad company. — [J.s amended by chapter 319, Laws of 18S2.] 

^ 2. Any railroad company heretofore organized, or which may hereafter be 
organized, under the laws of this State, may, within thirty days after the 
receipt of such statement by such county treasurer, pay the amount of tax so 
levied or assessed against it in such district, and in such statement mentioned 
and contained with one per centum fees thereon, to such county treasurer, 
who is hereby authorized and directed to receive such amount and to give 
proper receipt therefor. 

§ 3. In case any railroad company shall fail to pay such tax; within said 
thirty days, it shall be the duty of such county treasurer to notify the collector 
of the school district in which such delinquent railroad company is assessed, 
of its failure to pay said tax, and upon receipt of such notice it shall be the 
duty of such collector to collect such unpaid tax, in the manner now provided 
by law, together with five per centum fees thereon; but no school collector 
shall collect by distress and sale any tax levied or assessed in his district upon 
the property of any railroad company until the receipt by him of such notice 
from the county treasurer. 

§ 4. The several amounts of tax received by any county treasurer in this 
State, nuder the provisions of this act, of and from railroad companies, shall 
be by such county treasurer placed to the credit of the school district for or 
on account of which the same was levied or assessed, and on demand paid 
over to the school collector thereof, and the one per centum fees received 
therewith shall be placed to the credit of, and on demand paid to, the school 
collector of such school district. 

§ 5. Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to hinder, prevent or 
prohibit any railroad company from paying its school tax to the school col- 
lector direct, as now provided by law. 

This chapter changes materially the method of collecting taxes against rail- 
road companies. It it doubtful whether the collector is excused from giving 
the notice provided for in section 84 of title 7. He cannot enforce his warrant 
until the county treasurer notifies him of the failure of the railroad company 
to pay the tax. The company can pay the collector at any time they may desire 
after the assessment. 



372 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 



ASSESSMENT AGAINST THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON GANAi 

COMPANY. 

Chapter 540, Laws of 1880, 

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the towa assessors, within fifteen day& 
after the completion of their annual assessment-list, to apportion the valuation 
of th^ property of the president, managers and company of the Delaware and 
Hudson Canal Company, as appears on such assessment-list, among the several 
school districts in their town in which any portion of said property is situated, 
giving to each of said districts their proper portion, according to the propor- 
tion that the value of said property in each of such districts bears to the value 
of the whole thereof in said town. 

§ 2. Such apportionment shall be in writing and shall be signed by said 
assessors, or a majority of them, and shall set forth the number of each dis- 
trict, and the amount of the valuation of the property of the president, man- 
agers and company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, apportioned 
to each of said districts; and such apportionment shall be filed with the town 
clerk, by said assessors, or one of them, within five days after being made, 
and the amount so apportioned to each district shall be the valuation of the 
property of said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, on which all taxes 
against said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in and for said districts 
shall be levied and assessed until the next annual assessment and apportion- 
ment. 

§ 3. In case the assessors shall neglect to make such apportionment, it shall 
be the duty of the supervisor of the town, on the application of the trustees or 
board of education of any district, or of the said Delaware and Hudson Canal 
Company, to make such apportionment in the same manner and with like 
effect as if made by said assessors. 

§ 4. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, furnish to the trustees or 
board of education of each district a certified statement of the amounts appor- 
tioned to such district, and the name of the company to which the same relates. 

§ 5. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, once in each year, furnish 
to the agent of the said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and to the 
trustees or board of education of each school district to which any portion of 
said appropriation belongs, a certified copy of said apportionment, 

§ 6. In case any alteration shall be made in any school district affecting the 
property of the said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, the oflBcer making 
such alteration shall at the same time determine what change in the valuation 
of the said property in such district would be just, on account of the altera- 
tion of such district, and the valuation shall be accordingly changed. 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

In assessing the value of a portion of a railroad it is proper to consider the 
character and productive capacity of the entire road of which such portion is 
an essential part. {The People, ex rel. The Rome, Watertown and Ogdens- 
burg Railroad Co., applts., v. Peter 8moyer et.'al., assessors, respts.,24: Weekly 
Digest, 95.) 

The real estate of railroad corporations should be assessed at its value for 
the purposes to which it has been adapted, and not as mere farming lands; 
and in estimating the same the 'assessors are not bound to consider it as mere 
land and superstructure isolated in their town from the other parts of the 
road. They are entitled to estimate the value of that part of the real estate 
within their jurisdiction which contributes to make up a complete and useful 
railroad extending bsyond the town they represent. {People v, Fredericks, 48 
Barb. 173.) 

The rolling stock, owned and used upon its tracks by a railroad company, is 
personal property, and as such is liable to be seized and sold for the collection 
of a tax against the company. (52 N. Y. 521.) 



ASSESSMKNT ANJ) COLLECTFOX OF TaXES. 373 



ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES IN COUNTIES CONTAIN^ 
ING UPWARDS OF THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND INHABITANTS. 

Chapter 411, Laws op 1885. 

Section 1. All taxes heretofore admitted by the comptroller, and wliich 
have not been paid or canceled, on lands of non residents, in towns within 
counties containing upwards of three hundred thousand inhabitants, and all 
unpaid general and school taxes heretofore assessed on lands of non- residents 
in said towns, which shall hereafter be returned to and admitted by the comp- 
troller, whether said lands were entered m the several assessment-rolls sepa- 
rately as the lands of non-residents, or otherwise, shall be and the same are in 
all respects hereby legalized and confirmed. 

§ 2. The assessors chosen in each of said towns shall hereafter, in the prepa- 
ration of their assessment-roll, prefix to the same a column, which shall form 
part thereof, containing the names of all the persons and corporations liable to 
taxation on personal property therein, and shall also, in said column, enter 
the names, so far as known to them, of the owners of all the lands of resi- 
dents, non-residents and corporations which are liable to taxation, opposite to 
the several tracts, lots and subdivisions of lands of such several owners, as the 
same are hereinafter required to be entered in said roll, and if the name of 
any owner shall not be known to them they shall enter in place thereof, in 
said first -mentioned column, the word "unknown." 

i^ 3. The taxes on all lands in said towns liable to taxation shall be deemed 
to be assessed upon such lands exclusivelyj and not upon the owners or occu- 
pants, or other persons; and no such taxes hereafter assessed shall be invalid 
because the name of the owner of the land may be omitted or incorrectly stated 
in said roll. 

§ 4. The said assessors shall set down, in a separate column in said assess- 
ment-roll, opposite to the names of the several persons and corporations liable 
to taxation on personal property, and according to the best information in their 
power, the full value of all such taxable personal property, after deducting 
the just debts owing by the persons and corporations so assessed, respectively. 

§ 5. In assessing all lands liable to taxation in said towns, the assessors 
shall proceed as follows: 

1. If the land to be assessed be a tract which is subdivided into lots, or a 
part of a tract so subdivided, they shall designate it by its name, if known by 
one, or if it be not distinguished by a name, or the name be unknown, they 
shall state by what other lands it is bounded. 

2- If they can obtain correct information of the subdivisions, they shall 
enter the same by their numbers, beginning at the lowest number and pro- 
ceeding in numerical order to the highest, stating the full valuation of each, 
and if the quantity of such subdivision liable to taxation be part of a full lot, 
the part must be designated by boundaries, or in some way by which it may 
he known, and the quantity of land and the full valuation thereof stated. 

3. If the land to be assessed be a tract which is not subdivided, or if its sub- 
divisions cannot be ascertained by the assessors, they shall set down the name, 
or boundaries, together with the quantity and full valuation as above directed, 
without reference to any subdivisions thereof. If the quantity liable to tax- 
ation be part of the full tract, that part or the part not liable must be particu- 
larly described, and the quantity and valuation of the taxable part stated. 

4. If they cannot otherwise designate or describe any tract of land, or part 
thereof, liable to taxation, as herein required, they shall notify the supervisor 
of the town, who shall cause a survey and two manuscript maps to be made, 
for the purpose of ascertaining the situation and quantity thereon. 

5. One of such maps shall be delivered by the supervisor to the county 
treasurer and by him transmitted to the comptroller, and the other shall be 
delivered in like manner to the assessors. 



374 Assessment aj^d Collection of Taxes. 

6 The assessors shall then complete the assessment of such laud, and shall 
deposit the map in the town clerk's office for the information of future assess- 
ors; and the expense of making such survey and maps shall be immediately 
repaid to the supervisor out of the county treasury, and it shall be added by 
the board of supervisors to the tax on such tract or part of tract, distinguishing^ 
it from the ordinary tax. 

§ 6. It shall not be necessary to keep the lists of lands of residents and non- 
residents separate, nor shall any distinction be made between the same; but 
in the preparation of the assessment-roll, and in assessing, levying, collecting 
and returning taxes on lands in said towns, and in sales of lands for unpaid 
taxes hereafter assessed therein, and the redemption thereof, and in all mat- 
ters in any wise pertaining thereto, all such lands shall be taken and considered 
alike as the lands of non-residents. 

§ 7. The said assessors shall divide the property contained in the assess- 
ment-roll of the town into districts, or parts of districts, corresponding in 
number, location and boundaries, with the several school districts and union 
free school districts, or parts thereof, designating the same in said roll by 
suitable headings; and every person liable to be taxed for personal property 
shall be assessed therefor in the school district where he resides. 

§ 8. The terms land, real estate, real property, personal estate and personal 
properly, as employed in this act, and for all purposes of taxation in such 
towns, shall be construed as now provided by law, and nothing herein con- 
tained shall be construed as requiring or authorizing any real or personal prop- 
erty to be assessed or taxed in any other town, city or village than as provided, 
by existing laws. 

§ 9. It shall not be necessary for the collector to call upon the persons or cor- 
porations taxed in the assessment-roll, or at their places of business, or resi- 
dence, and demand payment of the taxes hereafter assessed, where such taxes 
are for real estate, nor shall it be lawful to levy any such tax upon real estate 
by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the persons who ought to pay 
the same, or of any goods and chattels in their possession. 

§ 10. If any of the taxes mentioned in the tax-list annexed to the warrant of 
the collector hereafter issued shall remain unpaid at the expiration of said war- 
rant, and the collector shall not have been able to collect the same, he shall 
deliver to the county treasurer an account of the taxes so remaining due, omit- 
ting from such account the names of the owners of the lands; and upon mak- 
ing oath before the county treasurer, or, in case of his absence, before any jus- 
tice of the peace, that the sums mentioned in such account remain unpaid, and 
that he has not, upon diligent inquiry, been able to discover any goods or chat- 
tels belonging to or in the possession of the persons charged with or liable to 
pay the personal taxes therein mentioned, whereon he could levy the amount 
of such personal taxes, he shall be credited by the county treasurer witli 
amount of the taxes thus returned as unpaid. 

§ 11. The board of supervisors is hereby authorized to determine the amount 
of the penalty to be specified in the bond of the collector, not less than the 
amount of the taxes to be collected by him, nor more than double that amount. 

§ 13. It shall not be lawful for the trustees of any school district, or any 
board of education in said towns, hereafter to assess any taxes, or to execute 
or issue any warrant for the collection thereof; but it shall be their duty, within 
five days after each annual meeting of the district, to make out and certify to 
the board of supervisors a statement, detailed in items, of the amount lawfully 
required to be raised, to which shall be added one per cent for the payment of 
the fees of the collector, or treasurer, as herein provided. 

§ 13. The said board of supervisors shall cause the amount in such statement 
named to be assessed in and with, and to form a part of the annual taxes next 
thereafter assessed on the real and personal estate taxable in the said district, 
and they shall assess the amount upon the same property within the district, 
and in the same manner and proportion as the ordinary taxes are required to 
be assessed, and without separating or distinguishing the same in the tax-list 
from the ordinary tax. 



ASSESSMKNT AND COLLECTIOl!^ OF TaXES. 375 

§ 14. They sball, by warrant, direct the amount so assessed to be paid to the 
county treasurer, who shall pay the same upon the order of the trustees or 
board of education to the school district collector or union district treasurer; 
provided, however, that the said county treasurer shall first receive a certifi- 
cate from the trustees or board of education that the said district collector or 
treasurer has filed his bond, and that the same has been duly approved as here- 
inafter required. 

§ 15. The collector of each school district shall execute a bond to the trustees 
with one or more sureties, to be approved by a majority of the trustees, in a 
penal sum to be determined by them, not less than the amount of the money 
to be paid to him as aforesaid, nor more than double that amount, conditioned 
for the due and faithful execution of the duties of his office; and the treasurer 
of each union free school district shall execute to the board of education a 
similar bond, to be approved by them in like manner. 

§ 16. The said district collector or treasurer shall keep in his possession all 
moneys received by him under this act, and pay out the same from time to time 
upon the orders of the trustees or board of education to the persons entitled to 
receive the same; and the said trustees. or board of education shall not be 
authorized to receive or hold the same. Each of said district collectors and 
treasurers hereafter elected or appointed shall be entitled to receive and retain, 
as his fees under this act, one per cent on all sums paid out by him, as afore- 
said. 

§ 17. If any school bond or certificate of indebtedness shall have been duly 
executed and issued before the passage of this act, the principal and interest 
of which, or either of them, shall become due between the first day of Decem- 
ber in any year and the first day of February next thereafter, and in advance 
of the collection of the annual taxes, the amount necessary shall, if required, 
be paid by the county treasurer out of any money in the county treasury raised 
for contingent expenses; and when afterward collected and received from the 
annual taxes, shall be retained by him and returned to the county treasury; 
provided, however, that such amount shall have been duly certified to the 
board of supervisors for the purpose of being assessed and included in the 
taxes, as hereinbefore required. 

§ 18. Any lands in such tovi^ns which were sold for non-payment of taxes at 
the comptroller's sale held in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-one, which 
have been or may be conveyed from said sale to the State, may be redeemed 
therefrom by the previous owner or mortgagee thereof, on payment to the 
State, at any time within six months from the passage of this act, of the 
amount which would be payable therefor, in case of redemption on proof of 
occupancy; and the comptroller is hereby authorized and directed, on payment 
of said amount, to allow the redemption of such lands from said sale. 

^ 19. Sections nine, eleven, twelve and thirteen of article two, title two, 
chapter thirteen, part one of the Revised Statutes, so far as applicable to the 
taxes hereafter to be assessed in said towns, are hereby repealed. 

§ 20. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are 
hereby repealed. 

MISCELLANEOUS DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Assessment must be after the vote. On the 7th of October a district 
meeting voted a tax, and in pursuance thereof an assessment was subsequently 
made and a warrant to collect the tax made out, signed and dated. At a spe- 
cial meeting afterward, held on the 25th of November, the vote to raise the 
tax was repealed. At a third meeting on the 5th of December, the repealing 
vote was itself repealed. The trustees, deeming the original tax thus con- 
firmed, renewed the warrants and enforced them. Held, that they were liable. 
Reviewing the original vote for the tax did not revive the validity of the as- 
sessment and warrant. The whole proceedings must be construed as they 
would have been if the original vote to lay the tax had passed on the 5th of 



376 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

December. The law plainly contemplates tliat the assessment shall be made 
after the tax shall have been voted. {Court of Errors, 1845, Mead v. Gale, 2 
Denio, 232; affirming, S. C, 4 Hill, 109.) 

An error of judgment in including the collector's fees in the tax, or in omit- 
ting some of the taxable inhabitants in the list, does not render the trustees 
liable as trespassers. {Supreme Court, 1833, Easton v. Calendar, 11 Wend. 
90.) 

Though the trustees err in allowing compensation to a teacher for a longer 
time than she taught, the rate bill and warrant are not therefore void, but are 
a protection to the trustees and collector. {Supreme Court, 1851, Finch v. 
Cleveland, 10 Barh. 290.) 

Naming the person assessed. Though when property is owned by an 
individual, his name, and not a mere description of him, should be inserted 
in the tax list and Avarrant (under 1 Revised Statutes, 481, 484, requiring it to 
contain the name of each person liable) , yet, when the property of a decedent 
is in possession of the widow and heirs, it is sufficient to designate them in 
the list and warrant as " the widow and heirs" of the decedent. {Supreme 
Court, 1833, Wheeler v. Anthony, 10 Wend. 346.) 

Time. The provision of 1 Revised Statutes, 483, section 83, requiring a 
school district tax to be assessed, and the tax list to be made out within one 
month after the meeting at which the tax was voted, is directory merely in re- 
spect of time ; and if it does not appear that there was a change in the tax- 
able persons or property in the district, between the expiration of the month 
and the time the tax-list was made out, the tax is valid. (Citing 3 Mass. 230; 
6 Wend. 486; 2 Str. 1123 ; 7 Hill, 9 ; and distinguishing Gale v. Mead, 4 Hill, 
109 ; Supreme Court, 1846, Gale v. Mead, 2 Denio, 160) 

Statute directing tax to l3e made ont in 30 days, directory only, may be made 
out after. {Rawson v. Van Riper, 1 Su}). Ct. Rep. 370, 1873.) 

Alteration. When the tax has been levied and collected, the power of 
the trustee is ended. Though it has been recovered back from them, they 
cannot alter the tax-list so as to collect a different sum. {Supreme Court, 
1837, Benjamin v. Hall, 17 Wend. 437.) 

Power to assess is personal. The authority which the trustees are re- 
quired to administer in apportioning the tax is personal, and cannot be dele- 
gated. (3 Comst. 396.) One of three trustees cannot, after the other two have, 
without his presence, made an assessment or apportionment, ratify and adopt 
it by indorsing his approval, in the absence of the others. {Supreme Court, 
1856, Keeler v. Frost, 22 Barh. 400.) 

Regularity of tax. The question whether an individual banker was tax- 
able in the town or ward in which the assessment was made cannot be raised 
to affect the validity of the tax warrant, regular on its face, as against the 
officer executing it ; nor, when the process is against an individual bank, by 
the name in which it does business, which name is apparently that of a cor- 
poration, and such bank has a place of business within the jurisdiction of the 
assessors and of the officer executing the process, can its owner be permitted, 
as against the officer levying on the money or property of the bank, claim that 
it is not a lawful corporation, and not taxable -by its apparent corporate name. 
(5 Wend. 170; 5 N. Y. 376; Supreme Court, 1858, Patchin v. Ritter, 27 Barb. 
34.) 

When collected, A tax can be said to be "collected " only when it has 
been paid by those on whose property it has been levied. {N. Y. Com. Pleas, 
Sp. Term, 1857, Fitzpatrick v. Flagg, 5 Abbott's Pr. 213.) 

Property in trust. Under 1 Revised Statutes, 389-399, the individual 
property of an executor, administrator, guardian or trustee, may be taken for 
a tax imposed upon him in his representative capacity, where no property of 
the testator, intestate or cestui que trust can be found. It is a personal tax 
upon the executor, etc., in his special character as trustee. If there be joint 
executors, etc., each is taxable only for that portion of the trust property in 
his possession or under his control. {Supreme Court, 1830, Williams v. Holden, 
4 Wend. 223.) 



ASSESSMEXT AXD COLLECTIONS^ OF TaXES. 377 

Apportioning school tax. The autliority which the trustees of a school 
district are required to administer, in apportioning a tax, involves the exercise 
of judgment and discretion, a power which cannot be delegated^ (3 iV". Y, 
396 ; Supreme Court, 1856, Keeler v. Frost, 22 Barb. 400. 

Repairs. A tax for repairs, additions, etc., to school-houses is valid, 
though no amount be specified. {Hamlin v. Dingman, 5 Lansing, 61, Sup. 
a., 1871.) 

Liability of trustees for error. If trustees err in determining who is 
assessable as an inhabitant, where one has taken up his abode temporarily in 
the district, they are liable for sale of his property under their warrant for 
collection of tax. {Palmer v= Lawrence, 6 Lansing, 282, Sup. Ct., 1872.) 

48 



TEACHERS. 



WHO ARE QUALIFIED TEACHERS. 

Title YII. 

§ 41. Ko teacher is a qualified one, within the meaning of 
this act, unless he possesses an unannnlled diploma granted to 
him bj the State normal school, or an unrevoked and unannulled 
certificate of qualification, given to him by the superintendent of 
public instruction, or an unexpired certificate of qualification 
given to him by the school commissioner within whose district he 
is employed, or by the school officer of the city or village in which 
he is employed, authorized by special act to grant such certificate. 
After August twentieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, no 
person shall be deemed to be qualified who is under the age of six- 
teen years. {As amended hy sec. 7, chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) 

Chapter 318, Laws of 1882. 
The first and second sections of tMs act provide for a teachers' class in 
academies and union schools under appointment by the regents of the univer- 
sity. Section three is as follows: 

§ 3. Each scholar instructed for the full term provided by 
law, in a class organized for instruction in the science and prac- 
tice of common school teaching, who shall have passed the exami- 
nation known and designated as the regents' preliminary exami- 
nation, in arithmetic, English grammar, geography and spelling, 
and who, in addition, shall have passed the final examination 
prescribed for such classes by the said regents, including an ex- 
amination in the history of the United States, the principles of 
civil government and the methods of teaching, shall be deemed 
to have sufficient learning to teach in the common schools of the 
State ; and to each such scholar the regents of the university shall 
grant a testimonial which, when indorsed by any school commis- 
sioner, shall constitute a certificate of qualification and a license 



Teachers. 379 

to teach in the common schools of his district for a period of one 
year from the date of such indorsement; and at the expiration of 
the period named in said license, and at successive expirations 
thereafter, said certificate may be reindorsed by any school com- 
missioner, and at his discretion constituted a license to teach in 
the common schools of his district for a period not to exceed 
three years after each reindorsement. 

Chapter 353, Laws of 1875. 

Section 1. Chapter three hundred and twenty-four of the laws 
of eighteen hundred and seventy-one, entitled " An act to incor- 
porate the Sisterhood of Grey Nuns in the State of New York," 
passed April sixth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, is' hereby 
amended by adding thereto, as follows : 

§ 7. The said corporation is hereby authorized to grant diplo- 
mas and honorary testimonials, in such form and under such 
regulations as its board of trustees may determine, to any person 
who shall have or may hereafter be graduated at any seminary of 
learning of said corporation located within this State; and any 
such graduate to whom a diploma may be awarded may file such 
diploma, or a duplicate thereof, in the Department of Public 
Instruction, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction may 
thereupon, in his discretion, issue a certificate to the effect that 
such graduate is a qualified teacher of the common schools of 
this State. 

The foregoing is an enumeration of the different certificates entitling a per- 
son to teach in the common schools of the State and receive therefor pay from 
the public money, from money raised by tax on the district, or from a trust 
fund. 

Trustees should know that a teacher is qualified to teach the common school 
of the district before he is employed or before he commences teaching. No 
excuse can be made for a trustee who omits or neglects to perform this duty. 
The district will lose the public money and the trustee become personally 
liable to the teacher for his wages if he "does not hold a certificate. If at the 
time of making the contract the teacher does not possess a certificate, it must 
be expressly stipulated that such certificate shall be obtained before the term 
of service shall commence. No chances can be taken by the trustees ; they 
must have positive knowledge that a teacher is holding a certificate. 

STATE CERTIFICATE. ''' 

Title I. 
§ 15. He may grant under his hand and seal of office, a certifi- 
cate of qualification to teach, and may revoke the same. While 



380 Teachers. 

unrevoived, such certificate shall be conclusive evidence that the 
person to whom it was granted is qualified by moral character, 
learning and ability to teach any common school in the State. 
Such certificate may be granted by him only upon examination. 
He shall determine the manner in which such examination shall 
be conducted, and may designate proper persons to conduct the 
same, and report the result to him. He may also appoint times 
and places for holding such examinations, at least once in each 
year, and cause due notice thereof to be given. He may also 
issue temporary licenses to teach, limited to any school commis- 
sioner district or school district, and for a period not exceeding 
six months, whenever in his judgment, it may be necessary or 
expedient for him to do so. {As amended hy sec, 5, chap. 667, 
Laws of 1875.) 

This section refers to the powers of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion. Temporary licenses, under the last part of the section, are only granted 
in extraordinary cases. 

Since the amendment to the section, in 1875, the number of applicants have 
each year steadily increased. The Superintendent issues a circular every year 
stating the times and places for the examinations, and giving such information 
as is necessary for the candidates. 

The following is from the circular issued in 1887: 

STATE OF NEW YORK: 

Department op Public Instruction, J 

State Superintendent's Office, \ 

November 1, 1887. ) 

Under the authority of chapter 567 of the Laws of 1875, which provides 
that State certificates may be granted by the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, "only upon examination,'' and which authorizes the State Super- 
intendent to "appoint times and places for holding such examinations at least 
once in each year," I have directed that examinations of applicants for State 
certificates be held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 
August 30, 31, 33, 33 and 34, 1888. 



The examinations will commence on Monday, August 30, at two o'clock P. M., 
and be conducted by competent persons. 

At the conclusion of the examinations, all papers submitted will be for- 
warded to this Department. -These papers will be carefully examined by 
members of the institute faculty, and such of the candidates as shall have 
given satisfactory evidence of their learning, ability, experience and good 
character, will receive certificates qualifying them for life to teach in any of 
the public schools of the State. 

In order to be admitted to the examinations, candidates must be present at 
the beginning of the examination, produce satisfactory testimonials of good 
character, and proof of at least two years' successful experience as teachers. 
Applicants must pass a thorough examination in the following-named branches: 



Teachers. 381 

Algebra, Grammar and x\nalysis. 

Arithmetic, Physiology and Hygiene, 

History (American and General). Spelling, 

Geography, Writing. 

They will also be expected to have a general knowledge of 

Astronomy, Geology, 

Book-keeping, Geometry (Plane), 

Botany, Literature (General), 

Chemistry, Methods and School Economy, 

Civil Government and School Law, Physics, '■ 

Composition and Rhetoric, Zoology. 
Drawing (linear and perspective). 

State certificates will be issued only to those whose examinations show a 
standing of at least seventy-five per cent, in each one of the thorough examina- 
tion branches, and an average standing of at least seventy-five per cent in the 
general knowledge branches, and who do not fall below fifty per cent in any one 
study in the latter class. 

All candidates who attain the required percentage in five or more of the des- 
ignated subjects, including spelling and writing, but not in all, will be cred- 
ited, at this Department, for those studies in which they shall have passed, 
and a partial certificate to this effect will be mailed to each candidate from 
the Department of Public Instruction. On passing the required percentage 
in the remaining designated subjects at any subsequent examination held not 
later than the second year thereafter, they will be entitled to receive a State 
certificate. This gives to candidates opportunity for three distinct yearly 
trials. Candidates who have already presented. themselves at three previous 
successive examinations, and have not received a final certificate, and who have 
relied upon the construction of regulations heretofore published, as permitting 
four separate trials, will be allowed to take the examination for the present 
year. 

School commissioners are recommended to recognize "Partial Certificates"^ 
in all subjects in which candidates attain seventy-five per cent. 

The examinations will be open to candidates residing in any part of the 
State, and to such residents of other States as declare it to be their intention 
to teach in this State. 

********** 

It is the intention of this Department to make these examinations a thorough 
test of merit. No " catch questions " will be introduced, but the examinations 
will be sufficiently rigid to prove the ability of the applicant, to the end that 
a State certificate, when granted to a successful candidate shall be the most 
signal honor that is bestowed upon the progressive teachers of the common- 
, wealth. 

********** 

SPECIAL INFORMATION TO CANDIDATES. 

Candidates should aim to acquire not merely certain /rtc^5, but the well-di- 
gested knowledge and the analytic power that will fit them to guide, criticise 
and instruct their pupils successfully. 

In the examination in any branch, subjects that are to be explained should 
be elucidated with the same clearness, system and thoroughness that a com- 
petent teacher would use in instructing a class. All work should be of a good 
quality, grammatically and rhetorically considered. The papers will be criti- 
cised as the work of teachers, — not as that of mere pupils. In accordance 
with these suggestions, twenty-five per cent of the credits of paper on compo- 
sition and rhetoric will depend upon the general excellence of all papers sub- 
mitted, with reference to neatness, order, punctuation, capitalization, etc. 



382 Teachers. 

The scope of the examination will correspond to ordinary text-books. The 
following special suggestions are given to emphasize certain points, and, in. 
algebra, to indicate the work required. 

In arithmetic, the candidate should be familiar with the analysis of problems 
and deduction of rules, particularly in the elementary operations, fractions both 
common and decimal, percentage and its applications, and mensuration famil- 
iarly treated, and should give strict attention to arithmetical theory as well as 
practice. The composition of problems to illustrate rules or principles may be 
required. 

In algebra, study carefully quadratic equations, radicals and radical equa- 
tions, proportion, arithmetical and geometrical series, and the binomial the- 
orem, but not its general demonstration. Note specially the derivation of rules 
in elementary operations, fractions, transformation of equations; the laws of 
signs and of exponents; solutions of general equations; square and cube roots; 
the relations existing between the co-efficients and the roots ot quadratic 
equations; in factoring, not only the simpler cases, but those in the following 
forms: x^ ± {a + h) x + ab, x^ ± {a — b) x — ab, a"^ — 6™, when " m" is an 
odd number, or an even number; and a'°^ + &"", when "m" is an odd number, 
or can be separated into two factors, one of which is an odd number. Discus- 
sion of (a™ ± 6™) -^ {a ± &). 

In geometry note especially general propositions, as those relating to "any" 
polygon; make actual and accurate constructions of problems with dividers 
and ruler; attend to arithmetical and algebraic problems involving geometrical 
principles ; particularly in relation to the right triangle, squares, and rect- 
angles of lines, areas of similar figures compared, and proportional lines. 

In grammar and analysis, the candidate should be able to use properly, 
capital letters, abbreviations, and marks of punctuation; tO'indicate the prin- 
cipal and subordinate clauses of sentences, and how the several parts are 
modified; to point out the elements of any given sentence, to point out their 
office, and to define the terms employed; as well as to give illustrations of 
words, phrases, clauses, and sentences of different kinds. 

In drawing, pay particular attention to the study considered from a discipli- 
nary point of view — its efEect on the mind and body of the pupil, as well as 
its direct application to practical uses. In the mechanical department, accu- 
racy and correct methods should be closely studied; while in free-hand work 
from the round or object, relative proportion of parts should be most carefully 
looked after. Note well that geometry is the basis of all industrial drawing. 
In design give special attention to the principles of decorative ornament. 
Sketching from familiar and convenient objects may form a portion of the 
next examination in this subject. 

In geography and history, give special attention to the Empire State, but 
not to localities or events of trifling importance. 

In methods and school economy every person should have his own ideas, 
but the true teacher will seek the ideas of others. Therefore, every candidate 
should have read carefully at least one good treatise on the subject. The fol- 
lowing are suggested: Page's "Theory and Practice of Teaching;" Swett's 
"Methods of Teaching;" Hughes' "Mistakes in Teaching;" Hoose's "On the 
Province of Methods in Teaching;" South wick's " Theory and Practice of 
Teaching;" Fitch's " Lectures on Teaching." It will be expected that candi- 
dates will be able to give an outline of a method of teaching each of the vari- 
ous thorough examination branches. 

It is believed that by a careful attention to these general and special sugges- 
tions, on the part of candidates, great improvement will be shown in future 
examinations. 

GENERAL REGULATIONS. 

1. The printed questions will be sent to the examiners in sealed envelopes ; 
and these will be first opened in the presence of the class at the time indicated 
in the accompanying programme for the examination in each subject. 



Teachers. 383 

2. Before the examination begins, applicants must present to the examiners 
satisfactory testimonials of good character, and proof of at least two years of 
successful experience in teaching. Certificates from school commissioners, 
€ity superintendents, principals of academies and high schools, will be accepted 
as evidence of good character. 

3. All applicants presenting themselves for the first time must be present 
Monday afternoon, August 20. 

4. All candidates must register their names, with such other information as 
the examiners may require, before they take a question paper ; but candidates 
who have passed in a part of the subjects at a previous examination, need be 
present on the days or half-days only on which examinations occur in those 
subjects which they intend to take at this examination, 

5. The examination in each subject is restricted to the half -day designated 
ia the accompanying programme. 

6. The penmanship of candidates will be judged from their papers on geog- 
raphy, and spelling from all their papers submitted. 

7. In the solution of all problems, every process should be indicated. The 
simple answer, without the process by which it was obtained, will not be ac- 
cepted. 

8. Candidates will be informed by mail as early as practicable of the results 
of the examinations. 

9. Examinations will begin at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon, and will close 
Priday noon. The morning sessions will begin at 9 o'clock and close at 12. 
The afternoon sessions will begin at 2 o'clock and close at 5. All answers 
mast be written with ink. 

Legal cap paper, pens and memorandum pads will be supplied by the 
Department, but candidates will be expected to supply themselves with 
pencils, erasers and other necessary articles. 

Very respectfully, 

A. S. DRAPER, 

State Superintendent. 

ANNULMENT OF CERTIFICATE BY SUPERINTENDENT. 

Under the following section the Superintendent of Public Instruction can 
annul a teacher's certificate. 

§ 16. Upon cause shown to his satisfaction, he may annul any 
certificate of qualification granted to a teacher by a school com- 
missioner, or declare any diploma issued by the State normal 
school ineffective and null as a qualification to teach a common 
school within this State, and he may reconsider and reverse his 
action in any such matter. 

LIST OF CERTIFICATES TO BE KEPT BY SUPERINTENDENT. 

§ 17. He shall prepare and keep in his office alphabetical lists 
of all persons who have received, or shall receive, certificates of 
qualification from himself, or diplomas of the State normal 
school, with the dates thereof, and shall note thereon all annul- 
ments and reversals of such certificates and diplomas, with the 
date and causes thereof, together with such other particulars as he 
may deem expedient. 



384 Teachers. 

Title II. 

§ 13. Every commissioner shall have power, and it shall be his 
duty : 

* -sf * -St -Jf **-::-* * 

5. To examine persons proposing to teach common schools 
within his district, and not possessing the Superintendent's certifi- 
cate of qualification or a diploma of the State normal school, and 
to inquire into their moral fitness and capacity, and, if he find 
them qualified, to grant them certificates of qualification, in the 
forms which are or may be prescribed by the Superintendent. 

For several years tlie question of a uniform system of examining and licens> 
ing teachers by Commissioners has been discussed and recommendations to 
that effect have been made by Superintendents to the Legislature. Such action 
was considered advisable in order to remedy the defects in the plan pursued 
for many years. Each Commissioner has been at liberty to adopt a course 
of action suited to his own ideas, resulting in as many different standards and 
systems in the State as there are Commissioners. 

The first legislative move for a general change was made in 1887, when a 
bill establishing a uniform system to be supervised by the Department of Pub- 
lic Instruction passed both houses, but failed to become a law through the 
withholding of executive approval. 

In August, 1887, a petition signed by sixty-five School Commissioners 
was forwarded to the Superintendent, asking that a system be devised and 
pledging their support in giving it at least a fair trial. In accordance with this 
request the Superintendent has sent to each Commissioner a uniform set of 
questions prepared at the Department to be used at a public examination bv 
them on the first Saturday of each month. This plan has met with such suc- 
cess and general approval that the Superintendent has formulated the fol- 
lowing rules and regulations for a uniform system of examinations, and while 
he has not as yet made it obligatory upon Commissioners to use the same, he 
earnestly recommends and advises its adoption by all Commissioners. 

UNIFORM EXAMINATIONS FOR COMMISSIONERS' CERTIFICATES. 

I. Grades of Certificates. 

Teachers' certificates issued by school commissioners shall be of three 
grades — first, second and third. 

Certificates of the first grade shall be issued for a term of five years. On 
their expiration from time to time, these certificates may be renewed at the 
discretion of the school commissioner, without re- examination. 

Certificates of the second grade shall be issued for a term of two years, and 
shall be renewed only upon re-examination. 

Certificates of the third grade shall be issuea for a term of six months, 
shall be limited to a particular school or grade, and shall in no case be issued 
to the same person more than twice. 

In addition to the foregoing, school commissioners may grant temporary 
licenses for a time not exceeding six weeks, in cases where public convenience 
may seem to require it, and applicants shall present satisfactory reasons for not 
having been present at a regular examination. 



Teacheks. 385 

11. Qualifications of Candidates. 



1. Experience. 



Candidates for certificates of the first grade must have taught successfully 
for at least two years. 

2. Educational requirements. 

Candidates for certificates of the third grade shall be required to pass an 
oral examination in Reading and a written examination in Arithmetic, Com-, 
position, Geography, Grammar, Orthography, Penmanship, and Physiology 
and Hygiene. 

Candidates for certificates of the second grade shall be required to pass an 
oral examination in Reading, and a written examination in the subjects 
required for certificates of the third grade, also in American History, Civil 
Government, Current Topics, and Elementary Drawing from copies and from 
objects. 

Candidates for certificates of the first grade shall be required to pass a 
written examination in the subjects required for a certificate of the second 
grade, with exception of Reading, also in Algebra, Book-keeping, Elements of 
Physics, Methods and School Law. 

The questions in written examinations for certificates of the second and 
third grades shall be the same so far as the subjects are the same, the differ- 
ence in educational qualifications for these grades being determined by the 
difference in the standings attained. 

Candidates for certificates of the third grade must attain a standing of at least 
sixty per cent in Arithmetic, Geography, Grammar and Orthography, and an 
average standing of at least sixty per cent in all the other subjects. 

Candidates for certificates of the second grade must attain a standing of at 
least seventy-five per cent in Arithmetic, Geography, Grammar and Orthogra- 
phy, and an average standing of at least seventy-five per cent in all the 
other subjects. 

Candidates for certificates of the second grade shall be exempt from examina- 
tion in any subjei;t in which they have attained a standing of seventy-five per 
cent on examination for a certificate of the third grade. 

For certificates of the first grade, separate examinations shall be held, and 
candidates must attain a standing of at least seventy-five per cent in Arith- 
metic, Geography, Grammar and Orthography; and an average standing of at 
least seventy-five per cent in all the other subjects. 

Candidates for certificates of the first grade shall be exempt from examina- 
tion in any subject in which they have attained a standing of seventy-five per 
cent on the examination held by the State Department for a State certificate. 

No paper that shows a standing of less than fifty per cent shall be accepted 
in examinations for certificates of any grade. 

School commissioners may, in their discretion, supplement the written 
examinations by oral questions, or demand a higher percentage than above 
required, or refuse to admit a candidate to the examination, or to grant him a 
certificate after he has attained the required standing. 

in. Times for Examinations. 
Examinations for certificates of the second and third grades shall, unless 
omitted in the discretion of the Commissioner, be held in each commissioner 
district on the first Saturday each of January, March, April, May, September, 
October and November, and on the second Tuesday each of March, August and 
September. Examinations for certificates of the first grade shall begin on the 
second Tuesday each of March and August, and continue two days. 

IV. Indorsement of Certificates. 
Certificates of the first and second grades shall be valid in any commissioner 
district of the State when indorsed by the school commissioner of the district. 

49 



386 Teachers. 

V, Records of Examination. 

All answer papers submitted by candidates shall be indorsed in ink by the 
school commissioner, with the standing attained, and placed on file in his 
office, subject to the order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Records of all examinations shall be kept by the commissioner in a book 
provided for that purpose, which shall be delivered to his successor in office. 

VI. Forms of Certificates. 

Blank certificates will be prepared and issued for the use of the Commis- 
sioners by the Department of Public Instruction after the forms which are 
hereto annexed, (See pages 5, 6 and 7): 

VII. Regulations. 

Commissioners shall give due notice of the places of examinations and the 
hour at which they will begin. 

The places of holding examinations should be varied, to accommodate teach- 
ers in different localities. 

Before entering upon examination, candidates will be required to fill out a 
copy of the following: 

Statement of Candidate. 

Full name 

Home P. O ... 

Age 

Successful experience in teaching terms. 

References as to moral character 

Last certificate 

Grade . ... Date 

Issued by ... 

Have held third grade certificates. 

Have held .temporary license. 

Am exempt from examination in 



Copies of the above form will be supplied by the Department. 
Examinations for certificates of the second and third grades will be held 
according to the following: 

Programme. 

A. M. — Arithmetic, Geography, Civil Government, Drawing. 

p. M. — Composition, Grammar, Physiology and Hygiene, Reading, Ameri- 
can History, Current Topics. 

Examinatix)ns for certificates of the first grade will be held according to the 
following 

Programme. 

Tuesday. 

A. M. — Arithmetic, Geography, Drawing. 

p. M. — Composition, Grammar, Physiology and Hygiene, Civil Government. 

Wednesday. 

A. M. — American History, Algebra, Current Topics, Book-keeping. 
p. M. — School Law, Elements of Physics, Methods. 



Teachees. 387 

Penmansliip will be judged from tlie papers on Geography, and Ortho- 
graphy from all of the papers. 

Twenty-five per cent of the credits of papers on Composition will depend 
upon the general excellence of all papers submitted with reference to neatness, 
order, and punctuation. 

In the solution of problems, every process must be indicated. Mere answers 
will not be accepted. 

The examinations in each subject will be restricted to the half -day desig- 
nated in the programme. 

Collusion between candidates or any other act of dishonesty will wholly 
vitiate their examination. 

Answer papers should be written in ink, arranged and filed in good order. 

Questions to be used in these examinations, together with the answers 
thereto, will be issued by the Department, and forwarded to school commis- 
sioners in sealed envelopes; these will be first opened in the presence of the 
class, at the time for the examination. 

Candidates must supply tliemselves with necessary material, and, to secure 
uniformity, legal cap paper will be used. 

Books for records of examination will be furnished to school commissioners 
by the Department. 



C^ ^. X^^V^L^Zg-^ 



State Superintendent, 



388 



Teachers. 





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Teachees. 391 

Certificates when not granted under tlie uniform system of examinations 
must be in tlie form prescribed by order of tbe Department, January 16, 1880, 
wliicb order has not yet been revoked. But in no event should any Commis- 
sioner issue a certificate, except upon an examination which should be con- 
ducted, at least in part, in writing and he should retain the answer papers 
subject to the order of the State Department. 

FORMS. 

I. 

Cebtificate of the First Grade. 

To all to whom these presents shall come : 

Be it known, That I, School Commissioner for the „ . , 

District, in the County of having examined and hav- 
ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and 
ability to instruct a Common School, do hereby certify that is duly quali- 
fied, and that .... experience in and devotion to the profession entitle .... to 
the rank of a TEACHER OF THE FIRST GRADE, and ... is accordingly 
hereby licensed to teach any Common School in this District for three years 
from this date; but this Certificate shall not be valid for more than one year 
after the expiration of my term of oflBce. 

Given under my hand, this day of in the year 

one thousand eight hundred and eighty- 



No School Commissioner. 

n. 

Certificate of the Second Grade. 
To all to whom these presents shall come : 

Be it known, That I, . _ School Commissioner for the 

District, in the County of having examined and hav- 
ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and 

ability to instruct a Common School, do hereby certify that is qualified and 

entitled to the rank of a TEACHER OF THE SECOND GRADE, and 

is accordingly licensed to teach Common Schools in any Town in this District 
for the term of one year from this date. 

GiYEN UNDER MY HAND, this day of in the year 

one thousand eight hundred and eighty- . . . > ... 



No School Commissioner. 

III. 

Certificate of the Third Grade. 

(limited form.) 

To all to whom these presents shall come : 

Be it known, That I, School Commissioner for the 

District, in the County of having examined and hav- 
ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and 
ability to instruct a Common School, do hereby certify that .... is entitled to 
the rank of a TEACHER OF THE THIRD GRADE, and is qualified to teach 

the School in District No , in the Town of , in this District, 

and not elsewhere, and .... is accordingly hereby licensed to teach the said 
School for the term of six months from this date. 

Given under my hand, this day of in the year 

one thousand eight hundred and eighty- 



No School Commissioner. 



392 Teacheks. 

IV. 

Certificate of the Third Grade. 

(another form.) 

To all to wliom these pr'esents shall come : 

Be it known, That I, Scliool Commissioner for the 

District, in the County of having examined and hav- 
ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and 

ability to instruct a common school, do hereby certify that is entitled to 

the rank of a TEACHER OF THE THIRD GRADE, and is qualified to be a 
Teacher in the Primary Deparment in the Public Schools in this District (or 

City), and is accordingly hereby licensed to teach in that capacity for 

six months from this date. 

Given under my hand, this day of in the year 

one thousand eight hundred and eighty- 



No School Commissioner. 



Certificate of the Third Grade. 

(another form.) 

To all to whom these presents shall come : 

Be it known, That I, School Commissioner for the 

District, in the County of having examined , and hav- 
ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and 
ability to instruct a Common School, do hereby certify that ... is entitled to 
the rank of a TEACHER OF THE THIRD GRADE, and is qualified for the 

place of Assistant in the School in the District, in the Town of 

, and is accordingly hereby licensed to teach in said School in 

that capacity for six months from this date. 

Given under my hand, this day of in the year 

one thousand eight hundred and eighty- 



No School Commissioner. 

6. To re-examine any teacher holding his or his predecessor's 
certificate, and if he find him deficient in learning or ability, to 
annul the certificate. 

A commissioner cannot annul a certificate at pleasure. It is a serious matter to 
take from a teacher his certificate, and while this power is placed with the com- 
missioner to annul a certificate for deficiency in learning and ability, the power 
can only be exercised after a re-examination. This re-examination must be 
conducted with a spirit of fairness. The department will closely scrutinize 
the act of a commissioner in annulling a certificate previously granted by him- 
self or by another commissioner. A teacher whose certificate has been an- 
nulled can appeal to the Superintendent. 

A commissioner may judge of the learning of a person by questions relat- 
ing to the studies to be taught in the district school. A searching examin- 
ation will expose ignorance and reveal deficiencies. But ability to teach may 
not be combined with learning, and upon this point the commissioner must 
make his observations in school, or obtain his information from others. A 
person may be unfit to teach from want of self-control. The first qualification 
of a good teacher is the ability to rule his own passions, and keep them under 
subjection. If complaints are made against any teacher of the exhibition by 
him of bad temper, of yielding to ungovernable passions, or of cruelty in the 



Teachers. 393 

infliction of punishment, the commissioner should investigate the charges, and 
give the teacher an opportunity to refute or explain them. If they are sus- 
tained by suflBcient proof, he should annul the certificate. 

Another deficiency may be in the ability to manage and govern a school. 
Without good government, which secures obedience, commands respect and 
preserves order, learning is of little avail. In a young teacher something may 
be forgiven on this score, for ability may be gained by experience. But 
teachers who, after years of experience, fail in government, should give up 
the profession. 

It is undoubtedly the right of the commissioner to examine a teacher in re- 
spect to his literary qualifications, and to be satisfied as to his intellectual and 
moral capacity to teach, by an inspection of his method of conducting school 
exercises. A very unfavorable impression might often be formed, and that 
justly, which the teacher could remove by showing facts not apparent upon 
the examination. 

7. To examine any charge affecting the moral character of 
any teacher within his district, first giving such teacher reasonable 
notice of the charge, and an opportunity to defend himself there- 
from ; and if he find the charge sustained, to annul the teacher' s 
certificate, by whomsoever granted, and to declare him unfit to 
teach ; and if the teacher held a certificate of the Superintendent, 
or a diploma of the State normal school, to notify the Superin- 
tendent forthwith of such annulment and declaration. 

This subdivision gives a commissioner the power to annul a teacher's cer- 
tificate upon finding that charges against a teacher's moral character are sus- 
tained. This is the only cause for which a commissioner can annul a certifi- 
cate given by a higher or other authority than himself. This action, however, 
is subject to review by the Superintendent, so that while a commissioner can 
annul a State certificate such annulment will be reversed unless it meets with 
the Superintendent's approval. The proceedings under this subdivision are 
first to furnish the commissioner with a written copy of the charges against 
the teacher. The charges must state the immoral act of the teacher and should 
be drawn with as much care and distinctness as an indictment. No general 
charge of immoral character will be sufficient to put a person upon the defen- 
sive. The law does not require that the charges shall be verified, but it is 
well for the commissioner to make such requirement. If the charges are of a 
character to warrant the commissioner in takeing further cognizance of them the 
teacher must be served with copies thereof. 

The commissioner should ascertain that there is probable cause for proceed- 
ing in substantially the same manner as a justice of the peace, to whom appli- 
cation is made for a criminal warrant. He may, for this purpose, administer 
oaths, examine the complainant and his witnesses orally, and reduce their 
testimony to writing. 

Ten days' notice is recognized by the department as due the teacher of the 
place and time for the examination of the charges. 

When the time for examination arrives, it is for the complainant first to ad- 
duce evidence in support of his charges. The accused is not bound to offer 
any testimony until something is proved against him by witnesses whom he 
has the opportunity to cross-examine. The preliminary complaint is only for 
the purpose of putting him upon trial, but is not evidence upon the trial, un- 
less for the purpose of discrediting the witnesses, by showing that they have 
testified differently as to the same transaction. The complainant cannot estab- 
50 



394 Teacheus. 

lish his case by affidavits of persons who are not present and cannot be sub- 
jected to a cross-examination. 

As the commissioner is instructed in all cases and required in certain cases 
to report his action to the Superintendent, and as an appeal may be taken 
from his decision, he should take full minutes, as it is given, as nearly as 
possible in the language of the witnesses. It would be well, also, though 
not indispensable, that the testimony of each witness should be read over to 
and subscribed by him as soon as he has concluded. 

The statute contemplates a decision by the commissioner, and the testimony 
may be needed only in case an appeal is brought from the decision. 

The commissioner should draw three copies of his instrument annulling a 
certificate, one of which he should keep, and another serve upon the teacher, 
and the third send to the Superintendent. The trustees, also, should be noti- 
fied of the fact immediately, in order to save the district from the loss of the 
public money consequent upon the employment of a teacher without a license. 

FoKM OF Notice to Teacher. 

Take notice that the following charges, affecting the moral character of 
R. S., a teacher employed in district No. , of the town of , have 

been presented by James Jackson, of the town of , as a cause for annul- 

ling the certificate of said teacher, viz. : (Here recite the charges, in which 
the precise nature, time, place and circumstances of the offenses imputed to 
the teacher should be stated); and that I shall proceed to examine into the 
charges aforesaid, and to hear the defense of the said teacher at o'clock 

of the day of , at , in the town of 

C. 0., 

School Commissioner , etc, 

CONTRACT WITH TEACHER. 
Title Yll. 
§ 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis-. 
trict, and they shall have power : 

9. To contract with and employ all teachers in the district 
school or schools, but no person who is within two degrees of re- 
lationship by blood or marriage to any such trustee shall be so 
employed, except with the approval of two-thirds of the voters 
of such district present, and voting upon the question, at an annual 
or special meeting of the district, nor -shall any sole trustee of a 
district make any contract for the employment of a teacher in and 
for said school district beyond the close of the school term com- 
mencing next preceding tTie expiration of his term of office, ex- 
cept with the approval of a majority of the voters of such dis- 
trict present, and voting upon the question at an annual or special 
meeting of the district ; nor shall the trustees of any school dis- 
trict having three or more trustees make any contract for the 



Teachers. 395 

employment of a teacher or teachers for more than one year in 
advance. Any person employed in disregard of the foregoing 
provisions shall have no claim for wages against the district, bnt 
may enforce the specific contract made against the trustee or trus- 
tees consenting to such employment as individuals. {As amended 
hy sec. 9, chap, 647, Laws of 1865, and hy chap. 264, Laws of 
1879.) 

The trustees alone can make contracts with teachers for the district schools. 
The district meeting cannot control their action in the matter, although it may 
grant permission to hire in certain cases that are otherwise prohibited by the 
statute. A meeting has no power to direct the trustees to hire or discharge a 
certain. teacher, to pay a certain salary or employ for a certain term. 

The suggestion or desire of a district meeting expressed by resolution upon 
this subject should, at least, always receive respectful consideration by the 
trustees. They would act most unwisely in disregarding the district's prefer- 
ences and wishes when reasonable and just. 

The word " teachers," used in this sub-division of section 49, means quali- 
fied teachers. A trustee has no power to employ a person to teach in the 
public schools who does not possess a regular and valid certificate of qualifi- 
cation. A contract made with a person not so qualified would not be binding 
upon the district. 

A practice has prevailed to a very considerable extent of trustees engaging 
with the teacher that he shall board with the parents of the children alter- 
nately. There is no authority for such a contract, and it cannot be enforced 
on the inhabitants. This compulsory boarding gives occasion to constant 
altercation and complaint, which often terminates in breaking up the school. 
The best arrangement is to give the teacher a specific sum as wages and let 
him board himself. If, however, some persons are willing to board a teacher 
gratuitously, and thereby save the district from taxation, there can be no 
objection. 

The statute places certain limitations upon the trustees' power to hire teach- 
ers without the consent of a district meeting. Any person employed in disre- 
gard of such limitations shall have no claim for wages against the district, 
but may enforce the specific contract made against the trustee or trustees con- 
senting to such employment as individuals. These limitations are as follows: 

1. But no person who is within tioo degrees of relationship hy blood or marriage 
to any such trustee shall be so employed, except with the approval of tioo-thirds 
of the voters of such district present and voting upon the question at an annual 
or special meeting of the district. 

If there is more than one trustee, a person cannot be employed who is 
related to any one of them within two degrees by blood or marriage. 

Relationship by Blood. 

Consanguinity is the relationship subsisting among all the different persons 
descending from the same stock, or common ancestor. 

This relation by blood is of two kinds, lineal and collateral. 

Lineal relationship. — Lineal consanguinity, as defined in Bouvier's Law 
Dictionary, ' ' is that relation which exists among persons, where one is de- 
scended from the other, as between the son and father, or the grandfather, and 
so upwards in a direct ascending line; and between the father and the son, or 
the grandson, and so downwards in a direct descending line. Every genera- 
tion in this direct course makes a degree, computing either in the ascending 



396 Teacheks. 

or descending line. This being the natural mode of computing the degrees of 
lineal consanguinity, it has been adopted by the civil, the canon, and the com- 
mon law." 

Collateral relationship. — Collateral consanguinity is the relationship sub- 
sisting among persons who descended from the same common ancestor, but 
not from each other. It is essential to constitute this relation, that they spring 
from the same common root or stock, but in different branches. 

In computing the degrees of collateral consanguinity, the civil law is gen- 
erally followed in this country, and the mode (as laid down in IV Kent's Com- 
mentaries, page 412,) is to commence with the person to whom the relation- 
ship is the subject of inquiry, and under this section of the school law with 
the trustee, and ascend from him to a common ancestor and descend from 
that ancestor to the collateral relative in question, reckoning a degree for each 
step or person, as well in the ascending as descending line. According to this 
rule, to ascertain in what degree the brother or nephew of the trustee is to 
him, commence with the trustee and count up to the common ancestor, which 
is the trustee's father, then down to the brother. From trustee to father is 
one step, then down from father to son, or trustee's brother, is another or 
second step, to nephew is still another or third step. Therefore, the trus- 
tee's brother is related to him in the second degree and his nephew in the 
third degree. By the same computation the trustee's grandfather stands in 
the second degree, the uncle in the third, the cousin in the fourth and so on 
in a series of genealogical order. 

The following table gives all the blood relatives of the trustee related to 
him in the first and second degrees. All other blood relatives of the trustee 
not named in this table are more remote than two degrees of relationship, and, 
therefore, their employment by him is not prohibited by the statute: 



Teachees. 

Degree Ascending. 



397 



GRANDFATHER. 



GRANDMOTHER. 



1st Degree Ascending 



FATHER. 



MOTHER. 



BROTHER. 



ad Degree. 




TRUSTEE. 



1st Degree 



Descending. 



SISTER. 



2d Degree, 



SON. 



DAUGHTER. 



2d Degree Descending, 



GRANDSON. 



GRANDDAUGHTER. 



398 



TeacherSc 



Relationship by Marriage. 

No person who is related to the trustees within two degrees by marriage, or 
in other words by afl5nity, can be employed as teacher. 

" AflBnity properly means the tie which arises, from marriage, betwixt the 
husband and the blood relatives of the wife, and between the wife and the 
blood relatives of the husband. Consequently while the marriage tie remains 
unbroken, the blood relatives of the wife stand in the same degree of affinity 
to the husband as they do in consanguinity to her. Thus the father of the wife 
stands in the first degree of affinity to his son-in-law, as he does in the first 
degree of consanguinity to his daughter. Relationship by affinity may also 
exist between the husband and one who is connected by marriage with a blood 
relative of the wife. Thus where two men marry sisters, they become related 
to each other in the second degree of affinity, as their wives are related in the 
second degree of consanguinity." (2 Bcirb. Gh. B. 331.) 

The persons related to the trustee in the first and second degrees by marriage 
with the trustee's blood relatives are as follows: 



1st 



Trustee's son's wife. 
Trustee's daughter's husband. 
Trustee's father's wife. 
Trustee's mother's husband. 



2i Degree. 

Trustee's grandson's wife. 
Trustee's granddaughter's husband. 
Trustee's brother's wife. 
Trustee's sister's husband. 
Trustee's grandfather's wife. 
Trustee's grandmother's husband. 



Following the foregoing decision of the court of chancery, the Department 
holds that the relatives of the trustee's wife are in the same degree of relation- 
ship, by marriage, to him, as they are by either blood or marriage to her. 

The following list contains all the relatives of the trustee's wife who are 
related to him by marriage within the first and second degrees : 



\st Degree. 

Trustee's wife's father. 
Trustee's wife's father's wife. 
Trustee's wife's mother. \ 
Trustee's wife's mother' s'h^sband. 
Trustee's wife's son. I 

Trustee's wife's son'^ w-fe/ 
Trustee's wife's daugi. 
Trustee's wife's daugb 



husband. 



2d Degree. 

Trustee's wife's brother. 
Trustee's wife's brother's wife. 
Trustee's wife's sister. 
Trustee's wife's sister's husband. 
Trustee's wife's grandfather. 
Trustee's wife's grandfather's wife. 
Trustee's wife's grandmother. 
Trustee's wife's grandmother's husband. 
Trustee's wife's grandson. 
Trustee's wife's grandson's wife. 
Trustee's wife's granddaughter. 
Trustee's wife's granddaughter's husband. 

The relatives of the trustee's wife are not related to the trustee after the 
death of his wife, unless issue of the marriage survive her. 

This prohibition may be waived by the district. If, for reasons satisfactory 
to the inhabitants, they are willing that the trustees may employ a person 
within the prohibited degree of relationship they may, by a vote of two-thirds 
of the voters present and voting at the meeting, approve of such hiring. 
There may often be excellent reasons found, in the superior qualifications of 
some persons, why the trustee should be released from the obligation of this 
law. The ruling of the Department is, also, that this waiver may be made 
after as well as before the term of employment. Bulrit must be in the way 
directed by the statute i. e. , at a meeting of the inhabitants of the district. 
This consent cannot be given individually, and although every inhabitant 
of the district might sign his consent to a paper circulated in the district it 
would not meet the requirements of the statutes and would not make such 
hiring legal and binding upon the district. 



Teachers. 399 

2. Nor shall any sole trustee of a district make any contract for the employment 
of a teacher in and for said school district beyond the close of the school term 
commencing next preceding the expiration of his term of office, except with the 
appi'oval of a majority of the voters of such district present, and Doting upon the 
question at an annual or special meeting of the district. The sole trustee's 
term of office is one year and expires at the annual meeting. Were it not for 
this provision a retiring trustee could virtually prevent his successor from 
having any voice in the selection of teachers during his whole term of office. 
But such action is forbidden. Each sole trustee selects the teachers to conduct 
the school during his term. This is the most important power and duty. It fre- 
quently happens that a term of school is in progress at the time of the annual 
meeting. It is against good policy to interrupt a school well organized at 
such a time, change teachers and virtually commence the term over. 

Every teacher has a method of his own of imparting instruction; the pupils 
must become acquainted with the teacher's instruction before good results 
will be produced. For these reasons a sole trustee can hire a teacher for a 
term of school extending beyond the annual meeting. The Superintendent 
has fixed the length of such term at eighteen weeks. This term must com- 
mence before the trustee's term of office expires and cannot consist of more 
than eighteen weeks, not eighteen weeks after the annual meeting, but eight- 
teen weeks from the commencement to end of term. 

This limitation of the trustee's power can be waived by a district meeting. 
Or, in other words, the meeting can authorize a sole trustee to employ a cer- 
tain teacher for a longer time than the term of eighteen weeks extending 
beyond his term of office. 

This is a power rarely exercised, and when it is the resolution should be 
recorded in full in the clerk's book of minutes, for the new trustee is almost 
certain to question and dispute the act which has. taken from him the privilege 
to select his own teachers. 

3. Nor shall the trustee of any school district having three or more trustees, 
make any contract for the employment of a teacher or teachers, for more than 
one year in advance. Joint trustees can employ for one year from the date of 
the contract but not for a longer time. 

Chapter 335, Laws of 1887. 
(Passed, May 16, 1887.) 

Section 1. From and after the passage o£ iis act, all officers 
or boards of officers wlio shall employ any teacher to teach in any 
of the public schools of this State shall, at the time of such em- 
ployment, make and deliver to such teacher, or cause to be made, 
and delivered, a memorandum in writing, signed by said officer, 
or by the members of said board, or by some person duly author- 
ized by said board, to represent them in the premises, in which 
the details of the agreement between the parties, and particu- 
larly the length of the term of employment, the amount of com- 
pensation and the time or times when such compensation shall be 
due and payable, shall be clearly and definitely set forth. But 
nothing herein contained shall be deemed to abridge or other- 
wise affect the term of employment of any teacher now or here- 
after employed in the public schools, nor to repeal or affect any 



400 Teachers. 

provision of special laws concerning the employment or removal 
of teachers now in force in any particular locality, 

§ 2. The pay of any teacher employed in the public schools of 
this State shall be due and payable at least as often as at the end 
of each calendar month of the term of employment. 

A fruitful source of litigation and appeal to the Superintendent has for 
many years been the omission of trustees and teachers to make a written con- 
tract. This chapter will stop that trouble. It directs that trustees shall 
make and deliver to teachers at the time of hiring a memorandum in writing 
stating the details of the agreement, and the Department has placed the fol- 
lowing blank form in the register for use by the trustees. 

Memorandum of Hiring. 
Required by Chapter 335, Laws of 1887. 
This is to certify that have this day engaged (a duly 

licensed teacher) to teach the school of District No. town of 

county of for the term of commencing 

at a compensation of dollars, payable 

Dated 188 . 



Trustees. 



TEACHERS' WAGES. 



Under the second section of this chapter (335, Laws 1887) teachers' wages 
are due and payable as often as at the end of each calendar month of the term 
of employment. Trustees and boards of education can pay teachers oftener than 
once each month, but cannot make a contract with them by which their wages 
will not be due at the end of each calendar month of the term of employment. 
The law fixes the time at which their wages are due, and trustees and teach- 
ers cannot, by agreement, waive this provision or change the lavv^. It is one 
of the duties of trustees to prepare for such payments. Calculations must be 
made, and where the public money will not be sufficient the district meeting 
should vote a tax as a fund for this purpose; otherwise, the trustees would 
be put to the inconvenience and trouble of issuing a tax list every month. 

Every teacher should be paid promptly. All that the trustees can lawfully 
require is a fulfillment of his contract, which includes the duty of keeping 
the teacher's register, and list of daily attendance. "When he has placed 
them, duly verified, in the hands of the clerk of the district, he can demand 
an order for his wages. 

The wages of a teacher include the whole compensation allowed him for 
board, lodging, or any other object. In drawing an order any sum allowed for 
board, etc., should be denominated wages. The order can be drawn only in 
favor of the teacher. If he desires to apply the proceeds to the payment 
of a private debt, for board or other consideration, he can indorse it to his 
creditor, but it is for him and not for the trustees to distribute his wages. 

Title YIL ^ 
§ 42. INTo part of the school moneys apportioned to a district 
can be applied or permitted to be applied to the payment of the 
wages of an unqualified teacher nor can his wages, or any part of 
them, be collected by a district tax. {As amended hy sec. 12, 
chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 



Teachers. 401 

If an unqualified teacher be employed, tlie school kept will be a private, 
and not a public school, and the teacher's claim for compensation will depend 
upon his contract with his employers. If the trustees agree to pay him, they 
will be responsible as private persons, and not as officers of the district. If 
the trustees draw any order upon the supervisor, or on the collector of the 
district, for such money, in favor of an unqualified teacher, they incur the 
penalty provided in the next section. 

Supervisors must not pay an order for teachers' wages unless it appears upon 
the face of the order that the teacher is a qualified teacher. 

The amendment of 1880 to section 10, title III, being a later law than the 
above section (42), changes its provision so as to permit the use of the public 
money apportioned a district, to be paid in satisfaction of teachers' wages earned 
by a teacher not duly qualified. The amendment is as follows: And the su- 
perintendent may, in his discretion, upon the recommendation of the school 
commissioner having jurisdiction over the district in default, direct that the 
money so equitably apportioned shall be paid in satisfaction of teachers' 
wages earned by a teacher not qualified in accordance with the provisions of 
the law as hereinafter set forth. {8ee State School Moneys.) 

§ 43. Any trustee who applies, or directs, or consents to the 
application of any such money to the payment of an unqualified 
teacher's wages, thereby commits a misdemeanor ; and any fine 
imposed upon him therefor shall be for the benefit of tlie com- 
mon schools of the county. 

§ 49. It shall be the duty of the truatees of every school dis- 
trict, and they shall have power : 

* * -Sf * * * * ^-Jf ^ ¥■ 

10. To pay toward the wages of such teachers as are qualified, 
the public moneys apportioned to the district and legally appli- 
cable thereto, by giving them orders on the supervisor therefor, 
and to collect as herein provided, the residue of such wages by 
district tax. {As amended hy sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

Form of Order. 
To J. D., supervisor of the town of 

Pay to A. B. , or order, dollars cents, on account of wages 

earned by him as a duly qualified teacher in district No, , in said town, 

between the day of and the day of . 18 . 

Dated 18 . 

n* -n"' I Trustees 

"^^'iDist. No. 

11. To divide such public moneys apportioned to the district, 
whenever authorized by a vote of their district, into two or more 
portions for each year ; to assign and apply one of such portions 
to each term during which a school shall be kept in such district, 
for the pavment of teachers' wages during such term ; and to ^ 

51 



402 Teachers. 

collect the residue of such wages not paid by the proportion of 
public money allotted for that purpose, by district tax as herein 
provided. {As amended hy sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

The first part of this subdivision, while it stands as the law, is certainly im- 
practicable in the great majority of school districts. The public money should 
be used by the trustees for the payment of teachers' wages as long as it lasts 
and before the funds collected by tax are drawn upon. 

The public moneys payable on the order of the trustees are the moneys in 
the hands of the supervisor, apportioned from the State treasury, and the in- 
come of town or local funds, and the income of district funds, if there be 
any. 

12. If the library money apportioned to the district be less 
than three dollars, to apply it to the payment of teachers' wages. 

13. To draw upon the supervisor for the school and library 
moneys, in the manner and form prescribed by subdivisions one 
and two of section six of title four of this act. 

14. After having paid toward the wages of such teachers as 
are qualified, the public moneys of the district legally applicable 
thereto, by giving them orders on the supervisor therefor, to col- 
lect the residue of such wages by a district tax, or, if the same 
shall have been already collected, to give such teacher an order on 
the district collector for the balance of his or her wages still re- 
maining unpaid. {As amended hy sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 
1867.) 

This subdivision (14) places it in the power of trustees to promptly collect 
by tax, all moneys required for teachers' wages. At any time wages are due 
and there are no funds applicable to the payment thereof on hand, the trustees 
can issue their tax list therefor. It is their duty so to do. On account of the 
enactment of chapter 335, Laws of 1887, making the wages of all teachers due 
as often as at the end of every calendar month of the term of employment, 
the annual meeting should authorize, on an estimate furnished by the trustees, 
the raising by tax of a sufficient sum to meet this expense. Provision must 
be made that a fund for this purpose is always on hand. This power is given 
the district meeting in the following section: " 

§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled 
in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the 
votes of those present : 

16. To vote a tax to pay whatever deficiency there may be in 
teachers' wages after the public money apportioned to the district 
■shall have been applied thereto ; but if the inhabitants shall neg- 



Teachers. 405 

lect or refuse to vote a tax for this purpose, or if they shall vote 
a tax which shall prove insufficient to cover such deficiency, then 
the trustees are authorized, and it is hereby made their duty, to 
raise by district tax, any reasonable sum that may be necessary to 
pay the balance of teachers' wages remaining unpaid, the same as 
if such tax had been authorized by a vote of tlie inhabitants. 
{This sitbdivision added hy sec. 8, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

A district meeting can order the raising by tax of suflBcient money to pay 
the wages of teachers before such wages are earned, and so as to have a fund 
on hand. But the trustees can issue their tax list for such wages only after 
the wages are earned and payable. This is the distinction between the power 
of the district meeting and that of the trustees. 

PAYMENT OF JUDGMENT FOR TEACHERS' WAGES. 
17. To vote a tax to pay and satisfy of record any judgment 
or judgments of a competent court which may have been or shall 
hereafter be obtained in an action against the trustees of the dis- 
trict for unpaid teachers' wages, against the trustees of the district 
where the time to appeal from said judgment or judgments shall 
have lapsed, or there shall be no intent to appeal on the part of 
such district, or the said judgment or judgments is or are or shall 
be of the court of highest resort ; but if the inhabitants shall 
neglect or refuse to vote a tax for this purpose, or if they vote a 
tax which shall prove insufficient to fully satisfy said judgment 
or judgments, then the trustees are authorized and it is hereby 
made their duty to raise by district tax the amount of said judg- 
ment or judgments or the deficiency which may exist in any tax 
voted by said inhabitants to pay said judgment or judgments, the 
same as if such tax had been authorized by a vote of the inhab- 
itants, and the trustees are hereby authorized and it is hereby 
made their duty forthwith, after the expiration of thirty days 
from notice of any judgment or judgments having been entered 
against the district or the trustees thereof for unpaid teachers' 
wages, to call a meeting of the inhabitants of said district, who 
shall have power as aforesaid to vote a tax to pay said judgment 
or judgments, and in case they refuse or neglect to do so, the 
trustees are authorized and it is hereby made their duty, unless 
said judgment or judgments are appealed from, to raise by dis- 



404 Teachers, 

trict tax the amount of said judgment or judgments as herein- 
before provided. {This subdivision added hy sec. 1, chap. 632, 
Lawsofl^^l.) 

TEACHER TO KEEP SCHOOL LISTS. 
§ 53. * * * "^ In the other, the teachers shall enter the 
names of the pupils attending school, their ages, the names of the 
persons who send them, and the number of days each pupil 
attends; and also the facts and the dates of each inspection of 
the school bj the school commissioner or other official visitor, 
and any other facts and in such form as the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction shall require; and each teacher shall, by his 
oath or affirmation, verify his entries in such book, and the 
entries shall constitute the school lists from which the average 
daily attendance shall be determined ; and such oath or affirmation 
may be taken by the district clerk, but without charge. Until 
the teacher shall have so made and verified such entries, the 
trustees shall not draw on the supervisor for any portion of his 
wages. {^As amended hy sec. 15, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

The teacher's list, to be kept in the second book named, is the basis upon 
which the attendance of pupils is ascertained for the purpose of apportioning 
the public money therefor. 

Registers for the use of teachers are now prepared in the office of the Depart- 
ment, printed and forwarded to the trustees in time for use in all the schools. 
All needful explanations and directions for the instruction and guidance of 
teachers and trustees will be found on the cover of the registers. 

Unless the register is correctly and faithfully kept, and verified as pre- 
scribed in this section the teacher is not entitled to his wages. Such oath or 
affirmation can, and must, be made every time the trustee gives the teacher 
an order for wages. 

Form of Affidavit. 

Town of ) ^^ 

County of f 

being duly sworn, deposes and says that the 
within register of attendance of pupils in district No. , Town of , 

from the day of , 18 , to the day of , 18 , is correct 

to the best of h knowledge and that he has fully and truly made, in the 
" statement " on the last preceding page, all the entries called for by the head- 
ings of the respective columns. 

Signed. 
Subscribed and sworn before me, ) 
this day of ,18.5" 

This affidavit, or affirmation, may be certified by a justice of the peace or 
commissioner of deeds, judge of any court of record, county clerk or school 
commissioner or district clerk to have.been taken before him. 



Teachees. 405 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Annulling teacher's Gertificate. — Under tlie Laws of 1847, 690, section 37, 
the town superintendent cannot annul a teacher's certificate of competency, ex 
cept on ten days' notice, to the teacher and trustees of the district, of a hearing 
on the question. Notice of an intention to annul it is not annulment. The order 
must be in writing. {Supreme Court, 1851, Finch v. Cleveland, 10 Barb. 290.) 

The city superintendent of common schools for the city and county of New 
York has power to annul a certificate granted to a teacher. (Supreme Court, 
1853, People, ex rel. Melver, v. Board of Education, 17 Barh. 299.) 

Dismissal. — That the trustees cannot dismiss a teacher without cause and 
against Lis consent, before the expiration of his contract. {Finch v. Cleveland, 
10 Barh. 290.) 

Examination. — The town superintendent refused to examine a candidate 
as to her learning and ability, for the reason that he was satisfied her moral 
character was not good. The applicant appealed to the State Superintend- 
ent, who examined as to .her moral character and decided that there was 
no objection to her on that score, and directed the town superintendent to 
examine her. The town superintendent examined her as to learning and 
ability, and offered her a certificate as to her qualifications on those points. 
Held, that it was all he could be required to do. By the appeal the ques- 
tion of moral character was disposed of, and the State Superintendent's 
decision on that question, together with the town superintendent's certificate 
of learning and ability, would entitle the applicant to teach. {Supreme 
Court, 1855, People, ex rel. Owen, v. Masters, 31 Barh. 252.) 

When a school teacher appealed to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
from a decision of school trustees refusing to pay his salary, and on such ap- 
peal the trustees submitted to the j urisdiction and hearing laef ore the Superin- 
tendent, the trustees waived their right to have'the case tried by a jury, and 
that determination is final. 

A refusal to pay a teacher's wages is a decision, within the statute allowing 
appeal to Superintendent of Public Instruction; and a person who has taught 
for only a portion of the time for which he was engaged, is a teacher within 
the statute. {Oale v. Eckler, 19 Il^ln, 609.) 

Where one acting as de facto trustee of a school district employs a qualified 
person to act as teacher, and agrees to pay for her services a sum equal to the 
teacher's board and lodging and $1.75 per week, and such person acts as such 
teacher and renders the services required by the contract, and the validity of 
the trustee's action is recognized by the inhabitants of the district, the validity 
of his election cannot be challenged, and his authority to make the contract 
denied, in an action brought against his successor to recover the price agreed 
to be paid for the services actually rendered. {Be Wolf v. 'Watterson, 35 Hun, 
111.) 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

For teachers' duties regarding teachers' institutes, and ' their wages for time 

spent thereat. {See Teachers' Institutes.) 

For teachers' duties concerning libraries. {See Librarian and Libraries.) 
Teachers' classes, — their organization and instruction in academies and 

Union Free Schools. {See Union Free Schools.) 



TEACHERS' INSTITUTES. 



Title XI. 



Section 1. It shall be the duty of every school commissioner, 
at least once in each year, to organize in his own district, or, in 
concert with one or more commissioners in the same county, to 
organize in and for the combined districts, a teachers' institute, and 
to induce, if possible, all the teachers in his district to he present 
and take pai*t in its exercises. 

§ 2. The commissioner or commissioners, subject always to the 
advice and direction of the superintendent of public instruction, 
shall, in such form and manner as may be deemed most effectual, 
give public notice to the teachers of the district, or combined dis- 
tricts, and to all others who may desire to become such, of the time 
when and the yjlace where the institute will be organized. 

§ 3. The superintendent of public instruction shall advise and 
co-operate with the school commissioners in fixing the times and 
places of holding the teachers' institute; and he shall have power 
to employ, or cause the school commissioners to employ, suitable 
persons, at a reasonable compensation, to conduct and teach the 
institutes ; and he shall visit, or cause to be visited by persons em- 
ployed in the department of public instruction, such and so many 
of the institutes as he possibly can, for the purpose of examining 
into the course and manner of instruction pursued, and of render- 
ing such assistance as he-may find expedient ; and he shall establish 
the basis upon which the yearly appropriation for the support of 
teachers' institutes shall be distributed to the several institutes, and 
the term or terms during which the same may be held, having ref- 
erence, in the establishment of such regulations, to the number 
of teachers in the county, district or combined districts, and in 



Teachers' Ij^stitutes. -^O? 

attendance at the institute, to the length of time during which 
they shall be held, to the facilities for attendance upon them, and 
to local disadvantages requiring especial consideration. 

§ 4. The superintendent of public instruction may establish 
such regulations in regard to certificates of qualihcation or recom- 
mendation, which may be issued by school commissioners, as will 
in his judgment furnish incentives and encouragement to teachers 
to attend the institutes ; and the closing of his school by a teacher 
for the time during which an institute shall be held in and for 
the county or school commissioner district in which his school is, 
and which institute he shall have attended during the time for 
which he closed his school, shall not work a forfeiture of the con- 
tract under wliich he is teaching. (As amended hy sec, 9, chap. 
340, Z(Z?^5^/ 1885.) 

§ 5. The trustees of every school district are hereby directed 
to give the teacher or teachers employed by them the whole of 
the time spent by such teacher or teachers in attending at any 
regular session or sessions of an institute in a county embracing 
the school district, or a part thereof, without deducting any thing 
from his or their wages for the time so spent, and in order to 
secure to teachers the full exercise of this privilege, after the 
twentieth day of August, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, all 
schools in school districts and parts of school districts, not included 
within the boundaries of an incorporated city, shall be closed dur- 
ing the time a teachers' institute shall be in session in the same 
county in which such schools are situated, and, in the appor- 
tionment of pubhc school money, the schools thus closing in 
any school term shall be allowed the same average pupil attend- 
ance during such time, as was the average during that part of the 
term when the school was not thus closed, and any school con- 
tinuing its sessions in violation of the above provision shall not be 
allowed any public money based upon average pupil attendance 
during the days the school wa? thus kept in session. Trustees 
and boards of education in such school districts and parts of school 
districts shall report, in their annual reports to the school com- 
missioners, the number of days and the dates thereof on which a 
teachers' institute was held in their counties during the school 
year, and whether schools under their charge were or were not 



408 Teachers' Institutes. 

closed during such days ; and whenever the trustees' report shows 
that a district school has been supported for the full time required 
bj law, including the time spent by the teacher or teachers in 
their employ in attendance upon such institute, and that the trus- 
tees have given the teacher or teachers the time of such absence, 
and have not deducted any thing from his or their wages on 
account thereof, the superintendent of public instruction may 
include the district in his apportionment of the State school 
moneys, and direct that it be included by the school commissioner 
or commissioners in their apportionment of school moneys ; pro- 
vided, always, that such school district be in all other respects 
entitled to be included in such apportionment. {As amended hy 
sec. 23, chap. 406, Laws of 1867, and hy sec. 10, chap. 340, Laws 
(?/1885.) 

§ 6. The treasurer shall pay, on the warrant of the comptroller, 
to the order of any one or more of the school commissioners, such 
sum or sums of money as the superintendent of public instruc- 
tion shall certify to be due to them for expenses in holding a 
teachers' institute ; and, upon the like warrant and certificate, to 
the order of any persons employed by the Superintendent to con- 
duct and teach any teachers' institute, his reasonable compensa- 
tion as certified by the superintendent. 

§ 7. The school commissioner or commissioners by whom any 
teachers' institute shall be organized, shall transmit to the super- 
intendent of public instruction a catalogue of the names of all 
persons who shall have attended such institute, with such other 
statistical information, in such form and within such time as may 
be prescribed by said superintendent. 

The subject of teacliers' institutes, as a factor in the common school system 
of the State, was first brought forward at the Tompkins County Teachers' 
Association in October, 1842. The proposition was so favorably received, that 
in the following April the first teachers' institute was held at Ithaca for a 
period of two weeks with an attendance of twenty-eight teachers. It was 
purely a local institution, rec^ving no arid from the State, organized and con- 
ducted by the county superintendent with assistants procured by him. Its 
success, as a means of instructing the teachers of the county in the best modes 
of teaching, including a critical analysis and review of the various elementary 
and some of the higher branches of education, brought about in less than one 
year the adoption of the same plan in several of the other counties. It was 
not until 1847 that any aid was given the institutes from the State. The legis- 
lature of that ye^ar appropriated the sum of sixty dollars from the income of 
the United States deposit fund to the aid and benefit of each institute. 



Teachers' Ii^stitutes. 409 

The institute is now a permanent part of the educational machinery of the 
State, and is under the immediate control and supervision of the Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction. For several years the annual appropriation for 
carrying out the provisions of this title has been $18,000. A regular corps of 
instructors is appointed by the Superintendent, and one or two are assigned to 
conduct each institute. The other expenses are paid out of the appropriation 
upon the certificate of the Superintendent. 

The attendance of teachers in large counties, or in counties comprising two 
or more commissioner districts, has become so great as to render it impracticable 
to give them the instruction or attention desirable. For this reason Superintend- 
ent Draper, in 1886, directed that thereafter institutes should be held for each 
commissioner district. 

The important provisions of this title are contained in section 5, and are 
divided as follows: 

1. The trustees of every school district are hereby directed to give the teacher 
or teachers employed hy them the ichole of the time spent hy such teacher on^ 
teachers in attending at any regular session or sessions of an institute in a 
county embracing the school district, or a part thereof, without deducting any 
thing from his or their wages for the time so spent. 

The institute is for the direct benefit of teachers. Their interest is guarded 
so that as little hardship as possible shall arise from their attendance. The 
above provision throws about them the protection from a loss of salary. 
Their wages shall be paid them for the time they attend an institute held in 
their county during a term of school. No subterfuge can be successfully 
resorted to by trustees that will excuse or relieve them from paying the 
teachers for such time. The teacher must, however, be in actual attendance 
at the institute. An attendance of one or two days will not be an attendance 
for the week. Trustees have been known to secure from the teacher a prom- 
ise to teach an extra week to make up for the time the school was closed 
during the institute. When an extra week is taught in pursuance of such an 
agreement, the teacher will be entitled to pay for both the institute week and 
the extra week. 

2. All schools in school districts and parts of school districts, not included 
vyithin the boundaries of an incorporated city, shall be closed during the time a 
teachers' institute shall be in session in the same county in which such schools are 
situated. 

This part of the section is mandatory. Trustees are the officers directly 
charged with the duty of hiring teachers and managing the school. The 
power to provide for, organize and continue the school in session is given them 
by statute. This section takes from them that power during the time a 
teachers' institute shall be in session in their school commissioner district. 
They must obey the law which says the schools "shall be closed." The law 
does not give trustees the choice between closing the school or forfeiting a 
part of the public money. 

If the school is continued in session during the institute week, it is not a 
public school, but a private one, and the expense therefor cannot be paid out 
of the public moneys, or from funds raised by tax upon the district. The 
teachers will have to look to the trustees personally for their wages. For a 
violation of this law the penalty of a loss of a part of the public money affects 
the inhabitants of the district, while the trustees subject themselves to pen- 
alties as follows : 

First. Removal from office by the superintendent, under section 18, title 1, 
of this act. 

"Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any school com- 
missioner or other school officer has been guilty of any willful violation or 
neglect of duty under this act * * * the superintendent may by an order 
under his hand and seal, which order shall be recorded in his office, remove 
such school commissioner or other school officer from his office." No more fla- 
grant "violation or neglect of duty" is possible than for trustees to refuse to 
close the schools as directed in this section. 

52 



410 Teachers' Institutes. 

Second. If the scliool is continued in session a loss of public monej to tlie 
district will result. Section 1, title XIII, of this act provides that whenever a 
district shall suffer a loss in any part of the public money in consequence of 
any willful neglect of official duty by any school officer, the officer or officers 
guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the school district so losing the same 
the full amount of such loss with interest thereon. 

Third. It is a misdemeanor, under section 155 of the Penal Code, for trus- 
tees to continue the school in session when the law says it "shall be closed." 

3. In the apportionment of public school moneys, the schools thus closing in 
any school term shall he allowed the same average pupil attendance during such 
time, as icas the average during that part of the term when the school was not 
thus closed, and any school continuing its sessions in violation of the above pro- 
msion shall not be allowed any public money based upon average pupil attendance 
during the days the scliool was thus kept in session. 

The method of computing the average attendance for institute week is fully 
explained in the chapter on Reports under item 10. 

In 1889 the manner of apportionment by the school commissioners will be 
upon the aggregate attendance instead of the average. The loss of this one 
week of school by each district in the State will operate equally in the distri- 
bution of the public money. A district violating the statute by continuing the 
school in session, cannot be allowed any aggregate attendance for that week. 



RULES AND REGULATIONS. 

The Department issued the following instructions, rules and regulations 
concerning institutes, December 1, 1887 : 

1. The Department of Public Instruction will be represented in every 
institute by the principal conductor, who shall have full control of the pro- 
ceedings of the institute. 

2. On receiving official notice from this Department of the appointment of 
an institute for your district, send notices of the same printed on postal cards, 
to all your teachers, and to all the newspapers printed in the district as items 
of news. Immediately correspond with the principal conductor, and with him 
arrange the programme of exercises for the week. 

3. Invite some of your most advanced and experienced teachers to present 
exercises. On application to this Department, assistance may usually be ob- 
tained for a day or two from one of the Normal Schools. The Superintendent 
will not, under any circumstances, be bound by contracts made by commission- 
ers with instructors and lecturers. 

4. Secure ample accommodations for the sessions of the institute, using a 
school -house in preference to any other building, when a suitable one can be 
obtained. It is believed that the use of a school-house, court-house, or other 
public building, can be readily obtained in every county for the purposes of 
an institute, and in view of the local benefits thereby conferred, without 
charge to the State. 

5. When the estimated expenses of an institute, including newspaper ad- 
vertising, exceed $25, a detailed statement must be submitted to this Depart- 
ment for approval before the arrangements are completed. In every case where 
persons are employed, or any expenses are incurred, commissioners should 
make, in advance, a definite and positive contract, that they may not become 
personally liable for the payment of charges so unreasonable and exorbitant 
that the Superintendent cannot pay them. 

6. Arrange for board of teachers, through a local committee or personally, 
on the most favorable terms obtainable ; but make no arrangements for a 
shorter time than the entire session. 

7. When possible, secure from railroad companies and stage lines reduced 
rates of fare for members of the institute. 



Teachers' In"stitutes. 411 

8. As soon as practicable, issue your programme of exercises, and send one 
copy to each teacher employed in your district ; also send ten copies to this 
Department, two to each member of the institute faculty, and one to each 
school commissioner in the State. 

9. Provide blackboards, crayons, erasers, pointers, a piano-forte or organ, 
and such other appliances as may be necessary, and have them in place, ready 
for use, before the opening of the institute.* 

10. Employ a janitor for the entire session, and require him to devote his 
whole time to his work. 

11. Do not omit evening sessions to favor any other object or interest. 

12. Do not allow any admission fee to be charged to any exercise or session 
of the institute. Do not allow itinerant lecturers or readers to find their way 
into the programme. Take a decided stand against suppers, or festivals, or 
entertainments of any kind gotten up in the neighborhood for gain, during 
institute week. 

13. Do not hold examinations of candidates for commissioners' certificates 
at any time during, or in connection with the session of the institute, 

14. During the sessions of the institute, be particular to insure good order 
in the room and about the premises. 

15. Make all necessary arrangements for the evening exercises and assume 
charge and direction of the same. Evening addresses will be delivered by the 
conductor, a principal of a Normal school, or other persons prominent in 
educational work. At times it may be well to invite some prominent person 
in the locality to occupy an evening. It is entirely appropriate that teachers' 
associations should occupy some of the evenings of the week, in such way as 
they may think best ; but care should be taken that the time is occupied by 
addresses upon educational subjects, or by exercises which promote the primary 
purposes of the institute. You will have charge of the records and secretaries' 
minutes, not allowing these matters to interfere with the regular exercises of 
the institute. 

16. You will register members on Monday from 10:30 a. m., till noon ; from 
1 to 2 o'clock, P. M. , and at the recesses. No person is to be registered after 
Monday, without the approval of the conductor. All teachers and persons 
over sixteen years old, who intend to teach within a year, and no others, may 
register as members of the institute. 

17. The regular work of instruction shall begin at 2 P. M., on Monday, and 
end with the close of the Friday afternoon session. 

♦ Memorandum books, lead pencils, and printed music for all the members of the 
institute, will be supplied through the conductor. 



TOWN CLERK 



Title Y. 



Section 1. It shall be the duty of the town clerk of each town : 

1. Carefully to keep all books, maps, papers, and records of his 
office touching common schools, and forthwith to report to the 
supervisor any loss of or injury to any of them which may happen. 

Tlie duties imposed upon town clerks are important, and upon tlieir proper 
performance depends, in a great degree, the eflB.ciency of the school system. 

The maps, papers, books and records relating to schools and the school dis- 
tricts should be carefully kept and preserved; and, in order to do this, all 
papers should be properly folded and tied in convenient packages. When any 
paper is received which is by law required to be recorded in a book, the re- 
cording should not be postponed, but should be done immediately, and the 
paper indorsed, filed and laid away safely in its proper place. 

He is required to report to the supervisor any loss or injury of the papers 
and records in his charge, in order that losses may be replaced and injuries 
repaired. 

2. To receive from the supervisor the certificates of apportion- 
ment of school moneys to the town, and to record them in a book 
to be kept for that purpose. {See State School Moneys.) 

3. Forthwith to notify the trustees of the several school districts 
and separate neighborhoods of the filing of each such certificate. 

It will be seen, from the two preceding subdivisions and the following subdi- 
yision 4, that the duties of town clerks are not only to receive, file and record 
maps and documents sent them, but that they are required to see that certain 
school officers perform their part in the administration of the school laws. The 
apportionment of the public moneys by the school commissioner is made on the 
third Tuesday ofMarch in eachj'ear, and a certificate thereof sent to the super- 
visor of each town who is required to file the same with the town clerk. The 
clerk must record the certificate and notify the trustees of each school district in 
his town of the filing of such certificate. Trustees should know, as soon as pos- 
sible, ihe amount of moneys their districts are to receive, and this duty should 
be promptly attended to by the town clerk. The record must be open to in- 
spection, so that not only trustees but inhabitants may know the exact amount 
of public money received by the district. 

4. To see that the trustees of the school districts and separate 



TowiT Clerk. 413 

neighborhoods make and deposit with him their annual reports 
within the time prescribed by law, and to deliver them to the 
school commissioner on demand and to furnish the scliool com- 
missioner of the school commissioner district in which his town 
is situated the names and post-office address of the school district 
officers reported to him by the district clerks. (^.5 amended hy 
sec. 5, chap. 647, Laws of 1865.) 

Section 60 of title VII requires the trustees to deposit their annual reports 
with the town clerk between the twentieth day of August and the third Tues- 
day of August in each year. If this is not done, the town clerk should, by 
letter, admonish the trustees of their duty, and obtain from them the reports 
without delay. 

The attention of town clerks is particularly called to the importance of 
collecting and correcting the reports of trustees within the time limited by 
the law. It will be remembered that from these reports the school commis- 
sioner must/without delay, make his own report to the Superintendent. From 
the reports of the commissioners, the Superintendent must collate, arrange 
and digest all the facts, and present the results to the Governor at a day so 
early that he may be able to weigh them carefully and incorporate a statement 
thereof, with such recommendations as he may deem proper, in his annual 
message to the legislature. The Superintendent must also have ample time 
to prepare his own report to the legislature, with all the accompanying tables, 
and carefully to prepare the items upon which he must make the annual ap- 
portionment of school moneys. 

The town clerk should examine every report as soon as it comes into his 
hands, and, if possible, in the presence of the trustee delivering it, in order 
that any mistakes may be detected and corrected at once, or that the trustee 
may retain it for correction. If, however, necessity requires the report to be 
returned to the trustees, all mistakes and errors should be pointed out, and 
particular instructions given as to the manner of correcting each, and a day 
should be set for the return of the report to the tow clerk. 

The town clerk should obtain a report from the trustees of every district, 
even though a district school, taught by a duly qualified teacher, may not 
have been maintained during the time required by law, or even for a single 
day. The school commissioner must be made acquainted with all the facts. 

It is suggested that the clerk should have a safe place in which to deposit 
the reports, and that each should be filed and deposited therein at the moment 
of its acceptance at his office. 

On the blanks for reports will be found a blank certificate of filing, which 
should be filled and signed at the date of filing. 

The last clause of this subdivision requires the town clerks to furnish the 
school commissioners a list of the names and post-office address of all the 
school officers in the town. This information must be furnished the town 
clerk by the school district clerk, who, by subdivision 5 of section 37, title VII, 
is required to "report to the town clerk of the town in which the school -house 
of the district is situated, the names and post-office address" of all district 
officers. It is hoped that the importance of these requirements will be fully 
appreciated, and the duties enjoined faithfully and punctually performed. 

5. To distribute to the trustees of tlie school districts and sepa- 
rate neighborhoods all blanks and circulars which shall be deliv- 
ered or forwarded to him by the State Superintendent or school 
commissioner for that purpose. 



414 Town Clerk. 

Such distribution should be made immediately. A delay of even a day may 
work great confusion and, perhaps, loss to a district. 

6. To receive from the supervisor, and riscord in a book kept for 
that purpose, the annual account of the receipts and disburse- 
ments of school moneys required to be submitted to the town 
auditors together with the action of the town auditors thereon, 
and to send a copy of the account and of the action thereon, by 
mail, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, whenever re- 
quired by him, and to file and preserve the vouchers accompany- 
ing the account. [See sub. 4 of sec. 6 of title lY.) 

7. To receive and to record, in the same book, the supervisor's 
final account of the school moneys received and disbursed by him, 
and deliver a copy thereof to such supervisor's successor in office. 
{See sub. 6 of sec. 6 of title lY.) 

8. To receive from the outgoing supervisor, and file and record 
in the same book, the county treasurer's certificate that his suc- 
cessor's bond has been given and approved. {See sub. 8 of sec. 6 
oftitUlY.) 

This record, carefully and correctly kept, acts as a great safeguard against 
loss, especially by embezzlement, to the districts. Disputes arise concerning the 
public moneys and whether they have been received and expended by trustees. 
The reports from all officers who handle the public school money are recorded 
by the town clerk. The supervisors and trustees file their accounts of both 
receipts and disbursements. The clerk should keep the records so that the 
inhabitants can, at any time, open the books and see the accounts. 

9. To receive, file and record the descriptions of the school 
districts and neighborhoods, and all papers and proceedings de- 
livered to him by the school commissioner pursuant to the next 
title of this act. {See sub. 4 of sec. 1 of title YI.) 

10. To act, when thereto legally required, in the erection or 
alteration of a school district, as in the next title of this act pro- 
vided. {See sec. 4 of title YI.) 

The town clerk's office is the only place under the law where the record of 
district boundaries is kept. This fact alone is sufficient to show the great im- 
portance of the duty prescribed by the two preceding subdivisions. In every 
case where any order annulling or dissolving any school district, or altering 
its boundaries or changing its number, is received, such order should be 
promptly recorded in full among the permanent records of the town. 

11. To receive and preserve the books, papers and records of 



TowK Clerk. 415 

any dissolved school district, which shall be ordered, as hereinafter 
provided, to be deposited in his office. 

12. To perform any other duty which may be devolved upon 
him by this act, or by any other act touching common schools. 

§ 2. The necessary expenses and disbursements of the town 
clerk, in the performance of his said duties, are a town charge, and 
shall be audited and paid as such. 

It is believed that town clerks are, in some instances, negligent in the per- 
formance of the duties enjoined by subdivisions 6, 7, 8 and 9 of section 1 of 
title V, so far as relates to the record which they are required to make. These 
duties are important, and no matter of record should be delayed for a single 
day. This neglect gives rise to numerous appeals to the Department, and 
mnch vexatious litigation in the courts, causing great expense to the people, 
and seriously disturbing the peace, and in many cases impairing for years the 
efficiency of the schools in the districts affected thereby. In view of these 
consequences, the necessity of attending with promptness to all matters of 
permanent record cannot be too strongly urged upon town clerks. 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

1. Title YI, § 4. The town clerk, whenever requested by the trustees, is to 
be associated with the local board in the matter of confirming or vacating a 
commissioner's order altering district boundaries, {See School Districts.) 

2. Title VI, § 5. For services as member of such local board he is entitled 
to one dollar and fifty cents per day, to be a town charge. {See School Dis- 
tricts.) 

Title VII, § 91. The town clerk is required to file all tax lists delivered to= 
him by trustees. (See Taxes.) 



TRUSTEES. 



ELECTION OF, IN NEIGHBORHOODS. 

Title YII. 

§ 15. The inhabitants of any neighborhood entitled to vote, 
when assembled in any annual meeting or any other neighbor- 
hood meeting duly called by the commissioner, pursuant to the 
first or third sections of this title, shall ha-^e power, by a majority 

of the votes of those present : 

* -Jf -Jf * ■«• -x- -x- 

2. To choose a neighborhood clerk and one trustee, and to fill 
yacancies in ofiice. 

IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 
§ 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled 
in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the 

votes of those present : 

* -x- * * * * * 

4. To choose one or three trustees as hereinafter provided, a 
district clerk, a district collector, a librarian, at their first meet- 
ing, and so often as such offices or any of them become vacated, 
except as hereinafter provided. 

§ 27. On the last Tuesday of August next after the erection of 
a district, at its first annual meeting, the electors shall determine, 
by resolution^ whether the district shall have one or three trust- 
ees, and if they resolv^e to have three trustees, shall elect the three 
for one, two and three years respectively, and shall designate by 
their votes for which term each is elected ; thereafter in such 
district, one trustee shall be elected at each annual meeting to 
fill the office of the outgoing trustee. The electors of any dis- 



Trustees. 417 

trict having three trustees shall have power to decide by resolu- 
tion, at any annual meeting, whether the district shall have a 
sole trustee or three trustees, and if they resolve to have a sole 
trustee, the trustee or trustees in office shall continue in office 
until their term or terms of office shall expire, and no election of 
a trustee shall be had in the district until the offices of such 
trustee or trustees shall become vacant by the expiration of their 
terms of office or otherwise, and thereafter but one trustee shall 
be elected for said district, until the electors of a district having 
one trustee shall determine, at an annual meeting, by a two-thirds 
vote of the legal voters present thereat, to have three trustees; 
in which case they shall, upon the adoption of such resolution, 
proceed to elect three trustees in the same manner as provided in 
this section for the election of three trustees at the first annual 
meeting after the erection of a district ; and thereafter in such 
district, one trustee shall be elected for three years, at each an- 
nual meeting, to fill the office of the outgoing trustee. 

Chapter 248, Laws of 1878. 

This chapter provides for the election of trustees and other school officers 
in school districts having more than three hundred children of school age on 
the day following the annual meeting. Certain counties, however, are ex.- 
cepted. {See page , ante.) 

The trustee is the most important officer of a school district. The election 
of trustees gives rise to more controversies and appeals to the Superintendent 
than any other subject. The foregoing sections give to neighborhoods and 
districts the power to elect trustees and prescribe the proceedings therefor. 
Trustees are elected at the annual meeting, unless a vacancy exists when an 
election can be held at a special meeting called for that purpose. 

Time for. — It is recommended that the annual meeting elect trustees after 
the reports of the district officers are made to and acted upon by the meeting. 
It frequently occurs that the trustee whose term of office is about to expire is 
a candidate for re-election. The meeting should certainly know how his 
accounts stand before re-electing him. 

Voting. — The election must be by a majority vote of the legal voters present 
and voting. Any manner of voting by which the will of the majority can be 
determined will answer the requirements of the statute. After a trustee has 
been elected the meeting cannot take any further action in respect to such 
election. It cannot set aside the vote by which the election was effected or 
rescind its own action. Its powers are exhausted. Should the election remain 
for any reason in doubt, or be contested, the proceedings can be taken either 
to the State Superintendent or to the courts. In reference to votes cast for 
disqualified candidates, the law is thus stated in 7 Adolph & Ellis, 437: " The 
result of the decisions appears to be this: Where the majority of electors vote 
for a disqualified person in ignorance of the fact of disqualification, the elec- 
tion may be void, or voidable, or in the latter case may be capable of being 
made good, according to the nature of the disqualification. The objection 

53 



418 Trustees. 

may require ulterior proceedings to be taken before some competent tribunal 
in order to be made available, or it may be such as to place the elected candi- 
date on the same footing as if he had never existed and the votes for him were 
a nullity; but in no case are the electors who vote for him deprived of their 
votes. If the fact becomes known and is declared while the election is still 
incomplete, they may instantly proceed to another nomination and vote for 
another candidate. If it be disclosed afterward, the party elected may be 
ousted, and the election declared void (by a competent tribunal); but the 
candidate in the minority will not be deemed ipso facto elected. But where 
an elector before voting receives due notice that a particular candidate is dis- 
qualified, and yet will do nothing but tender his vote for him, he must be 
taken voluntarily to abstain from exercising his franchise and therefore, how- 
ever strongly he may in fact dissent, and in however strong terms he may dis- 
close his dissent, he must be taken in Jaw to assent to the election of the op- 
posing and qualified candidate, for he will not take the only course by which 
it can be resisted, that is, help to elect some other person. * * * If he 
dissents from the choice of A., who is qualified, he must say so by voting for 
some other, also qualified; he has no right to employ his franchise merely in 
preventing an election, and so defeating the object for which he is empowered 
and bound to attend. * * * Where the disqualification depends upon a 
fact which may be unknown to the elector, he is entitled to notice, for with- 
out that the inference of assent could not fairly be drawn, nor could the con- 
sequences as to the vote be just; but if the disqualification be of a sort 
whereof notice is to be presumed, none need expressly be given. No one can 
doubt that if an elector would nominate and vote only for a woman, his vote 
would be thrown away. The fact would then be notorious and every man 
would be presumed to know the law upon that fact." 

Fixing and changing the number of trustees. — A.t the first annual meeting 
held in a district, the electors are to determine whether the district shall have 
three trustees or one. A common school district cannot have more than three 
trustees. If the decision is to have three, the voters must designate the 
length of term of each person voted for. The simplest and best way is to 
elect for each term separately. Elect a person to fill the three years' term, 
then the two and lastly the one year term. When there are three trustees 
they are known as joint trustees. The term of a joint trustee, excepting 
when first elected, is three years. 

This section provides that a district may change the number of trustees. 

From one to three. — A district having but one trustee may at an annual 
meeting hy a two-tJiirds vote, determine to change from one to three trustees. 
A resolution to this efEect must first be acted upon. If adopted by the two- 
thirds vote the change can be made, but it must be at the expiration of the 
term of office of the sole trustee. The election of the three trustees upon 
such change must be the same as the election of three trustees at the first 
annual meeting in a newly formed district. There have been instances where 
a district formerly had three trustees, changed to one, and afterward decided 
to go back to three again. This can be done, but not until the expiration of 
the term of the last of the three trustees. 

From three to one. — At any annual meeting the electors can decide by a 
majority vote to have a sole trustee. After such decision is made, no trustee 
can be elected in the district until the expiration of the term of the last of the 
three trustees, when one must be elected whose term of office is one year. 
The trustees in office, when the change is decided upon, are to serve out their 
several terms. 

QUALIFICATIONS. 

§ 23. No school commissioner or supervisor is eligible to the 
office of trustee, nor can either be a member of any board of edu- 



Tkustees. ^^^ 

cation within his district or town ; and no trustee can hold the 
office of district clerk, collector or librarian. 

§ 24. Every district and neighborhood officer must be a resi- 
dent of his district and neighborhood, and qualified to vote at its 
meetings. 

Chapter 9, Laws of 1880. 
§ 1. 'No person shall be deemed to be ineligible to serve as any 
school officer, or to vote at any school meeting, by reason of sex, 
who has the other qualifications now required by law. 

The law lays down the legal qualifications for a trustee. But there are 
qualifications beyond these which the law does not reach. The voters of the 
district must be the judges of the proper person or persons in whose hands 
to intrust the educational interests of the district. The power to elect 
good trustees lies with them. 

Every trustee must be a voter at school meetings in the district where he is 
elected. 

The trustee cannot hold any other school oflBce. If elected to two such 
ofl&ces his acceptance of one would be a refusal of the other. Or if holding 
one oflBce and elected to another, which he accepts, he would thereby resign 
the first office. He cannot hold the office of commissioner or supervisor. 
These different offices have powers and duties in relation to the school system 
of the State incompatible with each other. 

TERM. 

§ 25. From one annual meeting to the next is a year, within 
the meaning of the following provisions : The term of office of a 
trustee of a neighborhood, and a sole trustee of a district, is one 
year. The full term of a joint trustee is three years, but a joint 
trustee may be elected for one or for two years, as herein provided. 
The term of office of all other district and neighborhood officers 
is one year. Every district and neighborhood officer shall hold 
his office, unless removed, during his term of office and until his 
successor shall be elected or appointed. 

§ 26. The terms of all officers elected at the first meeting of a 
newly erected neighborhood or district, except of a union free 
school district, shall expire on the last Tuesday of August next 
thereafter. {As amended hy sec, 4, chajp. 413, Laws of 1883.) 

The term of office of a sole trustee is one year, or from one annual meeting 
to the next. The term of a joint trustee is three years. 

While the term of office of a trustee expires at the annual meeting, so that 
a successor can be elected, if such successor is not elected, the old trustee holds 
over. If the annual meeting is held and no election of trustee is attempted. 



420 Trustees. 

the holding over of the trustee is equal to an election for a new term, for the 
reason that there is no vacancy which can be filled by election or appointment 
until the next annual meeting, unless the trustee so holding over resigns or 
otherwise vacates his office. 

APPOINTMENT TO FILL VACANCY. 

§ 30. In case the office of a trustee shall be vacated by his 
death, refusal to serve, incapacity, removal from the district or 
neighborhood, or by his being removed from the office, or in any 
other manner, and the vacancy be not supplied by a district or 
ueighborhood meeting within one month thereafter, the supervi- 
sor of the town within which the school-house or principal school- 
house, of the district is, or within which the neighborhood or any 
part thereof is, may, by a writing under his hand, appoint a com- 
petent person to fill it. 

§ 33. Every appointment to fill a vacancy shall be forthwith 
filed by the supervisor or trustees making it in the office of the 
district clerk, who shall immediately give notice of the appoint- 
ment to the person appointed. 

When a vacancy occurs in the office of trustee a special meeting can fill 
Fuch vacancy at any time. But if a district meeting fails to elect for one 
month after the vacancy occurred, the supervisor of the town in which the 
school-house of the district is located may appoint a duly qualified person to 
fill such vacancy. The month is a calendar month. If the vacancy occurs 
on the 10th day of May, the supervisor cannot appoint until after the 10th 
day of June following. The appointment is for the unexpired term. 

FORM OF APPOINTMENT. 

Wfeereas, on the day of , 18 , John Doe, the trustee of school 

district No. , town of New Scotland, county of Albany, did resign his 

office as trustee of such district (state how the vacancy arose as the case may 
be), thereby causing a vacancy in said office; and said vacancy not having been 
supplied by a district meeting, and more than one month having expired 

since the creation of such vacancy, I, . supervisor of the town of New 

Scotland, in which town the principal school-house of the said district is sit- 
uated, do hereby appoint Richard Roe, a resident and legal voter in said dis- 
trict, sole trustee of school district No. , in the town of New Scotland, 
Albany county, N. Y., to fill the vacancy caused as aforesaid. 
Dated this day of ) 
.18 . f 

Supervisor of the town of New Scotland, 

Albany county, N. Y. 

Copies of this appointment should be served upon the person appointed and 
filed with the clerks of the district and the town. 

ACCEPTANCE — REFUSAL — PENALTY FOR REFUSAL. 
§ 28. It shall be the duty of the district clerk, and of the 



Trustees. "^-^^ 

neighborhood clerk, or of any person who shall act as clerk at 
any district or neighborhood meeting, when any officer shall be 
elected, forthwith to give the person elected notice thereof in 
writing ; and such person shall be deemed to have accepted the 
office, unless within five days after the service of such notice, he 
shall file his written refusal of it with the clerk. The presence 
of any such person at the meeting which elects him to office 
shall be deemed a sufficient notice to him of his election. {As 
amended hy sec. 11, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

§ 31. A trustee who publicly declares that he will not accept 
or serve in the office of trustee, or who refuses or neglects to at- 
tend three successive meetings of the board, of which he is duly 
notified, without rendering a good and valid excuse therefor to 
the other trustees, or trustee, where there are but two, vacates his 
office by refusal to serve. 

§ 34. Every person chosen or appointed to a school district 
office, who, being duly qualified to fill the same, shall refuse to 
serve therein, shall forfeit five dollars ; and every person so 
chosen or appointed, who, not having refused to accept the office, 
shall willfully neglect or refuse to perform any duty thereof, shall 
by such neglect or refusal vacate his office and shall forfeit the 
sum of ten dollars. These penalties are for the benefit of the 
common schools of the town. 

§ 35. But the supervisor of the town wherein any such person 
resides, may accept his written resignation of the office, and the 
filing of such resignation and acceptance in the office of the dis- 
trict clerk shall be a bar to the recovery of either penalty in the 
last preceding section mentioned ; or such resignation may be 
made to and accepted by a district meeting. 

The frequent uncertainty about a newly elected trustee's willingness to serve 
makes it necessary that he shall either accept or refuse in a manner that will 
acquaint the electors of the district with his intention. Notice must be given 
him, by the clerk, of his election forthwith, or within twenty-four hours, pro- 
vided he was not present at the meeting at which he was elected. If he is 
present and does not refuse to serve, he is deemed to have accepted. 

Vacates the office. — A trustee who refuses to serve or who refuses or neglects 
to attend three successive meetings of the board of trustees of which he was 
duly notified, vacates his office, unless he renders some good and valid excuse 
therefor. This neglect to attend the meetings must be a willful neglect. A 
failure on account of sickness or temporary absence from home will not work 
a forfeiture of the office. 



4:22 Trustees. 

Penalty for refusing to serve. — Any duly qualified person elected or ap- 
pointed trustee who refuses to accept the office, forfeits five dollars. 

Any duly qualified person elected or appointed, who, not having refused to 
accept, neglects or refuses to perform the duties thereof, forfeits the sum of 
ten dollars. 

To save these penalties a resignation can be accepted by the supervisor or a 
district meeting. {See Mnes and Penalties.) 

REMOVAL OF. 
Title I. 
§ 18. Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any 
school commissioner, or other school officer, has been guilty of 
any willful violation or neglect of duty under this act, or any 
other act pertaining to common schools, or of willfully disobeying 
any decision, order or regulation of the Superintendent, the 
Superintendent may, by an order under his hand and seal, which 
order shall be recorded in his office, remove such school com- 
missioner or other school officer from his office. 

This section refers to the Superintendent of Public Instruction {See chap- 
ter on Superintendent of Public Instruction.) 

POWERS AND DUTIES GENERALLY. 
Title YII. 
§ 45. All property which is now vested in, or shall hereafter be 
transferred to the trustee or trustees of a district, for the use of 
schools in the district, shall be held by him or them as a corpora- 
tion. 

The original provision of the act of 1819, section 29, chapter 161, from 
which the above is taken, was enacted for the purpose of vesting in the trus- 
tees property which had been dedicated or granted for school objects before its 
passage. The principal incidents of a corporation are to have perpetual suc- 
cession and existence by its corporate name, where no period is limited by its 
charter, and the capacity to hold real and personal estate for its corporate pur- 
poses, as an artificial body, wholly distinct from the individuals who from time 
to time may compose it. 

On this subject see, also, chapter on Trust Funds. 

§ 46. A sole trustee of the district shall have all the powers 
and be subject to all the duties, liabiHties and penalties conferred 
and imposed by law upon or against any trustee or the trustees, or 
the majority of the trustees of a district. 

§ 47. The trustees of a district compose a board, and when two 



Tbustees. 423 

only meet to deliberate upon a matter, and the third, if notified, 
does not attend, or the three meet and dehberate thereon, the 
conclusion of two upon the matter, and their order, act or pro- 
ceeding in relation thereto shall be as valid as though it were the 
conclusion, order, act or proceeding of the three ; and a recital of 
the two in their minute of the cod elusion, act or proceeding, or 
in their order, act or proceeding of the fact of such notice, or of 
such meeting and deliberation, shall be conclusive evidence thereof. 
A meeting of the board may be ordered by any member thereof, 
by giving not less than twenty-four hours' notice of the same. 

Every power committed to tlie trustees must be exercised by the board. 
This section was incorporated into the law of 1864, to obviate the difficulty 
often experienced of obtaining a meeting of all three trustees when any im- 
portant business was to be done. When they are duly assembled, a majority 
may do any lawful act, make any order, or decide any question properly before 
them. If one of them, after due notice of a meeting, absent himself, the other 
two may act just the same as if he were present. 

But the board must meet. It will not do for one or two to form a determina- 
tion and then procure the assent of the absent. The decision of a majority, 
or of all three, under such circumstances, is not the decision of the trustees, 
any more than the concurrent opinion of all the naembers of the legislature 
arrived at by taking their separate votes at their respective places of residence 
is an act of the legislature. In the assessment of a tax, and in general in 
regard to every other duty judicial in its character, this rule is inflexible. 

In other cases a majority may decide, provided all have been notified of the 
intention to meet and confer upon the subject at a definite time and place. 
This rule was applied in 16 Maine B, 185, and the dismissal of a teacher by 
two, a majority of the board, held illegal, because the third was not notified, 
although he was out of town. The court say: " That does not allow the 
majority to dispense with the rule requiring notice. They are not in such 
cases constituted the judges whether the notice would be effectual to secure 
his attendance. Nor would it be entirely safe to intrust them with such a 
power, as it would afford an opportunity to select an occasion when they might 
judge that a notice would be ineffectual, and thus, by neglecting to give it, 
free themselves from the presence of a dissenting minority. It may often 
happen that those will be able to attend who were believed to be so situated 
that their attendance could not be expected. Nor is there any difficulty in 
giving the requisite notice in such cases, as one left at the usual place of resi- 
dence would be sufficient." 

The law goes upon the supposition that a majority may be convinced by a 
minority and change its determinations, and therefore will not suffer the ma- 
jority to act without giving the minority a notice to participate. The legal 
presumption is that officers have thus acted, but this presumption may be re- 
pelled by evidence to the contrary. 

The case last cited admits that a merely ministerial duty, the execution of a 
determination of the board, may be performed by a single trustee. 

The section also provides that an absent trustee can be cut off from raising 
any question about his notice to attend the meeting as "a recital of the two 
in their minute of the conclusion, act or proceeding, or in their order, act or 
proceeding, of the fact of such notice, of such meeting and deliberation, shall 
be conclusive evidence thereof." It is a custom in some places for the board 
to meet regularly once in two weeks or once a month. W hen this is the case, 



424 Trustees. 

and the place and time fixed by resolution or by-law of the board, no further 
notice will be necessary of such meeting in order to make it regular. The 
trustees all know that there is to be a meeting at such time and cannot be 
misled by not receiving a notice. 

A meeting of the board can be held any time the trustees all consent. But 
in order to secure a meeting against the opposition of one or more, a notice of 
not less than twenty-four hours is necessary. Trustees cannot continually 
block the proceedings of a board or prevent action in any matter, as it is pro- 
vided in section 31 of this title that for a refusal to attend three successive 
meetings without rendering a good and valid excuse, a trustee vacates his office; 
and for the further reason that the State Superintend'^nt may remove a trustee 
for a refusal or neglect to perform the duties of his office. 

§ 48. While there is one vacancy in the office of trustee, the 
two trustees have all the powers and are subject to all the duties 
and liabilities of the three. And while there are two such vacan- 
cies, the trustee in office shall have all the powers and be subject 
to all the duties and liabihties of the three, as though he were a 
sole trustee. 

In case of a vacancy in the office of trustee, those in office, whether two or 
one, possess all the powers of a full board; the very first act, however, ought 
to be the call of a meeting to fill the vacancy. 

The next section (49) places certain duties upon trustees and gives them cer- 
tain powers. The majority of the subdivisions are printed and commented 
upon in the chapters in which they respectively belong. A reference is made 
to such chapters. 

§ 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- 
trict, and they shall have power : 

1. To call special meetings. {See Meetings.) 

2. To give notice of meetings. {See Meetings.) 

3. To make out a tax-list of every district tax voted by any 
such meeting, or authorized by law, containing the names of all 
the taxable inhabitants residing in the district at the time of 
making out the list, and the amount .of tax payable by each in- 
habitant, set opposite to his name. {See further^ on same subject^ 
Taxes.) 

4. To annex to such tax-list a warrant, directed to the collector 
of the district, for the collection of the sums in such list men- 
tioned. {See^ also, Taxes.) 

5. To purchase or lease a site for the district school-house or 
school-houses, as designated by a meeting of the district, and to 
build, hire or purchase such school-house as may be so designated, 



Trustees. 425 

and to keep in repair and furnish such school-house with necessar}'' 
fuel and appendages, and to pay the expense thereof by tax, but 
such expenses shall not exceed fifty dollars in any one year, unless 
authorized by the district or by law. {As amended hy sec. IS, 
chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 

6. To have custody of school-house, (See School- Houses.) 

7. To insure school-houses. (See School-Houses.) 

8. To insure the district libraries. {See Libraries.) 

9. To contract with teachers. {See Teachers.) 

10. To pay teachers' wages. {See Teachers.) 

11. To divide the public money for the payment of wages, and to raise the 
balance necessary. {See Teachers.) 

12. To use library money for teachers' wages. {See Teachers.) 

13. To draw upon the supervisor for public money. {See State School 
Moneys.) 

14. Payment of teachers' wages. {See Teachers.) 

§ 50. The trustees may expend in necessary and proper repairs 
of each school-house under their charge a sum not exceeding 
twenty dollars in any one year ; and they may also expend a 
sum, not exceeding fifty dollars, in the erection of necessary out- 
buildings, when the district is wholly unprovided with such 
buildings, upon the direction of the school commissioner in 
whose district such school-house is situated, or of the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. They may also make any 
repairs, and abate any nuisances, pursuant to the direction of the 
school commissioner as hereinbefore provided, and provide fuel, 
pails, brooms and other implements necessary to keep the school- 
house or houses clean and make them reasonably comfortable for 
use, and not provided for by a vote of the district ; and may also 
provide for building fires and cleaning the school-room by 
arrangement with the teacher or otherwise. They shall provide 
the bound blank-books for the entering of their accounts and the 
keeping of the school lists, the records of the district, and the 
proceedings of district and trustee meetings, and they may 
expend in the purchase of dictionary, maps, globes or other 
school apparatus, a sum not exceeding fifteen dollars in any one 
yea,r. Whenever it shall be necessary for the due accommodation 
of the children of the district, they may hire temporarily any 
room or rooms for the keeping of schools therein. Any expendi- 
ture made or liability incurred in pursuance of this section shall 
54 



426 Trustees. 

be a charge upon the district. {As amended hy see. 14, chap. 406, 
Laws of 1867, and by sec. 19, chap. 567, Laws of 1875 ; hy sec. 
1, chap, 179, Laws of 1884, and sec. 1, cA«^. 292, Laws of 
1886.) 

This section enumerates expenditures a trustee can make in any one year 
upon liis own motion and without the authority or direction of a district meet- 
ing, as follows : 

1. For repairs upon school-house, $20. 

2. For outbuildings, upon direction of the commissioner or Superintendent, 
$50. 

3. A sum necessary for fuel, pails, brooms and other implements to keep 
the school-house clean and reasonably comfortable for use. This sum, how- 
ever, must not exceed $50, as in subdivision 5 of section 49 of this title, that 
limitation is placed upon an expenditure for this purpose. 

4. A sum necessary to pay some person, teacher or janitor, for building fires 
and cleaning the school-room. 

5. For blank-books necessary for keeping the district accounts and records. 

6. For dictionaries, maps, globes or other school apparatus, $15. 

7. A sum necessary to pay the rent of rooms for the keeping of the school 
of the district. 

These expenditures can be made in addition to any sums the district meeting 

may vote for the same purposes. 

The better course for the trustees and the district is to have an estimate 
carefully made, in items, of the expenditures for the year, and presented at the 
annual meeting. Let it be canvassed at the meeting, and a tax voted suffi- 
cient to cover the expense. 

The most important sentence in this section is the one which authorizes 
the hiring of rooms, temporarily, for the keeping of school. The trustees 
can offer no excuse for not having a school for twenty-eight weeks, on the 
ground that the school-house is not in good repair. If such is the fact, 
then the trustees, under this section, have power to hire a room or rooms. 
If the school-house will not comfortably accommodate all the children of a 
district, a room may be hired and another school organized. 

§ 51. When trustees are required or authorized by law, or by 
a vote of their district, to incur any expense for such district, and 
when any expenses incurred by them are made, by express pro- 
vision of law, a charge upon such district, they may raise the 
amount thereof by tax in the same- manner as if the definite 
sum to be raised had been voted by a district meeting. 

The preceding section (50) makes certain expenditures of the trustees a charge 
upon the district, and this section (51) gives them the power to raise such sum 
or sums by tax. The principal object of the section, however, is to authorize 
the levying of a tax when a fixed amount had not first been named by a dis- 
trict meeting or by law. 

A tax list, for any expense incurred under this section, may be separate, or 
the amount may be included in any other tax-list necessary to be made out at 
the time when the amount of such expenses shall have been ascertained. It 
is, however, the duty of the trustees, when practicable, to ascertain the defin- 



Tkustees. 427 

ite amount, and to mak© out the tax-list therefor within thirty days after the 
meeting at which the expenditure may have been authorized. When any tax 
under this section is included in the same tax-list with others, the heading 
should distinctly specify the amount, the object and the authority; as by say- 
ing, for example: "Also, $12 for the expense of temporarily hiring rooms 
for the keeping of schools therein, necessary for the accommodation of the 
children in said district, from the first day of May to the first day of August, 
1887; also, $8.93 for the expenses incurred in grading and draining the site of 
the school- house, under the resolution of a district meeting held April 12, 
1887." 

This provision first came into force as section 14, chapter 260 of 1841. The 
supreme court, commenting upon it, in 4 Denio, 298, says: "It is said that 
the statute ought to be so construed as to confine its operations to small inci- 
dental expenses incurred by the trustees. But the language is general, and 
there is nothing which, upon any just principle of interpretation, will war- 
rant us in restricting the provisions to any particular class of expenses." That 
case was one in which the district had voted to build a school-house, and the 
materials and dimensions specified were such as to have the effect of bringing 
the cost within $400, and it was held that ' ' if the district had left the whole 
within the discretion of the trustees, and they had kept within the $400, the 
act of 1841 would have authorized them to levy the tax." 

This section has not the effect of permitting the trustees to levy a tax under 
the vote of a district for expenses incurred for any purpose for which the 
law has not conferred the power upon the inhabitants of voting a definite tax. 
If the inhabitants cannot lay the tax directly, they cannot effect the same 
object by directing the trustees to expend money or to do acts involving the 
expenditure of money. 

§ 53. They shall procure two bound blank books for the district, 
and when necessary, others in their place. In one of them, at or be- 
fore each annual district meeting, they shall enter at large, and sign 
a statement of all movable property belonging to the district, and 
their accounts of all moneys received or drawn for or paid by them, 
and they shall deliver this book to their successors. -Js- * -s^ . 

The account to be entered by the trustees should specify every sum of money 
received by them, or any one of them, in his official capacity, and of all orders 
on the supervisor, or on the collector, giving the date and amount of each. On 
the opposite page they should credit themselves with every expenditure and 
payment, specifying particularly when, and to whom paid, and for what pur- 
pose, and referring to a proper voucher, which should be filed and delivered 
to their successors. 

On another page they should make an accurate inventory of all the movable 
property belonging to the district, such as the library of the district, stating the 
number of volumes and their condition, and giving a catalogue of the books, 
and the furniture, appendages and apparatus of the school room, specifying 
each article. The whole to be followed by a certificate in the following form: 

We, the subscribers, trustees of District No. , in the town of Trenton, 
do hereby certify that the preceding, from page to page , inclusive, 

contains a true and accurate account of all the moneys received by us for the 
use of said district, and of the expenditures thereof, and a correct statement 
and inventory of all the movable property belonging to said district. 

Dated this day of , 18 

A. B., ) 

C. D., J- Trustees. 

E. F., ) 



428 Trustees. 

§ 56. An outgoing trustee shall forthwith pay, to his successor 
or any other trustee of the district in office, any such unexpended 
balance, or part of such balance, remaining in his hands. 

The public money remains in the hands of the supervisor until paid out upon 
orders drawn by the trustees. The money raised by tax upon the district is 
held by the collector, who can pay no part of it to the trustees. It is disbursed 
upon orders drawn by the trustees in payment of legal expenses. The balance 
spoken of in this section is narrowed down to trust funds, tuition moneys paid 
by non-resident pupils and funds received from the sale of district property. 
This balance is reported under section 55 to the annual meeting. {See Reports.) 

§ 59. The trustees in office shall sue for and recover any district 
moneys in the hands of any former trustee, or of his personal 
representatives, and apply them to the use of the district. 

FINES AND PENALTIES. 

In addition to those heretofore mentioned in this chapter, the law prescribes 
fines and penalties against trustees for neglect of duty. {See chapter on Fines 
and Penalties.) 

CROSS REFERENCES. 

Title II, § 13, subd. 1. To allow expense for amending boundaries by com- 
missioner. {See School Districts.) 

Title II, § 13, subd. 4. Duties of, when school-house has been condemned. 
{See School- Houses.) 

Title III. Defines duties relating to trust funds. {See Trust Funds.) 

Title VI. Defines duties and powers of trustees in the matter of formation, 
alteration and dissolution of school districts. {See School Districts.) 

Title VII, §§ 6, 8. To call special meetings. {See Meetings.) 

Title VII, § 10. To call special meeting when annual meeting was not held. 
{See Meetings.) 

Title VII, § 16, subd. 17. To levy tax when meeting neglected or refused to 
pay judgment for unpaid wages of teachers. {See Teachers.) 

Title VII, second article. Powers and duties relating to school-houses and 
sites. {See School- Houses and School- House Sites) 

Title VII, § 54. To notify the county treasurer and superintendent of the 
non-payment of public moneys by the supervisor. {See State School Moneys.) 

Title VII, Commencing with section 65 and all separate acts relating to the 
powers and duties of trustees respecting the assessment and collection of taxes. 
{See Taxes.) 

Title VIII. Duties respecting libraries. {See Libraries.) 

Title XI. Powers and duties concerning teachers' institutes. {See Teachers' 
Institutes.) 

Title XIII, § 4. Duty of trustees to enter complaint against persons disturb- 
ing district school or school meeting. {See Fines and Penalties.) 

Chapter 438, Laws, 1860. Duties of respecting the vaccination of pupils. 
{See page 87.) 

Chapter 421, Laws, 1874. Duties of respecting the "compulsory education 
act." {Seepage 91.) 

Chapter 219, Laws, 1877. Power to contract with board of education in 
adjoining city or village to educate the children of the district. {Seepage 
99.) 

Chapter 413, Laws, 1877. Respecting text-books. {See page 100.) 



Trustees. 429 

Title VII, § 53. Can permit tlie use of school-house for certain purposes. 
(See School- Bouses.) 

Title VII, § 55. To make report to annual meeting. {See Reports.) 

Title VII, i^§ 57, 58. Trustees liable to penalty for refusal or neglect to 
make reports, or to pay over balance of funds. {See Reports and Fines and 
Penalties.) 

Title VII, § 58. By willful neglect or refusal to render his annual account 
to the annual district meeting he forfeits his office and becomes liable for any 
district moneys in his hands. {See Reports.) 

Title VII, §§ 60, 61, 62, 64. Trustees are required to make certain reports. 
Penalty for false report. {See Reports.) 

Title VII, § 16, subd. 17. To call a special meeting of the inhabitants of the 
district to vote a tax to pay judgment rendered for teachers' wages. {See 
Teachers) 

Title VII, § 33. Trustees can appoint clerk, collector or librarian to fill 
vacancy. 

Title VII, § 39. Can permit non-resident pupils to attend the district school. 
{See Schools.) 

Title XIII, §§ 7-11. Costs and expenses in actions and proceedings brought 
by and against trustees. {See Appeals.) 

DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Lialility to he sued. — Trustees of school districts may be sued upon a con- 
tract made by their predecessors in office, which they were authorized by law 
to make. {Williams v. Kirch, 4 Hill, 168, 1843.) 

Contracts for teacher's wages made by the trustees of a school district are 
obligatory upon their successors in office. {Silver v. Cummins, 7 Wend. 181, 
1831.) 

Neglect to account. — Under 1 Revised Statutes, 486, section 100, imposing a 
penalty of $25 on every trustee who shall refuse or neglect to render an ac- 
count, or to pay over any balance found in his hands, the penalty is a severe 
penalty imposed on each defaulting trustee, and not a penalty against them 
jointly. {Supreme Court, 1845, Marsh v. Shute, 1 Denio, 330.) 

Power of trustees to remove encroachment. — A trustee of the district has the 
right to remove a fence wrongfully built upon the school lot. {Supreme 
Court, 1847, Thayer v. Wright, 4 Denio, 180.) 

Power of trustees to contract. — The trustees of a school district are a quasi 
corporation, possessing power in certain cases, and for certain purposes, to bind 
their district and create a corporate liability, which will attach to their succes- 
sors in their official capacity. They, therefore, have the power to liquidate 
the indebtedness of the district, e. g., to a teacher, for wages earned by him as 
such, in the employment of the district, and, by giving a note therefor signed 
by them as trustees, to bind the district. When a note thus made expresses 
on its face that it is given on account of the wages of the payee, as teacher in 
the school district of which the makers are trustees, the payee, by accepting 
the note, admits this to be the true consideration, and, therefore, cannot hold 
the makers personally liable upon the note. {Supreme Court, 1856, Horton v. 
Garrison, 33 Barh. 176.) 

Corporate poioers. — The trustees of a school district are a corporation for 
certain purposes, and may receive the note of a third person for money due to 
them in their corporate capacity; and till the note is impeached, or some de- 
fense made against it, they are under no obligation to show how they came by 
it. {Supreme Court, 1834, Brewster v. Colwell, 13 Wend. 38.) 

Must act as a hoard. — Two trustees of a school district cannot act as such in 
tbe performance of their duties, except upon a meeting of all three, whether 
the third one refuses to act or not. (4 Denio, 135; Supreme Court, &h district, 
1857, Whitford v, Scott, 14 How. Pr. 302; compare Horton v. Garrison, 23 
Barh. 136.) 

Trustees of common schools sued by a teacher for services rendered by em- 



430 Trustees. 

ployment by one of them only, but with the knowledge and permission of the 
others, cannot defeat the recovery on the ground that the contract was invalid 
for not being made at a meeting of the three. {Angell and Ames on Corp. 216; 
Supreme Court, 1853, Fister v. La Rue, 15 Barh. 323; and compare Finch v. 
Cleveland, 10 id. 290.) 

Where there is no school-house in the district and the trustee furnishes a 
room in a building owned by him, he may properly be allowed to recover the 
cost of slight alterations made to render the room suited to the purposes to 
which it is to be applied. (35 Eun, 111.) 



TRUST FUNDS. 



GOSPEL AND SCHOOL LOTS. 

Title III. 

§ 15. Real and personal estate may be granted, conveyed, de- 
vised, bequeathed and given in trust and in perpetuity or otherwise 
to the State, or to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for 
the support or benefit of the common schools within the State, 
or within any part or portion of it, or of any particular common 
school or schools within it ; and to any county, or the school com- 
missioner or commissioners of any county, or to any city or any 
board or officers thereof, or to any school commissioner district or 
its commissioner, or to any town or supervisor of a town, or to 
any school district or its trustee or trustees, for the support and 
benefit of common schools within such county, city, school com- 
missioner district, town or school district, or within any part or 
portion thereof respectively, or for the support and benefit of any 
particular common school or schools therein. 

§ 16. ]N"o such grant, conveyance, devise or bequest shall be 
held void for the want of a named or competent trustee or donee, 
but where no trustee or donee or an incompetent one is named, 
the title and trust shall vest in the people of the State, subject to 
its acceptance by the Legislature; but such acceptance shall be 
presumed. 

§ 17. The Legislature may control and regulate the execution 
of all such trusts ; and the Superintendent of Pubhc Instruction 
shall supervise and advise the trustees, and hold them to a regu- 
lar accounting for the trust property and its income and interest, 
at such times, in such forms and with such authentications as 
he shall from time to time prescribe. 



432 Trust Funds, 

§ 18. The common council of every city, the board of supervi- 
sors of every county, the trustees of every village, the supervisor 
of every town, the trustee or trustees of every school district, and 
every other officer or person who shall be thereto required by the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, shall, on or before the 
thirtieth day of September next, report to him whether any, and 
if any, what, trusts are held by them respectively, or by any other 
body, officer or person, to their information or belief, for school 
purposes, and shall transmit therewith an authenticated copy of 
every will, conveyance, instrument or paper embodying or creat- 
ing the trust; and shall, in like manner, forthwith report to him 
the creation and terms of every such trust subsequently created. 

§ 19. Every supervisor of a town shall, by the thirtieth day of 
September next, report to the Superintendent whether there be, 
within the town, any gospel or school lot, and if any, shall describe 
the same, and state to what use, if any, it is put by the town ; and 
v^hether it be leased, and if so, to whom, for what term and upon 
what rents ; and whether the town holds or is entitled to any land, 
moneys or securities arising from any sale of such gospel or school 
lot, and the investment of the proceeds thereof, or of the rents 
or Jncome of such lots and investments, and shall report a full 
statement and account of such lands, moneys and securities. 

§ 20. Every supervisor of a town shall, in like manner, by the 
thirtieth day of September next, report to the Superintendent 
w^hether the town has a common school fund originated under the 
" act relative to moneys in the hands of overseers of the poor," 
passed April 27, 1829, and, if it have, the full particulars thereof, 
and of its investment, income and application, in such form as the 
Superintendent may prescribe. 

§ 21. In respect to the property andfunds in the two last sec- 
tions mentioned, the Superintendent shall, at the next session of the 
Legislature, and annually thereafter, include in his annual report 
a statement and account thereof. And to these ends, he is au- 
thorized, at any time and from time to time, to require from the 
supervisor, board of town auditors, or any officer of a town, a 
report as to any fact, or any information or account he may deem 
necessary or desirable. 



Trust ^unds. 433 

Title IY. 
§ 1. The several supervisors continue vested with the powers 
and charged with the duties formerly vested in and charged 
upon the trustees of the gospel and school lots, and transferred to 
and imposed upon town superintendents of common schools by 
chapter one hundred and eighty-six, of the Laws of one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-six. 

Town School Funds. 

The act passed in 1789 for the sale of lands belonging to the people of this 
State required the Surveyor-General to reserve in each township one lot for 
the support of the gospel, and one lot for the use of schools in such township. 

The following is a list of the principal reservations of this nature, viz.: 

One lot, of 550 acres, in each of the twenty-eight townships in the military 
tract. 

Forty lots, of 250 acres each, in each of the twenty townships west of the 
TJnadilla river, being ten thousand acres. 

One lot, of 640 acres, in each of the townships of Fayette, Clinton, Green, 
"Warren, Chenango, Sidney and Hampden, then in the counties of Broome and 
Chenango. 

Ten lots, of 640 acres each, in the townships along the St. Lawrence. 

In the township of Plattsburgh 400 acres were reserved for the use of a 
minister of the gospel, and 460 acres for the use of a public school or schools 
in the said township. 

In the township of Benson 640 acres were reserved for gospel and schools. 

By an act passed in 1798, in relation to gospel and school lots, it is provided 
"that the moneys arising from the leasing of the said lots of land as aforesaid, 
and from the trespasses aforesaid, shall be applied to the use of schools or sup- 
port of the gospel in the original townships, as surveyed, in which such lots 
shall be respectively situated, and for no other purpose; which said applica- 
tion shall be made either for schools or gospel, or both, and in such way and 
manner as the freeholders and inhabitants of the town, in which the same 
lands shall lie, shall in legal town meeting from time to time direct, order and 
appoint." 

By an act passed in 1808, the act of 1798 was extended to all the townships 
where lots of land are reserved for the support of gospel and schools, and the 
following provision was added: 

§ 1. Be it enacted, etc.. That the moneys arising from the annual rents and profits 
of the gospel lots in each township shall be equally divided, by the supervisor and 
commissioners appointed in each township, between the several religious societies 
legally organized in such township, and that the money arising from the annual rents 
and profits of the several school lots shall be distributed among the schools kept in 
each respective township by teachers to be approved of by the supervisor and com- 
missioners constituted by the act to which this is an amendment, or a majority of 
them in said township, in proportion to the aggregate number of days which the 
scholars in each respective school shall have respectively attended such schools in 
the year immediately precedin'g such division. 

The fourth section of an act concerning the gospel and school lots, passed in 
1813, is as follows: 

^''And be it further enacted. That the rents, issues and profits of the aforesaid lands, 
and the annual interest of the moneys arising from the sale thereof, shall be applied 
by the said trustees [supervisor] for the time being, to the support of the gospel and 
schools in the several towns, in such manner as the freeholders and inhabitants of 
the towns, respectively, at their annual town meeting, shall order and direct, or as 
the legislature shall prescribe by law." (Sessio)i Laws of 1813, p. 157.) 

55 



434 Ikust Fu2jds. 

In 1819, au act was passed in relation to the gospel and school lots, whicb. 
contains the following section: 

§2. And be it further enacted. That all moneys now due or hereafter to become 
due, and Avhich shall have come into the hands of the aforesaid commissioners of 
public lots, and have not been applied and paid over to religious societies, shall be 
apportioned amonj; the several school districts in the several towns of the afore- 
mentioned counties [Onondatra, Cayuga and Seneca], any thing in the acts heretofore 
passed to the contrary notwithstanding. 

By section 1 of chapter 186, Laws of 1846, "the office of trustees of the 
gospel and school lots in the several towns in this State is hereby abolished ; 
and the powers and duties now by law conferred and imposed upon said 
trustees shall hereafter be exercised by the town superintendent of com- 
mon schools." Subsequently the powers and duties aforesaid were transferred 
to the supervisors, where they still remain. Hence, the substitution in brackets 
of the word [supervisor] where the custodian of these propei-ties is referred 
to herein. 

By the provisions of chapter 15, title 4, of part 1 of the Revised Statutes, 
the trustees of the several gospel and school lots [supervisor] were authorized 
and required : 

"1. To take and hold possession of the gospel and school lot of their town : 

" 2. To lease the same for such time, not exceeding twenty-one years, and upon such 
conditions, as they shall deem expedient ; 

"3. To sell the same, with the advice and consent of the inhabitants of the town in 
town meeting assembled, for such prices and upon such terms of credit as shall appear 
to them most advantageous ; 

"4. To invest the proceeds of such sales in loans secured by bond and mortgage 
upon unincumbered real property of the value of double the amount loaned ; 

"5. To purchase property so mortgaged upon a foreclosure, and to hold and convey 
the property so purchased, whenever it shall become necessary ; 

"6. To release the amount of such loans repaid to them upon the like security ; 

" 7. To apply the rents and profits of such lots, and the interest of the money arising 
from the sale thereof, to the support of the gospel and schools, or either, as may be 
provided by law, in such manner as shall be thus provided ; 

"8. To render a just and true account of the proceeds of the sales, and the interest 
on the loans thereof, and of the rents and profits of such gospel and school lots, and 
of the expenditure and appropriation thereof on the last Tuesday next preceding the 
annual town meeting in each 5^ear, to the board of auditors of the accounts of other 
town officers ; 

"9. To deliver over to their successors in office all books, papers and securities relat- 
ing to the same, at the expiration of their respective offices ; and 

" 10. To take therefor a receipt, which shall be filed in the clerk's office of the town. 

"§4. The board of auditors in each town shall annually report the state of the 
accounts of the trustees of the gospel and school lots [supervisor] in that town to the 
inhabitants thereof, at their annual town meeting. 

" § 5. Whenever a town , having lands assigned to it for the support of the gospel or 
of schools, shall be divided into two or more towns, or shall be altered in its limits 
by the annexing of a part of its territory to another town or towns, such lands shall be 
sold by the trustees [supervisor] of the town in which such lands were included 
immediately before sufh division or alteration; and the proceeds thereof shall be 
apportioned between the towns interested therein, in the same manner as the other 
public moneys of towns so divided or altered are apportioned. 

"§6. The shares of such moneys to which the towns shall be respectively entitled 
shah be paid to the trustees of the gospel and school lots [supervisor] of the respective 
towns, and shall thereafter be subject to the provisions of this title 

" § 7. If in either of such towns trustees of gospel and school lots shall not have 
been chosen, or there be none in office, the share of such town shall be paid to the 
supervisor. 

§ 2. The several supervisors continue vested with the powers 
and charged with the duties conferred and imposed upon the com- 
missioners of common schools by the act of eighteen hundred and 
twenty-nine, entitled '' An act relative to moneys in the hands of 
overseers of th.e poor." 



Trust Funds. 435 

The act lierein referred to is given below, the word " supervisor " being 
substituted in place of ' ' commissioners of common schools " wherever the 
latter is used : 

The commissioners of common schools for whom the supervisors are sub- 
stituted by section 2 of this title, were town officers charged with the super- 
vision of schools in their town, and were superseded by town superintendents, 
who, in turn, were superseded by the present, system of assembly district 
commissioners. 

AN ACT 

Relative to moneys in the hands of overseers of the poor. Passed April 27, 1829. 

"§ 1. It shall be lawfal for the inhabitants of any town, in such counties as have 
abolished the distinction between county and town paupers, and in such counties as 
may hereafter abolish such distinction, at any annual or special town meeting, to ap- 
propriate all or any part of the moneys and funds remaining in the hands of the over- 
seers of the poor of such town, after such abolition, to such objects and for such pur- 
poses as shall be determined at such meeting. 

*' § 3. If any such meeting shall appropriate any such money or funds for the bene- 
fit of common schools in their town, the money so appropriated shall be denominated 
'the common school fund of such town, 'and shall be under the care and superin- 
tendence of the [supervisor] of said town. 

"§3. If any such meeting shall appropriate such money or funds for the benefit of 
common schools, after such appropriation shall have been made, and after the [super- 
visors] shall have taken the oath of oflBce, the overseers of the poor of such towns 
shall then pay over and deliver to the said [supervisor] such moneys, bonds, mort- 
gages, notes, and other securities remaining in their hands, as such overseers of the 
poor, as will comport with the appropriation made for the benefit of common schools 
of their town. 

"§4. The said [supervisors] may sue for and collect, in their name of office, the 
money due or to become due on such bonds, mortgages, notes or other securities, 
and also all other securities by them taken under the provisions of this act. 

"§5. The moneys, bonds, mortgages, notes and other securities aforesaid shall con- 
tinue and be a permanent fund, to be denominated the common school fund of the 
town appropriating the same, the annual Interest of which shall be applied to the 
support of common schools in such towns, unless the inhabitants of such town, in 
annual town meeting, shall make a different disposition of the whole of the princitial 
and interest, or any part thereof, for the benefit of the common schools of such town. 

" § 6. The said [supervisors], whenever the whole or any part of the principal of said 
fund shall come to their hands, shall loan the same on bond, secured by a mortgage 
on real estate of double the value of the moneys so loaned, exclusive of buildings or 
other artificial erections thereon. 

" § 7. The said [supervise irs] may purchase in the estate on which the fund shall have 
been secured, upon the foreclosure of any mortgage, and may hold and convey the 
same for the use of said fund. 

"§8. The said [supervisors] shall retain the interest of said common school fund, 
which shall be distributed and applied to the support of common schools of such town, 
in like maimer as the public money for the support of common schools shall be dis- 
tributed by law. 

" § 9. The said [supervisors] shall account annually, in such manner and at such times 
as town officers are required bylaw to account, and shall deliver to their successors 
in office all moneys, books, securities and papers whatsoever relating to said fund, 
and shall take a receipt therefor, and file the same with the town clerk." 

§ 3. A supervisor who shall embezzle or apply to his own 
private use any money or security received by him under any 
provisions of this act, including the two preceding sections of this 
title, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and any fine imposed 
upon a conviction thereof shall be for the benefit of the common 
schools of the town. 

Supervisor to give bonds for toton fund . Chapter 78, Laws of 1866. 

§1. In addition to the bond or bonds that the supervisors of the several towns in 
this State are now by law required to execute, the supervisor of every town in this 



436 Trust Funds. 

state, which has a local school fund belongingr to said town, shall, before entering 
upon the duties of his office, execute a bond, with two or more suflQcient sureties, in 
double the amount of all school moneys, funds or securities belonging to such town, 
and which bylaw is under the control or in the custody of the supervisor of such 
town ; such bond to be in accordance with the requirements of section twenty of chap- 
ter one hundred and seventy-nine, Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six, and sub- 
ject to all the provisions thereof, except as herein specified. 

Section 20, chapter 179, Laws of 1856, has been amended by section 31, title 
III of tlie Consolidated School Act of 1864. It would seem that a separate 
bond for the security of the "moneys, funds and securities " belonging to th*-^ 
towns must be given. 



UNION FREE SCHOOLS. 



Title IX. 



Section 1. Whenever fifteen persons entitled to vote at any 
meeting of the inhabitants of any school district in the state, 
shall sign a call for a meeting, to be held for the purpose of 
determining whether a nnion free school shall be established 
therein, in conformity with the provisions of this title, it shall be 
the duty of the trustees of such district, within ten days after 
snch call shall have been presented to them, to give pnblic notice 
that a meeting of the inhabitants of such district, entitled to vote 
thereat, will be held for such purpose as aforesaid, at the school- 
house, or other more suitable place, in such district, on a day and 
at an hour in such notice to be specified, not more than twenty 
days after the publication of such notice. If the trustees shall 
refuse to give such notice, or shall neglect to give the same for 
twenty days, the superintendent of public instruction may author- 
ize and direct any inhabitant of said district to give the same. 
The qualifications of the inhabitants, entitled to vote at such 
meeting as now by law expressed, shall be sufficiently set forth in 
the notice aforesaid. 

Union free scliool districts were first formed under the act of 1853, the object 
of which was to promote the interests of education through the consolidation 
of districts, and the improvement of the schools by increasing the number of 
pupils and the property liable to contribute to the support thereof. It was 
during that exciting period when the question of free schools was being agi- 
tated throughout the State, and was one important step that led up to the act 
of 1867, making all schools free. The act of 1853 was incorporated into the 
consolidated school act of 1864 as title IX thereof. 

The formation of a union free school district is a statutory proceeding, and 
unless formed by special act of the legislature, it rests entirely with the inhabit- 
ants. 



438 Union Free Schools. 

Form of Call. 

The undersigned, inhabitants of school district No. , in the town of , 
entitled to vote at any meetings of the inhabitants of said riistrict, hereby call 
for a meeting, to be held for the purpose of determining by a vote of such 
district whether a union free school shall be established therein, in conformity 
with the provisions to that end of chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864. 

This first being signed by at least fifteen qualified voters, should be delivered 
to the trustees. 

Form of Notice. 

The undersigned trustees of school district No. , in the town of , in 
compliance with a call of fifteen (or more than fifteen) persons, entitled to vote 
at any meeting of the inhabitants of said district, hereby give notice that a 
meeting of the inhabitants of said district, entitled to vote thereat, will be held 
at (the school-house or other more suitable place) on day of next, at 

o'clock in the noon, for the purpose of determining by a vote of 

such district whether a union free school shall be established therein, in con- 
formity with the provisions to that end of chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864, and 
the amendments thereof. 

The persons entitled to vote at such meeting are those who possess one or 
more of the following four qualifications: 

1st. Every person of full age, who is a resident of the district, entitled to 
hold lands in this State, who either owns or hires real estate in the district 
liable to taxation for school purposes. 

2d. Every resident of the district, who is a citizen of the United States, 21 
years of age, and who is the parent of a child oi school age, provided such child 
shall have attended the district school for a period of at least eight weeks 
within one year preceding. 

3d. Every resident of the district, a citizen of the United States, 21 years of 
age, not being the parent, who shall have permanently residing with him or 
her a child of school age, which shall have attended the district school for a 
period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding. 

4th. Every resident and citizen of full age, who owns any personal property 
assessed on the last preceding assessment roll of the town, exceeding fifty 
dollars in value exclusive of property exempt from execution. 

Dated this day of , 18 . 

(Signed) A. B., ) Trustees of District 

C. D., \No. , in the 

E. F.. ) town of 

The notice is given by posting in at least five conspicuous places in the dis- 
trict, and by serving upon all the inhabitants entitled to vote at the meeting. 
{See Meetings.) 

% 2. Whenever such district shall correspond wholly or in part 
with an incorporated village, in which there shall be published a 
daily or weekly newspaper, the notice aforesaid shall be given by 
posting at least five copies thereof, severally, in various conspicu- 
ous places in said district, at least twenty days prior to such meet- 
ing, and by causing the same to be published once a week for 
three consecutive weeks before such meeting, in all the newspa- 
pers published in said district. In other districts the said notice 



Uniok Free Schools. 439 

shall be given by posting the same as aforesaid, and in addition 
thereto, the trustees of such district shall authorize and require 
any taxable inhabitant of the same, to notify every other inhabit- 
ant (qualified to vote as aforesaid), of such meeting, to be called 
as aforesaid, who shall give such notification in the manner and 
subject to the penalty prescribed in the case of the formation of 
a new school district by title seven of this act. (As amended hy 
sec. 1, chap. 50, Laws <?/*1876.) 

Where the district is composed wholly or in part of an incorporated village 
in which is published a newspaper, the personal service upon each inhabitant 
is not required. 

Besides posting five copies of the notice in so many conspicuous places in 
the district (which may be done by the trustees), they must cause it to be pub- 
lished in all the newspapers published in the district. 

§ 3. The reasonable expense of such notices, and of their pub- 
lication and service, shall be chargeable upon the district, in case 
a union free school is established by the meeting so convened, to 
be levied and collected by the trustees, as in cases of taxes now 
levied for school purposes ; but in the event that such union free 
school shall not be established, then the said expense shall be 
chargeable upon the inhabitants signing tlie call, jointly and sev- 
erally, to be sued for if necesssary in any court having jurisdic- 
tion of the same. 

When the notices are served by a taxable inhabitant under direction of the 
trustees no fees can be charged. The only expense of the service seems to be 
for the publication in a newspaper or newspapers. 

§ 4. Whenever fifteen persons, entitled as aforesaid, from each 
of two or more adjoining districts, shall unite in a call for a meet- 
ing of the inhabitants of such districts, to determine whether 
such districts shall be consolidated by the establishment of a union 
free school therefor and therein, it shall be the duty of the trus- 
tees of such districts or a majority of them, to give like public 
notice of such meeting, at some convenient place within such dis- 
tricts and as central as may be, within the time, and to be pub- 
lished and served in the manner set forth in the second section of 
this title, in each of such districts. The reasonable expenses of 
preparing, publishing and serving such notices shall be chargeable 
upon the union free school district, and be collected by tax, if a 



440 IlNiOi^ Free Schools. 

union free school shall be established pursuant to such call; but 
otherwise the signers of the call shall be jointly and severally liable 
for such expenses. The superintendent of public instruction 
may order such meeting, under the conditions and in the manner 
prescribed in the first section of this title. {As amended hy sec. 
15, chap. 647, Laws of 1865.) 

The provisions of section 2, concerning publishing the notice in a news- 
paper, are applicable when either of the districts affected embraces part of 
an incorporated village. 

The form of the call under this section may be the same as that above given 
under section 1 of this title, except that it should expressly call "for the 
consolidation of said districts (the numbers of which will be previously stated) 
and for a meeting," etc. It must be signed by at least thirty, or, if it is pro- 
posed to consolidate three districts, by forty-five persons, fifteen of whom must 
be qualified voters in each of the districts. Where there are less than fifteen 
voters in any one of these districts, it is believed that the requirements of the 
law will be satisfied if all the voters of such district sign the call. The trus- 
tees of each district should appoint a taxable inhabitant to give personal notice 
therein; and five copies of the call and notice should be posted in each of the 
districts, signed by a majority of the board composed of the trustees of all the 
districts to which the notice relates. The place of meeting may be in either 
district. It is important that the original call and notices should be preserved, 
to be filed with the certified copy of the minutes in the town clerk's office. If 
the proposed consolidated district includes parts of more than one county, the 
call and notices should be signed in duplicate. 

§ 5. Any such meeting, held as aforesaid, shall be organized by 

the appointment of a chairman and secretary, and may he 

adjourned from time to time by a majority vote; provided that 

such adjournment shall not be for a longer period than ten days ; 

and whenever any such meeting, at which hot less than fifteen 

persons entitled to vote thereat shall, by the afiirmative vote of a 

majority present and voting, determine to establish a union free 

school in said district, pursuant to such notice, it shall thereupon 

be lawful for such meeting to proceed to the election, by ballot, 

of not less than three, nor more than nine trustees, who shall, by^ 

the order of such meeting, be divided into three several classes ; 

the first to hold until one, the second until two, and the third 

until three years from the last Tuesday in August coincident with 

or following, except in the cases in the next section provided for ; 

and when the trustees so elected shall enter upon their office, the 

office of any existing trustee or trustees shall cease, except for the 

purposes stated in section eleven of title six of this act. The said 

trustees, and their successors in office, shall constitute the board of 

education of and for the union free school district for which they 



IJNiOi?^ Free Schools. 441 

are elected, and the designation of such district as union free 
school district number , of the town of , shall be made 

by the school commissioner having jurisdiction of the district ; 
and the said board shall have the name and style of the board of 
education of (adding the designation as aforesaid) ; copies 

of said call, minutes of said meeting or meetings, duly certified by 
the chairman and secretary thereof, shall be by them, or either of 
them, transmitted and deposited, one to and with the town clerk, 
one to and with the school commissioners, in whose jurisdiction 
said districts are located, and one to and with the superintendent of 
public instruction ; but when at any such meeting, the question 
as to the establishment of a union free school shall not be decided 
in the aflBrmative, as aforesaid, then all further proceedings at 
such meeting, except a motion to reconsider or adjourn, shall be 
dispensed with, and no such meeting shall be again called within 
one year thereafter. {As amended hy sec. 2, chap. 50, Zaws of 
1876, and hy sec. 10, chap. 413, Laws ^1883, and sec, 2, chap^ 
49, Laws of 1884.) 

The order of business as indicated by this section is, 

Mrst. The appointment of a chairman and secretary. 

Second. The action upon a resolution to form a union free school district. 

Third. The election of trustees. 

The number of persons present entitled- to vote should first be ascertained, 
and if found to be sufficient to give jurisdiction of the subject, the question 
should be brought before it by a resolution that ' ' a union free school be es- 
tablished within the limits of districts No. , in the town of , and 
No. , in the town of , pursuant to the provisions of chapter 555 of the 
Laws of 1864 and the amendments thereof." The law is silent about the man- 
ner of taking the vote upon this question. It may, therefore, be by calling 
the ayes and noes, or by the raising of hands, or by a division of the house and 
count. All that is required is that fifteen of the legal voters shall be present, 
and that a majority of those present and voting shall be in the affirmative. 
The meeting may adjourn from time to time by the vote of a majority of those 
present, although these are less than fifteen of the inhabitants, but for not 
more than ten days at each time. At any such adjourned session the question 
may be taken on the resolution above mentioned; but when it has once been 
decided in the negative, by failing to receive a majority vote, no further pro- 
ceedings are in order except a motion to adjourn without day, or a motion to 
reconsider, which latter motion may be carried by a majority vote, and the 
session may then be adjourned. On the reconsideration, at the adjourned 
meeting, if the resolution should be again lost, all further proceedings are to 
be suspended for one year. 

If the resolution to establish a free school shall pass, the meeting must next 
fix upon the number of trustees to constitute the board of education. It may 
be a number not divisible by three, as five or seven, and in such case the meet- 
ing may divide them into unequal classes, by a resolution which should be 
adopted before proceeding to an election. 

56 



442 Uniox Free Schools. 

Tlie election of trustees must he hy ballot. The term for which each candi- 
date is voted must be distinctly written or printed upon the ballot. The trus- 
tees elected are to enter upon their duties at once, but their terms of otfice 
will be for one, two and three years from the succeeding last Tuesday in 
August. 

An important duty of the officers of the meeting is to make and file the rec- 
ord of the proceedings. This record must contain a copy of the petition pre- 
sented to the trustees, the call for the meeting, and the minutes thereof, and 
be certified by both chairman and secretary. The duties of these officers will 
not terminate until such copy of the proceedings is transmitted to the town 
clerk, school commissioner and Superintendent of public instruction respect- 
ively. The school commissioner will number the district. If it is formed 
from one district, it will have the same number in the town as the old district, 
only it will be union free school district instead of common school district. If 
it is formed from two or more districts the commissioner will give it the num- 
ber of one of such old districts. 

§ 6. Whenever said board of education shall be constituted for 
any district or districts whose limits correspond with those of any 
incorporated village or city, the trustees so elected shall, by the 
order of such meeting, be divided into three several classes : the 
first class to serve until one, the second until two, and the third 
until three years after the day of the next charter election in such 
village or city, and their regular term of service shall be computed 
from the several days of such charter elections, and not from the 
second Tuesday in October. And thereafter there shall be an- 
nually elected in such villages and cities, by separate ballot, to be 
indorsed "school trustees," in the same manner as the charter 
officers thereof, trustees of the said union free schools, to supply 
the places of those whose terms by the classification aforesaid are 
about to expire. 

The districts formed under this act are of two kinds, viz.: those whose lim- 
its correspond with those of an incorporated village or city and those whose 
limits do not so correspond. Particular attention is called to this fact as the 
provisions relating to the different districts are not always found in separate 
sections, thus requiring a very careful reading. The above section applies 
exclusively to districts whose limits correspond with those of an incorporated 
village or city. The election of trustees, after the first, must be held as a part 
of the charter election. Chapter 248, Laws of 1878, as amended, providing 
for the election of officers in districts having upwards of 300 children of school 
age does not apply to such districts. 

§ 7. The said boards of education are hereby severally created 
bodies corporate, and each shall, at its first meeting, and at each 
annual meeting thereafter, elect one of their number president. 
They may, with the advice and consent of a majority of the legal 
voters entitled to vote on questions of taxation, to be had at an 



Unions" Free Schools. 443 

annual meeting of the inhabitants, appoint a clerk to the board. 
Such appointed clerk must be a resident of the district, and a 
person other than a trustee or a teacher in the employ of the 
board. The clerk so appointed shall be the general librarian of 
the district, and also perform all the clerical and other duties per- 
taining to his office. For his services he shall be entitled to re- 
ceive a salary, which shall not be greater than twenty-five cents 
a year for each scholar, to be computed from the actual average 
daily attendance for the previous year, as set forth in the annual 
report to the school commissioner, or less, as in the best judg- 
ment of said legal voters to be had at such annual meeting ; such 
consent and approval not to be for a longer period of time than 
one year. In case no provision is made at an annual meeting of 
the inhabitants for the appointment and payment of a clerk, then 
and in that case the board will appoint one of their own number 
to act as clerk. In districts other than those whose hmits corre- 
spond with those of any city or incorporated village, said board 
shall have power to appoint one of the- taxable inhabitants of 
their district treasurer, and another collector of the moneys to be 
raised within the same for school purposes, who shall severally 
hold such appointments during the pleasure of the board. Such 
treasurer and collector shall each, and within ten days after notice 
in writing of his appointment, duly served upon him, and before 
entering upon the duties of his office, execute and deliver to the 
said board of education a bond, with such sufficient penalty and 
sureties as the board may require, conditioned for the faithful 
discharge of the duties of his office. And in case such bond shall 
not be given within the time specified, such office shall thereby 
become vacant, and said board shall thereupon, by appointment, 
supply such vacancy. {As amended hy chap. 161, Laws of '[S77.) 

This section provides for the appointment of a president of the board, a 
clerk and librarian, and, in districts whose limits do not correspond with the 
limits of any city or incorporated village, a treasurer and a collector. 

The annual meeting of the board of education of every union free school 
district is held under section nine of this title on the first Tuesday of Sep- 
tember, and the president elected thereat shall act as such for one year. 

Glerk. — The board can appoint a clerk, who will be entitled to a salary, when so 
authorized by an annual meeting. The meeting does not appoint, but may 
" advise and consent " to the appointment of a clerk at a certain salary, which is 
limited to twenty-five cents for each pupil of the number in actual average daily 
attendance during the previous school year as reported to the school commis- 



444 Uinoiq- Free Schools. 

sioner. The authorization of the meeting to the appointment is valid for one 
year only. The clerk so appointed does not hold over after the expiration of 
his term of office, which is one year from the date of the annual meeting. 

If no provision is made by the annual meeting for a clerk, the board shall 
appoint one of their number as clerk, but no salary or compensation can be 
paid for his services. 

Treasurer and Collector. — In districts corresponding in territory with a city 
or incorporated village, the district does not require a treasurer or collector 
as the duties of those officers are performed by the municipal officers. 

In districts not corresponding in territory with a city or incorporated village, 
the board shall appoint a taxable inhabitant treasurer and another collector. 
The terms of such officers are not fixed. They can be removed or superseded 
at the pleasure of the board. Such officers cannot be members of the board. 

The amendment made to this section in 1877 was the provision for the 
appointment of a clerk other than a member of the board. The towns of Cort- 
landt and White Plains in the county of Westchester are excepted from the 
provisions of the amendment. The section as passed in 1864 applies to those 
towns. 

§ 8. The corporate authorities of anj incorporated village or 
city, in which any such union free school shall be established, 
shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise from time 
to time, by tax, to be levied upon all the real and personal prop- 
erty in said city or village, as by law provided for the defraying 
of the expenses of its municipal government, such sura or sums 
as the board of education established therein shall declare necessary 
for the furtherance of any of the powers vested in them by law. 
The sums so declared necessary shall be set forth in a detailed 
statement in writing, addressed to the corporate authorities by the 
board of education, giving the various purposes of anticipated 
expenditure, and the amount necessary for each ; and the sdd cor- 
porate authorities shall have no power to withhold the sums so 
declared to be necessary for teachers' wages and the ordinary con- 
tingent expenses of supporting the school or schools of said district. 

This section applies only to districts whose boundaries correspond with the 
limits of any incorporated village or city. 

The " detailed statement " is an estimate of the several amounts necessary for 
the maintenance of the school required to be raised by tax upon the district. 
It is not confined to the ordinary running expenses of the schools, but includes 
all expenses of building, hiring or purchasing school-houses and school-house 
sites, in fact any and every expenditure that must be made for the school 
district. 

The estimate of teachers' wages and the ordinary contingent expenses must 
be allowed and raised by the corporate authorities. What are the ' ' ordinary 
contingent expenses " may be a subject of dispute, but they will necessarily 
include fuel, cleaning, repairs, furniture to replace what has been broken or 
worn out, and similar expenditures. 

If such questions arise in any district, and cannot be settled by the corporate 
authorities and board of education, they are to be referred to the Superin- 
tendent under section 18 of this title. 



Uiq"iOK Free Schools. 445 

§ 9. In case the corporate authorities sliall refuse to provide 
for any or all of the other purposes of expenditure declared 
necessary in the statement aforesaid, they shall communicate in 
writing to the said board of education their objections to each 
and every expenditure which they refuse to allow, and thereupon 
the said board of education shall cause the said communication to 
be published six times in at least one paper published or circula- 
ting in such district, and the said corporate authorities may, at 
any time, reconsider their action in refusing to allow such ex- 
penditures, or any of them, or may allow such other sums for 
any or all of such expenditures as the board of education in any 
subsequent or modified statement may recommend. The annual 
meeting of the board of education of every union free school 
district shall be held on the first Tuesday of September in each 
year. {As amended hy sec. 11, chap. 413, Laws of 1883.) 

§ 10. A majority of the voters of any union free school dis- 
trict, other than those whose limits correspond with an incor- 
porated city or village, present at any annual or special district 
meeting, duly convened, may authorize such acts, and vote such 
taxes as they shall deem expedient for making additions, altera- 
tions or improvements to or in the sites or structures belonging 
to the district, or for the purchase of other sites or structures, or 
for a change of sites, or for the erection of new buildings, or for 
buying apparatus or fixtures, or for paying the wages of teachers 
and the necessary expenses of the schools, or for such other pur- 
pose relating to the support and welfare of the school as they 
may, by resolution approve ; and they may direct the moneys so 
voted to be levied in one sum, or by installments, but no ad- 
dition to or change of site or purchase of a new site or tax for 
the purchase of any new site or structure, or for the purchase of 
an addition to the site of any school-house, or for building any 
new school-house or for the erection of an addition to any school- 
house already built, shall be voted at any such meeting unless a 
notice by the board of education stating that such tax will be 
proposed, and specifying the amount and object thereof, shall 
have been published once in each week for the four weeks next 
preceding such district meeting, in two newspapers, if there shall 



44(5 Unioi^ Free Schools, 

be two, or in one newspaper, if there shall be but one, published in 
such district. But if no newspaper shall then be published therein, 
the said notice shall be posted up in at least ten of the most pub- 
lic places in said district twenty days before the time of such 
meeting. And whenever a tax for any of the objects hereinbe- 
fore specified shall be legally voted the board of education shall 
make out their tax list, and attach their warrant thereto, in the 
manner provided in article seven of title seven of this act, for 
the collection of school district taxes, and shall cause such taxes 
or such installments to be collected at such times as they shall be- 
come due. No vote to raise money shall be rescinded, nor the 
amount thereof be reduced at any subsequent meeting, unless the 
same be done within ten days after the same shall have been first 
voted. For the purpose of giving effect to these provisions, trus- 
tees or boards of education are hereby authorized, whenever a 
tax shall have been voted to be collected in installments for the 
purpose of building a new school-house, or for the purchase of a 
new site, or for an addition to a site, to borrow so much of the 
sum voted as may be necessary, at a rate of interest not exceed- 
ing six per cent, and to issue bonds or other evidences of in- 
debtedness therefor, which shall be a charge upon the district, 
and be paid at maturity, and which shall not be sold below par ; 
due notice of the time and place of the sale of such bonds shall 
be given at least ten days prior thereto. (As amended by sec. 3, 
chap. 49, Laws of 1884, and hy sec. 1, chap. 595, Laws of 1886.) 

This section applies only to districts whose limits do not correspond with 
the limits of a city or incorporated village. The inhabitants have the power 
when duly assembled in any annual or special meeting to vote taxes upon the 
taxable property of the district; and no limit is placed thereon so long as the 
tax is for one of the objects enumerated in the section or is " for the support 
and welfare of the school as they may by re"solution approve." 

Money cannot be voted to be expended for a school-house or school-house 
site, excepting repairs, without a notice being given as prescribed, of such 
contemplated action. These are the two most important and largest expendi- 
tures made by a district, and' the statute intends that before any action can be 
taken thereon, the inhabitants shall have full opportunity, through the notice, 
to discuss and consider the matter, and know what the propositions are that 
will be acted upon by the meeting. 

Any tax voted under the authority of this section can be raised in install- 
ments, but the money can be borrowed and bonds or other evidences of in- 
debtedness given only when the tax voted to be raised in installments is for 
the purpose of "building a new school-house or for the purchase of a new 
site or for an addition to a site." 



Union Free Schools. 447 

§ 11. Any moneys required to pay teachers' wages, in a union 
free school, or in the academical department thereof, after the 
due application of the school moneys thereto, shall be raised by 
tax, and not by rate bill. 

, § 12. Every union free school district shall, for all the purposes 
of the apportionment and distribution of school moneys, be 
regarded and recognized as a school district. 

§ 13. The said board of education of every union free school 
district shall severally have power: 

1. To pass such by-laws as they may deem proper for the regu- 
lation and exercise of their lawful business and powers. 

2. To establish such rules and regulations concerning the order 
and discipline of the school or schools, in the several departments 
thereof, as they may deem necessary to secure the best educational 
results. 

3. To grade and classify the school or schools of the district, 
and to regulate the admission of pupils and their transfer from 
one class or department to another, as their scholarship shall 
warrant. 

4. To prescribe the text-books to be used in the schools, and to 
compel a uniformity in the use of the same, and to furnish the 
same to pupils out of any moneys provided for that purpose. 

Chapter 413 of tlie laws of 1877 as amended, entitled " An act to prevent 
frequent changes of text- books in schools," applies to union free school dis- 
tricts, and boards of education are governed by both that act and subdivision 
7 of this section. 

5. To take charge and possession of the school-houses, sites, 
lots, furniture, books, apparatus, and all school property within 
their respective districts ; and the title of the same shall be vested 
respectively in said board of education, and the same shall not be 
subject to taxation for any purpose. 

6. To take and hold for the use of the said schools or of any 
department of the same, any real estate transferred to it by gift, 
grant, bequest or devise, or any gift, legacy or annuity, of what- 
ever kind, given or bequeathed to the said board, and apply the 
same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the instruc- 
tions of the donor or testator. 



448 Union- Free Schools. 

7. To have in all respects the superintendence, management 
and control of said union free schools, and to establish in the same 
an academical department whenever, in their judgment, the same 
is warranted by the demand for such instruction ; to receive into 
said union free schools any pupils residing out of said districts, 
and to regulate and establish the tuition fees of such non-resident 
pupils in the several departments of said schools ; provided, that 
if such non-resident pupils, their parents or guardians, shall be 
liable to be taxed for the support of said schools in the districts, or 
either of them, on account of owning property therein, the amount 
of any such tax paid by a non-resident pupil, his parent or guard- 
ian, shall be deducted from the charge for tuition ; to provide 
fuel, furniture, apparatus, and other necessaries for the use of said 
schools, and to appoint such librarians as they may from time to 
time, deem necessary. {Amended hy sec. 1, chap. 134, Laws of 
1879.) 

In 1884 a general act was passed, allowing non-resident pupils to offset 
against tuition charges any tax levied against them, their parents or guardians, 
on account of owning property in the district. This act was amended in 1885, 
and is substantially the same as the above subdivision, except that it is more 
full and comprehensive in its provisions. It really amends subdivision 7 and 
applies to union free school districts. 

Chapter 413, Laws op 1884. 

Section 1. Pupils attending any free school, whether the same be organized 
under chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
sixty-four, entitled ' * An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating 
to public instruction," or under any special act applying to a village or city, 
if residing out of the districts where said schools are kept, shall be subject to 
the payment of the tuition prescribed by the proper authorities; provided, that 
if such non-resident pupils, their parents or guardians, shall be liable to be 
taxed for the support of said schools in the said districts, on account of owning 
property therein, the amount of any such tax paid by a non-resident pupil, his 
parent or guardian, during the same school year in which the charge for tuition 
was incurred, shall be deducted from such charge for tuition, {As amended 
by sec. 11, chap. 403, Laws of 1885.) 

8. To contract with and employ qualified teachers in the several 
departments of instruction, in all not less than one for every fifty 
pupils attending such schools ; to remove them at any time for 
neglect of duty or for immoral conduct, and to pay the wages of 
such teachers out of the moneys appropriated for that purpose. 
{As a7nended ly sec. 17, chap. 647, Laws of 1865.) 

The following act applies to boards of education of union free school dis- 
tricts: 



Ukiok Feee Schools. 449 

Chapter 335, Laws of 1887. 

Section 1. From and after the passage of tliis act, all officers or boards of 
officers wlio sliall employ any teaclier to teach in any of the public schools of 
tRis State shall, at the time of such employment, make and deliver to such 
teacher, or cause to be made and delivered, a memorandum in writing, signed 
by said officer, or by the members of said board, or by some person duly 
authorized by said board, to represent them in the premises, in which the 
details of the agreement between the parties, and particularly the length of 
the term of employment, the amount of compensation and the time or times 
when such compensation shall be due and payable, shall be clearly and defi- 
nitely set forth. But nothing herein contained shall be deemed to abridge or 
otherwise affect the term of employment of any teacher now or hereafter 
employed in the public schools, nor to repeal or affect any provision of special 
laws concerning the employment or removal of teachers now in force in any 
particular locality. 

§ 2. The pay of any teacher employed in the public schools of this State 
shall be due and payable at least as often as at the end of each calendar month 
of the term of employment. 

This law is commented upon in the chapter on Teachers to which reference 
is made. 

9. To fill any vacancy which may happen in said board by 
reason of the death, removal or refusal to serve of any member 
or officer of said board ; and the person so appointed in the place 
of any such member of the board shall hold his office until the 
next election of trustees, as by this act provided. 

10. To remove any member of their board for official miscon- 
duct. But a written copy of all charges made of such misconduct 
shall be served upon him at least ten days before the time 
appointed for a hearing of the same ; and he shall be allowed a 
full and fair opportunity to refute such charges before removal. 

11. And generally to possess all the powers and privileges, and 
be subject to all the duties in respect to the common schools, or the 
common school departments in any union free school in said dis- 
tricts, which the trustees of common schools now possess or are 
subject to, not inconsistent with the provisions of this title ; and to 
enjoy, whenever an academical department shall be by them estab- 
lished, all the immunities and privileges now enjoyed by the 
trustees of academies in this State. 

It is the intention of this act to give to boards of education increased powers 
over those possessed by trustees of common school districts, and such exposi- 
tion as may be required upon this subject will be found in the chapters com- 
prising part II of this Code. 

§ 14. In union free school districts other than those whose 
limits correspond with any city or incorporated village, the board 

57 



450 Unio^ Fkee Schools. 

of education shall have power to call special meetings of the 
inhabitants, in the manner provided in section six of title seven 
of this act for calling special meetings of districts by trustees, and 
they shall give notice of the time and place of holding the annual 
school district meeting, which shall be held on the last Tuesday 
of August in each year. {As amended by sec, 12, chap. 4:13, Laws 
of 1883.) 

The manner of calling special meetings will be found in the chapter on 

Meetings. 

§ 15. It shall be the duty of the board at the annual meeting of the 
district, besides any other report or statement required by law, to 
present a detailed statement in writing of the amount of money 
which will be required for the ensuing year for school purposes, 
exclusive of the public moneys, specifying the several purposes 
for which it will be required, and the amount for each ; but noth- 
ing in this section contained shall be construed to prevent the 
board from presenting such statement at any special meeting 
called for the purpose, nor from presenting a supplementary and 
amended statement or estimate at any time. 

§ 16. After the presentation of such statement, the question 
shall be taken upon voting the necessary taxes to meet the esti- 
mated expenditures, and when demanded by any voter present, 
the question shall be taken upon each item separately, and the 
inhabitants may increase the amount of any estimated expendi- 
ture or reduce the same, except for teachers' wages, and the 
ordinary contingent expenses of the school or schools. 

§ 17. If the inhabitants shall neglect or refuse to vote the sum 
or sums estimated necessary for teachers' wages, after applying 
thereto the public school moneys, and other moneys received or 
to be received for that purpose, provided such estimate shall be 
for no more than one teacher for each fifty pupils attending such 
school, or if they shall neglect or refuse to vote the sum or sums 
estimated necessary for ordinary contingent expenses, the board 
of education may levy a tax for the same, in like manner as if the 
same had been voted by the inhabitants.. 

§ 18. If any question shall arise as to what are ordinary con- 
tingent expensed, the same may be referred to the superintendent 
pf public instruction, by a statement in writing, signed by one or 



Union Free Schools. 451 

more of each of the opposing parties upon the question, and the 
decision of the superintendent shall be conclusive. 

§ 19. It shall be the duty of each of the said boards of educa- 
tion, elected pursuant to the provisions of this title, to have a 
regular meeting at least once in each quarter, and at such meetings 
to appoint one or more committees, to visit every school or depart- 
ment under the supervision of said board, and such committees 
shall visit all said schools at least twice in each quarter, and report 
at the next regular meeting of the board on the condition and 
prospects thereof. 

§ 20. It shall also be the auty of said boards, respectively, to 
have reference in aU their expenditures and contracts to the 
amount of moneys which shall be appropriated, or subject to their 
order or drafts, during the current year, and not to exceed that 
amount. And said boards shall severally apply all the moneys 
apportioned to the common school districts under their charge, 
to the departments below the academical ; and all moneys from 
the literature fund or otherwise, appropriated for the support of 
the academical departments, to the latter departments. 

§ 21. All moneys raised for the use of the union free schools 
in any city or incorporated village, or apportioned to the same 
from the income of the literature, common-school or United 
States deposit funds, or otherwise, shall be paid into the treasury 
of such city or village, to the credit of the board of education 
therein ; and the funds so received into such treasury shall be 
kept separate and distinct from any other funds received into 
the said treasury. And the officer having the charge thereof, shall 
give such additional security for the safe custody thereof as the 
corporate authorities of such city or village shall require. No 
money shall be drawn from such funds, credited to the several 
boards of education, unless in pursuance of a resolution or resolu- 
tions of said board, and on drafts drawn by the president and 
countersigned by the secretary, payable to the order of the person 
or persons entitled to receive such money, and stating on their 
face the purpose or service for which such moneys have been 
authorized to be paid by the said board of education. 

§ 22. AU moneys raised for the use of said union free schools, 
other than those whose limits correspond with those of any cities 



452 Union Free Schools. 

and incorporated villages, or apportioned from tlie income of the 
literature or common-school or United States deposit funds, or 
otherwise, shall be paid to the respective treasurers of the said several 
boards of education entitled to receive the same, and be bj them 
applied to the uses of said several boards, who shall annually 
render their accounts of all moneys received and expended by 
them for the use of said schools, with every voucher for the 
same, and certified copies of all orders of the said boards touching 
the same, to the school commissioner of the town in which the 
principal school-house of the district is located. 

§ 23. Every academical department, established as aforesaid, 
shall be under the visitation of the regents of the university, and 
shall be subject, in its course of education and matters pertaining 
thereto (but not in reference to the buildings or erections in which 
the same is held), to all the regulations made in regard to acade- 
mies by the said regents. In such departments the qualifications 
for the entrance of any pupil shall be as high as those established 
by the said regents for participation in the literature fund of any 
academy of the state under their supervision. 

§ 24 Whenever a union free school shall be established under 
the provisions of this title, and there shall exist within its district 
an academy, the board of education, if thereto authorized by a 
vote of the voters of the district, may adopt such academy as the 
academical department of the district, with the consent of the 
trustees of the academy, and thereupon the trustees, by a resolu- 
tion to be attested by the signatures of the officers of the board, 
and filed in the office of the clerk of the county, shall declare their 
offices vacant, and thereafter the said academy shall be the academ- 
ical department of such union free schooL 

The effect of this section is, probably, to transfer to the board of education 
title to all the property of the academy, provided the proceedings are all regu- 
lar. For greater security, however, the trustees of the academy ought to 
execute and deliver to the board of education a deed of their land and build- 
ings, which should be properly acknowledged and recorded. 

§ 25. Every union free school district, in all its departments, 
shall be subject to the visitation of the superintendent of public 
instruction. He is charged with the general supervision of its 
board of education and tlieir management and conduct in all its 



Ukiok Free Schools. 453 

departments of instructioD. Ajid every board of education shall 
annually, between the twentieth day of August and the last Tues- 
day of August, make to the commissioner having jurisdiction, 
and deposit in the town clerk's office, a report for the preceding 
school year, of all matters and things which trustees of a school 
district are required to report, and of all such other matters and 
things as the superintendent shall from time to time require, and 
shall also, whenever thereto required by the superintendent of 
public instruction, report fully to him upon any particular matter 
or thing, and such reports shall be in such form, and so authenti- 
cated, as the superintendent shall from time to time require. 
{As amended hy chajp, 413, Laws of 1883, and hy sec. 8, chap. 
340, Laws of 1885.) 

The superintendent annually prepares and f urnislies blanks for tlie annual 
reports of the trustees. For instruction as to the filling up of the blanks, ref- 
erence may be had to comments in the chapter on Reports. 

§ 26. For cause shown, and after giving notice of the charge 
and opportunity of defense, the superintendent of public instruc- 
tion may remove any member of a board of education. Willful 
disobedience of any lawful requirement of the superintendent, or 
a want of due diligence in. obeying such requirement is cause of 
removal. 

The procedure under this section would be the same substantially as that 
for the removal of any school officer, as provided under section 18 of title I 
of this act. 

§ 27. The provisions of this title shall apply to all union free 
schools heretofore organized pursuant to the provisions of chapter 
four hundred and thirty-three of the laws of eighteen hundred 
and fifty-three. 



DISSOLUTION OF UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

Chapter 210, Lav^s of 1880. 

Passed May 8, 1880. 
Section 1. In any union free school district established under 
the laws of this State, it shall be the duty of the board of educa- 
tion, upon the application of fifteen resident tax payers of such 



454 Union Free Schools. 

district, to call a special meeting in the manner prescribed by law, 
for the purpose of determining whether application shall be made 
in the manner hereinafter provided, for the dissolution of such 
union free school district, and for its reorganization as a common 
school district or districts. 

§ 2. Whenever, at any such meeting called and held as afore- 
said, it shall be determined by a majority vote of the legal voters 
present and voting, to be ascertained by taking and recording the 
ayes and noes, not to dissolve such union free school district, no 
other meeting for a similar purpose shaU be held in said district 
within three years from the time the first meeting was held, and 
whenever, at any such meeting called and held as aforesaid, it 
shall be determined by a two-thirds vote of the legal voters pres- 
ent and voting, to be ascertained by taking and recording the 
ayes and noes, to dissolve such union free school district, it shall 
be the duty of the board of education to present to the clerk of 
the board of supervisors a certified copy of the call, notice and 
proceedings, and the said clerk shall lay the same before the 
board of supervisors at their next meeting. If the board of 
supervisors shall approve of the proceedings of said meeting, the 
clerk shall certify the same to the board of education. 

Such approval shall not take effect until the day preceding the 
last Tuesday of August next succeeding ; but after that date such 
district shall cease to be a union free school district. {As 
amended hy sec. 15, chap. 413, Laws of 1883.) 

§ 3. If any union free school district dissolved under the fore- 
going provisions shall have been established by the consolidation 
of two or more districts, it shall be lawful for the board of super- 
visors to direct that its territory be divided in two or more dis- 
tricts to correspond, so far as practicable, with the districts there- 
tofore consolidated. 

§ 4. If there shall be; in such dissolved union free school dis- 
trict, an academy which shall have been adopted as the academic 
department of the union free school, under the provisions of title 
nine, chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen 
hundred and sixty four, it shall, upon the application of a majority 
of the eurviving resident former trustees or stockholders, be trans- 



Union Free Schools. 455 

furred by the board of education to said former trustees or stock- 
holders. 

§ 5. The board of supervisors may make its approval of the 
proceedings of any such meeting held as aforesaid conditional 
upon the payment, by the district which has been most greatl}^ 
benefited by the consolidation in the way of buildings and other 
improvements to the other district or districts into which the said 
union free school district is divided, of such sum or sums of 
money as they may deem eqnitable. 

§ 6. All moneys remaining in the hands of the treasurer of the 
union free school district when the order of dissolution shall take 
effect shall be apportioned equitably among the several districts 
into which such union free school district is divided, and shall 
be paid over to the collectors of such districts when they shall 
have been elected and have qualified according to law. 

§ 7. The district or districts formed by the dissolution of 
such union free school district shall hold its or their annual meet- 
ing or meetings on the last Tuesday of August next, after the 
dissolution of such union free school district, and shall elect officers, 
as now required by law. {As amended hy sec. 16, chap. 413, 
Laws of 1883.) 

§ 8. If the board of supervisors shall not approve the proceed- 
ings of any such meeting, held as aforesaid, for the purpose of 
dissolving a union free school district, no other meeting shall be 
held in such district, for a similar purpose, within three years> 
from the time the first meeting was held. 

§ 9. Whenever the proceedings of a meeting, held as aforesaid^ 
for the purpose of dissolving a union free school district, shall 
have been approved by the board of supervisors and shall have 
been certified by the clerk of said board to the board of education,, 
it shall be the duty of the board of education of the district 
affected forthwith to notify the superintendent of pubKc instruc- 
tion, and to furnish him copies of the caU, notice, proceedings 
of the meeting, and proceedings of the board of supervisors taken 
thereon. 



456 TJkion Free Schools. 



TEACHERS' CLASSES IN ACADEMIES AND ACADEMICAL DEPART- 
MENTS OF UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

Chapter 425, Laws op 1877. 

Section 1. The treasurer shall pay yearly, on the warrant of 
the comptroller, out of the income of the United States deposit 
fund not otherwise appropriated, the sum of ^ ^ "^ thirty 
thousand dollars for the instruction in academies and union schools 
in the science and practice of common-school teaching, under a 
course to be prescribed by tlie regents of the university • * * * 

§ 2. The said regents shall designate the academies and union 
schools in which the instruction shall be given, distributing them 
among the counties in the State as nearly as well may be, having 
reference to the number of school districts in each, to location 
and to the character of the institutions selected. 

§ 3. Every academy and union school so designated shall 
instruct a class of not less than ten nor more than twenty- five 
scholars, and every scholar admitted to such class shall continue 
under instruction not less than ten weeks, all of which shall be in 
one school term. The regents shall prescribe the conditions of 
admission to the classes, the course of instruction, and the rules 
and regulations under which said instruction shall be given, and 
shall, in their discretion, determine the number of classes which 
may be formed in any one year in any academy or union 
school, and the length of time exceeding ten weeks during which 
such instruction may be given, all of which shall be in the same 
school term. 

§ 4. Instruction shall be free to all scholars admitted to such 
classes, and who have continued in. them the length of time 
required by the third section of this act. 

§ 5. The trustees of all academies and union schools in which 
such instruction shall be 'given shall be paid from the appropria- 
tion made by the first section of this act at the rate of one dollar 
for each week's instruction of each scholar, on the certificate of 
the regents of the university to be furnished to the comptroller. 



IlNiOi^ Free Schools. 457 

Chapter 318, Laws of 1882. 

AK ACT to regulate the instruction of common-school teachers 
in academies and academical departments of union schools. 

Section 1. The appropriation provided by chapter four hun- 
dred and twentj-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy- 
seven, for the instruction in academies and union schools in the 
science and practice of common-school teaching, shall be deemed 
to include, and shall include, the due inspection and supervision 
of such instruction by the regents of the university, and the 
expenses of such inspection and supervision for the present and 
each succeeding fiscal year shall be paid out of said appropriation 
on vouchers certified by the regents of the university. 

§ 2. Each class organized in any academy or union school under 
appointment by the regents of the university, for instruction in 
the science and practice of common school teaching, shall be sub- 
ject to the visitation of the school commissioner of the district in 
which such academy or union school is situated ; and it shall be 
the duty of said commissioner to advise and assist the principals 
of said academies or union schools in the organization and man- 
agement, and in the final examination of said classes, and after 
the close of the term of instruction of said classes to make to the 
regents of the university, in the manner to be prescribed by them, 
a report in regard to the instruction of said classes, and the quali- 
fications of the individual members thereof. 

§ 3. Each scholar instructed for the full term provided by law, 
in a class' organized for instruction in the science and practice of 
common-school teaching, who shall have passed the examination 
known and designated as the regents' preliminary examination, in 
arithmetic, English grammar, geography and spelling, and who, in 
addition, shall have passed the final examination prescribed for 
such classes by the said regents, including an examination in the 
history of the United States, the principles of civil government 
and the methods of teaching, shall be deemed to have sufficient 
learning to teach in the common schools of the state ; and to each 
such scholar the regents of the university shall grant a testi- 
monial which, when indorsed by any school commissioner, shall 
constitute a certificate of qualification and a license to teach in the 
58 



458 Union Free Schools. 

common schools of his district for a period of one year from the 
date of such indorsement ; and at the expiration of the period 
named in said license, and at successive expirations thereafter, said 
certificate may be re-indorsed by any school commissioner, and at 
his discretion constituted a license to teach in the common schools 
of his district for a period not to exceed three years after each 
re-indorsement. 

The Regents of the University, having under their charge the appointment 
and supervision of teachers' classes, have made certain rules and regulations 
upon the subject from which the following extracts are taken : 

APPOINTMENTS TO INSTRUCT CLASSES. 

1. Under the provisions of chapter 425, §§ 2-5,of the Laws of 1877, the Regents 
designate such a number of the academies and academical depanments of 
union schools under their visitation, to give instruction to classes of common 
school teachers, as the amount of the appropriation will warrant. The total 
number of institutions which may thus be appointed in any one year will be 
about one hundred. 

2. In making such appointments the Regents have reference chiefly to the 
following considerations : (1.) The proper distribution of the institutions 
among the counties of the State. (3.) The location of the institution in such a 
way as to accommodate the greatest number of suitable candidates. (3.) The 
ability of the institution to furnish in the person of its principal or other teacher 
the best instruction to a teachers' class. (4.) The past record of the institution 
as showing the character of the classes heretofore instructed, the character and 
results of the instruction, and the fidelity with which the regulations pre- 
scribed for the management of the classes have been observed. 

3. Appointments are made for the fall, winter or spring terms of the academic', 
year, in accordance with the necessities of the service and the convenience of 
the institutions; and may in the discretion of the Regents be made for more 
than one term of the same year. 

4. Applications for appointment to instruct classes during the ensuing aca- 
demic year must be made by the trustees of any academy or academical depart- 
ment to the Board of Regents before its semi-annual meeting in July. Each 
application whenever practicable should have the approval of the school com- 
missioner of the district. 

5. A form of application will be furnished when desired as follows: 

FoKM OP Application. 
To the Regents of the University of the State.of New York : 

The trustees of feeling assured that the institution committed 

to their care is in possession of the facilities for the proper instruction of com- 
mon school teachers, herebv apply to the Regents of the University for appoint- 
ment to instruct a class in the science and art of common school teaching, 
during the term beginning 18 , and ending 18 , under the course 

prescribed by the said Regents as provided by law. 

Dated 18 . 

The above application is hereby approved. « , , « 

(Signed) ScTiool Commissioner 

dist county. 



UmoK Free Schools. 459 



QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES. 

1. The candidates must liave attained the age, if males, of eighteen, and if 
females, of sixteen years. 

2. The candidates must have passed the regents' preliminary examination 
in Arithmetic, English Grammar, Geography and Spelling; but persons giving 
promise of being able to pass said examination before the close of the course 
may be provisionally admitted, on the condition that unless they so pass, their 
tuition will not be paid by the State. 

3. They must subscribe, in good faith, to the following declaration, and the 
trustees, principal and school commissioner must be satisfied that the candi- 
dates are honest in making it, and that they have the moral character, talents 
and aptness necessary to success in teaching: 

Declaration. 

** We, the subscribers, hereby declare that our object in asking admission 
to the teachers' class of academy is to prepare ourselves for teaching in 

the public schools of this State, and that it is our intention to become teachers." 

4. No applicant can be admitted to the full privileges of the class who can- 
not comply with and be reasonably expected to fulfill all the conditions pre- 
scribed, and to devote the requisite time to the special work of the class. 

ORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISION. 

1. The class organized under appointment must consist of not less than ten 
nor more than twenty-five scholars and must be instructed for a period of not 
less than ten weeks, all of which must be in one term of the school. 

2. The funds at the disposal of the Regents not being sufficient to provide 
for the desirable number of full classes of twenty-five scholars for a term of 
thirteen weeks, the time will be limited to ten weeks when the class is full, 
making a maximum of 250 weeks. 

3. When the number in the class is less than twenty-five, the time may be 
extended, not to exceed thirteen weeks, all in one term, the whole number of 
weeks not to exceed 250. 

4. By chapter 318 of the laws of 1882, the teachers' class in any academy is 
placed under the supervision of the school commissioner in whose district it 
is situated, and his approval of the application for the appointment of a class 
should be secured as indicated in the form heretofore given. It will be the 
duty of the principal to notify the school commissioner of the appointment of 
the school to instruct a class and of the time of its proposed organization. 

5. A notice of the organization of the class, in the following form, contain- 
ing the declarations of the individual members and the date of their admission, 
etc., must be sent to the office of the Regents within two weeks after the 
organization. 

Form of Notice of Organization. 

To be filled and forwarded to the Regents within two weeks after the organization of 

the class. 

This certifies that a teachers' class consisting of the persons whose names 
are subscribed to the annexed declaration, has been organized under appoint- 
ment made by the Regents of the University, and is now being regularly in- 
structed in this institution. 

(Signed) Principal of 

Dated. 18 . 



460 



Uniok Fkee Schools. 



Declakation. 

We, the subscribers, hereby declare that our object in asking admission to 
the teachers' class above referred to, is to prepare ourselves for teaching in the 
public schools of this State, and that it is our intention to become teachers. 



Date or Admission to 
Class (month and day). 



NAME (full Christian). 



AGE 

(at last 
birth day). 



RESIDENCE 
(township). 



POWER OF UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO SELL OR EXCHANGE 
REAL ESTATE ; ALSO CONCERNING REDUCTION OF NUMBER OF 
MEMBERS OF BOARDS OF EDUCATION. 

The following powers were conferred upon boards of supervi- 
sors bj subdivision 28, section 1, chapter 482, Laws of 1875 : 

To authorize boards of trustees or of education in any union 
free school districts, or trustees of common school districts, 
established in conformity to the general or to any special law of 
the State on the application of a majority of the taxable inhabi- 
tants of the district, voting on the question at a duly called meet- 
ing, to sell or exchange real estate belonging to the district, for 
the purpose of improving or changing school-house sites and to 
increase or diminish the number of members of said boards. {As 
amended hy sec. 1, chap. 239, Laws of 1878.) 



DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. 

Construction of special act. — The trustees of a school district created by 
special statute by consolidating the several districts of an incorporated village, 
held not to be county, city, town or village officers within the meaning of the 
first and second branches of section 2, article 10, of the Constitution. 

The third branch of section 2 of said 10th article embraces in its scope 
and language not only trustees of school districts, but also all officers 
whose offices might thereafter be created, such as boards of education and 
the like. 

Hence, the legislature did not transcend its powers by the enactment of a 
special school act consolidating the districts of an incorporated village, and in 
the creation of a board of education consisting of certain persons named in the 
act. They are brought within the branch of section 2 of article 10, as officers 
"whose offices may hereafter be created by law, " and may therefore be 
appointed by the legislature. 

Trustees of a village required by statute to raise and collect by tax such 
sums as a board of education created by statute should deem needful on refus- 



Union Free Schools. 461 

ing mav be compelled by mandamus to do so. {People, ex rel. Bd. Ed., Sar. 
Springs, v. Trustees of the Village, 54: Barb. 480, Sup. Ct. 1867.) 

Union free school districts. — Power of school commissioners to alter or divide 
a union free school district maintained, {People, ex rel. Board of Education, 
District No. 2, Onondaga, v. Hooper, 13 Hun, 689, Sup. Ct. 1878.) 

When order may take effect. — Such order of alteration cannot take effect 
without giving the trustees an opportunity to be heard as required by the 
statute. Where the notice had been given and was' subsequently withdrawn 
by order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the proceeding of altera- 
tion was reversed on the ground that the opportunity to be heard, to which 
they were entitled, had not been enjoyed by the trustees. {Id.') 

Negligence — liability of trustees. — Trustees of union free school districts 
are personally liable for injuries resulting from their negligence to keep the 
school-house in repair. {Bassett v. Fish, 13 Hun, 209, Sup. Ct. 1878.) 



PART III. 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOLSo 



Cliap. 4:66. 

AN ACT in regai'd to uormal schools. 

Passed April 7, 1866; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Yor-JCy represented in Senate 
and Assembly, do enact as follows: 

Section 1. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, the Secretary 
of State, the Comptroller, the State Treasurer, the Attoi-nej- 
General and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, shall con- 
stitute a commission to receive proposals in writing in regard to 
the establishment of normal and training schools for the education 
and discipline of teachers for the common schools of this State, from 
the board of supervisiors of any county in this State, from the 
corporate authority of any city or village, from the board of trus- 
tees of any college or academy, and from one or more individuals. 
Such commission shall have power to accept or refuse such pro- 
posals, but the number accepted shall not exceed four. Such 
proposals shall contain specifications for the purchase of lands and 
the erection thereon of suitable buildings for such schools, or for 
the appropriation of land and buildings to such use, and also the 
furnishing of such schools with furniture, apparatus, books and 
everything necessary to their support and management. Such 
proposals may have in view either the grant and conveyance of 
such land and premises to the State, or the use of the same for a 
limited time, and for the gift to the State of furniture, apparatus, 
books and other things necessary to conduct such schools. 

§ 2. If the proposals made by any board of supervisors or by 
the corporate authorities of any city or village shall be accepted, 
said board or corporate authorities shall have power to raise by 
tax and expend the money necessary to carry the same into effect, 
and if in their judgment it shall be deemed expedient, they shall 
have power to borrow money for such purpose, for any time not 



464 State Normal Schools. 

exceeding ten 3'eai's, and at a rate of interest not exceeding seven 
per cent., and issue the corporate bonds of said county, city or 
village therefor. 

§ 3. When the said commission shall have accepted proposals 
and determined the location of any one of such schools, and when 
suitable grounds and buildings have been set apart and appropri- 
ated for such schools and all needful preparations made for 
opening same in accordance with the proposals accepted, the com- 
mission shall certify the same in writing, and then their power 
under this act in relation to such school shall cease, and, thereupon, 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall appoint a local 
board, consisting of not less than three persons, who shall respec- 
tively hold their offices until removed by the concurrent action of 
the Chancellor of the University and the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, and who shall have the immediate supervision and 
management of such school, subject, however, to his general super- 
vision and to his direction in all things pertaining to the school. 
Such local board shall have power to appoint one of their number 
chairman, and another secretary of the board. Two-thirds of each 
of said boards shall fortn a quorum for the transaction of business, 
and in the absence of any officer (►f the board, another member 
may be appointed pro tempore^ to fill his place and perform his 
duties. It shall be the duty of such board to make and establish, 
and from time to time to alter and amend such rules and regula- 
tions for the government of such schools under their charge 
respectively, as they shall deem best, which shall be subject to the 
approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. They shall 
also severally transmit through him, and subject to his approval, 
a report to the legislature on the first day of January in each 
year, showing the condition of the school under their charge dur- 
ing the year next preceding, and which report shall be in such 
form, and contain such an account of their acts and doings as the 
Superintendent shall direct, including especially, an account in 
detail of their receipts and expenditures, which shall be duly ver- 
ified by the oath or affirmation of their chairman and secretary. 

§ 4. It shall be the duty of the local board subject to the 
approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to prescribe 
the course of study to be pursued in each of said schools. It shall 
be the duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to deter- 
mine w^hat number of teachers shall be employed in each school, 
and their wages, whose employment shall also be subject to his 
ap^proval ; to order, in his discretion, that one or more of said 
schools shall be composed exclusively of males and one or more 
of females ; to decide upon the number of pupils to be admitted 
to each of said schools, and to prescribe the time and manner of 



State Normal Schools. 465 

their selection, but he shall take care in such selection to provide 
that every part of the State shall have its proportionate represen- 
tation in such school as near as may be according to population ; 
but if any school commissioner district or any city, shall not, for 
any cause, be fully represented in either of said schools, then the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction may cause the maximum 
number of such pupils to be supplied from any part of the State, 
giving preference, however, to those living in the county, city or 
village where such school is situated. 

§ 5. All applicants shall be subject, before admission, to a pre- 
liminary examination before such of the teachers of the school 
as shall be designated by the local board for that purpose, and 
those who pass such examination shall be admitted to all the 
privileges of the school, free from all charges for tuition or for 
the use of books or apparatus, but every pupil shall pay for books 
lost by him and for any damage of books in liis possession ; any 
pupil may be dismissed from the school by the local board for 
immoral or disorderly conduct, or for neglect or inability to per- 
form his duties. 

§ 6. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall prepare 
suitable diplomas to be granted to the students of such school, who 
shall have completed one or more of the courses of study and dis- 
cipline prescribed, and a diploma signed by him, the chairman 
and secretary of the local board and the principal of the school, 
shall be of itself a certificate of qualification to teach common 
schools, but such diploma may be annulled for the immoral con- 
duct of its holder in like manner as provided for the annulment 
of a diploma of State Normal School, in title two, chapter five 
hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- 
four. The provisions of this section shall be applicable to the 
Oswego Normal Training School. 

§ 7. The sum of twelve thousand dollars shall be annually and 
is hereby appropriated for the support of each of said normal and 
training schools to be organized under this act, payable out of 
the income of the common school fund, to be paid by the treas- 
urer on the warrant of the Comptroller, upon the certificate of 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction afiixed to the proper 
accounts, verified by the oath or affirmation of the local board of 
each school ; but none of the money hereby appropriated shall 
be paid for the purchase of any ground, site or buildings, for tlie 
use of such schools. 

§ 8. Local boards appointed under this act shall consist of not 
more than thirteen persons, and the office of any member of any 
such local board, which now consists of more than thirteen mem- 
bers, is hereby declared vacant; and the said Superintendent of 
59 



466 State Normal Schools. 

Public Instruction shall appoint a new local board, and may fill, 
by appointment, all vacancies occurring in said local boards. 
Until the appointment of such new local board, and until a quorum 
of such board shall have entered upon the discharge of its duties, 
and during such time as any local board shall omit to discharge 
its duties, the said Superintendent is authorized to discharge the 
duties of such local board or any of its officers ; and the acts of 
said Superintendent in the premises shall be as valid and bindiui^ 
as if done by a competent local board or its officers, or with their 
co-operation. 

{This section added hy Laws (t/'ISGO, chap. 18.) 

CHAPTER 492, LAWS OF 1870. 
[From the Supply Bill.] 

The local boards of the several State normal schools are hereby 
authorized to expend, under the direction of the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, the moneys now on hand received for 
tuition in any of the departments of the respective schools, and 
the moneys hereafter to be received for such tuition, for appara- 
tus, repairs, insurance, furniture or other improvements upon the 
grounds or buildings, or for the ordinary expenses of the respec- 
tive schools. 

The following is from a circular issued by Superintendent A. S. Draper, 
August 25, 1887: 

It is found that sums received for tuition fees or otherwise are not in all 
cases credited upon bills forwarded for approval, but only appear in the aggre- 
gate in the annual report. All expenditures of such moneys must be made 
only with the approval of this Department, and should appear not only in the 
annual reports but in the current accounts presented for settlement. When 
there is a sum in the hands of the treasurer sufficient to pay any ordinary out- 
standing liability, it should be so used, and the amount so paid, together with 
the statement of what it was paid for, should appear as a credit in the next 
budget of accounts, in reduction of the sum needed from the State treasury to 
settle the same. In this way it will be possible at any time to account for and 
exhibit the vouchers, which will justify the expenditure of every dollar com- 
ing to our hands either by legislative appropriation, receipts for tuition or 
otherwise. 

CHAPTER 322, LAWS OF 1875. 

Section 1. In each of .the State normal schools the course of 
study shall enbrace instruction in industrial or free-hand drawing. 



State Normal Schools. 467 

Chap. 348. 

AN ACT concerning the grounds, buildings and property of the 
State provided for normal schools, the custody, protection and 
preservation of the same, and the powers of local boards in re- 
lation thereto. 

Passed May 20, 1880; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorh^ represented in Senate 
<ind Assembly^ do enact as follows: 

Section 1. The local boards of managers of the respective nor- 
mal schools in this State shall have the custody, keeping and 
management of the grounds and buildings provided or used for 
the purposes of such schools, respectively, and other property of 
the State pertaining thereto, with power to protect, preserve and 
improve the same. 

§ 2. Any willful trespass in or upon any of the buildings or 
grounds provided or used for the purposes of any of said normal 
schools or willful injury to any of said buildings or grounds, or 
any trees, fences, fixtures or other property thereon pertaining 
thereto, shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprison- 
ment, or either; and concurrently with the courts of record, 
justices of the peace, police justices and courts of special sessions, 
in the towns and cities where said schools are situated, shall have 
the same jurisdiction of said offenses as they have in other cases 
of misdemeanors within their jurisdiction. 

§~3. For the purpose of protecting and preserving such build- 
ings, grounds and other property, and preventing injui'ies thereto, 
and preserving order, preventing disturbances, and preserving the 
peace in such buildings and upon such grounds, the local boards 
of managers of each of said normal schools shall have power, by 
resolution or otherwit^e, to appoint, from time to tiuie, one or 
more special policemen, and the same to remove at ])leasure, who 
shall be police ofiicers, with the same powers as constables of the 
town or city where such school is located, whose duty it shall be 
to preserve order and prevent disturbances and breaches of the 
peace in and about the buildings, and on and about the grounds 
used for said school, or pertaining thereto, and protect and pre- 
serve the same from injury, and to arrest any and all persons 
making any loud or unusual noise, causing any disturbance, com- 
mitting any breach of the peace, or misdemeanor or any willful 
trespass upon such grounds, or in or upon said buildings, or any 
part thereof, and convey such person or persons so arrested, with 
a statement of the cause of the arrest, before a pi'oper magistrate 
to be dealt with according to law. 

§ 4. This act shall take efiect immediately. 



468 State Normal Schools. 

Chap. 116. 

AN ACT authorizing the boards of the State normal schools of 
this State to insure tiie buildings and. property belonging to 
said schools for the benefit of the State. 

Passed May 2, 1882; three-fiftlis being present. 

The People of the State of New Yorla^ represented in Senate 
and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. The local boards of the State normal schools of this 
State are each hereby authorized to insure and keep insured the 
normal scliool buildings connected with and belonging to said 
schools, at a risk not exceeding seventy-five thousand dollars, for 
the benefit of the State, and to pay for said insurance out of any 
money or moneys appropriated and set apart, from time to time, 
for the use and benefit of said schools by the State of New York. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 



SPECIAL ACTS. 

1. ALBANY. 

[Chap. 311.] 

AN ACT for tlie establishment of a normal school. 

Passed May 7. 1844. 

The People of the State of New York, revresented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as follows: 

Section 1. The treasurer shall pay on the warrant of the comptroller, to 
the order of the Superintendent of Common Schools, from that portion of the 
avails of the literature fund appropriated by chapter two hundred and forty- 
one of the Laws of one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, to the support 
of academical departments for the instruction of teachers of common schools, 
the sum of nine thousand six hundred dollars; which sum shall be expended 
under the direction of the Superintendent of Common Schools and the Regents 
of the University, in the establishment and support of a normal school for the 
instruction and practice of teachers of common schools in the science of edu- 
cation and in the art of teaching, to be located in the county of Albany. 

§ 2. The sum of ten thousand dollars shall, after the present year, be 
annually paid by the treasurer, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the 
Superintendent of Common Schools, from the revenue of the literature fund, 
for the maintenance and support of the school so established, for five years, 
and until otherwise directed by law. 

§ 3. The said school shall be under the supervision, management and gov- 
ernment of the Superintendent of Common Schools and the Regents of the 
University. The said Superintendent and regents shall, from time to time, 
make all needful rules and regulations, to fix the number and compensation 
of teachers and others to be employed therein; to prescribe the preliminary 
examination and the terms and conditions on which pupils shall be received and 



State Normal Schools. 469 

instructed therein; the number of pupils from the respective cities and counties, 
conforming as nearly as may be to the ratio of population; to fix the location 
of the said school, and the terms and conditions on which the grounds and 
buildings therefor shall be rented, if the same shall not be provided by the 
corporation of the city of Albany, aad to provide in all things for the good 
government and management of the said school. They shall appoint a board, 
consisting of five persons, of whom the Superintendent shall be one, who shall 
constitute an executive committee for the care, management and government 
of the said school under the rules and regulations prescribed as aforesaid, 
whose duty it shall be, from time to time, to make full and detailed reports to 
the State Superintendent and Regents, and among other things to recommend 
the rules and regulations which they deem necessary and proper for the said 
school. 

§ 4. The Superintendent and Regents shall annually transmit to the legisla- 
ture a full account of their proceedings and expenditures of money under this 
act, together with a detailed report by said executive committee of the pro- 
gress, condition and prospects of the school. 



The foregoing was the first provision made by law in this State for the 
establishment of any normal school. Though general in the sense of being 
for the benefit of the State, the school was located at Albany, and to promote 
uniformity in arrangement, the act is inserted here with other local acts relat- 
ing to normal schools. 

The act was regarded as experimental and for a term of five years only. 
At the expiration of the term, the institution, still at the time the only one 
in the State, was permanently established by the following act: 

[Chap. 318.] 
AN ACT for the permanent establishment of the normal school. 

Passed April 12, 1848 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as follows: 

Section 1. The treasurer shall pay, on the warrant of the comptroller, to 
the order of the State Superintendent of Common Schools, from the general 
fund, a sum not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, to be expended in the erec-, 
tion of a suitable building for the accommodation of the State normal school 
for the instruction and practice of teachers of common schools in the science 
of education and the art of teaching. 

§ 2. The said building shall be erected, under the direction of the executive 
committee of the school, upon the ground owned by the State, and lying in 
the rear of the geological rooms. 

§ 3. The said school shall be, as heretofore, under the supervision, manage- 
ment and government of the State Superintendent of Common Schools and 
the Regents of the University. The said Superintendent and Regents shall, 
from time to time, make all needful rules and regulations to fix the number 
and compensation of teachers and others to be employed therein; to prescribe 
the preliminary examination and the terms and conditions on which pupils 
shall be received and instructed therein, the number of pupils from the 
respective counties conforming as nearly as may be to the ratio of population; 
and to provide in all things for the good government and management of the 
said school. They shall appoint a board consisting of five persons, of whom 
the said Superintendent shall be one, who shall constitute an executive com- 
mittee for the care, management and government of said school, under the 
rules and regulations prescribed as aforesaid, whose duty it shall be, from 
time to time, to make full and detailed reports to the said Superintendent and 



470 State Normal Schools. 

Regents, and among other things, to recommend the rules and regulations 
which they deem necessary and proper for the said school. 

§ 4. The Superintendent and Regents shall annually transmit to the legisla- 
ture a full account of their proceedings, and of the expenditures of money 
under this and previous acts, together with a detailed report of the progress, 
condition and prospects of the school. 

2. BROCKPORT. 

[Chap. 21.] 

AN" ACT in relation to the establishment of a Normal and training school in the 
village of Brockport. 

Passed February 2, 1867; three-fifths being present. 

TJie People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows: 

Section 1. The trustees of the village of Brockport are hereby authorized 
to levy from time to time upon all the taxable property in said village, taxes, 
not exceeding in the aggregate the sum of fifty thousand dollars, in the same 
manner as other village taxes are levied, for the purpose of aiding in the 
establishment of a normal and training school in said village, and collect the 
same as other village taxes are collected, and to use and disburse the moneys 
thus obtained for the purpose above mentioned; and the said trustees shall 
have power, if they deem the same advisable, to borrow money on the credit 
of said village and issue bonds therefor, bearing interest at the rate of seven 
per cent per annum, the aggregate amount not to exceed fifty thousand dollars, 
which shall not be sold or disposed of at less than their par value, for the 
purchase of real estate and the assumption of any incumbrances thereon, and 
to make contracts and incur liabilities in their corporate capacity, for the pur- 
pose aforesaid ; but the aggregate of all such bonds, contracts and liabilities, 
together with the amount of taxes levied and collected under the provisions of 
this act, shall not exceed the sum of fifty thousand dollars. 

§ 2. The collector of said village shall execute such additional bond as the 
said trustees shall determine for the faithful discharge of his duties, in view 
of the increased responsibility arising under this act, and the treasurer of said 
village, or other person into whose custody or under whose control the said 
funds shall come, shall, before receiving the same, also in like manner give 
bonds for the faithful discharge of his duties. 

i$ 3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may, if in his opinion suit- 
able buildings and rooms are provided at the village of Brockport, for the 
accommodation of teachers and pupils of a normal school, open and put in 
operation immediately a normal and training school at said village, in pursu- 
ance of chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred 
and sixty-six; but such power and discretion shall cease on the first day of 
October, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight 

[Chap. 96. J 

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to the establishment of 
a normal and training school in the village of Brockport," passed February 
second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. 

Passed March 19, 1867; three-fifths being present. 

TJie People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows: 

Section 1. The first section of an act entitled "An act to amend an act 



State Normal Schools. 471 

eutitled 'An act iu relation to tlie establislimeut of a normal and training 
school in the village of Brockport,'" passed February second, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty-seven, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 

§ 1. The trustees of the village of Brockport, having made proposals to the 
commission appointed by chapter four hundred and sixty-six, of the Laws of 
eighteen hundred and sixty-six, for the establishment of a normal and train- 
ing school in the village of Brockport, in the county of Monroe, pursuant to 
said act, which proposals have been accepted by said commission, the said 
trustees of the village of Brockport are hereby authorized, directed and 
empowered to carry said proposals into effect, and raise the moneys necessary 
for that purpose; and to that end to levy and collect taxes from time to time 
as they shall deem necessary, and assess and cause the same to be assessed to 
and upon the persons and property subject to taxation in said village, but not 
exceeding the sum of fifty- thou sand dollars in the aggregate, and to make 
contracts and incur liabilities in their corporate capacity; and also, if in their 
judgment it shall be deemed expedient, to borrow money, for any time not 
exceeding ten years, on the credit of said village, and issue the corporate 
bonds therefor; and to issue such bonds for the purchase of real estate and the 
assumption of any incumbrances thereon, or for any liabilities incurred in 
their corporate capacity, for the aforesaid purpose; but such bonds shall not 
be disposed of at less than their par value; the rate of interest thereon shall 
not exceed seven per cent; and the aggregate of all such bonds and liabilities 
shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars. Whenever the said trustees shall 
levy any tax for any of the purposes aforesaid, the same shall be assessed and 
apportioned by them to and upon the persons and property subject to taxation 
in said village, according to the valuations of such property in the last com- 
pleted assessment-roll of said village, made prior to the levying of such tax, 
as the same shall be corrected and revised by such trustees; and they shall 
correct and revise the same, as near as may be, according to the facts as often 
as they shall levy any such tax. And all taxes levied and assessed under the 
provisions of this act shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes in 
said village; shall be a lien in the like cases and in like manner, and the trustees 
and collector for the time being shall respectively have all the powers in rela- 
tion thereto and for the collection of the same, which are given for the collec- 
tion of taxes by the act entitled "An act to condense and amend the several 
acts relating to the village of Brockport," passed April nine, eighteen hundred 
and fifty-two. 

[Chap. 571.] 

AN ACT to provide for raising money to aid in the establishment of a normal 
school at Brockport. 

Passed April 23, 1867; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as follows: 

Section 1. The supervisors of the county of Monroe are hereby authorized 
to appropriate moneys to aid in the establishment of a normal and training 
school at Brockport, in said county, and levy and collect the same by tax, in 
the same manner as other county taxes are levied and collected. 

§ 2. Any of the towns in said county, by a vote of a majority of the electors 
thereof present at any annual or special town meeting therein, duly called by 
the town board of said town for that purpose, may appropriate moneys to aid 
in the establishment of such normal and training school, and the same shall 
thereupon be added, by the supervisors of the county, to the tax of such town, 
for that year, or that and subsequent years, by installment, and collected in 
the same manner as other town taxes. 



472 State Normal Schools. 

3. BUFFALO. 
[Chap. 583.] 

AN ACT to amend the act entitled "An act in regard to normal schools, " 
passed April seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and providing for a 
normal and training school in the city of Buffalo, 

Passed April 23, 1867; three fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows: 

Section 1. The commissioners named in the first section of the act entitled 
" An act in regard to normal schools," passed April seventh, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty-six, and of which this act is an amendment, shall be and they 
are hereby authorized, in their discretion, to accept the proposals which were 
made to them under the provisions of the said act, for the location of a nor- 
mal and training school in the city of Buffalo; or any additional or other pro- 
posals which may be made in respect thereto; and, upon the acceptance of 
such proposals, all and every of the provisions of the said act shall apply to 
said normal and training school, and the location, establishment, conduct and 
maintenance thereof, and shall have full force and effect and respect thereto 
and to all matters connected therewith, in the same manner and with the like 
effect, as though the said proposals had been duly accepted according to and 
under the provisions of said act; and all acts, resolutions and proceedings of 
the common council of the city of Buffalo, and of the board of supervisors of 
the county of Erie, in respect to the location or establishment of a normal and 
training school in said city, are hereby confirmed and made effectual for the 
purposes intended, in the same manner, and with the like effect, as if a normal 
and training school had been duly located in said city by the acceptance of 
proposals therefor under the provisions of said act. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 

4. CORTLAND. 
[Chap. 199.J 

AN ACT in relation to raising moneys in the town of Cortlandyille, in the 
county of Cortland, for the purpose of aiding in the erection and furnishing 
of a normal school building in said town. 

Passed March 30, 1867; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows: 

Section 1. The electors of the town of Cortlandville, in the county of Cort- 
land, are hereby authorized to vote at the. next annual town meeting held 
therein, or at a special town meeting, called for the purpose, in the manner 
now provided by law for holding special town meetings, on the question of 
raising money not exceeding fifty thousand dollars in amount), by assessing 
the real and personal property of the inhabitants of said town, by the board 
of supervisors of the county of Cortland, to aid in the erection and furnishing 
of a normal school building in said town of Cortlandville, as located by the 
commissioners, under chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of eigh- 
teen hundred and sixty-six, 

^ 2. The board of supervisors of the county of Cortland are hereby directed 
and required to levy and collect upon the taxable property of said town of 
Cortlandville, in the manner provided by law for the collection of taxes, the 
sum which shall have been voted to be raised by the electors of said town 
under the first section of this act, which sum shall be so levied and collected 



State Normal Schools. 473 

in sucli installments and at sucli times as shall be determined upon by the 
electors of said town, at said annual or special town meeting, to be expressed 
by a resolution passed at such meeting. 

' § 3. The supervisor of the town of Cortlandville is hereby directed and 
required to procure suitable blanks, and to issue the bonds of said town, signed 
by the supervisor thereof, with interest coupons attached, in the form to be 
adopted by him, for the sum which shall have been voted as aforesaid to be 
raised, bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent ber annum, from the date 
thereof, such bonds to be issued in separate sums and payable at such times 
as shall be determined upon by the electors of said town, by a resolution passed 
at the town meeting aforesaid. 

§ 4. The taxes in this act directed to be levied and collected shall be paid to 
the treasurer of the corporation of Cortland village and by him be applied to 
the payment of the bonds of said town, herein directed to be issued, and the 
interest thereon, as the same shall become due and payable, 

§ 5. The supervisors of said town shall deliver the bonds to be issued as 
aforesaid, to the board of trustees of Cortland village aforesaid, to be by 
them used and negotiated at not less than the par value thereof, and the avails 
applied by them toward the erection of said normal school building, and to 
supply the same with the necessary apparatus, books and furniture, and which 
trustees shall give security to be approved by the county judge, for the faith- 
ful application of the avails of said bonds, pursuant to this act. 

§ 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 

5. FREDONIA. 
[Chap. 233.] 

AN ACT in relation to the establishment of a normal and training school in 
the village of Fredonia, Chautauqua county. 

PA.SSED March 30, 1867; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of Nelo York, represented in Senate a.nd Assembly, 
do enact as follows: 

Section 1. The trustees of the village of Fredonia are hereby authorized to 
assess and collect from time to time, upon all the taxable property in said 
village, taxes not exceeding in the aggregate one hundred thousand dollars, in 
the same manner as other village taxes are assessed and collected, for the pur- 
pose of establishing a normal and training school in said village, and to use 
and disburse the money thus obtained for the purpose above mentioned; and 
the trustees shall have power, if they deem the same advisable, to borrow 
money on the credit of said village, and issue bonds therefor, bearing interest 
at the rate of seven per cent per annum, the aggregate amount not to exceed 
one hundred thousand dollars, and which shall not be sold for less than their 
par value, for the purchase and improvement of the site, and for erecting 
school buildings thereon for said normal and training school, with departments 
for academical, experimental and practicing schools, and for furnishing the 
same with all needful school furniture, apparatus and books, and to make con- 
tracts and incur liabilities in their corporate capacity, for the purposes afore- 
said. But the aggregate of all such bonds, contracts and liabilities, together 
with the amount of taxes assessed and collected under the provisions of this 
act, shall not exceed the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. 

^ 2. The collector of said village shall execute such additional bonds as the 
said trustees shall approve, and in a sum of double the amount, to be collected 
in any one year, for the faithful discharge of his duties in view of the increased 
responsibility arising under this act. And the treasurer of said village, or other 
person into whose custody, or under whose control, the said funds shall come, 
shall, before receiving the same, in like manner and amount, give bonds for 
the faithful performance of his duties. 

60 



474 State Xormal Schools. 

i^ 3. The Superiuteudent of Public Instruction may, if in bis opinion suitable 
buildings and rooms are i)rovided at the village of Fredonia, for the accommo- 
dation of teachers and pupils of a normal school, prior to the completion of the 
buildings aforesaid, open and put in operation at any time a normal and train- 
ing school at said village, in pursuance of chapter four hundred and sixty-six, 
of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and for this purpose he may 
appoint the local board to take charge of such school, provided for in said act, 
at any time. 

^ 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 



6. GEXESEO. 
[Chap. 195. J 

AN ACT in relation to the establishment of a normal and training school in 
the village of Geneseo, to be called "the Wadsworth normal and training 
school." 

Passed March 29, 1867; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as folloics : 

Section 1. The electors of the town of Geneseo, in the county of Livingston, 
are hereby authorized to vote, at the next annual towm meeting held therein, 
or at a special town meeting called for the purpose, in the manner now pjo- 
vided by law for holding special town meetings, on the question of raising 
money (not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars), by assessing the real and 
personal property of the inhabitants of said town, by the board of supervisors 
of said county, to aid in the erection and furnishing of normal and training 
school building or buildings, in said town of Geneseo, to be called " the Wads- 
worth normal and training school," and the supervisor of the town of Geneseo 
is hereby authorized to borrow money on the credit of said town, and issue 
bonds for such sums as shall have been voted to be raised, bearing interest at 
the rate of seven per cent per annum, payable annually, the aggregate amount 
of said bonds not to exceed the sum which shall have been so voted, and which 
shall not be sold or disposed of at less than their par value, which said bonds 
shall become due and payable in ten equal annual installments, the last of said 
installments to become so due and payable within ten years after the passage 
of this act. 

§ 2. It shall be the duty of the board of tovrn auditors of the town of Geneseo, 
at their annual meeting in the fall of each year, to include in their certificate 
of their town audit, the same as any other town charge or liability, so much 
of the sum which shall have been so voted and interest thereon, as shall become 
due within one year next thereafter; and the same shall be levied by the board 
of supervisors of said county, upon the taxable property of said town and col- 
lected in the same manner as other town expenses. 

i^ 3. It shall be the duty of the supervisor o"f the said town of Geneseo, before 
doing any act hereby authorized, to execute his bond with one or more sureties, 
to be approved by the county clerk and filed with him, conditioned for the 
faithful discharge of his duties in relation to said moneys so raised for such 
normal and training school, and that he will pay the same over to the person 
or persons legally entitled thereto, and duly account for the same as for other 
town moneys received by him as supervisor. 

i^ 4. TheSuperintendent of Public Instruction may, if in his opinion suitable 
teniporary buildings and rooms are provided in the village of Geneseo for the 
accommodation of teachers and pupils of a normal school, put in operation a 
normal and training school in such temporary building in said village, to be 
called •' the Wadsworth normal and training school," and for such purpose he 
may appoint a local supervising board for such school, who shall have all the 



State Nokmal Schools. 475 

powers and be subject to the same restrictions as the local boards appointed for 
the normal schools located by chapter four hundred and sixty- six of the Laws 
of eighteen hundred and sixty-six. 

§ 0. This act shall be taken and construed as locating and authorizing the 
establishment of a normal and training school at the village of Geueseo, to be 
called "the Wadsworth normal and training school," which school shall have 
all the rights, appropriations of money and privileges of either of the normal 
and training schools authorized by chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the 
Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and to be subject to the same control 
and supervision, rules and regulations; and the provisions of said chapter four 
hundred and sixty-six, so far as the same are consistent with this act, and the 
provisions thereof, are hereby applied to the normal and training school hereby 
authorized and located, 

§ 6. The following three persons, namely, Craig W. Wadsworth, John Ror- 
bach and Lockwood L. Doty, are hereby constituted and appointed a commis- 
sion, and are hereby authorized to locate and procure the site for, and to procure 
to be erected and furnish the buildings, fixtures and appurtenances necessary 
and proper for such normal and training school, and said commissioners, or a 
majority of them, are hereby authorized to give and make, or cause to be given 
and made, any and all necessary transfer of property to the State for the use 
and benefit of such normal and training school, which may be required bylaw; 
and upon their order, or upon the order of a majority of said commission, the 
said supervisor is hereby authorized and required to pay over the moneys which 
he may liave received for the purposes of such normal and training school. 

>^ 7. The board of supervisors of the county of Livingston are hereby author- 
ized, by resolution or otherwise, to cause to be raised, levied and collected upon 
the taxable property of such county, such sum or sums of money, not exceed- 
ing one hundred thousand dollars, as such board may deem proper, to aid in 
paying the necessary charges and expenses incurred in the establishment of 
such normal and training school at Geneseo. 

§ 8. This act shall take effect immediately. 

7. NEWPALTZ. 
Chap. 287, Laws of 1885.] 

Passed May 20, 1885. 

Section 1. The commissioners named in section one of chapter four hun- 
dred and sixty-six of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled 
'•An act in regard to normal schools," are hereby authorized and empowered 
to accept proposals made to them under the provisions of the said act for the 
location of a normal and training school wdth an academic department, in the 
village of New Paltz, in the county of Ulster; and upon the acceptance of 
such proposals, all and every of the provisions of the said act shall apply to 
said normal and training school, and the location, establishment, conduct and 
maintenance thereof, and shall have full force and effect in respect thereto and 
to all matters connected therewith, in the same manner and with the like 
effect as though the said proposals had been duly accepted according to and 
under the provisions of said act; and all acts, resolutions and proceedings of 
the board of trustees of the New Paltz academy, in respect to the location or 
establishment of a normal and training school at New Paltz, in the county of 
LTlster, are hereby confirmed and made effectual for the purposes intended, in 
the same manner and with the like effect as if a normal and training school 
had been duly located there by the acceptance of proposals therefor under the 
provisions of said act. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 



476 State Normal Schools. 

8. OSWEGO. 

[Chap. 418.] 

AN ACT for the support of a training school for primary teachers. 

Passed May 4, 1863 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Ansemhly, do 
enact as follows: 

Section 1. The treasurer shall pay annually, for two years, on the warrant 
of the comptroller, to the order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
the sum of three thousand dollars for the support of a training school, in the 
city of Oswego, for the preparation of primary teachers for the common schools 
of this State; provided that the citizens or the board of education in said city 
shall, within one year from the passage of this act, provide the necessary 
buildings, grounds, and other accommodations and appliances for such school, 
as directed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and provided, further, 
that there shall be instruction in said school, for a period of at least forty 
weeks in each year, not less than fifty teachers designing to teach in the com- 
mon schools of this State; and provided, further, that each of the several 
senatorial districts of this State shall respectively be entitled to send annually to 
said training school two first-class teachers, each to be appointed by the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, after they have been duly recommended 
by two county school commissioners or by a city superintendent of schools, 
residing in the district for which the appointment is to be made; and all teach- 
ers thus appointed to said training school may receive instruction and training 
in every thing that is taught in said school, free of charge for tuition. 

§ 2. The said school shall be subject to the supervision and general direction 
of '^the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and the board of education of 
the city of Oswego and the secretary of said board shall constitute an execu- 
tive committee for the immediate care, management and government of said 
school, with power to make all needful and proper rules and regulations con- 
cerning the same, subject to the approval of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction. 

^ 3. The executive committee, as above constituted, shall annually transmit 
to the legislature, through the Superintendent of Public Instruction, a report 
of their transactions under this act, including a statement in detail of the 
expenditure of all moneys, together with a statement of the progress and 
prospects of the school, which report shall first be approved by the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction. 

§ 4, The first year of said school shall be deemed to commence on the day 
which the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall certify to the comptroller 
as the day on which the requirements of the first section of this act, relative 
to providing the buildings and other appliances for the school, shall have been 
complied with. 

§ 5. If less than fifty teachers are instructed in said school, as provided in 
the first section of this act, there shall be paid only a corresponding portion of 
the sum appropriated by this act. 

§ 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 



State Normal Schools. 477 

[Chap. 445.] 

AN ACT to amend "An act for tlie support of a training school for primary 
teachers," passed May fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three. 

Passed April 14, 1865; three fifths being present. 

T?ie People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as follows: 

Section 1. Section one of chapter four hundred and eighteen of the Laws 
of eighteen hundred and sixty-three, entitled "An act for the support of a 
training school for primary teachers," is hereby amended so as to read as 
follows: 

§ 1. The treasurer shall pay annually for two years, except as hereinafter 
provided, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the order of the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, the sum of six thousand dollars for the support of a 
normal school in the city of Oswego, for the preparation of teachers for the 
common schools in this State, provided that the citizens, or the board of edu- 
cation in said city, shall, vrithin one year from the passage of this act, provide 
the necessary buildings, grounds and other accommodations for such school, 
as shall be directed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and pro- 
vided, further, that each of the several counties shall respectively be entitled 
to send annually to said school as many pupil teachers as it has representa- 
tives in the assembly, each to be appointed by the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, on the recommendation of the school commissioner or commis- 
sioners of such county, or on the recommendation of the city superintendent 
of schools and such commissioners (in counties in which there is a city), or on 
the recommendation of the city superintendent of schools of the city of New 
York. The times and places of selecting candidates for such recommendation 
shall be prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and all pupil 
teachers thus recommended and appointed to said school shall receive instruc- 
tion in all the branches which shall be taught therein free of charge for 
tuition. 

§ 2. The fifth section of said act is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 

^ 5. If the said school officers of any county shall fail to nominate candi- 
dates for admission to said school, or if candidates duly recommended and 
appointed shall fail to attend said school, then the said Superintendent may 
appoint pupil teachers of other counties to fill such vacancies, and such 
appointees shall be entitled to all the privileges of the school free of charge 
for tuition. 

[Chap. 170.] 

AN ACT in regard to the normal and training school of the city of Oswego. 
Passed March 27, 1867; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as follows: 

Section 1. The normal school building, with the grounds and appurtenances 
in the city of Oswego, are hereby accepted as the necessary buildings, 
grounds and other accommodations within the requirements of the act passed 
April fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, entitled ' ' An act to amend 
an act for the support of a training school for primary teachers," passed May 
fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three. And the common council of the 
city of Oswego may, on or before the first day of May, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-seven, convey to the State of New York the said buildings with the 
grounds, apparatus, books, furniture and appurtenances now occupied and 
used by the normal and training school, to hold, use, occupy and possess the 
same, while they shall be used for the purposes of such school. And such 
conveyance shall be deemed a full compliance with the requirements of the 
act first aforesaid. 



478 State Normal Schools. 

§ 2. The said normal and training school of the city of Oswego shall there- 
upon be fully admitted to like privileges and appropriations with the normal 
schools created by the act entitled " An act in regard to normal schools," 
passed April seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty -six, and the provisions of 
said last named act, after that requiring the acceptance by the commissioners 
therein specified, shall apply to the said normal school of the city of Oswego. 

9. ONEOXTA. 
[Chap. 374.] 

AN ACT to establish a normal and training school, with an academic depart- 
ment, at the village of Oneonta, in the county of Otsego, and to make an 
appropriation therefor. 

Passed May 18, 1887; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

Section 1. There shall be established at the village of Oneonta, in the 
county of Otsego, a normal and training school with an academic department; 
provided, however, and upon condition that within one year from the passage 
of this act one or more persons shall convey to the State a suitable site in said 
village for said institution, to be approved and accepted by the commissioners 
named in section one of chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of 
eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled " An act in regard to normal schools." 

§ 2. Upon the acceptance of such conveyance, the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction shall appoint a local board of managers, for such school consisting 
of not less than three persons, who shall have the powers of, and respectively, 
hold their offices as now provided by law for such boards, and all and every 
of the provisions of chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of eighteen 
hundred and sixty-six, not inconsistent with this act, shall apply to said nor- 
mal and training school, and the location, establishment, conduct and man- 
agement thereof, and shall have full force and effect in respect thereto, and to 
all matters connected therewith, in the same manner and with the like effect 
as though said normal and training school had been established under the pro- 
visions of that act. Into the academic department of said normal and training 
school there shall be admitted only such pupils as pay reasonable tuitiou fees 
and are resident in the town of Oneonta. 

§ 3. Upon the appointment of such board of managers there shall be erected 
upon such site suitable buildings for such normal and training school and 
academic department, under the direction of the board of managers, upon 
plans, contract and security, to be approved by the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction and Comptroller and at an expense not to exceed forty-five thou- 
sand dollars, which shall complete the same, and said sum of forty-five thou- 
sand dollars is hereby appropriated for that purpose, 

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

10. POTSDAM. 
[Chap. 6. J 

AX ACT in relation to the normal school located at Potsdam, in the county of 
St. Lawrence, pursuant to chapter four hundred and sixty-.^ix. Laws of 
eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and to levy taxes for the purposes thereof. 

Passed January 23, 1867; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented ia Senate and AssemUy, 
do enact as follows : 

Section 1. The board of supervisors of the county of St. Lawrence is hereby 
directed and required to levy and collect, upon the taxable property of said 



State Normal Schools. 479 

county, in the manner provided by law for the collection of taxes, the sum of 
twenty-five thousand dollars, together with interest, at seven per cent per 
annum, as hereinafter provided, to be so levied and collected in five equal 
annual installments; the first installment, with interest on the full sum re- 
maining unpaid, to be included in the tax for the present year, and one of the 
remaining installments, with interest as aforesaid, to be included in the tax 
for each and every year thereafter until the full sum of twenty -five thousand 
dollars, with interest as aforesaid, is levied and collected, the said moneys to 
be expended as hereinafter provided. 

§ 2. And the said board of supervisors are hereby directed and required to 
levy and collect, upon the taxable property of the town of Potsdam, in the 
manner provided by law for the collection of taxes, the sum of thirty-five 
thousand dollars together with interest, at seven per centum per annum, as 
hereinafter provided to be so levied and collected, in five equal annual install- 
ments, the first installment, with interest on the full sum remaining unpaid, 
to be included in the tax for the present year, and one of the remaining install- 
ments, with interest as aforesaid, to be included in the tax for each and every 
year thereafter until the full sum of thirty- five thousand dollars, with inter- 
est as aforesaid, is levied and collected, the moneys to be expended as here- 
inafter provided. 

§ 8. The board of trustees of the village of Potsdam are hereby directed and 
required to levy and collect upon the taxable property of said village, in the 
manner provided by law for the collection of taxes therein, the sum of ten 
thousand dollars, together with interest, at seven per centum per annum, as 
hereinafter provided, to be so levied and collected in five equal annual install- 
ments; the first installment, with interest on the full sum remaining unpaid, 
to be included in the tax in said village for the present year, and one of the 
remaining installments, with interest as aforesaid, to be included in the tax 
therein for each and every year thereafter, until the full sum of ten thousand 
dollars, with interest, as aforesaid, is levied and collected, the said moneys to 
be expended as hereafter provided. 

§ 4. The said moneys so to be levied and collected upon said county, town and 
Tillage, or so much thereof as shall be necessary for that purpose, shall be 
expended to prepare a site and to provide suitable buildings, to furnish 
apparatus, books and furniture, for the normal and training school for the 
education and discipline of the common school teachers of this State, said 
buildings to be located upon the land and premises situated in the village of 
Potsdam, described in the proposition of the trustees of St. Lawrence academy, 
accepted by the commission appointed by chapter four hundred and sixty-six. 
Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "An act in regard to nor- 
mal schools." 

§ 5. Bloomfield Usher, T. Stratfield Clarkson, 2d, Hiram H. Peck, Henry 
Watkins, Erasmus D. Brooks and Charles Cox, are hereby appointed a com- 
mission to prepare and improve the said lauds and premises; and provide suit- 
able buildings thereon, and to furnish proper apparatus, books and furniture 
for the said normal and training school at Potsdam, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Such commission shall 
have power to appoint from their number a chairman, secretary and treasurer 
of said commission, and in the absence of any officer of such commission, 
another member may be appointed, pro tempore, to fill his place and perform 
his duty, and such commission may appoint such committee, and establish, 
and, from time to time, alter and amend such rules and regulations f(U' its 
government, in the discharge of its duties, as it shall deem best. In case of 
the death, refusal to act, resignation, or removal from the county of St. Law 
rence, of any member of such commission his successor shall be appointed 
by a majority of the remaining members of such commission. The Governor 
of the State may accept the resignation of any member of said commission 
upon the recommendation of a majority of said commission, for good and 
sufficient cause. Before entering upon the discharge of their duties, the mem- 
bers of said commission hereby appointed, or a majority of them, shall unite 



480 State Formal Schools. 

in joint and several bonds, with sufficient sureties to be approved by the 
county judge of St, Lawrence county, one of said bonds to the board of super- 
visors of St. Lawrence county, in the penal sum of twenty-five thousand 
dollars; one of said bonds to the town of Potsdam, in the penal sum of thirty- 
five thousand dollars; one of said bonds to the "village of Potsdam," in tlie 
penal sum of ten thousand dollars; each bond conditioned that each and every 
of the said commissioners so executing the said bond, and each and every of 
their successors to be appointed pursuant to this act, shall in all things faith- 
fully discharge his duties, and faithfully account for all moneys and sureties 
received by him as such commissioner. Upon filing the said bond to the 
county of St, Lawrence with the treasurer of said county, and upon filing the 
said bond to the town of Potsdam with the town clerk of said town, and upon 
filing the said bond to the village of Potsdam with the clerk of the board 
of trustees of said village, the said commissioners so uniting in said bonds 
shall be duly qualified to act as such commissioners, and, in case a ma- 
jority of the persons h(^rein named shall so qualify, they shall constitute 
such commission, and shall proceed to appoint other commissioners in the 
place and stead of those herein named, who shall not have united in said bonds. 
The obligors upon said bonds respectively shall be liable for the acts and 
omissions of each and every of the commissioners appointed, or who may be 
appointed, pursuant to this act. And the said commission, before making 
an appointment of any commissioner, may require of him such security for 
the faithful performance of his duty as it may deem proper. The said commission 
shall be known as the commission to aid in the establishment of a normal and 
training school at Potsdam, and, as such, may enter into contracts, take security 
from members to be appointed by it, and sue and be sued in the courts of this 
State; and executions maybe issued upon any judgment obtained against such 
commission, against the property of any or all of the persons constituting such 
commission, or who may have constituted such commission, leave to that effect 
being first obtained from the court in which such judgment was rendered, 

§ 6. The treasurer of the county of St. Lawrence is hereby directed and 
required to procure suitable blanks, and the said treasurer, and the chairman 
of the board of supervisors of said county, or in case of a vacancy in said chair- 
manship, then the said treasurer and the county judge of said county, are 
hereby directed and required to issue the bonds of said county, with interest 
coupons attached, in the form to be adopted by the said treasurer and chairman, 
or, in case of a vacancy in the said chairmanship, then by the said treasurer and 
the said county judge, for the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, the same 
to bear interest at seven per centum per annum from date, such bonds for one- 
fifth of said last-mentioned sum to be payable with interest on the first day of 
March, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and one-fifth of said sum of twenty- 
five thousand dollars to be payable on the first day of March, each year there- 
after, until the full sum is paid; all of said bonds, except those due on the first 
day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, to bear coupons for annual 
interest except for the interest falling due when such bonds are payable, to be 
payable on the first day of March each year. 

^ 7. The town clerk of the town of Potsdam is hereby directed and required 
to procure suitable blanks, and the supervisor and town clerk of said town are 
hereby directed and required to issue the bonds of said town, with interest 
coupons attached in the form to be adopted by them, for the sum of thirty -five 
thousand dollars, the same to bear interest at seven per centum per annum from 
date; such bonds for one-fifth of such last-mentioned sum, to be payable with 
interest on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and one- 
fifth of the said thirty-five thousand dollars to be payable on the first day of 
January each year thereafter, until the full sum is paid. All of said bonds, 
except those due on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, 
^o bear coupons for annual interest, except for the interest falling due when 
such bonds are payable, to be payable on the first day of January each year. 

§ 8. The president of the board of trustees of the village of Potsdam is 
hereby directed and required to procure suitable blanks, and the president and 



State Formal Schools. 481 

clerk of said board of trustees are hereby directed and required to issue the 
bonds of said village of Potsdam, with interest coupons attached, in the form 
to be adopted by them, for the sum of eight thousand dollars, the same to bear 
interest at seven per centum per annum from date, said bonds for one-fourth of 
said sum of eight thousand dollars, to be payable with interest on the first day 
of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and one-fourth of said sum of 
eight thousand dollars to be payable on the first day of April each year there- 
after, until the full sum is paid; all of said bonds to bear coupons for annual 
interest, except for the interest falling due when such bonds are payable, to 
be payable on the first day of April each year. 

§ 9. The said taxes in this act directed to be levied and collected upon the 
county of St. Lawrence shall be paid to the treasurer of said county, and applied 
by him to the payment of the bonds of said county herein directed to be issued, 
and the interest thereon, as the same shall become due and payable; and the 
said taxes in this act directed to be levied and collected upon the town of Pots- 
dam shall be paid to the supervisor of said town, and by him be applied to the 
payment of the bonds of said town herein directed to be issued, and the interest 
thereon, as the same shall become due and payable; and the said taxes in this 
act directed to be levied and collected upon the village of Potsdam shall be 
paid to the treasurer of said village; and the tax for the present year shall be 
paid by said treasurer to the said commission, after the members thereof have 
qualified as herein directed; and the remainder of said tax shall, each year, be 
paid to said treasurer, and by him be applied to the payment of the bonds of 
said village herein directed to be issued, and the interest thereon, as the same 
shall become due and payable. And immediately after the commission con- 
stituted by this act shall have qualified as herein provided, the said county, 
town and village authorities herein directed to issue bonds in behalf of said 
county, town and village, shall respectively deliver the said bonds so to be 
issued as aforesaid, to the said commission herein constituted; to be, by the 
said commission, used and negotiated at not less than the par value thereof, 
and the avails thereof applied by the said commission to prepare and improve 
the said land and premises, described in the said proposition of the board of 
trustees of St. Lawrence academy, to the said commission constituted by the 
said act, entitled an act in regard to normal schools, to provide thereon suitable 
buildings and to furnish apparatus, books, and furniture for one of said normal 
schools at Potsdam; provided that no building shall be repaired or erected upon 
said land and premises until the Attorney-General of this State shall certify in 
writing to such commission, that the use of the said lands and premises, and 
the buildings and erections thereon, so long as the same shall be used for the 
purpose of a normal and training school, as contemplated by the said act, in 
regard to normal schools, has been properly secured to this State, all which 
the Attorney-General of this State is hereby required to certify in writing, to 
the commission constituted by this act, when such use of such lands and 
premises has been properly secured to this State, according to the true intent 
and meaning of this act. In preparing and improving the said lands and 
premises, and providing such buildings, the said commission may tear down, 
remove, repair, reconstruct, or rebuild any structure or building now on the 
said premises, and use the materials of which any of such buildings are com- 
posed in the construction of other buildings upon said lands and premises; and 
they may also incorporate any of the buildings upon said lands and premises 
in additional buildings to be constructed thereon; and the said commission shall 
pay, to be applied upon the purchase-money of the property included in said 
proposition of the board of trustees of St. Lawrence academy, and known as 
the Presbyterian church property, such sum, not exceeding ten thousand dol- 
lars, as the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall certify the said materials 
and buildings upon said premises to be worth, to be used in providing the 
aforesaid buildings. The plans and specifications for the said buildings shall 
be approved by the said commission constituted by chapter four hundred and 
sixty-six. Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six. The commission constituted 
by this act shall proceed diligently in the discharge of their duties, under this 

61 



482 State Normal Schools. 

act, and when tlie said buildings and the furniture, apparatus and books, pro- 
vided for by this act, have been accepted by said commission, so appointed hy 
said chapter four hundred and sixty-six. Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- 
six, as provided by said act, or within two years after the passage of this act, 
the said commission hereby constituted shall account to the board of super- 
visors of said county for the moneys and securities received from the county of 
St. Lawrence, which board, upon such accounting, shall have power, upon 
examination of the accounts of such commission, to approve of the same and 
discharge the said commission from further liability, upon their said bond to 
said county. And said commission shall account to the board of town audit, of 
the town of Potsdam, for the moneys and securities received from the town of 
Potsdam, which board, upon such accounting, shall have power to approve of 
the account so to be rendered, and discharge said commission from further 
liability, upon their said bond to said town. And said commission shall account 
to the board of trustees of the village of Potsdam for the moneys and securi- 
ties received from said village, which board of trustees, upon such accounting, 
shall have power to approve of the account so to be rendered, and discharge 
such commission from further liability, upon their said bond to said village. 

^ 10. The amount in this act provided to be paid by the said county, town 
and village, for the purposes in this act declared, shall apply on the amount 
that shall be paid by the said county in satisfaction of the proposition made by 
said board of supervisors of said county to the said commission constituted by 
said act in regard to normal schools, by resolution of said board of supervisors, 
dated December eighteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the amount 
that shall be paid by the said town and village of Potsdam, shall apply upon 
and toward the satisfaction of the proposition of the board of trustees of said 
village to said commission constituted by said act in regard to normal schools. 

§ 11. Authority is hereby given to the board of supervisors of the county of 
St. Lawrence, at any annual meeting thereof, to repay to the town of Potsdam 
such portion of the tax hereby imposed upon said town as such board of super- 
visors shall determine to be j ust and proper. And in case the moneys to be 
raised as in this act provided shall be insufficient to complete such buildings 
and furnish such apparatus, books and furniture as herein intended, the said 
board of supervisors, to supply such deficiency, may raise upon said county and 
pay over to the commission by this act created a further sum, not exceeding ten 
thousand dollars; and for such purpose said board of supervisors may levy and 
collect a tax upon said county, and issue county bonds representing the same, 
as said board may determine necessary to carry out the powers in this section 
given. 

^ 12. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may, if, in his opinion, suita- 
ble buildings and rooms are provided at the village of Potsdam for the accom- 
modation of teachers and pupils of a normal school, immediately after the 
commission by this act created shall have become duly qualified, open and put 
in operation a normal and training school at said village, in pursuance of this 
act, and of chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the Laws of eighteen hundred 
and sixtv-six. 



AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NAT- 
URAL HISTORY. 



Chap. 4:28. 

AN ACT to provide for a course of free instruction in natural history, and 
making' an appropriation for tlie support thereof. 

Passed May 20, 1886; three-fifths being present; without the approval of the 

governor. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as follows: 

Section 1. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is hereby author- 
ized and empowered to make and enter into an agreement with the American 
Museum of Natural History in the city of New York, for a term not to exceed 
two years, to supply, furnish and maintain in connection with said museum a 
course of free instruction to be given and illustrated by the curators of said 
museum, on human and comparative anatomy, physiology, zoology, physical 
geography, and such other subjects as the said Superintendent of Public 
Instruction may require, to the teachers of the common schools, the normal 
schools of the State, the normal college of the city of New York, and the 
training school for teachers in the city of Brooklyn, who may desire to avail 
themselves of this training, and to provide for at least one lecture every year 
during the term of said agreement, to be delivered on one or more of said sub- 
jects at each of the several normal schools of the State, the normal college of 
the city of New York and the training school for teachers in the city of Brook- 
lyn, and to supply to the said normal schools and said normal college and 
training school, and to the public schools of the city of New York and Brook- 
lyn, and to any common school, on the application of its trustees, all such 
appliances, plates and apparatus as may be necessary for the proper presenta- 
tion to their teachers and pupils of this institution, 

§ 2. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is hereby authorized 
also to make and enter into a contract with said museum for repeating the 
aforesaid information to artisans, mechanics and other citizens, when a lecture 
hall capable of seating at least one thousand persons, and other necessary 
rooms shall have been erected by said city as an extension of the building now 
in possession of said museum. 

§ 3. The sum of eighteen thousand dollars is hereby appropriated for the 
support and maintenance of said course of free instruction for the fiscal year 
beginning on the first day of October, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and 
said sum of eighteen thousand dollars shall be appropriated annually for the 
support and maintenance of said course of free instruction during the term of 
said agreement. 

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 



484 American Museum of Natural History. 



CONTRACT BETWEEN THE STATE AND MUSEUM. 

Memorandum of an agreement made and entered into this SOtli day of June, 
1886, between Andrew S. Draper, as Superintendent of Public Instruction of 
the State of New York (pursuant to the authority conferred upon him so to do, 
by chapter 428 of the Laws of 1886) party of the first part, and the American 
Museum of Natural History in the city of New York, party of the second 
part. 

The said American Museum of Natural History agrees to furnish each year, 
for two years, beginning on the 1st day of October, 1886, illustrated instruc- 
tion to be given and illustrated by the curators of said museum, on human and 
comparative anatomy, physiology, zoology, physical geography and such other 
subjects as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may require, as follows, 
viz.: First: Not less than twenty lectures at the hall connected with the 
museum, on Saturday mornings between said dates, to the teachers of the 
common schools of the city of New York and vicinity. Second: Not less than 
ten lectures at the same place to teachers' institutes or associations or any body 
of common school teachers from outside the city of New York who will apply 
for the same and will visit the museum for that purpose. Third: Not less 
than twelve lectures at the same place, but in the evening, to artisans, 
mechanics and other citizens. 

It is also agreed by said museum, that one of its curators, with such assist- 
ants as he shall require, shall, as soon as practicable after the 1st day of 
October, 1886, and also as soon as practicable after the 1st day of October, 1887, 
visit each of the normal schools at Albany, Erockport, Buffalo, Cortland, 
Fredonia, Geneseo, Oswego, Potsdam and New Paltz, and the normal college 
of the city of New York, and the training school for teachers, in the city of 
Brooklyn, and lecture once upon such subject in the course as shall be selected 
by the principal of the school visited, and at the same time, see to it that the 
apparatus previously forwarded to each of said schools is in perfect working 
order, and if not so in any case, he shall direct the principal about the neces- 
sary repairs for making it so, and he shall give the several principals of said 
schools full instructions in relation to the apparatus in their charge in order to 
enable them to readily use the same in illustrating such printed copies of the 
lectures delivered at the museum as shall be forwarded to them. And it is 
further agreed that if said apparatus should at any time become incapable of 
use, or should any institution having the same be unable to operate it effec- 
tually, that said party of the second part shall send a duly qualified person to 
put the same in order, or to instruct such institution in the use thereof. 

It is understood that said museum shall provide all the help and accommo- 
dations requisite for carrying out the aforesaid undertakings such as the ser- 
vices of a photographer and assistants; the use of the hall at the museum, and 
the cost of lighting, warming and putting and keeping the same in order for 
such lectures; the use of the elevator in said building, and the free use of the 
natural history collections belonging to said museum for illustrating said 
lectures; and that the State of New York shall be liable to no expense for or 
on account of the services of persons and suitable accommodations for said 
lectures beyond the sum hereinafter agreed to be paid therefor, except that the 
traveling expenses and hotel bills of persons visiting the normal schools, as 
hereinbefore provided, shall, be paid by the State iipon bills to be presented 
to and audited by the said Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

In consideration of the foregoing agreements, the said Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, for and on behalf of the State of New York, agrees that 
said State will, upon the performance of said agreements by the party of the 
second part, to the satisfaction of said Superintendent, pay each year of said 
two years covered by this agreement, to the said American Museum of Natural 
History, the sum of eight thousand dollars (|8,000) in equal monthly install- 
ments at the end of each month of the period covered by the terms of this 
agreement. 



American" Museum of Natural History. 485 

It is further agreed that said American Museum of Natural History shall, 
from time to time, with the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, make or purchase additional apparatus, books and appliances for use in 
giving said instruction at said museum or at the State normal schools, or the 
Normal College in the city of New York, or the Training School for Teachers in 
the city of Brooklyn, or for distribution among the common schools of the 
city of New York, and with such approval, may likewise take or purchase 
photographic views of natural scenes or objects and reproduce the same in 
convenient form, or may purchase the same after having been so reproduced, 
for use and distribution to the foregoing named institutions for the purposes 
aforesaid, and may cause stenographic reports of the lectures so delivered at 
said museum to be made and printed and distributed to the institutions here- 
inbefore named or otherwise as may be directed by said Superintendent. All 
apparatus, books, appliances or views so purchased or produced, and the cost 
of all such stenographic reports and printing, shall be paid for by the State of 
New York at the actual cost of purchase or production, upon bills and sub- 
vouchers to be presented to and audited by said Superintendent of Public 
Instruction and shall become the property of the State of New York. 

It is agreed by said Museum that all property of the State in its immediate 
custody shall be properly cared for and shall be at all times subject to the 
order and direction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and that cor- 
rect inventories thereof shall be furnished whenever requested by him. 

It is furthermore agreed that all agreements entered into between the 
parties, and hereinbefore set forth, may be terminated at the pleasure of the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

In Witness Whereof, the Superintendent of Public Instruction does here- 
unto set his hand as such, and affixes the seal of his Department at the 
[l. s.] city of Albany, this 19th day of July, 1886, and the President of said 
American Museum of Natural History by virtue of the direction of the 
Trustees of said Museum does hereunto set his hand on behalf of said 
Museum at the city of New York this 30th day of June, 1886. 

ANDREW S. DRAPER, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
MORRIS K. JESUP, 
President American Museum of Natural History. 



CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 



Chaptek 585, Laws of 1865, as Amended by Chapter 291, Laws op 1887. 

§ 9. The several departments of study in the said university shall be open 
to applicants for admission thereto at the lowest rates of expense consistent 
with its welfare and efficiency, and without distinction as to rank, class, pre- 
vious occupation or locality. But, with a view to equalize its advantages to 
all parts of the State, the institution shall receive students to the number of 
one each year from each assembly district in this State, to be selected as here- 
inafter provided, and shall give them instruction in any or in all the prescribed 
branches of study in any department of said institution, free of any tuition fee 
or of any incidental charges to be paid to said university, unless such inciden- 
tal charges shall have been made to compensate for materials consumed by 
said students or for damages needlessly or purposely done by them to the 
property of said university. The said free instruction shall, moreover, be 
accorded to said students in consideration of their superior ability and as a 
reward for superior scholarship in the academies and public schools of this 
State. Said students shall be selected as the legislature may from time to 
time direct, and until otherwise ordered, as follows: 

1. A competitive examination, under the direction of the Department of 
Public Instruction, shall be held at the county court-house in each county of 
the State, upon the first Saturday of June, in each year, by the city superin- 
tendents and the school commissioners of the county. 

2. None but pupils of at least sixteen years of age and of six months stand- 
ing in the common schools or academies of the State, during the year immedi- 
ately preceding the examination shall be eligible. 

3. Such examination shall be upon such subjects as may be designated by 
the president of the university. Question papers prepared by the Department 
of Public Instruction shall be used, and the examination papers handed in by 
the different candidates shall be retained by the examiners and forwarded to 
the Department of Public Instruction. 

4. The examiners shall, within ten days after such examination, make and 
file in the Department of Public Instruction, a certificate in which they shall 
name all the candidates examined and specify the order of their excellence, 
and such candidates shall, in the order of their excellence, become entitled to 
the scholarships belonging to their respective counties. 

5. In case any candidate wJio may become entitled to a scholarship shall fail 
to claim the same or shall fail to pass the entrance examination at such univer- 
sity, or shall die, resign, absent himself without leave, be expelled or for any 
other reason shall abandon his right to or vacate such scholarship either before 
or after entering thereupon, then the candidate certified to be next entitled in 
the same county shall become entitled to the same. In case any scholarship 
belonging to any county shall not be claimed by any candidate resident in that 
county, the State Superintendent may fill the same by appointing thereto some 
candidate first entitled to a vacancy in some other county, after notice has 
been served on the superintendent or commissioners of schools, of said county. 



Cornell Ui^iversity. 487 

In any such case, the president of the university shall at once notify the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and that officer shall immediately notify 
the candidate next entitled to the vacant scholarship, of his right to the same. 

6. Any State student who shall make it appear to the satisfaction of the 
president of the university that he requires leave of absence for the purpose 
of earning funds with which to defray his living expenses while in attendance, 
may in the discretion of the president, be granted such leave of absence, and 
may be allowed a period not exceeding six years from the commencement 
thereof for the completion of his course at said university. 

7. In certifying the qualifications of the candidates, preference shall be 
given (where other qualifications are equal) to the children of those who have 
died in the military or naval service of the United States. 

8. Notices of the time and place of the examinations shall be given in all 
the schools, having pupils eligible thereto, prior to the first day of January in 
each year, and shall be published once a week for three weeks in at least two 
newspapers in each county immediately prior to the holding of such examina- 
tions. The cost of publishing such notices and the necessary expenses of such 
examination shall be a charge upon each county respectively, and shall be 
audited and paid by the board of supervisors thereof. The State Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction shall attend to the giving and publishing of the 
notices hereinbefore provided for. He may, in his discretion, direct that the 
examination in any county may be held at some other time and place than tnat 
above specified, in which case it shall be held as directed by him. He shall 
keep full records in his department of the reports of the different examiners, 
showing the age, post-offlce address and standing of each candidate, and shall 
notify candidates of their rights under this act. He shall determine any con- 
troversies which may arise under the provisions of this act. He is hereby 
charged with the general supervision and direction of all matters in connection 
with the filling of such scholarships. 

Students enjoying the privileges of free scholarships shall in common with 
the other students of said university be subject to all of the examinations, 
rules and requirements of the board of trustees or faculty of said university 
except as herein provided. 

The following is from a circular issued by the Superintendent, May 9, 1887: 

It will be seen that this law requires the holding of a competitive examina- 
tion of candidates for the State scholarship at Cornell University, by the city 
superintendents and school commissioners in each county, on the first Satur- 
day in June in each year. 

Notice of this examination is to be published once a week for three weeks 
prior thereto in two newspapers in each county. Immediately upon receipt 
of this communication (which has been forwarded to all superintendents and 
commissioners), you will advise with the other officers, who, with you, are to 
have charge of the examination in your county, and will jointly prepare, sign 
and publish the required notice. If the time is so short as to make it impos- 
sible to fully comply with the law, then you will do it so far as possible. You 
will please instruct newspapers to forward their bills for such publication to 
the board of supervisors of your county, as the law makes the cost of publica- 
tion a county charge. A form of notice for publication, which may be used, 
will be found attached to this communication. 

In addition to the newspaper notice required by law, please endeavor to pro- 
cure general newspaper comment upon the matter, and otherwise exert every 
reasonable effort to bring the examination to the attention of all of the schools 
having eligible candidates. 

While the law provides that the examinations shall be held at the county 
court-house in each county, it, at the same time, permits it to be held else- 
where by the direction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It is the 
evident purpose of the law to provide at least one place where the examina- 
tion may of right be held, hence the court-house is designated. It would, 
undoubtedly, be better to hold the examination in a school building in all 



488 Cornell U:n'iversity. 

cases where the local school officers will consent thereto, which they will 
undoubtedly do in most instances. Where such consent is obtained, you may 
insert such place in the notice without communicating with the Depart- 
ment for direction in the premises. No expense must be incurred on this 
account, however; unless school buildings are offered free of cost, the exami- 
nation will be held at the county court-house. 

Full information and directions in reference to this examination, together 
■with the question papers for use thereat, and forms for reports, etc., will be 
forwarded in due time. 

It is the purpose of the law to cause the free scholarship privileges to be 
brought to the attention of the people of the State, and to hold them as prizes 
before all the pupils of the academies and public schools who are desirous of 
gaining a collegiate education, to the end that the scholarships may be filled 
and that the opportunities which they offer may be brought to as many as 
possible of the most deserving children of the Commonwealth. 

The time prior to the first examination is so limited that it will not be pos- 
sible to spread general information in relation to it, unless every avenue for so 
doing is promptly and energetically made use of by superintendents and com- 
missioners. I count upon your doing this with entire confidence. 

(Form of notice for publication.) 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 

State Scholarships. 

(Notice pursuant to Chapter 291, Laws of 1887.) 

A competitive examination of candidates for the State scholarships, falling 
to the county of will be held at the (name the building) , in 

the (city or village) , of , on Saturday the day of June, 

next, commencing at 9.30 a. m. 

Candidates must be at least sixteen years of age and of six months' standing 
in the common schools or academies of the State during the present school 
year. 

The examination will be upon the following subjects, viz. : English gram- 
mar, geography, physiology, arithmetic, plane geometry and algebra through 
quadratic equations. 

There will be as many candidates appointed from this county as there are 
assembly districts in the county. Candidates will become entitled to the 
scholarships in the order of merit. 

Dated at , this day of May, 1887. 

Superintendent of Schools City of 
School Commissioner 
School Commissioner 



PART IV. 



DIGEST OF DECISIONS 



STATE SUPERINTENDENTS. 



APPEALS. 

JURISDICTION OF SUPERINTENDENTS DISCUSSED AND DETERMINED. 

If commissioners withhold assent to raise a tax larger than $400 ($1,000)* for building 
a school-house, their refusal is subject to review upon appeal. 

The inhabitants of the village of Cuba had been united in one district 
by the consolidation of two others. They had been offered a site for a 
school-house, in a central and commodious location, upon the sole con- 
sideration that they should erect upon it a house worth $800. They unani- 
mously voted to accept the site and raise the tax, and applied to the 
school commissioners for consent to levy that sum. Consent was refused 
on the ground that the consolidation of the districts would be the means 
of breaking up the select school hitherto maintained in the district, and, 
further, that the inhabitants were unable to bear the increased burdens of 
such an organization. 

* The law forbids the levying of a tax of over $500 for building, hiring or purchasing 
a school-house without the approval in writing of the school commissioner of such 
larger sum. The amount that could be voted and levied for such purpose, without this 
consent, was first fixed at $400, raised to $800, then $1,000, and is now $500. See § 18, 
title 7. 

62 



490 Appeals. 

The commissioners have a discretionary power to grant or refuse their 
consent. But in this case it was not wisely exercised. They were bound 
to have a stronger interest in the improvement of the common schools than 
in the welfare of a private select school. The inhabitants, who ought to 
understand their own interests, and know their pecuniary resources, had 
unanimously resolved to raise the tax and shoulder the burden of the new 
organization. The commissioners ought not to assume that they had over- 
estimated their ability. 

The majority of the inhabitants of a district may consist of persons 
destitute themselves of pecuniary resources, and desirous to avail them- 
selves of the property of the minority to build an unnecessarily costly 
school-house for the district. The check, which the commissioners pos- 
sess, to abuses like this, is wise and salutary, and that check was 
undoubtedly conferred with a view to the possible happening of cases of 
this description. 

The discretion exercised in this case, like that of granting or refusing a 
certificate to a teacher, is the subject of appeal. The authority of the 
Superintendent upon appeal extends to all matters arising under the school 
laws. His decisions have been treated as conclusive by the com-ts, and 
acquiesced in by the legislature and the people. 

The commissioners were ordered to give their consent to the tax of $800. 
Per Spencer, July 19, 1841. 

Subsequently the same case came up a second time, on the refusal of the 
commissioners to obey the order of the Superintendent. The previous 
decision was sustained and enforced in an elaborate opinion, from which 
we take the portions treating of discretionary powers, and the appellate 
jurisdiction of the school department. 

"The discretion of public officers is a legal one, to be governed by 
sound principles, and not by the capricious whim of the individual, 
and the instances are frequent where courts of law regulate and direct 
the exercise of discretionary power by officers, where third persons have 
an interest in such exercise. The only discretion which courts do not 
undertake to control is that which, according to Justice Sutherland 
(5 We/ulell, 125), 'is not and cannot be governed by any fixed principles 
and rules.' Few matters v/ould seem more susceptible of the applica- 
tion of fixed rules than the size of a school-house necessary to accommo- 
date properly a given number of children, the amount of money required 
for its construction, and the ability of a district to raise a given sum. 
So that even upon any of the ordinary processes of law, this would be 
a case where the discretionary power of commissioners could be regu- 
lated and controlled. But when w^e consider that a tribunal has been 
erected for the express purpose of supervising all the officers engaged 
in the administration of the common school system; that there is 
scarcely an act to be performed by them-W'hicli does not involve more 
or less discretion, and that an appeal is given from all these acts in 
the most comprehensive terms; we see at once that the rules which 
would govern legal proceedings on common law process are not the 
proper guides, and that we- must recur to broader and more enlarged 
principles. 

" The word ' appeal ' comes from the civil law, and its nature and office 
is to substitute the appellate tribunal for that whose acts are examined; 
and, if the case be one involviug discretion, then the appeal invokes that 



Appeals. 491 

very discretion in the superior, in the same manner and to the same extent 
that it was possessed by the inferior. 'The cause is in the appellate court,' 
says the supreme court of the United States, in 1 Wheaton 112, ' as if it 
were in the inferior court,' 

" The great majority of cases decided in this department are those in- 
volving more or less discretionary power. 

"The statute itself enumerates many cases that are entirely of a discre- 
tionary character. The decisions of district school meetings upon any 
subject upon which they are competent to act, such as the designation of 
the site of a school-house, the amount of money to be raised by tax, and 
the omission to levy taxes, involve large discretion, but are nevertheless 
subject to appeal by the express words of the law. The formation and 
alteration of school districts must be guided by a sound judgment upon 
various facts and circumstances, such as the number of children, the 
amount of taxable property, the extent of territory, and the convenience of 
the inhabitants. Some fixed rules may be applied, but in many cases the 
decision must depend on general ideas of the propriety and fitness of 
things. 

' ' xlmong cases not enumerated, and which fall within the fourth subdi- 
vision of the section conferring the right of appeal, the following are of 
daily occurrence, viz. : The granting or refusing a license to a teacher; the 
valuations of school-houses or other property on the formation of new dis- 
tricts; the refusal of trustees to call special meetings, to employ teachers, 
or to keep the schools open, and the employment and dismissal of teachers; 
the -government of the school; the admittance and expulsion of scholars, 
etc. Indeed it would be difficult to specify a single act which any officer 
concerned in the administration of the system' may perform, that has not 
been the subject of appeal. 

' ' The present case presents less opportunity for the exercise of discretion 
than many of those above enumerated. The expense of a scliool-house 
must depend upon its size and materials. Its size, the number of rooms, 
and the proper conveniences, will depend upon the number of children in 
the district of the proper age to occupy it. The only other element for 
consideration is the ability of the district, a fact easily ascertained from the 
assessment roll. There is, therefore, nothing in the nature of the decision 
to be made to prevent its being reviewed and examined upon fixed and 
settled principles. 

' ' So far as our laws afford any analogy in cases of appeal, there does not 
appear to be any distinction between discretionary and other cases. Thus, 
appeals to county judges from commissioners of highways, respecting the 
opening, altering and discontinuing of highways, necessarily involve that 
discretion which depends on private judgment. 

'" Upon the most mature deliberation, then, I cannot doubt that the 
granting or refusing of a certificate, that a larger sum than $400 should be 
raised for building a school-house, is necessarily the subject of an appeal to 
the Superintendent. And as, in all cases of appeal, the statute declares his 
opinion to be 'final,' there must be some mode of giving it effect. In the 
present case, the commissioners decline obedience to the order directing 
them to grant the required certificate. From that refusal an appeal has 
been made, and the commissioners have answered. The whole system must 
be very defective if there be no power to have an act performed which the 
competent tribunal has determined to be legal and projDer. Perhaps the 
appellants may enforce the order of the Superintendent, by an application 
to the supreme court for a mandamus. 



492 Appeals. 

" But, if there be a more direct, simple and less expensive remedy, I am 
bound to pursue the policy of the statute in erecting this tribunal by fur- 
nishing it, I think there is. It is a universal principle, recognized in 
England and in this country, that the court to which a writ of error or an 
appeal is brought is bound to render the judgment which the inferior tri- 
bunal should have rendered. Upon this principle, this department may 
authorize the inhabitants of the district, at a lawful meeting, to raise the 
additional sum necessary for building a new school-house that being the 
judgment or decision which, in the opinion of the Superintendent, the 
commissioners should have made. I find an order of my immediate prede- 
cessor, founded on this principle, and analogous to the one proposed to be 
made on this appeal, in the case of the trustees of school district No. 30, 
in Johnstown, in Common School Decisions^ 'page 161. The inhabitants of 
the district had authorized the trustees to make such repairs to the school- 
house as they should think necessary and proper, and, in pursuance of such 
authority, they had contracted with a workman to make the repairs, and 
agreed to pay him $80. But the district refused to vote more than $25. 
On appeal, the Superintendent, Mr. Dix, held that the district was bound 
to indemnify the trustees; and he ordered that the trustees should make 
out a tax list for tlie whole amount and collect it." 

In pursuance of this ojDiuion, the district was authorized to raise a tax of 
$400, over and above the $400 which the district could otherwise raise, and 
the trustees were empowered to levy and collect it. Per Spencer, Sep- 
tember 18, 1841. 

Power of the department to grant rehearings in matters of appeal considered. 

This is an appeal asking for a rehearing of all matters in controversy in 
the district that have been brought before this department since March 34, 
1857. 

The main purpose of this appeal is to secure a rehearing, upon the merits, 
of those facts and arguments presented in an appeal to this department 
which was dismissed December 19, 1857, and by restoring, as far as may be, 
the condition of things existing at that time, to afford the appellants the 
relief at that time sought. 

At this jDoint we are met by the position of the counsel for the respond- 
ents, that this department has no power to grant a rehearing of any matter 
of appeal, and that, the order of this department dismissing the appeal 
having been issued, no further action upon the matters embraced in that 
appeal can be taken. 

It would be doing injustice to the able, ingenious and plausible argument 
of the counsel upon this point, for the department to controvert it simply 
in action, by granting the rehearing, without any statement of the grounds 
upon Nvhich its conclusions respecting the extent of its rights and powers 
are based. 

First, upon this particular case it may justly be said that the decision of 
the department upon it was expressed or rendered in the communication to 
Commissioner Boyce, that embodied the conclusions at Mdiich the depart- 
ment had arrived from an examination of the evidence adduced ; it is, to 
all intents and purposes, the decision of the questions at that time pending, 
and it was proposed, when certain conditions should be reached by the 
further acts of the parties themselves, to issue an order adapted to the cir- 
cumstances of the case at that future time. On information, supposed to 
be reliable, that the conditions stated had been reached, the order was 
issued dismissing the appeal; this being done for the sole purpose of en- 



Appeals. 493 

forcing the decision already rendered. The dismissal of the appeal, there- 
fore, was not the decision of the case, as appears by its terms, in which it 
especially disclaims to act upon the questions raised in the controversy, 
they having been disposed of (as was supposed), according to the terms of 
the decision rendered by the department. If it be objected that this 
decision was not in form and under seal, it is sufficient to answer that the 
statute does not prescribe the manner or form in which these decisions 
shall be expressed. That is left to the judgment of the department itself. 
The seal, or other forms commonly attending the rendering of a decision, 
are proper as evidences to third parties of the authenticity of the proceed- 
ings. But they are of no importance to the department itself, which is 
cognizant, at all times, of its own decisions. 

An order of the department may be antecedent or supplementary to a 
decision, and hence may be continued in force, or vacated at the pleasure 
of the department. Tims, on an appeal, by inhabitants, from the proceedings 
of trustees in the matter of paying public moneys to a teacher, it might be 
necessary to issue an order to the supervisor, directing him to withhold the 
payment of the moneys of that district until otherwise directed. It will 
not be held that this order is fixed and cannot be vacated. So, where an 
order is issued supplementary to a decision, and with a view, or for the pur- 
pose qf enforcing its conclusions, if the department shall afterward find 
that such order is insufficient to accomplish the enforcement of the decision, 
or, owing to any circumstances of which the department was unaware, is 
calculated to thwart the ends proposed by the decision to be reached, it is 
absurd to maintain that such order may not be modified or vacated, and 
such other order be issued as will conform to the doctrines of the decision 
rendered. 

I come now to a review of the power of the department to grant a 
rehearing of a case upon its merits, after a decision has once been rendered. 

The argument of the counsel was chiefly confined to two points : First, 
that the power to rehear a matter of appeal, after decision rendered, could 
only exist by express legislative provision, and, no such power having been 
conferred by the statute, it, of course, did not exist. Secondly, that the 
words of the statute, which declare that the " decisions of the department 
shall be final and conclusive," expressly prohibit the exercise of any such 
power as is asked by the appellants. 

In the decisions referred to by the counsel, I fail to find any cases where 
the power to rehear a cause upon the merits has been denied, that are at all 
analogous to the one now present. In denoting the distinction between a 
superior and an inferior court — that is, one competent to grant a new trial 
and one incompetent — the courts say: "We think that a superior court of 
general jurisdiction must have full cognizance of one at least of the principal 
departments of the law throughout the State^ and must be free, in its primary 
action, from the control of any other tribunal." 

I can conceive of no language that should more clearly describe and 
designate this department than that above quoted. I can, therefore, draw 
no other conclusion than that this department is a superior court of general 
jurisdiction, and hence that to it the decisions relative to the powers of in- 
ferior courts do not apply, 

But again, in 1 Johnson s Cases, 179, which the counsel cited in support 
of his position, I find the following language : "The power of granting 
new trials can only be applied in a manner which prechides the possibility 
of its exercise being reviewed in this or any other court." These are just 
the circumstances under which this department always exercises this power. 



49-1: Appeals. 

And, further, in the same decision, the court says: "Indeed, no inferior 
jurisdiction can possess this power without express authority," plainly im- 
])lying that courts of superior or general jurisdiction may, in the very nature 
of their organization, possess this power of granting new trials. 

Tt is my conviction, therefore, that the power to grant a new trial of any 
cause brought before this department on appeal may exist without special 
legislative designation, being involved in the powers distinctly conferred, 
and tlie purposes and objects sought to be accomplished in the organization 
of this tribunal. 

I pass now to consider the second point in the argument of the counsel 
upon this question of the power of the department to grant a new trial, 
which is based upon t'le restrictive terms of the statute itself, which says 
that "the decision of the State Superintendent shall be final and conclu- 
sive." 

This language has ever been interpreted as characterizing the exclusive- 
ness of the jurisdiction of this department in matters brought before it for 
determination, and not as limiting the department itself to a single examina- 
tion of any cause l^efore it. It w^as designed as a check against the interfer- 
ence of other authorities wdth the decisions here rendered, and not as 
defining or circumscribing the powers of the department itself. 

The nature of the trust committed to this department, and the form of 
procedure necessary for the proper exercise of its powers, preclude the pre- 
sumption that the legislature ever intended that the terms "final and con- 
clusive " should bear the construction put upon them by the counsel in this 
case. 

The indication of the exercise of this power by this department to grant 
new trials is made not essentially to meet the present case^ but to meet and 
put at rest, so far as it can be done here, the general issue so strongly raised ; 
and I must and shall assume that the practice of this department, in grant- 
ing new trials for causes satisfactory to itself, is a legitimate and necessary 
exercise of powers with which, in the nature of its organization, it is inves- 
ted. Per H. H. Yan Dyck, Superintendent, April 18, 1859. 

Jurisdiction of Superintendent in matters relating to Union Free Schools. 

Upon an appeal from acts of Board of Education in refusing admission o' 
pupils for alleged violation of rules, the position was taken that the Super- 
intendent had no jurisdiction over students belonging to the preparatory 
department. The Superintendent quotes from sec. 25, of title 9, of the 
General School Law as follows : " He is charged with the general supervision 
of its board of education, and their management and conduct of all its 
departments of instruction," and overrules the position. Per Neil Gilmour, 
Superintendent, June 7, 1875. 

RULES OF PRACTICE. 

It is a rule of this department, that all acts of school district ofllcers will be regarded 
as regular unless duly appealed from. 

This appeal is brought from the proceedings of a special meeting held in 
district No. 9, Preble and Scott, August 5, 1848, for the purpose of receiv- 
ing the report of Elam Dunbar, as trustee of said district, the said Dunbar 
having resigned his office in December, 1847. 

It is immaterial whether the meeting of August 5, 1848, which received 
and accepted the report of Mr. Dunbar, was regular or not. His report 



Appeals. 495 

and the complaints made against him were of acts previous to the meeting 
of December, 1847, at which he resigned, and at which his report should 
have been made and accepted. 

It is a rule of this department, that all acts and proceedings of scliool 
officers will be regarded regular unless duly appealed from. Whatever, 
therefore, may have been the neglect of duty of Mr. Dunbar while in office, 
provided he has not rendered himself liable by squandering or losing 
moneys belonging to the district, he will be regarded as having discharged 
his duties faithfully. 

Appeal dismissed. Per Morgan, January 24, 1849. 

It is the policy of the department to discourage the bringing of appeals for light and 

trifling causes. 

It is the policy of the department to discourage the bringing hither of 
appeals for light and trifling causes. There should be some reaZ grievance, 
some positive and serious injury sustained, to justify a resort to this depart- 
ment for redress. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, February 15, 
1859. 

Real parties in Interest will be heard upon appeal. 

It is ever the policy of this department to arrive at the facts of any case 
presented before it on appeal, and to decide the same according to the 
merits involved, as appearing from the facts so presented ; and, to promote 
this, the real parties in interest will ever be heard, whether in the petition 
or appeal they are represented or not. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintend- 
ent, May 13, 1859. 

Where the trustees contracted with a man to build a school-house, and afterward 
contracted with another, who built the house ; held, that the remedy of the first con- 
tractor is at law, and not on an appeal to this department. 

On an appeal from the proceedings of two of the trustees, it appears that 
they entered into a contract with oneMcPherson to build a school-house, as 
authorized by the district, and that afterward they permitted one Barber to 
build the house. 

The course of the trustees appears to be marked by strange inconsistencies, 
but I do not see that these come within the purview of this department. The 
remedy of Mr. McPherson is at law, and not through this department. The 
appellants do not specify any particular remedy which they wish to have 
applied, and, from their statement of the case, it is not such an one as will 
enable this department to afford the parties any relief. The appeal must 
therefore be dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 3, 
1860. 

Objection to a tax list on the ground that property is omitted therefrom must be taken 

in time. 

The primary objection to this appeal is that the appellants neglected the 
natural and proper remedy, provided by law, for the errors herein com- 
plained of. It is alleged that certain property has been omitted from the 
tax hst that should be assessed. The trustees made an original assessment, 
and gave the notices required by law. These appellants did not appear to 
compare their assessment with others, but suffered the warrant to go into 
the hands of the collector before making any objection. I think they are 
precluded by their own neglect, from any relief at the hands of this de- 
partment. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 21, 1860. 



496 Appeals. 

The department will not interfere in a case in which an order of the departm©rit 
could have no effect to' change the condition of things already established. 

On ail appeal from the proceedings ol' a special meeting, and from the 
action of tlie trustees, it appears that the school-house site, as originally 
granted, was bounded on two sides by lands dedicated to public use as a bury- 
ing-ground. During the past year, a new school-house was built, under the 
direction of the trustees, and the same was located so as to cover a portion 
of tlie burying-grounds referred to. At a special meeting, H., who form- 
erly owned and dedicated to public use the lands in question, offered to 
dedicate to public use, for school purposes^ a portion of the aforesaid bury- 
ing-ground, so as to enlarge the school-house site sufficiently to embrace the 
grounds upon which the new school-house stood. This proposition was 
accepted by the meeting. The trustees, thereafter, accepted the school- 
house from the contractor, and made certain payments thereon. 

The appellants ask that the acceptance of the addition to the site be de- 
clared illegal and void, and that the contractor be directed to refund the 
money paid to him. 

This is one of those cases in which no relief can be afforded by this 
department. 

The simple declaration that the proceeding in relation to the sHe was 
illegal would liave no force or effect to change in the least the condition of 
things already established by the fact of building the house upon a portion 
of the lands belonging to other parties. It is apparent upon the face of 
the complaint, that the action on the part of the said H. was unauthorized, 
and, of course, the acceptance by the district amounts to nothing, one way 
or the other. But there is nothing which this department can do to relieve 
•the district from its embarrassment. No order from this department will 
be sufficiently potent to draw the money from the pocket of the contractor, 
and place it again with the trustees. 

The issues are of a nature which only the supreme court can reach and 
affect. The parties aggrieved are those interested in the burying-ground, 
and their remedy must be sought in the courts. 

Appeal dismissed. Per Y. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 10, 1862. 

Appeal will be dismissed where real party in interest is not represented. 

Two trustees brought an appeal ostensibly from the action of their asso- 
ciate in the matter of hiring the teacher who had taught the late term of 
school. The Superintendent says: '^ Meally^ it seems to have been brought 
to avoid payment of the person who taught said school. Said teacher is 
the real party in interest in the matter, but there is no evidence of service 
of a copy of the appeal upon her. Tlie appellants refuse to pay the teacher 
on the ground that she was not legally employed, and they bring this 
appeal to have their action sustained. It seems to me that the teacher is 
the party aggrieved, and not the appellants". Without passing upon the 
question of the legality of the teacher, and without prejudice to any of the 
parties in interest, the appeal must be dismissed." Per A. B. Weaver^ 
Superintendent, June 3, 1868. 

Superintendent will not inquire into the legality of voters where the question involves 
the legality of an order, regular on its face, attaching them to the district in which 
they have voted. 

A resolution to change a school-house site, and levy a tax to build a 
school-house thereon, was carried by a majority of two votes, It is claimed 
that the resolutions were carried by the votes of two persons who were not 



Appeals. 497 

at that time residents or voters in the district, they having been illegally 
set oS. from another district, to that in which they claimed and exercised 
the right to vote. 

It is not claimed that the order of the commissioner by which these per- 
sons were set into the said district is not regular on its face. If it is regu- 
lar on its face, and I am bound to suppose that until the contrary is shown, 
then it must stand as valid until set aside by competent authority. On 
an appeal from the proceedings of a school meeting, I do not propose to 
travel outside of the record and set aside the action of a school commis- 
sioner who is not a party to the proceeding, and who has had no opportunity 
to defend his action. The appeal is hereby dismissed. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, July 2, 1868. - 

An appeal from the alteration of a district should be accompanied by a map and by 
lists conformably to Kule 10 concerning appeals. 

Citing Rule 8 appeals concerning (see p. 124, ante), the Superintend- 
ent says: "No such map or lists have been furnished by the appellants in 
this case. The copy served on the commissioners should have contained 
the names of the appellants signed to the appeal, and as such was not the 
case, the appeal was irregular for that reason also. The appeal is hereby 
dismissed." Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, October 13, 1868. 

Superintendent will not determine cases involving questions of costs and expenses 
in suits or appeals. 

The Superintendent will not sustain an appeal from a district meeting in 
refusing to allow the costs and expenses of trustees-in bringing or defending 
an action or appeal without instruction from the district. The county 
judge is constituted the proper tribunal in such case, (See sec. 9, title 13, 
General School Act.) Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 17, 1869. 

An appeal will be dismissed for obscurity of statement. 

The facts and circumstances of the transaction are so vaguely and 
clumsily set forth in this appeal that it is impossible to get at the merits of 
the case. 

In bringing appeals to this department, no material facts should be left 
to be inferred or conjectured. 

The present appeal is hereby dismissed for obscurity of statement. Per 
E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 2, 1859. 

Appellants must state their case clearly and prove it conclusively in order to justify 

interference. 

On an appeal from various proceedings of the trustees and collector of 
the district, the only charge made that is, under the circumstances, at all 
subject to the cognizance of this department, relates to the correctness of 
the assessment roll or tax list. 

The roll in question may be right, or may be wrong. Certainly very little 
light is thrown upon the subject by the evidence on either side. It is not 
the business of the department to investigate and determine what may he 
the facts, when the evidence is insufficient to indicate tliem. It is the duty 
of parties bringing an appeal to make out a case in some clear and definite 
form, so that it can be distinctly seen what is and what is not proven. In 
this case, the appellants have failed to do that and the appeal must, there- 
fore, be dismissed. PerE. W, Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 3, 1859. 

63 



498 Appeals. 

Appeal dismissed on ground of vagueness of statement. 

The various complaints, and defenses thereto, in this appeal, form a most 
complicated tissue of crimination and recrimination, without connection, 
dependence, or logical beginning or sequence. The most I can make of it 
is that there is an "irrepressible conflict" between two of the trustees on 
one side, and one trustee and a portion of the inhabitants on the other. 
After a careful perusal of the many and various documents submitted to 
this department, designed to give a true exposition of affairs, I am wholly 
at a loss to gather from them any idea as to the real merits of the contro- 
versy. I can do nothing till a clear, connected, and conclusive statement 
of the facts out of which the controversy grew is made, and the present 
appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
March 9, 1860. 

Appeals to this department will not be considered unless they are legible, and intelli- 
gible in statement. 

It is indispensable that appeals to the Superintendent should be legible 
and intelligible. A man is not to be blamed for his inability to prepare an 
appeal in such form that it will answer these conditions ; it is only his mis- 
fortune, and he is thereby compelled to procure the assistance of some one 
who is able to express himself with some measure of clearness. Per E. W. 
Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, April 24, 1864.* 

Appeal disregarded for vagueness of statement. 

The appellants are unfortunate in so expressing themselves as to leave all 
the material facts which they seek to establish, to be inferred only. There 
is hardly a distinct emphatic assertion from the beginning to the end of the 
appeal. Their diagrams give me no idea of the situation of the district, or 
of the property set off — and generally their statements, or what they claim 
and intend as such, are vaguely and indefinitely hinted. 

For these reasons I am unable to know and understand, still less to con- 
sider the merits involved, and the appeal must, therefore, be dismissed. 
Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, August 3, 1864. 

Must be intelligible. 
Above principle sustained upon a similar state of facts. Per A. B. 
Weaver, Superintendent, Nov. 35, 1871. 

Same. 
To this appeal no answer has been put in. Whatever the grievance, if 
any, may be, it is not stated in a manner to be clearly intelligible nor is 
such evidence furnished of the commission of a wrong as will enable me to 
pass upon it. Previous decisions in similar cases cited and approved. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, Sept. 19, 1874. 

The Superintendent of Public Instruction will not entertain appeals in relation to fines 
and penalties. The imposition of fines and penalties belongs to the courts of law. 

This appeal is brought for the purpose of fixing upon the school commis- 
sioner the responsibility for the loss, by the district, of the public moneys 
to which they would have been entitled had twenty-eight weeks' school been 
taught therein by a duly qualified teacher, and to compel said commissioner 
to make good such loss to the district, in accordance with the provisions of 

*For several years the superintendents have doubted the authority of a deputy 
superintendent to render a judicial decision or make a valid order in appeal cases. 
While the practice was followed in the earlier history of the department, it has been 
altogether discontinued. J. E. K. 



Appeals. 499 

section 1 of title 13 of the General School Law. The Superintendent has 
invariably refused to assume jurisdiction of cases in the nature of a prose- 
cution for the recovery of a fine or penalty, and he will not vary his rule in 
the present instance. If, by Mr. Tozer's neglect, the district has lost money 
which they otherwise would have received, ample redress will be given by 
the courts of law having jurisdiction of the case. The Superintendent has 
no power to direct the payment by any person of money other than the 
public money, or that belonging to the district ; consequently it belongs to 
the regular courts of law to enforce the payment of fines and penalties, and 
hence this appeal must be and hereby is dismissed. Per V. M. Kice, June 6, 
1866. 

An appeal from a tax list, on whatever grounds, must be brought before a levy and 
sale is made, to justify interference of this department. 

The facts stated by the appellant and admitted by the trustees constitute 
a proper ground of appeal, had such action been taken at the proper time. 
It devolved upon the appellant, as soon as he came to the knowledge of 
the errors in the tax list set forth by him, to bring his appeal, in order that 
the trustees might be directed to amend their tax list. Instead of this he 
delayed action until the collection of his tax was enforced by levy and sale 
of his property. For this action, if wrongfully done, there is no remedy 
but by civil suit. The appellant, by delay, has precluded himself from 
equity redress. 

Had the appeal been brought in due time, the errors complained of would 
have been corrected ; but as it is, I find no occasion for interference, and 
the appeal is therefore dismissed. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintend- 



Appeals should be brought promptly, or it may be too late to apply a remedy. 

If it were not that these proceedings had become confirmed by the sub- 
sequent action of the trustees, the department would be disposed to exer- 
cise its equitable power to prevent their consummation. But by the indis- 
cretion of the appellant in neglecting to bring his appeal at once, the act 
of that meeting became confirmed, and there is now no sufficient justification 
for interference by this department. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
July 26, 1860. 

Appeals from tax list must be brought by the party considering himself aggrieved, 
immediately upon becoming appraised of the existence of such tax list. A delay 
until collection is enforced by levy and sale will be fatal. 

On the appeal of J. S. B., one of the trustees, from the action of his 
associate trustees in the matter of the levy and sale of the appellant's 
property to satisfy a tax levied against him, the facts go to show that the 
tax list upon the appellant was assessed, and the warrant under which his 
property was sold, were made out by the two trustees without consultation 
with the appellant. 

The appellant occupies a relation to this question which no other inhabit- 
ant does. He was one of the trustees, and as such was bound to counsel 
with and advise his associates of any error in their proceedings as soon as 
appraised of it, and if they refused to accept or act upon his advice, then 
he should seek to bring the matter in dispute to the earliest and simplest 
possible adjudication. If he fails to do this, he may be found to have 
acquiesced in the proceedings, and to have waived his personal rights in 
the matter. 



500 Appeals. 

Had he refused to waive his rights, and brought an appeal from the pro- 
ceeding of his associates at a time when the proper order could have been 
made for revision and correction of the tax list, the Superintendent would 
have felt bound to make such an order. But he neglected the equitable 
remedy, and waited until his property had been sold, and until the proper 
remedy for him was a legal remedy, and then asks for the equitable inter- 
ference of the Superintendent. In my judgment it is too late. The appel- 
lant has himself suffered his cause to go beyond the jurisdiction of the 
Superintendent, and must therefore abide by the result of his neglect. 
Per E. W, Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 18, 1864. 

What questions are to be decided by the department in reviewing the action of local 
boards altering the boundaries of districts. 

In reviewing the action of local boards in altering the boundaries of dis- 
tricts, the department cannot treat the questions as though it had original 
jurisdiction. The question is not " What would the department have done 
had it been called originally to act?" but rather, "Has the action of the 
local board been so far a departure from what is legal, consistent or just, 
as to demand a reversal of its proceedings? " This only is the department 
called upon to decide. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, May 31, 
1861. 

Equitable relief cannot be afforded where the same is contrary to law. 

On an appeal from the refusal of the trustees to pay a portion of the pub- 
lic money to one B., who taught the district school during a portion of the 
winter, it appears that two of the trustees, against the advice and without 
the consent of the third, hired one J. P. to teach the district school during 
the winter term. The said J. P. having proved incompetent to teach, the 
school was closed, and the majority of the trustees refused to hire another 
teacher unless the inhabitants would agree to become responsible for his 
wages. This they refused to do, and at their request, the third trustee, 
without consultation with his associates, hired the said B. to teach the 
school the remainder of the term. He taught according to agreement, but 
the majority of the trustees refuse to acknowledge the legality of this pro- 
ceeding, or to pay any part of the wages thus earned. 

The action of the trustees in refusing to pay B. cannot be impeached. 
Whatever wrong they may have done, the said B. was illegally hired, and 
has no claim upon them. Even though, under the circumstances, the de- 
partment should find that the justice and equity of the case were with the 
appellants still equitable relief can be afforded only when there is some le- 
gal claim. Equity follows law; it cannot be enforced in opposition to law. 
Here there is no legal claim upon which equitable action can be predi- 
cated. The department has no power to- compel the trustees to do what 
the law does not require them to do. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, June 
10, 1862. 

RE-OPENING. 

On a motion to re-open an appeal new evidence must be accompanied bj a statement 
why it was not laid before the department on its origmal hearing. 

This was a petition to re-open an appeal which had been dismissed by 
decision No. 2760. The Superintendent says: "No newly discovered evi- 
dence of materiality is presented in support of the application, and such 
evidence as is submitted is not accompanied by any good reason why the 



Appeals. 501 

same was not laid before the department on the first consideration of the 
appeal. The petition is, therefore, dismissed.'' Per Neil Gilmoiir, Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 2840, March 24, 1879. 

It is not a sufficient reason for opening an appeal that a large number of inhabitants 

desire it. 

This was a petition to re-open appeal, decided March 18, 1879, by deci- 
sion No. 2837. The Superintendent says: "No facts or reasons why a 
re-hearing should be given are submitted to the department, except that a 
large number of the people of the district desire such re-hearing. As the 
petition sets forth nothing which would justify re-opening the case, it is, 
therefore, dismissed.'' Per Neil G-ilmour, Superintendent, Decision No. 
2842, April 15, 1879. 

Appellant must be aggrieved by the action appealed from. 

This was an appeal from the action of the trustees in issuing a tax-list 
and warrant. The evidence submitted shows that the appellant is not a 
tax payer in the district and, therefore, cannot be aggrieved by the action 
appealed from. Per Neil Grilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3083, 
April 11, 1881. 

When a question has once been presented on appeal and decided upon the merits, such 
decision will be controlling when the same question is again presented, unless, in 
the meantime, the facts and circumstances on which the former decision was based 
have materially changed. 

On the 4th day of December, 1879, an order was made by the school 
commissioner of the 1st commissioner district of Lewis county, altering 
districts 6 and 7 of the town of West Turin, by detaching from district 
No. 7 certain lands and adding the same to district No. 6. An appeal to 
the department was taken from this order, and the action of the commis- 
sioner was therein sustained by decision No. 2945, dated January 14, 1880. 
Neil Grilmour, Superintendent. 

On the 1st day of April, 1884^ Royal T. Damuth, school commissioner of 
said district, and the successor of the commissioner who made the first 
order referred to, made an order transferring the same territory from dis- 
trict No. 6, and adding it to district No. 7. This order was confirmed by 
the local board. The appeal is taken to set aside the commissioners' order 
and the order of the local board confirming the same. The same conditions 
and circumstances of the two districts are shown in the papers herein as 
appeared upon the former appeal. 

It is a well-settled rule of this department, that when a question has 
once been presented on appeal and decided on the merits, such decision 
will be controlling when the same question is again presented, unless, in 
the meantime, the facts and circumstances, on which the former decision 
was based, have materially changed. The same rule prevails in the courts, 
and is necessary to give stability to and preserve respect for judicial deci- 
sions. Appeal sustained, and the order appealed from vacated. Per W. 
B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3368, August 27, 1884. 

Appeals must be taken within thirty days from the time of the act appealed from, or 
within thirty days after'the knowledge of the cause of complaint came to the appellant, 
or a sufficient excuse must be given for the delay. 

The appeal was brought from the action of a district meeting adopting a 
resolution in favor of dividing the district, and also from an order of the 
school commissioner creating a new district. 



502 Appeals. 

''The papers in this case show that the school meeting aforesaid in dis- 
trict No. 8 was held not later than December 15, 1882, and that the order 
of the commissioner appealed from was made on the 11th day of Feb- 
ruary, 188o. 

Rule two of the department, respecting appeals, made in conformity with 
subdivision 1, section 2, title 12, of chapter 555, Laws of 1864, j^rescribes 
that "a copy of the appeal, and of all the statements, maps and papers 
intended to be presented in support of it, with the affidavit in verification 
of the same, must be served on the officers whose act or decision is com- 
plained of, or some of them ; or if it be from the decision or proceeding 
of a district meeting upon the district clerk, or one of the trustees, whose 
duty it is to cause information of such appeal to be given to the inhabitants 
who voted for the decision or jDroceeding appealed from. 

Rule three prescribes that such service must be made, and the original sent 
to the department within thirty days after the making of the decision or 
the performance of the act complained of, or within that time after the 
knowledge of the cause of the complaint came to the appellant, or some 
satisfactory excuse must be rendered in the appeal for the delay. 

This appeal was not taken vdthin thirty days after the action of the meet- 
ing in school district No. 8, nor within thirty days after the order of the 
commissioner complained of. There is nothing in the papers to show that 
the appeal was taken within thirty days after the knowledge of the cause 
of the complaint came to the appellant ; nor is there any excuse offered for 
the delay. The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per W. B. Ruggles, Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 3263, May 24, 1883. 

Power of Superintendent to appoint commissioner to take testimony in appeal cases. 

The appellant asked that an order issue directing the school commissioner 
of the second commissioner district of Westchester county to take testi- 
mony concerning the matters in controversy. 

The statute gives the Superintendent power to appoint the school com- 
missioner to take testimony and report the same in appeal cases; but this 
power is only exercised when material facts are alleged by the appellant and 
denied by the respondent, the truth of which cannot be ascertained from the 
papers before the Superintendent. In the case now before me the allega- 
tions of the appellant are not controverted, no answer has been filed to the 
appeal, and it is not necessary to await the filing of an answer before render- 
ing a decision inasmuch as the material facts stated in the appeal do not 
furnish any legal ground on which the appeal can be sustained. There is, 
therefore, no necessity for tlie taking of testimony by the school commis- 
sioner and the request is denied. Per "W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3369, September 30, 1887. 



Where the appellant does not make a case upon the moving papers he cannot take advan- 
tage of an irregularity in the answer. The statements of a member of the board of 
education to the teacher in reference to the contract will not bind the board ; the 
contract is set out ia the resolution of the board. 

In this application to re-open the former appeal (No. 3487) the appellant 
states several alleged reasons why the application should be granted. The 
first and second of these are that the decision was contrary to law, and 
against the evidence in the case. It will be observed that the appeal was 
decided upon the evidence submitted bj^ the appellant and no material ques- 
tion of fact was controverted by the respondents in their answer. 



Appeals. 503 

It is urged as the third and fourth grounds, that the answer filed is 
irregular for the reason that it was not ordered at a regular meeting of 
the board, and was not signed by all the members thereof, and no reason 
was given for its not being so signed. If any irregularity occurred in the 
answer the appellant was not injured thereby as she failed to make a case 
in her own papers, and the decision would necessarily have been the same 
had no answer been interposed. 

For the fifth and sixth reasous, the appellant says " The only issue of fact 
raised between the appellant and the answer in this case as by examination 
thereof will appear, is whether said Suffern, one of said board, told your 
appellant to go right on * * you are in for a year." The appellant also 
alleges that she is now prepared to prove certain statements made by George 
W. Suffern, a member of the board, as to the reason why he voted for 
appellant's discharge. If it should appear that Mr. Suffern ^Z?;^ tell appellant 
she was hired for a year it would have no effect upon the question of her 
contract Avhich was fixed by the resolution of the board. Mr. Suffern was 
not instructed by a resolution of the board to tell Miss Blauvelt that she was 
hired for a year, and whatever he might have told her to that effect could 
not bind the board. 

The new evidence which the appellant offers to introduce relating to the 
motives of one member of the board in voting to discharge her could be of 
no materiality. Application denied. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3507, May 8, 1886. 



QUESTIONS PENDING IN THE COCJRTS. 

The department will not entertain questions of controversy that are at issue before 

the civil courts. 

Where the questions at issue in a matter of appeal to this department 
were before the civil courts for adjudication, held^ that it would be 
altogether improper for this department to seek to forestall the action and 
judgment of the court, when it has knowledge of the pendency of the 
action before that tribunal. Per V. M, Rice, Superintendent, December 1. 
1863. 

Appeals will not be entertained when the same relates to matters already brought 

before the courts. 

As it appears from the papers submitted, that the only questions in issue 
by this appeal are involved in an action at law brought in the supreme 
court, by two of the voters against the trustee of the district and that such 
action is still pending, the appeal cannot be entertained. 

Position taken by Superintendent Rice in last preceding case, sustained. 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 11, 1871. 

The fact that the only material question involved in the appeal is to be 
passed upon in a prior proceeding between the same parties by a court 
with full jurisdiction to decide it is sufficient reason why I should refrain 
from making any decision in the matter. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintend- 
ent, December 19, 1874. 

It appears from the testimony that at the time this proceeding (of 
appeal) was instituted, the question of the regularity of the proceedings 
of the meeting involved in the matter was directly in issue and undeter' 
mined in an action at law before the supreme court. 

Fully concurring in the correctness of the precedents in such cases, I de- 
cline to entertain the present appeal. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. 
April 22, 1875. 



504 Appeals. 

Superintendent will not undertake to enforce the decisions of the supreme court. 

It is entirely foreign to the objects for which this department was created 
and for which it is maintained that the Superintendent should render 
assistance in executing the judgments of courts of law. Hence, an appeal 
to the Superintendent asking his interference to enforce the collection of a 
judgment against the trustees obtained in the supreme court must be dis- 
missed. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 18, 1873. 

The department will not enteri;ain an appeal, the only material question in which has 
first been taken to and is still pending in the courts. 

At a special meeting held in district IS'o. 28, Canton, on the 8th day of 
July, 1879, William France was elected trustee by one majority. It is 
claimed by the appellant that a person who voted for said France was not 
a legal voter. Subsequent to the meeting and previous to the bringing of 
this appeal the person alleged to be an illegal voter was aiTCsted upon a 
charge of illegal voting at such meeting. 

Thus it appears that the only material question involved in this proceed- 
ing was first taken to the courts, and for me now to assume to pass upon it 
would be in direct violation of the well-settled policy of this department. 

The presumption that Wood voted legally and that France was legally 
elected will hold until dispelled by competent authority, and until so dis- 
pelled France must be considered as regularly in office, and his official acts, 
which are legal and proper in themselves, are of effect and binding on the 
district. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, decision No. 3884, September 
15, 1879. 

It is the well-settled policy of the department to refrain from passing upon questions 
which are to be disposed of by the courts. 

The appeal was brought to remove from office the trustees of union free 
school district No. 2, New Lots, on the ground that they had willfully 
neglected to properly protect the district and its funds. It appeared that 
Reed, the treasurer of the district, was a defaulter in a considerable sum, 
and that an action had been brought in the courts by said trustees against 
Reed and his bondsmen for the recovery of said sum. 

The bondsmen interposed as a defense to such action in the courts that 
by reason of insufficient notice of said defalcation they were relieved from 
all responsibility. 

It is the settled policy of this department to refrain from passing upon 
questions which are to be disposed of by the courts. This appeal cannot 
be decided upon its merits without passing upon the question as to whether 
or not the respondents are guilty of willful neglect in the matter of giving 
notice to the bondsmen of the defaulting treasurer. Hence, I cannot with- 
out violating the well-settled rulings of this department do otherwise than 
dismiss the appeal. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, decision No. 
2894, November 21, 1879. 

APPOKTIONMENT. 

The assessors must make the apportionment of railroad property in compliance with 
chapter 694, Laws of 1867, as amended, at a regular meeting of the board ; the fail- 
ure to do this gives the supervisor jurisdiction. 

The only attempt of the town assessors to comply with chapter 694, Laws 
of 1867, as amended, resulted in the filing with the town clerk an alleged 

^'oTE. — For rulings and decisions upon this subject, see, also, the decisions under 
Assessment and Taxes. 



Apportionment. 505 

apportionmeut of the railroad property of the town, signed by two assess- 
ors. Said apportionment was not made at a meeting of the assessors at 
which all of the assessors had due notice and an opportunity to participate. 
Thereafter the supervisor of the town, upon due application, made and filed 
with the town clerk an apportionment of said railroad property between 
the several districts of said town. 

It is clear that the assessors, acting as a board and with legal effect, made 
no apportionment. Such failure gave to the supervisor jurisdiction to act 
under section 3 of said chapter 694. The apportionment made by the 
supervisor is the legal and binding apportionment of the railroad property 
of said town. Per Keil G-ilmour, Superintendent, decision No. 3808, Janu- 
ary 21, 1879. 

Apportionment of railroad property; jurisdiction of Superintendent over assessors; 
proper basis of apportionment. 

The appeal is taken in behalf of district No. 6, Hamburg, Erie county, 
from the action of the assessors of said town, in apportioning the property 
of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad between the different 
school districts of said town. 

It appears that there are nine and twenty-nine one-hundredths miles of 
track belonging to said company in the said town of Hamburg, of which 
379 feet, about two acres in area, belongs to district No. 6. Included in 
the above 379 feet of track is an immense and costly culvert, one of the 
largest in the country, which cost, it is alleged, about $200,000. The total 
valuation of the railroad in Hamburg, as appraised by the assessors for the 
present year, is $340,000, and in said assessors' apportionment to the dis- 
trict in question, the sum of $2,625, giving as their reason that said district 
is only entitled to its proportion of a mile. 

The appellants claim, and with seeming justice, that the proportion of 
the assessment to which district No. 6 is entitled should range from $30,000 
to $40,000. 

It appears that in 1881 an appeal was taken from the action of the assess- 
ors of that year, in apportioning only $10,200 to said district No. 6, the 
assessors then claiming, as they do now, that the district is only entitled to 
its proportion of a mile of valuation; that the amount of railroad property 
in the town should be regarded as a unit, and that the district is only 
entitled to that proportion of the assessment which the length of the rail- 
road in the district bears to the total length of the railroad in the town. 
The Superintendent, in 1881, did not agree with this view of the case, but 
sustained the appeal and directed a new apportionment to be made by the 
assessors. '■ 

The fact that the Superintendent passed upon this question as early as 
1881, renders it unnecessary for me to discuss the point raised by the re- 
spondents, that the Superintendent is without jurisdiction in the case. 

The acts of the assessors proceeding within the statute are judicial and 
not ministerial. But the conclusive character of their act is only while 
they confine themselves within the statute. 

It is admitted in this case that the assessment was not based upon the 
actual value of the railroad property in the school district, but was based 
upon the theory that one mile of railroad was equal in value to any other 
value. By adopting this plan of apportionment, the assessors failed to 
confine themselves within the statute, which provides that it shall be their 
duty to apportion the value of the property of each and every railroad com- 
pany, as appears on the assessment-list, among the several school districts 
in their town in which any portion of said property is situated, giving to 

64 



506 Assessment. 

each of said districts their proper proportion, according to the proportion 
that the valve of said property in each of said districts bears to the value of 
the loJiole thereof in said town. 

It may be that interference, at tliis late day, with an apportionment which 
hasah-eady gone into effectin eight districts of the town, would create con- 
fusion which would impair rather than protect the interests of the schools. 
I am, therefore, induced, though very reluctantly, to abstain from accord- 
ing the relief sought by the appellants in this instance ; but the assessors of 
tlie town of Hamburg are directed, within ten days after notice to them of 
the filing of this decision, to meet and again apportion the valuation of the 
property of every railroad company "as appears on the assessment-list 
among the several school districts of their town in which any portion of 
said property is situated, giving to each of said districts their proper pro- 
portion according to the proportion that the " actual value of said property 
in each of said districts bears to the actual value of the whole thereof in 
said town, in accordance with the provisions of section 1, chapter 694 of 
the Laws of 1867 ; and that hereafter in the assessment and collection of 
taxes in any of the school districts of the town, the apportionment then 
made shall be followed by local scliool authorities until the completion of 
the next annual assessment. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintend- 
ent. Decision No. 3490, March 31, 1886. 

ASSESSMENT. 
Assessing property that had been set off several years previous. 

Held — A trustee cannot justify his action in assessing property in one 
district, when by an order it had been set off from such district nine years 
previous, upon the ground that such order was illegal and without effect 
in that it left certain property not attached to any district. This depart- 
ment, in a proceeding appealing from the action of the trustee in assessing 
such property in a certain tax-list, will not consider the question of regular- 
ity of an order altering the district boundaries which for ten years has been 
acquiesced in by the representatives of such district. Per Neil Gilmour, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 2902, December 5, 1879. 

Original assessment. 

On the last assessment-roll of the town the real estate of F. E. Buck was 
assessed at $230. At the time of the compiletion of the assessment-roll 
of the town, a small house was in process of erection upon this land 
and the cellar was completed and the underpinning laid on the 7th 
day of October, 1883. When the trustee of the school district took 
the assessed valuation of this property from the assessment-roll of the 
town (after the tax sought to be raised was voted by tiie district meeting). 
The frame of the house on Buck's land was up, but at that date there was no 
siding on said house and it was not in such a condition that the value could 
be determined. 

Held — That under this condition of the improvements the trustee was 
not legally required to re-assess said property. Per W. B. Ruggles, Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 3302, January 15, 1884. 

Of land lying iu one body, but in more than one school district. 

The appellant resides in school district No. 1, Ogden, on a certain lot, 
No. 31, in said town. He occupies lands on lot No. 43, also within the 



Assessment. 507 

boundary of school district N. 1, and also occupies lands on lot No. 43, 
within the boundary of school district No. 13, adjoining the lands on lot 
No. 43, aforesaid. All these lands are owned by the wife of the appellant. 
The lands on lots numbered 42 and 43 are occupied as one farm, and there 
does not appear to be any person residing on that part located in lot No. 
42, except a hired workman of the appellant. The trustee of school district 
No. 13 assessed the lands in that district to the appellant. From this action 
of the trustee the appeal is taken. 

The lands in lot No. 42, located in school district No. 13, and the lands 
in lot No. 43, located in school district No. 1, constitute lands lying in one 
body. These lands are occupied by the appellant, and in the absence of 
any specific proof as to the character of his occupancy, the legal presump- 
tion is that he occupies the lands as the agent of his wife ; they are conse- 
quently all taxable for school purposes, under the provisions of section 66, 
title VII, Code of Public Instruction, in school district No. 1, where the 
appellant resides. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3317, March 7, 1884. 

Personal property in the hands or under the control of any executor or administra- 
tor must be assessed in the district where such executor or administrator resides. 

William C. Fields, late of the village of Laurens, Oswego county, died 
there on the 27th of October, 1882, leaving a last will and testament in which 
executors were appointed. The will was admitted to probate and the execu- 
tors duly qualified. The executors are residents of Albany, and had not 
been residents of the town of Laurens at any time for five years previous to 
the assessment appealed from. 

The trustee of school district No. 2, Laurens, assessed the personal estate 
of said Fields, deceased, in that district. The appeal is brought by the 
executors from such assessment. 

These facts bring the case within the provisions of the statute, that per- 
sonal property in tlie hands of, or under the control of any executor or ad- 
ministrator is assessable, where the administrator or executor resides, and 
not elsewhere. (Sec. 5, article I, title II, chap. XIII, part 1, Revised 
Statutes.) Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3339, April 
10, 1884. 

The trustee of a school district in making an original assessment must proceed in the 
same manner as town assessors are required by law to proceed in the valuation of 
taxable property. 

The tiTistee of the district made an original assessment against one 
Bryant for the sum of $500 personal property and placed his name on the 
tax-list, said Bryant not having been assessed for any property in the town, 
either real or personal. The trustee caused no notice of the completion of 
his tax-list to be put in three or more conspicuous places in the district, 
stating that the tax-list was completed, where the same could be seen or 
examined or where the trustee would meet the tax payere to review the 
said tax-list, on the application of any person considering himself aggrieved. 
In lieu of such form of notice, it appears that the trustee served upon 
George Bryant a personal notification stating that he had assessed him in 
the sum of $500 in accordance with article 7, title 7 of the General School 
Laws of the State of New York, and that he would be at his residence on 
Saturday, February 9, 1884, for the purpose of "hearing any grievance 
which the said " Bryant might urge because of the above assessment. This 
notice was dated January 18, 1884. 



508 Clerk. 

It is clear that the trustee, in making out his tax list, failed to follow the 
provisions of sec. 68, title YII of the Code of Public Instruction. He 
should have proceeded in the same manner as the town assessors are 
required by law to proceed in the valuation of taxable property. Having 
failed to give the notice prescribed by the statute, the original assessment 
is void for want of jurisdiction. The tax-list and warrant placed in the 
hands of the collector on the 27th day of February, 1884, must, therefore, 
be set aside as invalid and void. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3342, April 24, 1884. 

In a petition or appeal asking the Superintendent to direct the trustee to make an 
original assessment, the property sought to be placed on the tax list must be accu- 
rately described, its location, value and ownership. 

The appeal is brought from the refusal or omission of the trustee to place 
certain woodlands alleged to be in the district, upon the tax list. The 
trustee gives as his reason for omitting to assess the lands in question, the 
difficulties in obtaining the values thereof, and the names and residences 
of owners. In this respect the appellan does not aid the trustee by the 
evidence which he brings in support of his general allegations. If the 
trustee has failed to make an original assessment in a proper case, a party 
aggrieved thereby and taking his appeal to the Superintendent should 
show definitely and affirmatively what property has been omitted, its extent 
by proper measurement, its location and its ownership, so that the order 
of the Superintendent, in directing the recall of the tax-list and the 
amendment thereof, may be predicated upon certain and definite grounds, 
and may designate what particular parcels of land should be put upon the 
roll. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3423, June 12, 
1885. 

Trustees hare the power to increase or decrease the assessment of real estate from the 
assessed valuation of the same upon the last town assessment roll in certain cases. 

The appeal is from the action of the trustee in raising the assessed valua- 
tion of appellant's lands. 

Held — Trustees of school districts have the power, under certain circum- 
stances, to decrease or increase the assessed valuation of real estate in their 
districts from the valuations upon the town assessment roll. In this case, 
for all that appears in the appellant's paper, the real estate of appellant 
may have increased in value after the last town assessment roll was made 
out to warrant the increased assessment by the trustee. Trustee'^ action 
sustained. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 
3470, January 23, 1886. 

XoTE. — See also decisions under Trustees and Taxes. 



- CLERK, 

DUTIES AND POWERS GENERALLY. 

The clerk of a district has no power to authorize any person to give notices for a dis- 
trict, or to do any other act. 

The trustees of district No. 14, Lockport, called a special meeting, to be 
held on the 22d day of March, 1849, and directed the clerk of the district 
to give the proper notices. 



Clerk. 509 

Most of the notices were given by a son of the clerk. The meeting held 
in pursuance of such notice is alleged to be illegal. 

It is the duty of the district clerk to give all notices for school meetings 
in his district, and in case of his refusal or of a vacancy in the office of 
clerk a trustee may give them. 

But the clerk of the district has no power to authorize any other person 
to give the notices or to perform any other duties of his office. 

The appeal is sustained, and the proceedings of the meeting are declared 
illegal and void. Per Morgan, April 7, 1849. 

Clerk cannot delegate to another the duty of giving notices of meetings. 

It is claimed that the special meeting was not lawfully convened for the 
reason that the district clerk employed another person to notify some of 
the inhabitants of the district who were voters, instead of performing that 
duty himself. 

The delegation of his duty by the clerk in notifying the voters of that 
meeting was without any warrant of law. The meeting in question was 
irregularly convened, and there is no alternative except to declare its action 
void. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, February 17, 1870. 

Clerk and not the trustees must give notice of meetings. 

It appears from the answer that the voters who attended the meeting 
were notified by the trustees themselves, the district being divided up 
among them for that purpose. This was irregular. It is the province of 
the district clerk to serve notices for special meetings upon the inhabitants, 
and that duty can be performed by the trustees only when the office of 
clerk is vacant, or when he is " sick or absent or shall refuse to act.'' Per 
A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 9, 1873. 

Clerk cannot refuse to give notice of a meeting ordered by a majority of trustees, upon 
the ground of protest or refusal of third trustee. 

This is an appeal from the refusal of a district clerk to call a special 
meeting upon the order of a majority of the trustees. 

The justification of the clerk is insufficient. The protest of any trustee 
should not be regarded as authority against the direction of a majority. 
Nor is it the duty or the right of the clerk to judge concerning the correct- 
ness, competence or legality of the proceedings of the trustees. If an order 
is presented to him, correct upon its face, he is to presume all preliminary 
proceedings to be just and legal. Any other construction of his powers 
and duties would leave the control of all district matters entirely in the 
hands of a subordinate ministerial officer. 

No order seems necessary, however, compelling the clerk to act, as one 
of the trustees may give the notice requii-ed in case of the continued refusal 
of the clerk to act, the same as in the case of his absence or inability to act. 
Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 2, 1861. 

Only two cases in which a district clerk can lawfully call a special meeting except on 
order of trustees: First, where time for annual meeting has passed without any 
such meeting being held ; and, second, where all the trustees have vacated their 
office. 

There are only two cases in which a district clerk is authorized by law 
to call a special meeting except on the order of the trustees: First, where 
the time for holding the annual meeting had passed without any such meet- 



510 Clerk. 

ing having been lield ; and, secondly, where all the trustees have vacated 
their office. In these two cases the district clerk is authorized to call 
special meetings, and in no others. 

Where neither of these contingencies arises in a district, the clerk has no 
more legal authority for calling a special meeting, except by order of the 
trustees, than any other inhabitant of the district. Per V. M. Rice, Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction, November 20, 1865. {Letters, vol. 4,j^. 535.) 

Should keep full records. 

The clerk should keep a record of every thing that is done by a meeting, 
and his minutes should show what resolutions were rejected as well as those 
that were earned. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, June 33, 1866. 



Duty of clerk to permit inhabitants to have access to school records. 

There can be no doubt of the right of the inhabitants of a school district 
to examine and copy the district records under such reasonable regulations 
as the officers having them in charge may prescribe. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, April 15, 1873. 

Same. 

It is the duty of the clerk to permit any voter to freely inspect the 
records at all reasonable times, and a willful denial of this right by a clerk 
informed of his duty in the matter, would subject him to the liability of 
removal from office. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, December 19, 1874. 

COMPENSATION. 

Clerk not entitled to compensation. 

This is an appeal from the action of the last annual meeting in approving 
a charge in the account of the trustees of $35, paid to the district clerk for 
his services as such. 

As there is no law authorizing the payment of any amount to a district 
clerk for his services, the action of the annual meeting in approving the 
payment to the district clerk and the act of the trustees in making it, are 
both hereby adjudged and declared to have been illegal and of no binding 
force upon the district. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, March 30, 1875. 

The clerk is the custodian of the district records. 

The ti-ustee of the district refused to deliver to the clerk certain district 
records or papers. 

The district clerk is the legal custodi'an of all the district books of 
records, papers and minutes. Appeal sustained and trustee ordered to 
deliver into the keeping of the clerk all the books, records, minutes and 
papers belonging to the district and in the possession of said trustee. 
Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3178, March 8, 1883. 

CLERK'S MINUTES. 

The clerk's minutes should be accurate, but cannot be taken as conclusive evidence of 
the proceedings of a meeting. 

The appeal is brought to set aside certain proceedings of a district meeting, 
and the appellant introduced the clerk's minutes, to sustain his allegation 



Collector. 511 

that a resolution adopted by the meeting to raise by tax $500, did not state 
for what purpose it was to be raised. 

The clerk's minutes should always be clear, and correct. It is true, as 
appellant alleges, that these minutes do not show the purpose of the reso- 
lution. But we are not bound by the clerk's minutes. Were such record 
conclusive, a careless or ignorant clerk could easily undo or annul the pro- 
ceedings of any meeting. We can go behind such record and inquire as to 
the actual facts. In this case, the respondents conclusively show for what 
the $500 was to be raised, and the language of the resolution directs the 
trustees '* to purchase the furnace now on trial in the building, complete 
the painting of the house, grade the grounds and put down suitable walks, 
at a cost not to exceed $500. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3415, April 13, 1885. 



COLLECTOE. 



BOND. 

Trustees must require a bond of collector for the faithful discharge of his duties, etc., 
before collector receives first warrant for collection of district tax. If thej neglect 
such requirement, said trustees are liable to district for any loss or damage resulting 
from their neglect. 

The law makes it the duty of the trustees to require the collector, before 
receiving the first warrant for the collection of a district tax, to give bonds 
for the faithful discharge of his duties, and accounting for the moneys 
received by him by virtue of such warrant. A failure to comply with this 
direct requirement of the law on the part of the trustees would, in my 
opinion, constitute such a case of non-feasance as would render the trustees 
liable to the district for any loss or damage resulting from their neglect. 
Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent of Public Instruction, December 28, 1865. 



Collector must give bond before receiving warrant. 

The appellant complains of the action of the trustee in placing a tax list 
and warrant in the hands of the collector without causing him to execute 
a bond as required by law. 

It is provided by section 83, title 7, of the General School Act, that "the 
collector, before receiving the first warrant for the collection of money, 
shall execute a bond " such as is therein prescribed. The action of the 
trustee in this matter has therefore been clearly illegal. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, December 15, 1869. 

Same. 

A district collector has no legal right to act under a warrant for the col- 
lection of a tax before he has executed the bond required by law. It is 
not sufficient to be able to say, as the respondents do in this case, that no 
loss has happened to the district in the past for the want of a bond ; the 
inhabitants are entitled to one as a security for the future, and the trustees 
have no authority to deprive them of that safeguard. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, August 10, 1871. 



512 CoLLECrOR. 

ELIGIBILITY. 

Collector must be entitled to vote at the district meetings to be eligible to the office. 

It is alleged that the person declared elected district collector by the 
meeting was not and is not a legal voter of the district. This allegation 
has not been controverted, and as every district officer must be qualified to 
vote at its meetings {Sec. 24, title 7, General School Act), this ground of 
appeal is sustained, and the choice of the person referred to as collector of 
the district is therefore hereby declared to have been illegal and void, and 
it is accordingly vacated and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintend- 
ent, August 11, 1871. 

POWERS. 

Collectors are the proper custodians of district moneys, and they need not pay them 
over to trustees. They should pay only on the written order of one trustee, or a 
majority of the trustees, which order should state the purpose for which the money 
is to be paid. 

Collectors are now the proper custodians of all the district moneys col- 
lected by tax, and it is not their duty to pay over such moneys to the trus- 
tees. They are to pay it out only on the written order of the trustee, or of 
a majority of the trustees, which order must specify for what purpose the 
money is to be paid. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, April 12, 1886. 

Under no circumstances is a collector authorized to sell real estate. If 
he cannot levy on enough personal property at one time to satisfy the war- 
rant which he holds, he can keep on levying till he does obtain property 
enough to pay the tax. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, April 23, 1866. 



RESPONSIBILITY. 

Trustees not bound to indemnify collector. 

The trustees are not bound to indemnify the collector on a levy and sale 
of property on a tax list. If they do so, however, and the collector is sued, 
they are responsible for the costs, and must present their account to the 
board of supervisors (county judge) in the mode prescribed by law. 

Where money is advanced by trustees to a teacher for his wages, the 
amount so advanced may be collected in the usual form, and paid over to 
the trustees so advancing, on the order or receipt of the teacher. 

If, after due diligence on the part of the collector, a deficiency exists in 
the collection of tax list, the trustees may advance the amount of such 
deficiency, and the district will be bound to provide for the same by tax, 
in the same manner as though no such tax had been made. Per Y. M. 
Rice, Superintendent, May 11, 1854. 

A collector is responsible for all losses to the district occasioned by his 
negl-ect of duty, and may be prosecuted for the same at any time within six 
years. Per Y. M. Rice, Superintendent, June 15. 1854. 
172.) 

When ineligible. 

If a person who is ineligible to the office has been appointed collector, 
and the tax payers refuse to pay him, he cannot, without rendering himself 
a trespasser, proceed to collect of such tax payers by levy and sale. A dis- 
trict collector cannot perform his official duties by deputy. Per S. D. 
Barr, Deputy Superinteudent, October 17, 1865. 



Collector. 513 

Jurisdiction of collector. 

Tlie jurisdiction of a collector in collecting any tax list delivered to him 
extends to any part of the county in which his district is situated. {See 
sec. So, title 7, chap. 555, Laws of 1864.) 

Renewal of warrant. 

The statute prescribes no limit within which the second renewal must be 
made. Hence, though three months have elapsed since the first renewal 
the warrant is still renewable with the consent of the supervisor. Per E. 
W. Keyes, June 1, 1864. 

A trustee has no right to make the collector pay over to him the district funds, and 
has no right to deliver tax list to collector before the collector gives bonds. 

The trustee had in his hands, unaccounted for, district money to the 
amount of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, which he induced the col- 
lector to pay over to him. The trustee also delivered to the collector the 
tax list and warrant without requiring from that officer a bond. 

The respondent had no right to take said money from the collector, 
neither had he a right to allow the collector to collect district money before 
the security of a bond had been obtained. The action of the respondent is 
in violation of law, and of most wholesome and necessary law. Trustee 
removed from ofl^ice. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision jSTo. 
2863, June 23, 1879. 

The trustee must allow the collector ten days to give his bond. 

The appeal is brought from the action of the district trustee in appoint- 
ing a collector. A collector was elected at the annual meeting. The 
trustee alleged that the person elected collector did not give a bond and he 
therefore appointed another. 

But the evidence shows that the respondent never allowed the appellant 
the ten days required to be given by sec. 83, title 7, Code of Public Instruc- 
tion, in which to procure his bond. The respondent's action was, there- 
fore, illegal. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2958, April 
21, 1880. 

Collector's resignation — acceptance of, by supervisor. 

The collector resigned and the supervisor of the town refused to accept 
such resignation. 

The evidence shows that the appellant is by reason of a chronic disease 
wholly incapacitated from performing the duties of his office, and he, 
therefore, desired to be legally relieved therefrom. Order issued relieving 
the collector from serving and directing the trustees to appoint another. 
Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3017, November 18, 1880. 

REIMBURSING THE COLLECTOR'S BONDSMEN FOR MONEY LOST BY THE 

COLLECTOR. 

The district cannot vote a tax to reimburse the bondsmen of a collector for moneys lost 
by the collector and paid by them. 

At the annual meeting in October, 1882, Robert J. Martin was elected 
collector of the district, and he duly qualified by giving his bond Tvith F. 
J. Heath and George D. Bement as sureties. The collector thereafter col- 

65 



514 Colored Children. 

lected certain moneys upon a tax list and warrant duly placed in his hands, 
which moneys were deposited by the collector with F. J. Heath, one of his 
bondsmen. $875 of this money were deposited by the said Heath in the 
bank of William C. Moore in the village of Victor, and in the name of 
Heath. On the 25th of November, $165 of this money were withdrawn 
from the bank to pay an order in favor of R. A. Kneeland. On or about 
the 18th of December, 1882, the bank suspended payment, and the said 
Moore made a general assignment for the benefit of his creditors, and his 
assets are now in the hands of his assignee unsettled. Since the failure of 
the bank whenever the collector received orders for moneys from the trustees, 
he brought them to Messrs. Heath and Bement, his bondsmen, and they 
furnished the money to pay them, and continued to do so until the sum of 
$710 had been paid by them. 

The annual meeting held October 9, 1883, adopted the following resolu- 
tion : 

'* Hesohed, That the trustees of school district No. 1, raise the sum of 
$710 in addition to the sum already voted to be raised for the ordinary ex- 
penses; the said sum of $710 to be paid to George D. Bement and Frank J. 
Heath, bondsmen for Robert J. Martin, collector of said district, to reim- 
burse them for money lost by said collector by the failure of Moore's bank, 
in the village of Victor, December 19, 1882." 

The trustees issued a tax list with the amount included. 

The appeal is taken from the action of the meeting adopting the resolu- 
tion, and asking that all prooeedings thereunder be restrained. 

It does not appear from the evidence in this case that the bondsmen 
did any thing more or less than would be legally required of them by their 
bond, and I know of no principle, either in law or equity, which would 
justify a tax, the purpose of which is to relieve the bondsmen and the col- 
lector from the obligations they have assumed. 

The action of the annual meeting is set aside, and the issuing of a tax list 
and warrant for the $710 restrained. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3304, January 16, 1884. 



COLORED CHILDREN. 

Trustees have no right nor authority by law to exclude colored children from district 
school, unless they maintain a "school for colored children." 

The trustees have no right or power under authority of any law, even 
though they have been so instructed by a district school meeting, to ex- 
clude colored children from the district school, unless they maintain a 
school for colored children. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, Sep- 
tember 27, 1865. 

Negro children should be admitted to district schools where no separate school for them 
has been established by district. 

Negro children are entitled to all the advantages of education provided 
by the State the same as white children. Cities and union free school dis- 
tricts, incorporated by special act of legislature, have in their power to 
establish separate schools for colored children ; but in all other districts, and 
in those mentioned where no separate school has been established, colored 
children should be admitted to the district school. Per V. M. Rice, Super- 
intendent, November 28, 1 865. 



Colored Children. 515 

Colored children cannot be excluded from the common schools unless a separate school 
for their education has been organized by the district. 

The law provides that the "common schools in the several school dis- 
tricts in this State shall be free to all persons over five and under twenty- 
one years of age residing in the district.'' 

The only restrictions to this provision are in the case of Indian children 
residing in the district, who are admissible only by authority of the Super- 
intendent, and in such cities and union free school districts as have made 
provision for the maintenance and support of separate schools for colored 
children. 

It would manifestly be a great injustice to exclude from the common 
schools a class of children merely on account of their color, without having 
made adequate provision for their education elsewhere. Per V. M. Rice, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, December 7, 1865. 

Colored children are entitled to attend the common schools in this State, in all districts, 
except those in which, by law, provision is made for their education in separate 
schools. 

The petition of appeal in this case states, as the ground of appeal, 
that the trustees came to the school-house and ordered a certain colored 
lad, commonly called "Dick," to leave the school. The petition alleges 
that said "Dick" was at the time over five and under twenty-one years 
of age, and was of the age of fourteen or fifteen years; and that he was 
an actual resident of the district, and has for the last two years been 
included, by the trustees of the district, in the enumeration of the children 
made in their annual report to the school commissioner. These facts 
would give him the right to attend the district school, while the trustees 
would also have the right to expel him from the school for any good cause 
shown. The appellant alleges that " the trustees gave *Dick' no reason 
for his expulsion, except that, if he continued to go to school, the 
school would be broken up," and he also alleges that after the dismissal 
of "Dick" from school, the teacher said to appellant that "Dick" had 
been an orderly scholar, and had not disobeyed the rules or orders of the 
school. 

The only allegations in the answer which may be considered as contra- 
dicting these are in the language of the respondent, as follows, viz. : ' ' On 
the morning of the 1st day of December, 1865, the teacher dismissed school 
on account of disturbance caused, as the teacher declared, and as the trus- 
tees verily believe, on account of said colored boy being in school ; and on 
the 4th day of December, 1865, the teacher commenced school again, and 
the trustees did there and then dismiss the said colored boy from school, 
and at the time did assign to him the reason why they so dismissed him ; 
and that, on the 11th day of December, 1865, the said colored boy went to 
school, and on the same day the above-named John Skatts and William R. 
Parker went to the school-house and dismissed the said colored boy again 
for the same reason, and told him that he could not come to school until 
the weather was settled ; that they dismissed him because he was oflEensive 
and a laughing stock for the scholars both in and out of school; and that 
his presence there did annoy and disturb the school to such an extent that 
the teacher could not preserve or keep order.'' 

These are all the facts of any consequence alleged in the case. 

It is, therefore, admitted by the respondents, that " Dick " was primarily 
entitled to attend the school, being a resident and of school age; and that 
he was expelled because '■'■ his, presence did annoy and disturb the school to 



516 Election, etc., of Officers. 

such an extent that the teacher could not preserve or keep order." I know 
no law of this State, or decision, excluding a pupil from a public school 
merely because his presence annoys and disturbs the school. If he had the 
small-pox, or some other dangerous and contagious disease, the presence of 
such disease would be dangerous to the school, and the disease might legally 
be removed by removing the pupil. But no such complaint is made of 
" Dick," and the presumption is that he is a strong, healthy, intelligent 
boy. 

But the respondents allege that he " was offensive and a laughing stock 
for the scholars.'' It is not alleged that he actively engaged in any offen- 
sive operations at school, to the injury of the scholars. Therefore, the cause 
of his offense, if there was any cause, must have been that he was " colored," 
or in some other respect, was not by his Creator so made as to be adapted 
to the tastes of his school-fellows, or that his tailor was at fault. The- 
offense was committed by those who made sport of him. They ought to 
have been taught better manners. The mere fact that "Dick" was "a 
laughing stock for the scholars " is not a just ground of punishment or cen- 
sure to be visited upon him, but may be the result of the highest virtues, 
the noblest purposes, and the most commendable action in Mm. 

In the absence of evidence to the contrary, such is presumed to have 
been the case, in view of the allegations of the appellant, "that when the 
colored lad returned to school on the 11th day of December, other boys in 
school hours annoyed him with opprobrious looks and actions." There is 
no allegation in the answer that "Dick" has ever, on any occasion, in 
school or out of school, acted in a manner unbecoming a high-minded, 
earnest boy. For such boys this great State has, by the labors and money 
of a willing people, organized and sustained a beneficent common school 
system, and has designed thus to extend a protecting and guiding hand to 
them, and by these means to bless and exalt all her children. 

The trustees of said school district Nos. 21 and 11, in the towns of 
Darien and Alexander, in the county of Genesee, are, therefore, hereby 
ordered forthwith to admit said colored lad "Dick" to all the privileges 
of said district school. Per V. M. Rice, December 21, 1865. 



ELECTION, ETC., OF OFFICERS. 

An adjourned meeting cannot rescind an election of district officers. 
Per Dix, November 18, 1837. 

Nor can an officer once elected be displaced by vote of district. Per Dix, 
November 9, 1838. 

Any district meeting may elect an oflBcer to fill an existing vacancy, although thirty 
days may have elapsed since its occurrence. 

It appears that Alexander Fenton, a trustee in joint district No. 9, in 
Middletown and Shandaken, removed therefrom about the 1st of April, 
1856. On the 28th day of May, 1856, a special meeting was held at which 
William Jones was chosen to fill the vacancy. The town superintendent, 
with a full knowledge of such election, appointed John Newton to fill the 
vacancy caused by the removal of Fenton. 

The inhabitants, when lawfully assembled at any district meeting, may 
choose district officers to fill vacancies. {Sec. 62, chap. 480, Laios of 1847.) 

By section 77, it is provided that in case a vacancy shall be supplied by 
a district meeting within one month thereafter, the superintendent of the 



Election, etc., of Officers. 517 

town may appoint any person residing in sucli district to supply such 
vacancy. This provision does not, however, in any way affect the right of 
the district to supply such vacancy by election at any period prior to an 
appointment made by the town superintendent. 

In this case Mr. William Jones having been elected at a special meeting 
of the inhabitants of the district, previous to the appointment of Mr. New- 
ton, the action must be considered legal. 

The order of the town superintendent of district N"o. 9, Middletown and 
Shandaken is therefore void. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, July 31, 
1856. 

School district oflBicers cannot be elected by a plurality vote. The statnte requires a 

to elect. 



The statute does not authorize an election by a plurality vote, but 
expressly names a majority as essential. This removes it from the power 
of the district even to make valid an election by a plurality. Per H. H, 
Van Dyck, Superintendent, December 2, 1858. 

Condition and tenure of office of trustees elected at meetings not called or held accord- 
ing to law, commented upon. 

By an act of the legislature, the first Tuesday in May "was designated as 
the day for holding the annual meeting of the school district, and the 
meetings were held on this day for about thirty years. In 1851, a resolu- 
tion was passed at the annual meeting, changing the time of holding the 
annual meeting of the trustees and inhabitants of such school district, from 
the first Tuesday in May to the first Tuesday in September of each year. 

This action of the district I must regard as wholly unauthorized and void, 
it not being among the powers conferred upon the inhabitants of that dis- 
trict, but expressly taken from them by the provisions of their charter, 
which designated the first Tuesday in May as the time for holding such 
annual meeting. It follows, therefore, that no legal annual meeting has 
been held in that district since the time of holding the meeting was 
changed to the first Tuesday 'in September, by vote of the inhabitants. 

The important question hereupon arises : Does this informality render all 
the proceedings in the said district void? To reply afiirmatively would be 
to utter a most disastrous and sweeping decree, nullifying nearly all that 
has been done in the way of raising and applying money for school pur- 
poses since 1851. The district might thus be shown to be destitute of a 
site, or of a house, and that all that had been done in the assessment and 
collection of taxes for school purposes, had been done in derogation of the 
rights of the inhabitants, having been done without authority and against 
law. But aside from the consequences of such a decision, there is nothing 
in the nature of things, nor in the just rules applicable to such cases, to 
lead to such a conclusion. 

The meetings held on the first Tuesday of September in each year were 
informal, being, in point of fact, special meetings, held under suSicient 
notice. The special meetings called by the trustees of the district were 
legal, and any business transacted at them must be considered valid. The 
informality attending the so-called annual meetings would have this effect, 
that the proceedings would all be voidable; that they might be set aside 
on appeal, or a subsequent annual meeting held in May, agreeably to the 
statute, might disregard them in so far as they assumed the prerogatives 
belonging to itself. But until such action has been had, whereby the 
powers of those meetings have been brought into question, and their pro- 



518 Election, etc.. of Officers. 

ceedings superseded by competent and legal autliority, their action must be 
approved. 

The effect of the informality practiced m this district upon the tenure of 
those now holding office by virtue of an election at any of the annual or 
special meetings I am now considering, appears to be this: that those 
elected at any such alleged annual meeting are liable to be displaced and 
superseded at any subsequent regular and legal annual or special meeting, 
while those elected at any special meeting, for terms clearly defined, and for 
vacancies which the district was competent to fill at the time, could not 
be superseded at any subsequent meeting previous to the expiration of the 
term for which they were elected. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
December 21, 1858. 

Legality of proceedings in certain elections for trustees considered and decided. 

At the annual meeting in 1859 it was resolved to elect three trustees for 
the district. The meeting proceeded to elect R. H. as trustee, but without 
designating his term. Before proceedmg to elect the other trustees the 
meeting adjourned. 

The said R. H., acting under color of an election as trustee, ordered a 
special meeting for the purpose of filling vacancies in the district. The 
meeting was held and proceeded to vote for a trustee for three years ; a 
ballot was had in which J. K. received a majority of the votes. Before 
proceeding to the election of other officers, the meeting again adjourned. 
Another special meeting was called to fill vacancy still existing, at which 
G. H. was elected for one year, T. R. for two years and the said R. H. for 
three years. 

The proceeding of the first special meeting to vote for a trustee for three 
years I must regard as a substantial compliance with the statute, and, there- 
fore, declare the election of J. K. as trustee for three years to be legal and 
valid. 

The election of R. H. for three years at the second special meeting was 
void under the decision already given, there being, at the time, no such 
vacancy. His election at the annual meeting I hold void for uncertainty, 
the time for which he was elected not being specified. 

The election of G. H. for one year, and T. R. for two years, at the second 
special meeting, was valid. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, Febru- 
ary 9, 1860. 

Evidence of a mere possibUity of an election having been carried by illegal votes will 
not vitiate the election. 

On an appeal from an election for a member of board of education, it ap- 
pears that 585 votes were cast at said election, of which J. S. received the 
greater number, and was declared duly elected. The appellant alleges that 
of the votes cast 133 were illegal, thus reducing the whole number to 452, 
of which he produces affidavits to show that he received 253, and is, there- 
fore, entitled to the office. 

Of the 133 votes claimed to be illegal, it is alleged that ten had not the 
requisite property qualifications; seven appear upon the poll books as having 
voted twice ; one voted as proxy for another voter, and eleven were aliens 
and not entitled to hold lands in this State. The remainder, 104, it is 
alleged, were non-residents of the district at the time of the election. 

Counter affidavits are introduced that prove the allegations concerning 
the property qualifications, the duplicate voters and the aliens to be, in 
some instances, erroneous. This tends, of course, greatly to cast discredit 



Election, etc., of Officers. 519 

upon the affidavits not controverted, where those affidavits are general and 
indefinitely stated on knowledge or belief. 

But the burden of testimony is that relating to the 104 voters claimed as 
non-residents. The nature of the evidence to prove the non-resideace of 
these voters is far from being satisfactory. Aa old resident and late col- 
lector of the district makes out a list of all those in said district whom he 
regards as voters. From this list the 104 persons referred to are excluded 
as not known to the deponent as residents of the district. Two others 
swear, on information and belief, to the accuracy of said list, as embracing 
all the legal voters in said district. 

This testimony certainly casts a suspicion upon the validity of the votes 
cast by those persons, but it is only a suspicion after all ; it is not conclu- 
sive. The appellant has only proved the possibility that the election was 
carried by illegal votes. 

I cannot but regard the evidence as to the illegality of these votes as in- 
conclusive, and the result of the election, as declared by the inspectors, is 
not thereby impaired. 

The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per H. H. Yan Dyck, Superintend- 
ent, December 3, 1860. 

Election of members of board of education in union free school districts must be by 

ballot. 

At a meeting held for the purpose, a union free school district was 
formed. A committee was appointed to nominate members of the board 
of education. The committee reported certain names with the term of 
office for each respectively. On motion, the persons thus nominated were 
elected by acclamation. 

Held — that "this action was irregular. The law expressly provides that 
such election shall be by ballot." Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, Sep- 
tember 3, 1868. 

Upon evidence tending to show that illegal ballots were cast at an election for oflBcers 
of a district, it will not be assumed that the illegal votes were cast for the successful 
candidate. 

At an annual meeting the result of the first ballot for trustee was de- 
clared to be eighty votes cast, fifty for Casey, and thirty for Bierce. 

Upon the ballot taken immediately thereafter for a second trustee, there 
being two to elect, the result was fifty-five ballots cast, of which fifty were 
for Wilson, three for Casey and two for Smith. 

The same number of persons was in the room at the taking of each of 
these ballots and the conclusion is reached that upon the first ballot, 
twenty -five votes in excess of the voters were cast or counted. 

The Superintendent says: "No charge is made and no proof is given 
that any such votes were cast for the persons declared elected, and it is a 
notable circumstance that upon each balloting the successful candidate re- 
ceived just fifty votes. Under these circumstances I cannot assume that 
illegal votes were cast for the person who received the highest number on 
the first ballot. 7 Cow. 153 clearly lays down the law applicable to the 
facts of this case. ' To warrant setting aside the election it must appear 
affirmatively that the successful ticket received a number of improper votes 
which if rejected would have brought it down to a minority. Tlie mere 
circumstance that improper votes were received will not vitiate an elec- 
tion.' " Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, February 26, 1869. 



520 Election, etc., of Officers. 

Where a Tote for any office results in a tie, another vote should be taken. The receiv- 
ing of additional votes after the result is declared is irregular. 

Two candidates, W. G. & J. S., were voted for, and of thirty votes cast, 
each received fifteen. The vote being a tie, neither candidate was chosen, 
and the result of the ballot was so announced by the chairman. Subse- 
quently four additional votes were received, three of which were for the' 
said G. and one for said S. and thereupon the former was declared elected. 

The result of a balloting in which neither candidate received a majority 
of votes have been duly declared, it was irregular to receive additional 
votes in the manner charged. The only course was to take another vote. 
The election was set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 
14, 1871. 

An election to incompatible offices, as trustee and librarian, gives to the person elected 
the right of choice between them. He cannot accept both. 

One Cole was elected librarian at an annual meeting. Subsequently, at 
the same meeting, he was elected trustee. Mr. Cole neither accepted nor 
declined either office, at the time, but did some acts afterward, which 
favored an impression that he pioposed to discharge the duties of both. 
Subsequently, however, he resigned, in due form, the ofiice of trustee. 

After the resignation of Cole, the trustee of the previous year, believing 
no valid election of his successor had been had, directed a special meeting 
to be called for that purpose. By reason of some confusion in giving the 
notices, a meeting was held on the 11th, and another and larger meeting 
on the 12th of November. At each of these meetings a person was elected 
as trustee. 

The person elected at the first of the two meetings, further to confirm 
himself in the position, secured an appointment from the supervisor, as to 
fill a vacancy. 

Held^ that Cole never accepted the office of trustee, and that his resigna- 
tion of that office was a nullity. 

That the calling of the special meeting was rendered so uncertain by the 
issuing of two calls for the same meeting, that the action of neither should 
be binding on the district. The action of both was therefore set aside. 

That the office of trustee was so far filled by virtue of a colorable election, 
held on the 12th of November, that there was no vacancy for the super- 
visor to fill while the proceeding of that meeting remained unreversed. 
The appointment by the supervisor was therefore set aside as unwarranted 
by law. A new meeting was ordered to be held for the election of a 
trustee. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, April 3, 1875. 

When the name of the candidate does not appear the same on all the ballots, the inten- 
tion of the voters, when it can be ascertained, must control. 

The inspectors of election refused to count for the appellant, seven votes 
for collector reading "P. Carter," and fourteen votes reading "Patrick P. 
Carter," which were cast at the election for school officers in district No. 20, 
Watervliet, Albany county, October 13, 1880, and which, if counted for 
the appellant, would have been sufficient to elect him to the office of col- 
lector. 

The evidence submitted shows that the appellant is the only adult person 
in said district bearing the name of Carter; that he was a candidate for the 
office of collector at said election ; that his tickets were originally printed 
and read as follows: "P. Carter;" that on most of them the "P." was 
erased and," Patrick " written in; that on some of them it was neglected 



Election, etc., of Officers. 521 

to erase the "P/' There is no question but that this explains how the 
seven and fourteen ballots aforesaid happened to be cast. I must hold that 
the intention of the voters was clear, and that the seven and fourteen bal- 
lots aforesaid should have been counted for the appellant. Appellant 
declared to have been legally elected collector. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 3010, November 15, 1880. 

A trustee can be elected by ballot or otherwise. Not necessary to declare the result. 
A trustee once elected, his election cannot be rescinded. 

At the annual meeting, held October 14, 1879, in district No. 29, Lisbon, 
as soon as an organization was effected, a vote for the election of trustee 
was taken. Stephen Cavanaugh and James Liddle were nominated for the 
office of trustee, Liddle declared that he would not run for trustee, and 
the balloting proceeded, Cavanaugh receiving seven votes, there being no 
votes cast for any other candidate. The meeting, after considerable dis- 
pute, adopted a resolution rescinding all proceedings that had been taken, 
and adjourned. It appears that a subsequent meeting was held, and 
another person elected trustee, from whose election this appeal is brought. 

It appears that the appellant, Stephen Cavanaugh, was duly elected on 
the first vote taken for trustee at the annual meeting. Whether the vote 
was by ballot or yeas and nays is of no consequence, as a trustee could be 
legally elected by either method of voting. Neither is it of consequence 
whether or not the result was declared, so long as it is known. Persons 
do not become trustees by force of the declaration of a chairman, but by 
receiving a majority of the votes of those present and voting. It is evident 
that a majority of those present did not vote for the appellant, but that 
could not work to defeat his election, so long as they did not vote against 
him. The appellant being elected, the voters of the district had no power 
to rescind his election, and any and all attempts to do so were without 
effect. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2895, November 
21, 1879. 

A resolution to change from the one to the three-trustee system must pass by a two- 
thirds vote. When it does not receive a two-thirds vote, and the meeting assumes 
to elect three trustees, the person first elected is the sole trustee of the district. 

The annual meeting adopted a resolution to change from the one to the 
three-trustee system by a vote of thirteen to eleven, and proceeded to elect 
three trustees. 

The resolution not having been passed by the two-thirds majority of those 
present, as required by law, said resolution must be declared of no effect. 

If the trustees were elected separately, the person first elected (irrespect- 
ive of for what time) is the sole trustee of the district, but if they were 
elected simultaneously on a single ballot, then the person designated by the 
meeting as trustee for a single year, is sole trustee of the district. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2910, December 12, 1879. 

A trustee may be elected by a viva voce vote. An annual meeting, having elected a 
trustee, has exhausted its powers for one year, and can neither rescind nor recon- 
sider such election. 

At the annual meeting, one Tooker was elected trustee by a viva voce 
vote, six or seven voices being for his election, and none responding to a 
call for negative votes. Thereafter a vote was taken by ballot for trustee; 
four votes were cast for Tooker and thirteen for Barnes. The said Barnes, 
therefore, took possession of the office. 

66 



522 Election, etc., of Officers. 

A trustee may be elected by a viva voce vote. An annual meeting, having 
elected a trustee, has exhausted its powers for one year, and can neither 
rescind nor reconsider said election, nor proceed to elect another person, 
and any attempt to do so is illegal. The election of Tooker lield to be 
legal. Per Neil G-ilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2943, January 8, 
1880. 

A person who, at the annual meeting after his election as trustee, publicly announces 
that he will not serve as trustee, thereby vacates his ofl&ce, and contracts made by 
him for the district thereafter are void. 

At the annual meeting one Strubel was elected trustee. Immediately 
after his election was announced, he publicly declared to said meeting that 
he would not accept and serve in said office, and he therefore refused to 
serve in said office. On the 16th day of October, after his election as afore- 
said, he entered into a contract with J. Adam Lowell to teach the school in 
said district. On the same day of making this contract, said Strubel filed 
with the supervisor his resignation of the office of trustee, which resigna- 
tion was duly accepted. A special meeting was thereafter held, and one 
Aldrich duly elected trustee. The trustee elected at the special meeting 
refused to recognize the contract with the teacher Lowell. The appeal is 
taken by the teacher from the refusal of trustee Aldrich to recognize the 
contract made with Strubel. 

I am convinced that on the 16th day of October, said Strubel was not the 
trustee of said district, having vacated the office by publicly declaring that 
he would not accept the same, and subsequently refusing to serve therein. 
If the appellant has any remedy, it must be sought in an action against 
Strubel personally. Per Neil G-ilmour. Decision No, 3232, January 24, 
1883. 

The chairman of a meeting cannot pass upon the qualifications of the voters, where the 
persons challenged make the statutory declaration. The failure of the chairman to 
declare the vote will in nowise invalidate an election otherwise regular. The school 
commissioner has no power to pass upon the legality of an election for school officers. 

At the annual meeting the appellant Thomas Fitzpatrick and Wm, H. 
Wait were placed in nomination for the office of trustee of the district. A 
viva voce vote was taken and twenty-six persons voted ; fourteen of whom 
voted for Fitzpatrick and twelve for Wait. A copy of the clerk's minutes 
is in evidence, from which it appears that six of those who voted for Fitzpat- 
rick were challenged and made the statutory declaration and that he was 
thereupon declared elected. The chairman of the meeting disputes this 
and alleges that he did not declare the result of the election; and it appears 
that he assumed to hold the question in abeyance for a decision of the 
school commissioners who gave an opinion that Wait was elected trustee of 
the district for the ensuing year, and that the six challenged voters, whose 
names do not appear in the record, were not legally entitled to vote for 
trustee. The commissioner directed Wait to go on and act as trustee, where- 
upon the clerk reported to tJie town clerk of the town of Montour that 
said Wait was duly elected trustee of the district. Afterward the matter 
was again submitted to the school commissioner, there being some doubt 
in the minds of the parties interested, and he advised that a special meet- 
ing be held in the district for the purpose of settling the matter. In pur- 
suance of this advice a special meeting was called, and was held on the 23d 
day of October, 1883. This meeting assumed to elect Mr. Wait trustee of 
the district. 



Election, etc., of Officers. 523 

From the evidence submitted I cannot fail to reach the conclusion that 
Mr. Fitzpatrick was elected trustee at the annual meeting. The action of 
the chairman in assuming to determine whose votes should be received and 
whose rejected, in cases of challenge, when the statutory declaration was 
made by the persons challenged, was entirely unwarrantable, and his fail- 
ure to declare the result of the vote could in no way invalidate the election 
of the trustee, if otherwise regular. No evidence is submitted by the re- 
spondent to show that the six votes in question were illegal. Assuming 
that they were illegal, having once been given under the challenge, they 
should have been counted and the regularity of the election should have 
been tested by an appeal, not by Fitzpatrick but by Wait. The school com- 
missioner has no power to pass upon the question of the legality of an elec- 
tion for school officers ; nor could the special meeting, called in pursuance 
of his advice, pronounce an election irregular, or declare a vacancy which 
did not exist, and so obtain authority to elect a trustee. 

Thomas Fitzpatrick declared to be the trustee of the district. Per W. B. 
Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3334, April 9, 1884. 

To warrant setting aside an election on the ground of illegal voting, it must appear 
affirmatively that the successful candidates received a number of improper -votes, 
which if rejected, would have brought their vote down to a minority. The mere 
circumstance that improper votes are received will not vitiate an election. 

The appeal is brought from the action of a district meeting in the mat- 
ter of the election of trustees. The principal grounds of appeal are: That 
there were illegal votes cast in sufficient number to decide the election of trus- 
tees — that the chairman of the meeting and inspectors refused to entertain 
challenges when offered — that certain votes were handed up to the inspec- 
tors from persons not legal voters and deposited in the ballot-box — that 
the number of votes certified by the inspectors as having been received by 
the respective candidates exceed in number the total vote cast — that the 
chairman made no effort to maintain order, and the meeting was disorderly 
and boisterous and citizens could only vote by forcing themselves through 
the crowd of standing men around the ballot-box. 

The large number of conflicting affidavits made it necessary to issue an order 
directing the school commissioner to take the testimony of the affiants 
whose affidavits appear in the case and to report the same to the Superin- 
tendent. 

After a very careful examination of the affidavits, and of the testimony 
taken before the commissioner, I do not find that the challenges made at 
the meeting were not entertained, nor that any ballots were received by the 
inspectors from parties other than those whose names are announced as 
voters at the meeting. 

It is alleged that there are eleven more votes certified by the inspectors as 
having been received by the respective candidates, than the total number 
of persons recorded as voting in the list kept by the clerk of the meeting. 
I am left in doubt by the testimony as to whether this was an error of the 
clerk or of the inspectors, the testimony of the insjDectors being directly 
contradictory of that of the clerk. In any view of the case, it is certain 
that the number of votes in dispute coming within the appellant's allegation 
given as the fourth ground of appeal, would not be sufficient to affect the 
result of the election. The evidence moreover does not sustain the appel- 
lant's charge that the meeting was of such a disorderly character as to prer- 
vent the legal voters from an opportunity of reaching the ballot-box, in 
order to deposit their votes. It is conceded that the meeting was unusu- 
ally large, and that it was attended with some excitement, but it nowhere 



524 Election, etc., of Officers. 

appears that tlic regularity of the proceedings, or the result of the election, 
was thereby affected. The only question left for me to consider is this: 
Were there illegal votes cast in sufficient number for those who were de- 
clared elected, to affect the result of the election? 

The appellants seem to have proceeded on the theory that it was only 
necessary for them to show that the illegal votes cast were in number 
greater than the number constituting the majority obtained by the trustees 
declared elected at the meeting, to require the setting aside of the election 
as illegal and invalid, without attempting to show for whom any alleged il- 
legal vote was cast. 

In 7 Cowen, 152, Ex -parte^ Murphy^ where a motion \vas made for leave 
to file an information in nature of a q^uo warranto against four trustees, 
whom the inspectors at the annual election of the corporation of St. Peter's 
Church in the city of New York, had certified as duly elected, the ground 
of the motion was. that two ballots were put into the box in the names of 
deceased persons, but it did not appear for whom the two improper votes 
were given although the ballots were required to make a majoritv. 

The court decided that the motion must be denied. 

The court held as follows : " For aught that appears, the spurious bal- 
lots were for the ticket which was in the minority. To warrant setting 
aside the election, it must appear affirmatively that the successful ticket 
received a number of improper votes, which if rejected would have brought 
it down to a minority. The mere circumstance that improper votes were 
received will not vitiate an election." The principle contained in this 
ruling does not seem to have been modified or affected by any subsequent 
decision of our courts, and it is clearly applicable in this case. 

Inasmuch as no offer was made by the appellants on the examination by 
the commissioner, to prove from whom the alleged illegal votes were cast, 
none of his rulings, to which exceptions were taken l3y the appellants' 
counsel as to the admissibility of evidence, appears to be of such a material 
character as in view of the principle referred to in the case cited could 
affect the result. There is thus a failure of proof necessary to establish the 
appellants' case. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3353, 
May 26, 1884. 

It is not the declaration of a chairman, but the fact that a person receives a majority 
of the legal votes cast, which constitutes an election ; and it is not competent for 
the chairman of a district meeting, after an election has been had, to proceed to 
determine whether it is legal or not. 

At the election for district trustee, twenty-one ballots were deposited, of 
which one Vaughn received twelve, and one Girvin nine. The chairman 
of the meeting assumed to declare that there was no election, and in the 
answer to the appeal, bases his declaration on the allegation that one per- 
son cast two ballots for Vaughn, and that two other persons who voted at 
such election were not legal voters, and states that he had reason to believe 
they both voted for Vaughn. But there is no affirmative proof showing for 
whom these alleged illegal voters cast their ballots. It is not the decla- 
ration of a chairman, but the fact that a person receives a majority of the 
legal votes cast, which constitutes an election ; and it is not competent for 
the chairman of a district meeting, after an election has been had, to pro- 
ceed to determine whether it is legal or not. Vaughn declared the legally 
elected trustee. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3385, 
November 28, 1884. 



Election, etc., of Officeks. 525 

The meeting authorized the clerk to cast a ballot for trustee. This was the only ballot 
cast. The clerk was not a qualified voter, and the election must be set aside. 

At the annual meeting several ineffectual attempts were made to secure 
a majority of the legal voters' present and voting for the election of a trus- 
tee. A motion was then made "That the clerk of the meeting be author- 
ized to cast his ballot for Simeon Porter;" the chairman put the 
motion to a vote of the house and seven voted in favor of it, and three 
against it ; the motion was declared carried, and the clerfe cast a ballot for 
Simeon Porter. After some hesitation, the chairman declared Simeon Por- 
ter elected trustee. 

"Without passing upon the question as to the regularity of this method of 
electing a school officer under any circumstances, it is clear from the papers 
that the action taken did not effect a legal election, as it appears that the 
clerk, Marshall Todkill, who cast the ballot, was not at the time of said 
meeting a legal voter in the district, as he neither owned nor hired real 
property in the district, liable to be taxed for school purposes, or had any 
child residing with him who attended the school the time required by law, 
nor was he assessed for any personal property on the last preceding assess- 
ment roll of the town in which he resided. As his was the only vote cast 
for trustee, and as he was not a legal voter within the meaning of the law, no 
valid election was had. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3445, October 16, 1885. 

The candidate for collector was not eligible. It not appearing that knowledge of his 
disqualification was brought home to the electors, the opposing candidate cannot be 
declared elected, and a new election must be ordered.. 

At the annual school meeting in district No. 3, Philipstown, Putnam 
county, upon a ballot for the election of district collector, James S. Mcllravy, 
received eighty-six votes and Thomas Smythe, received seventy-nine. The 
appeal is brought to set aside the election of Mcllravy upon the ground 
that at the time of the election he was not a qualified voter at school meet- 
ing in the district. The allegation of the appellant, that the respondent did 
not at the time of said election possess any of the qualifications necessary 
to make him a qualified voter at such election, is not successfully contro- 
verted by the respondent, who alleges that he was a qualified voter solely 
upon the ground that he owned upwards of $50 worth of personal property 
lialle to taxation for school purposes. This is not a legal qualification. The 
statute provides that a resident of the district, twenty-one years of age 
"who owns any personal property assessed on the last preceding assess- 
ment roll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in value, exclusive of such as 
is exempt from execution," is a qualified voter. Mcllravy not having been 
so assessed was, therefore, disqualified to hold the office of collector. 

It is a well-settled rule of law that had the disqualification been known 
to a sufficient number of electors to constitute a majority for Mcllravy, and 
had they, notwithstanding this knowledge, cast their ballots for him, their 
votes would have been a nullity, and it would follow that Smythe, if duly 
qualified, must be declared the legally elected collector of the district. 
But there is no proof that the disqualification of Mcllravy for the office of 
collector was known to any of the electors prior to the election, nor that 
any elector, before voting, received notice that Mcllravy was disqualified. 
Knowledge of the disqualification not having been brought home to the elec- 
tors who voted for Mcllravy, it only remains for me to decide that there was 
not a legal election of collector on the 26th day of August last in said dis- 
trict. A new election ordered. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3448, October 22, 1885. 



526 Election, etc., of Officers. 

When two persons are placed in nomination for the same office a vote should be so 
taken, either by ballot, by calling the aj^es and noes, by a division of the house and 
count, or by some other method, that the will of each individual voter should be 
ascertained, a reasonable opportunity for interposing challenges afforded, and an 
expression of a majority in the choice of the officers secured. 

At the annual meeting one Wheeler was placed in nomination for the 
office of trustee; immediately thereafter Mr. Schilling was nominated for 
that office. The second nomination being made, the chairman asked the 
person making such nomination "if he did not make his nomination by 
way of an amendment? " He replied that he did. A ballot was asked for 
on the two nominations before the meeting. The chairman refused to order 
a ballot, but proceeded to take a vote by acclamation upon the amendment 
as offered. On this question four voted in the affirmative, and there was 
no vote in the negative. There were fourteen legal voters present at the 
meeting. The chairman refused to allow a vote on the original nomination 
of Mr. Wheeler, and declared Mr. Schilling elected. 

The proceedings were manifestly irregular. Where two persons are 
placed in nomination for the same office, a vote should be so taken, either 
by ballot, by calling the ayes and noes, by a division of the house, and 
count, or by some other method, that the will of each individual voter 
should be ascertained, a reasonable opportunity for interposing challenges 
afforded, and an expression of a majority in the choice of the officers secured. 
This was not done in the case before me. But even if an election could be 
had by parliamentary recourse to simple motion subject to amendment, the 
procedure in this case was not in this respect in accordance with parliamen- 
tary rule. Regarded as a motion or resolution, the proposition was that 
Mr. Wheeler should be elected trustee for the ensuing year. The amend- 
ment offered, properly stated, was to strike out from the resolution the 
name of Wheeler and insert that of Schilling. The amendment having been 
adopted by the meeting, left the original motion as amended, namely, that 
Mr. Schilling be elected trustee for the ensuing year, before the meeting 
for its consideration. This motion as amended was not put to a vote; so 
there was no parliamentary ground for the chairman's declaration that Mr. 
Schilling was elected. A new election ordered. Per W. B. Ruggles, Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 3449, October 33, 1885. 

In common school districts, under the general law, any method of voting by which the 
will of a majority of the legal voters can be ascertained is valid and suflBcient in 
electing school officers. This department will correct aud set aside a proceeding 
consummated and carried by votes clearly illegal, and when it is shown that the result 
depended upon the illegal votes thus cast. 

The annual school meeting was organized by the selection of John 
Youngs, as chairman, and Nathaniel Coon, the appellant, as clerk, and pro- 
ceeded to the election of trustee. Instead of resorting to the formality of 
appointing tellers and keeping a list of the voters at the meeting, the chair- 
man passed about the room and received the ballots for trustee in his hat. 
The appellant Coon suggested to the chairman that he should not leave his 
place; whereupon the chairman returned to his place and other persons in 
the room came forward and deposited their votes in the hat. After these 
ballots were counted, it was found that twenty-nine votes had been cast, of 
which twenty were for Abner Z. Sprague and nine for John Bishop. It is 
contended by the appellant that this method of voting is so far irregular as 
to invalidate the election as it gave no opportunity for challenging persons 
who might be attempting to vote illegally. It is not shown, however, that 
in fact there was any attempt to challenge except in one instance, and I 



Election, etc., of Officers. 527 

do not find that the method of voting was such as of itself would debar 
any voter from challenging a person attempting to deposit his ballot. It 
must be borne in mind, too, that the law does not require in the case of 
common school districts, not governed by the provisions of chapter 248 of 
the laws of 1878, as amended, that inspectors shall be appointed, a poll list 
kept, and the formalities of a ballot observed. In fact in common school 
districts, under the general law, any method of voting by which the will of 
a majority of the legal voters can be ascertained has been held to be valid 
and sufficient in electing school officers. 

In reference to the objection "that illegal votes by divers persons at said 
election sufficient to change the result of the election," the rule is, that this 
department will correct and set aside a proceeding consummated and carried 
by votes clearly illegal, when it is shown that the result depended upon the 
illegal votes thus cast. But the appellants in this case do not show by any 
legal evidence that illegal votes were cast sufficient in number to determine 
the result of this election ; in fact, they do not show for whom any vote 
claimed to be illegal was deposited. In this respect then they fail to make 
a case. 

The ground of appeal that Sprague was not at the time of said meeting 
a legal voter in the district, and was therefore ineligible to the office of 
trustee, is not sustained by the evidence in the case. It devolved upon the 
appellants in this case to show affirmatively such facts of ineligibility as if 
taken for true, in the very words stated, will repel every presumption by 
which Sprague's claim to be a legal voter might be sustained, by showing 
the absence of any or all essential qualifications. . This appellant fails to do. 
The election of Sprague declared legal. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintend- 
ent. Decision No. 3459, December 13, 1885. 

"When an election will be set aside on the ground of illegal voting. What must be 
shown by the moving papers. Question of qualified voters fully discussed. 

The election for trustees was held in school district number two of the 
town of New Lots, Queens county, under the provisions of chapter 248 
of the laws of 1878, as amended, between the hours of mid-day and four 
o'clock in the afternoon. Twelve hundred and eighty-five votes were cast. 
Six candidates were voted for and the three receiving the highest number 
of votes were declared elected, and assumed the duties of trustees of the 
district. The appeal is brought by the three defeated candidates to set 
aside the election on the grounds of illegal voting. 

Illegal voting being the only reason urged for the setting aside of this 
election, it become incumbent upon the appellants to show, by a clear pre- 
ponderance of evidence, that enough illegal votes were cast for the respond- 
ents to change the result of the election; or that illegal voting was per- 
mitted to such an extent as to taint the whole election with fraud, and 
prevent the will of its legal voters from being ascertained. 

The statute clearly defines the qualifications of voters at school district 
meetings as follows: "Every person of full age residing in any neighbor- 
hood or school district and entitled to hold lands in this State, who owns 
or hires real property in such neighborhood, or school district liable to tax- 
ation for school purposes, and every resident of such neighborhood or dis- 
trict who is a citizen of the United States, above the age of twenty-one 
years, and who has permanently residing with him or her a child or chil- 
dren of school age, some one or more of whom shall have attended the dis- 
trict school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding, 
and every such resident and citizen as aforesaid, who owns any personal 



528 Election, etc., of Officees. 

property assessed ou the last preceding assessment-roll of the town, exceed- 
ing fifty dollars in value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution, 
and no other shall be entitled to vote at any school meeting held in such 
neighborhood or school district." (Sec. 12, title 7, of the General School 
Law, as amended by the act of 1881.) 

It will be seen from this statute that there are three classes of voters at 
school meetings in this State: 

1. Every person (male or female), who is a resident of the district, of the 
age of twenty-one years, entitled to hold lands in this State, who either 
owns or hires real estate in the district liable to taxation for school pur- 
poses. 

2. Every citizen of the United States (male or female), above the age of 
twenty-one years, who is a resident of the district, and who owns any per- 
sonal property assessed on the last preceding assessment-roll of the town 
exceeding fifty dollars, in value exclusive of such as is exempt from execu- 
tion. 

3. Every citizen of the United States (male or female), above the age of 
twenty-one years, who is a resident of the district and who has permanently 
residing with him or her a child or children of school age, some one or 
more of whom shall have attended the school of the district for a period of 
at least eight weeks within the year preceding the time at which the vote 
is offered. No other person is entitled to vote. 

Do the appellants show that there was illegal voting? The affidavits sub- 
mitted by the appellants allege that upward of two hundred and fifty illegal 
votes were cast ; and that a large majority of these were for the respondents. 
The mere allegation that a person is not a qualified voter is not sufficient. 
It must be made to appear affirmatively that the person possesses neither of 
the classes of qualification as provided in this statute. 
• It appears from the appeal papers that five hundred and four women 
voted at this election, and a large number of these are mentioned by name 
with the allegation that they do not possess certain of the statutory qualifi- 
cations. A large number of males are mentioned in like manner. It will he 
observed in this connection that the statute makes a person a qualified 
voter, who is a citizen of the United States, residing in the district, and 
" who owns any personal property assessed on the last preceding assessment- 
roll of the town, exceeding $50 in value, exclusive of such as is exempt 
from execution." The only testimony offered on this personal property 
qualification is the affidavit of one Christian W. C. Dreher, who says "I 
am the late collector of the school taxes for school district No. 2, of the 
said town. I have failed to find any of the names of the persons mentioned 
in the schedule 'A ' annexed to the affidavit of Richard Pickering, upon 
the books and tax list of said school district No. 2, and assessed therein 
for taxation, except the following persons.^'- This affidavit is without any 
force, as it is the town assessment-roll which the statute refers to, and not 
the school district tax list. A person could be assessed on the school dis- 
trict tax list for personal property and yet not be a qualified voter by rea- 
son of such assessment. On the other hand, a person, a citizen of lawful 
age, and resident of the district, who was assessed on the last preceding 
assessment-roll of the town for personal property " exceeding ^50 in value, 
exclusive of such as is exempt from execution," would be a qualified voter 
by reason of such assessment, although his name might not appear on the 
school district tax list. While it is shown that a large number of persons, 
who voted, did not possess some of the statutory quahfications, it does not 
appear in appellants' papers that any of these same persons or any other person 
who voted, did not possess the personal property qualification as laid down 



Equilization. 529 ' 

by the statute. It is not necessary that a person have all of these statutory 
qualifications to make him or her a legal voter; any one of the three classes 
of qualifications is sufficient ; and from all that appears in the appeal papers 
every one of the twelve hundred and eighty-five persons, who voted at 
said election, might have been qualified as voters under the third ground 
of qualification hereinbefore cited. 

For failure of proof on this point the appeal must be dismissed. Per W. 
B. Buggies, Superintendent. Decision No. 3465, December 30, 1885. 

Note. The law above referred to, viz.: section 12, title 7, Code of Public Instruction 
was amended by chapter 655, Laws of 1886. By such amendment another class of 
voters is added to those given above. This new class is as follows: Every resident 
of the district, Avho is a citizen of the United States, twenty-one years of age', and who 
is the parent of a child of school age, provided such child shall have attended the dis- 
trict school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding. J. E. K. 

equalizatio:n^. 

Equalization by supervisors when school district lies in parts of two or more towns. 

Held, that an equalization made by the supervisors is only of effect until 
town assessment-rolls are again completed and revised. The trustees of a 
school district in issuing a tax list should follow the equalization of valua- 
tions made by the supervisors since the completion of the last assessment- 
rolls of the towns. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3090, 
April 11, 1881. 

Equalization of taxes 'by supervisors when district lies in two towns. Meaning of super- 
visors' order explained. 

On the 7th day of October, 1885, the supervisors of the towns of Man- 
heim and Oppenheim made an order in writing pursuant to section 69, title 
7, of the Code of Public Instruction, which order was an attempt on the 
part of said supervisors to fix the relative proportion of taxes that ought to 
be assessed upon the real property lying in the different towns. In their 
order the supervisors directed that ''so much of the taxable property of 
said district being situated in the to^vn of Oppenheim shall pay forty-five, 
and that so much of the taxable property situated in the town of Manheim 
shall pay fifty-five cents on the dollar on any school tax that may be levied 
upon the assessed taxable property of the aforesaid district." 

Upon the equalization the trustee of district No. 7, Manheim and Oppen- 
heim, made and issued to the collector his tax roll and w^arrant for enforcing 
the collection of a tax of $113.14 upon the inhabitants of said district 
No. 7 . From the action of the supervisors and that of the trustee this 
appeal is taken. 

It appears from the evidence that the aggregate assessed valuation, as 
determined from the last assessment-roll made by the assessors of the town 
of Manheim, in that part of joint district No. 7 lying in the town of Man- 
heim is $7,684, while the aggregate assessed valuation of that part of the 
district lying in the town of Oppenheim is $57,425. It is contended 
that to assess fifty-five cents in each dollar of the $113.14, school tax 
(after deducting personal property assessed, if any) on the town of Man- 
heim, being in all $63.33, while but forty-five cents in every dollar, being 
in all $50.91 of said tax is assessed on the town of Oppenheim is not within 
the meaning of the spirit of the statute, and could not have been the inten- 
tion of the supervisors. A careful examination of the facts and circum- 
stances developed in this case leads me to agree with the appellant, that the 

67 



530 Equilization. 

orders of the supervisors may fairly be construed to mean that the property 
situated in Manheim shall pay fifty-five cents on the dollar of its assessed 
valuation, and the property situated in Oppenheim should pay forty-five 
cents on the dollar of its assessed valuation for the purpose of raising any 
school tax necessary, until the new assessment-roll shall be perfected and 
filed. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3486 
March 39, 1886. 

Supervisors have no power to change the value as fixed in the town assessment-rolls. 
Their duty is to determine what proportion of a school district tax shall be paid by 
each town forming a joint district, so that relatively each shall pay the same. 

This is an appeal by William K. Callender, a tax payer of the town of 
East Grecnbush, Rensselaer county, N. Y., a portion of which forms a part 
of joint school district No. 1, towns of East Greenbush and the village of 
Greenbush, which is a portion of the town of Greenbush in the county 
aforesaid, from the action of the supervisors of the said towns in assuming 
to change the assessed valuations of property from the valuations placed 
thereon by the respective town assessors, and from the action of the trus- 
tee of said district in using as a basis of valuations of real property the 
tax roll of the assessors of the town of East Greenbush for the year 1885, 
as altered by said supervisors, instead of the assessors' last roll, which was 
filed in 1886, and asking to have said assessment and the apportionment of 
school taxes for said district thereon and the warrant dated December 2, 
1880, which accompanies it, set aside, and the receiver of taxes of the vil- 
lage of Greenbush enjoined and stayed from enforcing the collection thereof. 
The errors alleged as above set forth are substantially admitted by the trus- 
tees, who appear as respondents herein. For the errors assigned this appeal 
is sustained. 

The supervisors and trustees should have used the last assessment-rolls of 
the towns, after correction by the assessors, as the basis of valuation for 
the tax list. This, it appears, they did not do. 

The supervisors of the towns composing this district had no authority 
under the law (section 69, title 7, chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864), to 
change the valuation of any piece of real property appearing in said tax 
list as they assumed to do. Their duty under the law was simply to deter- 
mine the basis upon wiiich the respective town assessors had proceeded in 
determining values for their assessment, and if found not to be ratably the 
same, to determine what proportion of a school tax to be collected should 
be apportioned to each town. Having failed so to do, their action was 
manifestly irregular and illegal and cannot be sustained. 

I, therefore, sustain the appeal and set aside the action of the supervisors 
in changing the assessed valuations, and the apportionment of taxes by the 
trustees made thereon, and the tax list on which such apportionment was 
made. 

The receiver of taxes of the village of Greenbush is perpetually stayed 
and enjoined from the collection of the tax as at present apportioned; and 
said receiver of taxes is hereby ordered and directed to refund all sums 
which may have been collected by virtue of the aforesaid warrant upon said 
tax list to the persons from whom the same were collected. Per A. S. Draper, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 3550, December 24, 1886 . 



FOEMATION AND ALTERATION OF DISTRICTS. 531 



FORMATION AND ALTERATION OF DISTRICTS. 

ACCOMMODATION OF INDIVIDUALS. 

Individual opposition to a measure of public utility should be duly considered, but 
should be allowed to have weight only as it has a substantial foundation in reason 
and justice. 

That due regard should be paid to the wishes and convenience of the 
inhabitants to be affected by the alteration or consolidation of districts, 
will be admitted without argument. That the wishes, the convenience and 
the interests, pecuniary and general, of individuals and of the minority, 
must occasionally give place to higher considerations of public convenience 
and general good, is equally true and obvious. While, therefore, individ- 
ual opposition to measures of public utility should be duly considered, that 
opposition should be allowed to have weight only as it has a substantial 
foundation in reason and justice. A merely factious opposition, a dogged 
and persistent obstinacy, founded on selfishness or feeling or willfulness or 
some fancied illusion, cannot be successfully urged to defeat any public 
purpose, good and desirable in itself. It is not the fact of opposition, but 
the occasion for it, that is to be considered. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Super- 
intendent, March 5, 1858. 

An order consolidating districts will not be set aside on the ground that the inhabitants 
of one ot the districts are nearly unanimously opposed to it. 

This is an appeal from an order of the school commissioner consolidating 
district No. 8 with joint district No. 6. The principal grounds upon 
which the appellants claim a reversal of the order are that a large majority 
of the inhabitants of the new district are opposed to consolidation. 

The wishes and convenience of the inhabitants of a school district should 
not be wantonly or unnecessarily opposed. Still, it is a popular and preva- 
lent misapprehension that, in the organization or alteration of school dis- 
tricts, the voice of a majority of those interested or affected must neces- 
sarily prevail. Only upon the supposition of one or the other of the follow- 
ing conditions would the pursuance of such a policy be safe or just: First, 
that the district is a community supporting its school wholly with its own 
means; or, second, that the promotion of the wishes of the inhabitants shall 
be perfectly compatible with the conservation of a just and liberal policy, 
embracing in its operation all the districts in the State. The first of these 
conditions is, of course, never realized in our system, and the evidence is 
such as to show that the second condition is not realized in the second case. 

The appeal for a reversal of the order of the commissioner cannot, there- 
fore, be favorably entertained; and the order must be, and hereby is, 
affirmed. 

The principle here involved, of sanctioning the consolidation of districts 
whenever their separate existence must be maintained at an undue public 
sacrifice, except in those isolated instances where the sparseness of popula- 
tion and limited assessed valuation render them proper objects of public 
charity, is of general application, and may be regarded as a precedent 
which the department will follow whenever similar issues are presented. 
Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 24, 1859. 

Safe rule to follow. 
In my judgment it is a safe rule in deciding whether alterations of dis- 



532 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

tricts for the purpose of accommodating individual inhabitants shall be 
made, to hold, in all otherwise proper cases for transfer, in favor of the alter- 
ation, wlien, by granting it, the district from which property is to be taken 
will not thereby be left too weak to support a good school. Per A. B. 
Weaver, Superintendent, November 26, 1869. 

Alteration of districts to secure better school facilities. 

"When it appears that an order of the school commissioner setting off a 
portion of one district and uniting it to another will give better school 
facilities, and increased convenience to the persons occupying the trans- 
ferred territory, and at the same time leave the district from which the 
transferred territory was taken sufficient resources with which to maintain 
a good and sufficient school, this department can find no justification in 
setting aside the action of tlie duly constituted officers. Per Neil Gilmour, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 2850, May 19, 1879. 

Altering district boundaries to allow an inhabitant to send his children to a school 
out of his district as a matter of preference. 

It is against the settled policy of this department to allow property to be 
transferred from a comparatively weak district to a stronger one when it is 
not clearly shown that it will give better school facilities and increased con- 
venience to the persons occupying the transferred territory. The mere 
choice or preference of a resident to send his children to a school out of his 
district rather than to the one in his district is not sufficient reason for 
transferring his lands. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3284, October 26, 1883. 

A petition signed by a majority of the taxable inhabitants of the district is not suffi- 
cient reason for its dissolution. 

The appeal is from an order annulling district No. 7. A careful exami- 
nation of the material facts in this case shows that district No. 7 at the 
time of the orders appealed from, had an assessed valuation as shown by 
the last assessment-roll of the town, of $32,758. There were thirty children 
of school age residing in the district ; and if the orders appealed from are 
sustained and the district dissolved, it will require the children to go over 
roads which in winter are impassable, a distance of from one and a half to 
two and three-quarter miles, in reaching the school-houses in the several 
districts to which portions of the territory of district No. 7 have been 
annexed. It is clear that a majority of the taxable inhabitants of the dis- 
trict signed a petition asking for its annulment, but this alone would not 
be good ground for the dissolution of a school district. It is not shown by 
the respondents that the inhabitants of the district had failed to support 
the school, nor that there were any peculiar circumstances which rendered 
it advisable to make the orders appealed from. A respectable minority 
were anxious to have the privileges of a school near at home, and the dis- 
trict, as it existed, was certainly strong enough in material wealth and 
school population to afford proper school facilities. I think the commis- 
sioner erred in animlling the district. Order of annulment set aside. Per 
W, B. Ruggles, Superintendent, Decision No. 3379, October 23, 1884. 

Alteration of districts for the convenience of children, but it is not shown that any 
children reside in the territory set off. 

The school commfesioner made an order settin^r off certain lands from 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 533 

district No. 6, Esopus, Ulster county, and adding them to district No. 5, 
New Paltz, Lloyd and Esopus, The appeal is brought to set aside the 
commissioner's order. 

The assessed valuation of district No. 6, is $21,620, and that of district 
No. 5, $38,(540. The property set oS. by said order has an assessed valua- 
tion of about $600, the commissioner has, therefore, taken from a weak 
district and added to a stronger, the appellants allege, without any reason 
therefor. The commissioner in his answer alleges that the road from the 
residence on the land set off to the school-house in district No. 6 is through 
a dense wood, and in winter is almost impassable, so that the children 
could not attend the school in tliat district, and for this reason the altera- 
tion was made. But it does not appear in the evidence that any children 
of school age reside on the premises set off. 

I think, from the evidence, it is established that the road from the resi- 
dences on the territory set off to the school-house in district No. 6 is too 
difficult a one for children to travel in winter; but as the commissioner 
fails to show that any children of school age reside upon the parts set off, 
and as he furnishes no other reason for the alteration, and as it appears that 
the order takes territory from a weak district, and adds to one compara- 
tively much stronger, 1 cannot affirm his action. Per W. B. Buggies, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 3440, September 19, 1885. 

"When the same alteration was passed upon before, the department will not interfere 
with the discretion which the law reposes in the commissioner, in the first instance, 
where the convenience of individuals alone is affected, and where no material interest 
of such individuals or of the district is involved. 

This is a proceeding by Jacob Osterhout and H. L. Vandenburgh, resi- 
dents and tax payers in school district No. 10, town of Watervliet, Albany 
county, N. Y,, appealing from an order made by George McDonald, school 
commissioner of the third commissioner district of Albany county, setting 
off the premises of Benjamin Beamer and Jeremiah Thompson from district 
No. 10, into district No. 18 of said town. This order was made with the 
consent of the trustees of both districts, and dated August 24, 1885. 

The appellants urge as a plea in bar, that this department passed upon 
this change of district boundaries, by a decision dated April 29, 1876, By 
a reference to this decision, it appears that the trustee of district No. 10, 
had not consented to the alteration, and the appeal was taken from the 
school commissioner's refusal to change the district boundaries. The school 
commissioner was sustained in such refusal. It further appears that the 
circumstances bearing upon the change are substantially the same now as 
at that time. 

The commissioner, in answering, gives as the principal reason for making 
the alteration, that it will be a convenience to the persons set into district 
No. 18, as the road to the school-house in that district is a good one during 
all seasons of the year, while the road to the school-house in district No. 10 
is a very bad one in winter, and on account of the snow drifting, the 
children frequently find it difficult to reach the school. He also shows that 
both districts are large, and by such change he takes from the stronger and 
adds to the weaker district. The assessed valuation of district No. 10 
being $228,242.47, and district No. 18, $184,901.75, while last yaar the 
amounts raised by tax in the two districts only differed about $16. 

It is only necessary from this state of facts to consider the bearing of the 
former decision upon the action of the commissioner at this time, and 
whether the decision of the Superintendent, and the circumstances of the 



534 Formation and Alteration of Districts 

two districts remaining materially unchanged, must be followed m dispos- 
ing of this case. 

While in the former case, the appellants, having the burden of proof, did 
not show sufficient cause to justify the Superintendent in ordering the 
school commissioner to make the alteration in question, yet it cannot, from 
the decision therein, be successfully argued, that all other things being 
equal, the convenience of individuals may not be considered by a commis- 
sioner, and be a good ground for making such an order. And the proceed- 
ings taken being in accordance with the statute, the burden of proof, this 
time, is shifted to those who appealed from the order, to show that on the 
merits the commissioner's action will materially injure the welfare of the 
district affected. In other words, this department will not interfere with 
the discretion which the law reposes in the commissioner, in the first 
instance, where the convenience of individuals alone is affected, and where 
no material interest of such individuals or of the district is involved. The 
appeal is overruled, and the order appealed from affirmed. Per James E. 
Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3475, February 2, 1886. 

BOARD FOR ALTERATION OP DISTRICTS. 

The statute authorizes the association of the town cleric and supervisor with the town 
superintendent (school commissioner), upon the application of the trustees of any 
district to be affected by their action. 

If only one trustee make such application, such board does not obtain jurisdiction of 
the subject-matier; the application of a majority or all of such trustees is necessary. 

In this case, districts situated in both towns being affected by the pro- 
posed order, a single trustee of district No. 2, in Halfmoou, and of joint 
districts Nos. 8 and 18, in Half moon and Waterford, applied to the super- 
visors and town clerks of the two towns to be associated with the superin- 
tendents in their deliberations. The order was made by this board, thus 
assembled, and the answer sustaining and defending it is signed by every 
member. 

The appellants insist that the board was entirely destitute of jurisdiction. 
The statute authorizes the association of the town clerks and supervisors 
with the town superintendents only upon application by the trustees of any 
district to be affected by the proposed action. If a majority of the trustees 
of any one district make the application, it cannot be doubted that juris- 
diction is given to all; in this case, however, a majority of the trustees 
of no district made the application, and the supervisors and town clerks, 
composing a majority of the board, had no authority whatever in the 
premises. 

Considerable research has failed to discover any adjudged case in which 
the precise point here presented has been determined. It is, however, 
believed to be impossible, in accordance with general principles, to sustain 
an order made by a tribunal which, in its constitution as a whole, has no 
jurisdiction, although including persons, as in the case of the two town 
superintendents, who, acting alone by themselves, would have possessed 
the requisite authority, and,' although these persons all concur in the order, 
and nothing appears showing that their judgment was in any degree con- 
trolled, or their deliberations affected, by the presence of third parties. 

The difficulty is, that it must always be practically impossible to ascer- 
tain whether the decision is, in fact, the unbiased judgment of those to 
whom the duty of making it has l)een committed by law. It may be said 
that a judicial officer is not only blameless but praiseworthy for seeking to 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 535 

enlighten his own mind by the suggestions of disinterested and intelligent 
advisers. There is a manifest difference, however, between his voluntary 
application, which is consistent with that judicial independence which it 
is so important to preserve, and his being subjected to the influence of 
persons claiming to deliberate with him as a matter of right. It is, more- 
over, an element in the policy of the law, that all persons required to exer- 
cise judgment for the public good should be held to an individual respon- 
sibility, and not be permitted to diminish it by distributing a part of the 
burdei^ among others. 

The appeal is sustained. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, July 14, 1855. 

The supervisor and town clerk cannot act with the commissioner in altering the 
boundaries of districts vinless so requested. 

This appeal alleges that the town clerk and supervisor were present and 
acted without authority, at a meeting to alter the boundaries of certain dis- 
tricts, not having been requested to act with the commissioner by the 
trustees of either district affected. This suflSciently disposes of the order, 
for the town officers could not acquire jurisdiction without the request of 
the trustees, and, without jurisdiction, their action is void. Per H. H. 
Van Dyck, Superintendent, December 15, 1860. 

Local boards for the alteration of districts cannot act upon districts lying outside 

their own town. 

Where a local board, composed of the school commissioner and the 
supervisor and town clerk of the town of M., proceeded to act upon a 
question of setting off portions of a district lying in the town of N., held, 
that the board so composed had no jurisdiction over the question, and that 
the order made by them was absolutely void. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting 
Superintendent, December 5, 1861. 

It is only after a school commissioner has granted an order for the alteration of a 
school district, that the supervisor and town clerk can be associated with him to 
review his proceedings. 

It appears that some time during the school year closing with September 
30, 1865, application was made to the school commissioner for the second 
commissioner district of Franklin county, for division of school district No. 
2, in the town of Westville. The commissioner decided not to divide. V^ 
appears that subsequently, on the 11th day of August, 1865, the super- 
visor and town clerk of the town were associated with the commissioner, 
and the three, acting as a board, rendered a decision in terms reversing the 
order of the commissioner and dividing the district. The supervisor and 
town clerk have no jurisdiction in the alteration of school districts, except 
in cases where the commissioner has granted an order making an alteration. 
This is not such a case. Therefore, the order made by the school commis- 
sioner for the second commissioner district of Franklin county, and the 
supervisors and town clerk of the town of Westville, in said county, on or 
about the 4th day of August, 1865, dividing school district No. 2, of 
said town, was, and is hereby declared null and void. Per V. M. Rice, 
Superintendent, Mai-ch 30, 1866. 

Commissioner and supervisor and town clerks of two or more towns when convened to 
act upon the alteration of a district, act as a board, and the vote of the majority is 
controlling. 

Under the system of town superintendents, each town whose officers were 



536 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

convened to act upon the alteration of a district, had but one vote, but the 
rule has been changed since the office of school commissioner was created, 
and now is, that the supervisors and town clerks in attendance form, with 
the commissioners, a board which acts the same as any ordinary board by 
the votes of a majority of its members. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintend- 
ent, April 24, 1868. 

Board composed of school commissioner, supervisor and town clerk do not have orig- 
inal jurisdiction, and assumption of it vitiates proceedings. 

A meeting of the school commissioner, town clerk and supervisor appears 
to have been held pursuant to notice from the supervisor. The commis- 
sioner submitted a proposed order of alteration which was voted down by 
the supervisor and town clerk. The supervisor then produced an order of 
alteration prepared by himself, which was approved by the board, the com- 
missioner signing the same. 

Whether the order was one of alteration, or merely one to more correctly 
define existing boundaries, it was irregularly issued, not being an order of 
the commissioner confirmed by the board, but an order emanating from the 
board itself as a body having original jurisdiction. As the board thus 
composed had no legal power to act in the matter, it follows that the pro- 
ceedings are void. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 26, 1868. 

Supervisor and town clerk cannot acquire jurisdiction to act in reviewing an order of 
the school commissioner in altering a school district, except upon the request of 
trustees. 

The evidence shows that the town officers were not requested to act in 
the matter by the trustees of either district affected. The board as thus 
constituted had no jurisdiction to hear and determine objections to the 
commissioner's order. The matter should have been determined by the 
commissioner alone. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 5, 1869. 

A question of waiver. 

In the above case the ground was taken that as the appellant appeared 
and argued his case before the board upon its merits, without any objection 
to the constitution or jurisdiction of the board, he has waived his right to 
raise that question upon this appeal. Held, that the question of jurisdic- 
tion may be raised at any stage of the proceedings. The right is not waived 
by not being insisted upon before the tribunal having original jurisdiction. 
(See 8 N. Y. Reports, 254; 12 id. 156; 13 How. Pr. Rep. 260.) Per A.. B. 
Weaver, Superintendent, June 5, 1869. 

When supervisor and town clerk fail to attend atj original or adjourned meeting called 
to act upon an order of alteration, the commissioner has full power to act in the 
premises. 

This was a case in which the meeting of the board composed of the 
school commissioner, supervisor and town clerk, adjourned to a future day 
without determining the question. At the time and place to which the 
adjournment was made, only the commissioner appeared, and he entered 
an order confirming the order of alteration previously issued. The Super- 
intendent says : " In my judgment it is not the intention of the law to put 
it in the power of the supervisor and town clerk, after once meeting with 
the commissioner, then by mere inaction or refusal to act, to nullify his 
order and prevent what might be a proper and desirable change in the 



Formation and Alteration, of Districts. 537 

boundaries of a school district. If the town officers do not choose to 
attend on the day named by the commissioner, there is no doubt of his 
power acting alone to make an order confirming an alteration from which 
the trustees of the district or either of them may have dissented." Per 
A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 9, 1870. 

Preliminary order of alteration necessary to justify convening supervisor and town 

clerk. 

In this case no order appears to have been made by the commissioner 
until at the meeting of himself and the town officers, when the order 
appealed from was made by him, and what purports to be a confirmation 
thereof was at the same time made by the supervisor and town clerk. 
There is no warrant in the law for an order thus made and affirmed. Per 
A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 23, 1870. 

In like case to the above. 

Such a course was so clearly irregular as to render the order appealed 
from void for want of jurisdiction in the board to make it. Per Neil Gil- 
mour, Superintendent, August 10, 1874. 

Commissioners and trustees cannot act jointly in the alteration of districts. 

There is no authority given anywhere to commissioners to make orders 
jointly with other officers or persons for the consolidation of school districts. 
The order in question having been made jointly by two commissioners and 
two trustees of school districts was therefore invalid. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, May 6, 1872. 

Board can be convened only upon request of trustees. 

It appears that the action of the town officers in convening with the 
school commissioner was not at the request of the trustees of either district 
affected by the order. This is a fatal objection. The order was confirmed 
by a board entirelv destitute of jurisdiction. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- 
tendent, April 6, 1871. 

To the same effect. Per "Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, January 18, 1875, 

The statute prohibiting judges and judicial officers from sitting in judgment, when the 
interests of relatives within a certain degree are involved, or the common-law rule, 
does not apply to the members of the local board organized for the purpose of tear- 

■ ing objections to, and either contirminar or vacating a commissioner's order altering 
school districts. 

The appeal was brought to set aside the order of the school commission- 
ers, setting certain lands from district No. 4, New Scotland, Albany county, 
into district No. 11. 

The order of the school commissioners was confirmed by the local board. 
The appellants raised the objection that Aaron Fuller, supervisor of the 
town of Guilderland, could not lawfully act with the local board for the 
reason that he was the nephew of the owner of the land set off from district 
No. 4 to district No. 11 by said order. 

A careful review of the cases cited by the appellant's counsel in his brief 
fails to show that any of them would apply to this case. The supervisor 
joined with the town clerk and school commissioners in the exercise of his 
judgment as to whether the public interest would be conserved by confirm- 
ing the commissioners' act. I do not think that the exercise of this func- 

68 



538 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

tion would bring tlie supervisor within the provisions of the Revised Stat- 
utes, prohibiting judges and judicial officers from sitting in judgment when 
the interest of relatives within a certain degree was involved, or within the 
common-law rule. The cases all seem to apply to the acts of judges, jus- 
tices, surrogates, or judicial of&cevs eo-nomine, and I see no more reason to 
apply the statute to a supervisor sitting in such a local board than to the 
action of highway commissioners, or to the sitting of a board of town 
assessors when assessments are reviewed and determined after a hearing. 
Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No, 3367, July 19, 1884. 

When two districts are altered by a commissioner's order, the district assenting to the 
order, within the meaning of section 4, title VI of the General School Act, has a 
right to the voice of its town authorities in determining whether the order of the com- 
missioner shall stand or be set aside, as well as the district dissenting therefrom. 

Commissioner of the first district of Columbia county made an order set- 
ting off certain lands known as the " Saulsbury farm," consisting of about 
160 acres, from school district No. 13, Claverack, and annexing the same 
to district No. 6 of the town of Taghkanick in said county. The local 
board aflHrmed the commissioner's order. The appeal is brought by the 
trustee of district No. 13, Claverack, to set aside the order of the local 
board. 

A-fter overruling the first and second objections the Superintendent says: 
'' It remains for me to consider the third ground of appeal, namely, ' that 
the order of December 29, 1884, confirming the order making the altera- 
tion, was made without due authority of law by a pretended board having 
no legal authority to act as such.' In support of this objection, the ap- 
pellant urges that he dissented from the proposed alteration, and having 
been notified by the commissioner that he would attend at the school-house 
of district No. 13, on December 29, 1884^ to hear objections to the pro- , 
posed alterations, the appellant notified the supervisor and town clerk of i 
Claverack, and requested their attendance at the hearing. At the time and 
place mentioned the commissioner was present, as were also the supervisor 
and town clerk of the town of Claverack, pursuant to the notice given 
them by the appellant. There were also present the supervisor and town 
clerk of the town of Taghkanick, pursuant to notice of the trustee of school 
district No, 6 of the town of Taghkanick. The appellant protested against 
the admission of the town officers of Taghkanick to a sitting in the board, 
but the protest was overruled. After a hearing and deliberation, the com- 
missioner, in conjunction with the supervisor and town clerk of Taghkanick, 
made an order affirming the original order of the school commissioner; 
whereupon the supervisor and town clerk of the town of Claverack also 
made and filed an order assuming to vacate and overrule the said original 
order of the school commissioner. It is urged by the appellant that within 
the meaning of section 4, title VI of the Code of Public Instruction, a dis- 
trict affected by a commissioner's order is one from which property is taken 
or one which deems itself injured by the operation of said order. I do not 
think the statute will bear such a limited construction. The trustees of 
any district to be affected by the order may request the supervisor and 
town clerk of the town or towns within which such district or districts 
shall wholly or partly lie, to be associated with the commissioner. It is, 
moreover, the duty of the commissioner to the assenting, as well as to the 
dissenting, trustees of districts to be affected by the proposed alterations, 
of the time and place for hearing objections to the said alterations, and that 
the time and place mentioned in the notice, the commissioner with the 
supervisors and town clerks within which either district or all districts 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 539 

affected by the order are located, if notified thereto, may meet and deter- 
mine whether the commissioner's order shall be affirmed or vacated. The 
district assenting to the order, within the meaning of tliis section, has a 
right to the voice of its town authorities in determining whether the order 
of the commissioner shall stand or be set aside, as well as the district dis- 
senting therefrom. The order of the local board appealed from, affirmed. 
Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3420, June 3, 1885. 

BOUNDARIES. 

Order altering district boundaries will be set aside when the new boundaries are not 
defined by other lines than farms described by the names of the occupants. 

An objection to the order appealed from is that the boundaries are not 
properly defined. I regard the objection as well taken. Boundaries should 
be defined by known established monuments and marks, that survive the 
chances and changes that transpire in the ownership of the soil. Boundaries 
by men's farms or other transitory and perishable lines, however significant 
and clearly understood at the time, are perpetually subject to the changes 
and vicissitudes of life, and the roving and commercial spirit of our age, 
and in a few years become vague and uncertain as the memory of men and 
the title to their possessions pass away. This vagueness and uncertainty 
concerning the actual boundaries of districts whose lines have been run to 
coincide with farms that have afterward been cut up into smaller lots, or 
consolidated with other farms, whereby the original boundaries have become 
obliterated, is a fruitful source of contention, strife and litigation in school 
districts. This department has, therefore, acted upon the policy of setting 
aside the action of school officers, in the alteration of districts, where this 
principle of defining boundaries by proper monuments and prominent land- 
marks is disregarded. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 31, 
1860. 

Irregularity in the boundaries of a district should be avoided as far as possible. 

The maps and statements submitted show that the district boundaries are 
left by said alteration very irregular, as the same are defined by said order. 
Mr. Miller's farm projects into district No. 3 for the distance of about half 
a mile, and is surrounded on three sides by the territory of that district. 

If it is necessary to change the boundary lines of the two districts in 
question, the new lines should be established with regularity and accuracy. 
The order appealed from does not accomplish these objects, and is hereby 
set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 15, 1868. 

Correction of defective boundaries not subject to review by the supervisor and town 

clerk. 

I am disposed to believe that the supervisor and town clerk had no juris- 
diction to pass upon the order issued by the commissioner as above set 
forth. This is not a case of alteration under the provisions of the sixth 
title of the general school act, but is simply a case of amendment of 
defective school district boundaries, under the provisions of subdivision 1, 
section 13, title 2 of said act. Under these provisions no authority is ex- 
pressly given to town officers to. review an order of the commissioner, and 
I am of the opinion that none can be implied. The boundary lines of a 
great portion of the school districts in the State are defective, and if it 
were necessary in causing amended records of such boundaries to be made, 
to proceed with all the formality and deliberation required in the case of 



540 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

altering boundaries, it is doubtful whether any thing practical in the way 
of amending such records could be effected. The law has, therefore, pro- 
vided a more speedy and expeditious mode of procedure, by leaving the 
matter to the sole determination of the school commissioner, subject to an 
appeal to this department, which will prevent any improper exercise of the 
power given to that officer. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 4, 
1868. Also to same effect. Per Superintendent Weaver, August 26, 1868. 
Order of alteration set aside when boundaries are defined only by men*s 
names. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 2, 1873. 

In the commissioner's order altering districts, the description must appear in such a 
manner that a surveyor can run the boundaries of the districts therefrom. The local 
board can only confirm the commissioner's order at a regular meeting thereof. 

An order altering the boundaries of districts Nos. 17 and 11, Union, 
Broome county, was made on the 26th day of April, 1883, and said order 
was confirmed on May 14, 1883. From these two orders the appeal is 
brought. 

It will not be necessary to examine or discuss the questions of fact 
involved in this controversy, as there are two legal objections to the valid- 
ity of the order appealed from which appears to be fatal. The description 
of the territory proposed to be taken from district No. 11 and added to 
district No. 17 is not sufficiently definite. Its boundary is made, in the 
commissioner's order, to commence at the south-east corner of lands of S. 
H. Cooper. The south-easterly part of the Cooper land happens to be so 
shaped as to present two distinct and well-defined corners, each one of 
which may as well be considered the south-east corner as the other. Noth- 
ing appears in the subsequent description, by way of courses and distances 
or otherwise, which aids in any manner to definitely fix the starting point. 
It would be manifestly impossible for a surveyor to run out the boundary 
lines of the territory proposed to be set off from district No. 11, by the 
description in the order. 

On the 12th day of May, the commissioner, supervisor and town clerk 
met by appointment, pursuant to the statute, to hear objections to the pro- 
posed alteration. Objections and arguments were that day heard by them, 
and thereupon, without making any decision or coming to any agreement 
in respect thereto, and without adjourning to any other day, said officers 
separated. On the 17th of May, the said commissioner and supervisor cas- 
ually met and, in the absence of the said town clerk, made and signed an 
order confirming the order of the commissioner for an alteration of said 
districts. Under such circumstances the majority could not legally make 
the order of confirmation. Chapter 321, Laws of 1874. Orders appealed 
from set aside. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3283, 
October 25, 1883. 

CONSENT OF, AND NOTICE TO TRUSTEES. 

A conditional consent to the alteration of a district cannot be given. 
The trustees must either givje or withhold their consent. They can annex 
no conditions. Per Spencer, April 12, 1841. 

Trustees cannot give notice for themselves, and receive it for the district as trustees, 
of an application to be set off to another district, and assent to being set off in their 
official capacity. They cannot act in a twofold capacity. 

The appellants state that two of the trustees of their district made appli- 
cation to the town superintendent, witiiout giving notice to their colleague, 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 541 

that their own lands might be set off to district No. 5, and that upon the 
application, without consent of the other trustees, the order was made set- 
ting off one of them, Mr. Southworth. It does not appear, although it 
may be surmised, that Mr. Ellis is the otlier trustee thus applying. If 
such was the fact, there would be no notice, in a proper sense, to any trus- 
tee of the district. When they applied to be separated, it was in their 
individual capacity and not in their official character. 

They were acting 'prima fade^ not in behalf of but against the district; 
applying as private individuals to be set off, and assenting to be set off in 
the capacity of representatives of a constituency that may, if the practice 
should be tolerated, be without an opportunity of opposing. It follows, 
therefore, that notice to them has no effect whatever upon the rights of the 
district. There is no evidence in this case that any written notice of the 
order has been served upon the third trustee, or in fact upon any trustee. 
The contrary is to be presumed, from the fact that one of the answers sets 
up their application and consent as dispensing with such notice. This 
order, then, has not taken effect. 

There exists a manifest objection to impairing the resources of a feeble 
district to swell those of one relatively stronger, and it is against the set- 
tled ruling of this department. 

The appeal is, therefore, sustained. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superin- 
tendent, July 19, 1855. To like effect is decision, per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, April 27, 1871, referring to and approving the above. 

Regularity of notice to trustees of intention to define boundaries of district. 
***** -Sf * 

The notice of a meeting of commissioners to establish or define the 
boundaries of a district, when served upon tlie trustees of the district 
affected, must be signed by the commissioners themselves. It is not good 
if signed by the trustees of another district. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Super- 
intendent, May 4, 1858. 

The consent of trustees to an alteration of their district requires a meeting, and the 
fact of a meeting should be set forth in the written consent given. 

This is an appeal from the order of the school commissioner altering the 
boundaries of the district. 

The order is issued upon the application of two parties interested, and 
upon the written consent of two of the trustees, one of whom is a party, 
desiring to be set off by said order to another district. 

Section 7, of chapter 151, Laws of 1858, provides as follows: "Any two 
trustees of any school district may make any order or transact any business 
in execution of the powers conferred upon said board of trustees by law ; 
provided it shall appear in the order of proceeding filed by them, that all 
the trustees of the district met and deliberated on the subjects embraced 
in each order or proceeding, or were duly notified to attend a meeting of 
the trustees for the purpose of deliberating thereon." 

No such meeting or notice appears upon the face of the proceedings in 
the present instance. There was, therefore, no evidence before the com- 
missioner sufficient to authorize him to make the order of alteration. The 
commissioner acted under a misapprehension, and the consent of the trus- 
tees, which he supposed genuine and valid, lacks every requisite that could 
make it binding upon him. The order is, therefore, set aside. Per H. H. 
Van Dyck, Superintendent, August 27, 1860. 



542 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

An alteration of a school district, lying partly in the districts of two commissioners, 
cannot be effected without the joint action of the commissioners. Consent of trus- 
tees to an alteration of district should recite the fact of a meeting and consultation. 

The principle which this department has always recognized is that, when 
any district, affected by a proposed alteration, lies partly within the juris- 
diction of two or more commissioners, their joint action is indispensable to 
give jurisdiction of the subject-matter. It is not enough that the new dis- 
trict formed lies wholly within the jurisdiction of one commissioner. The 
fact that other districts, whose boundaries are thereby changed, are wholly 
or in part within the limits of another commissioner's district, giA^es him a 
rightful voice in determining to what alterations, if any, such district shall 
be subjected. 

The consent given by the trustees to the proposed alteration of their dis- 
trict must show upon its face that there has been a meeting of the trustees 
to consider and act upon the question of alteration. Where such is not the 
case, the consent is of no account. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, April 
17, 1862. 

A school commissioner has no jurisdiction to alter a school district until the trustees 
thereof have been asked and have given or refused to give their consent. 

The order for the formation of a district must contain a recital of such consent or 
refusal. 

Under section 3 of title 6 of the Consolidated School Act of 1864 the 
school commissioner has no jurisdiction to make an order altering a school 
district until after the trustees have been asked and have refused to consent 
to the proposed alteration. These appellants, three in number, all swear 
that their consent to this alteration had not been asked subsequently to the 
decision of the appeals brought to this department from the same district 
last year. There is no allegation in any paper submitted to the Superin- 
tendent by the respondent claiming that any such request had been made 
previous to making the order bearing date June 8, 1865, altering the bound- 
aries of said district. 

Therefore, I must hold that no such consent was asked or refused. Hence 
the order made by the school commissioner was void for want of jurisdic- 
tion. But the section above referred to provides, also, that the commis- 
sioner may make and file with the town clerk his order making the alter- 
ation, but reciting the refusal, etc. The order made in this case recites no 
such refusal, and hence the commissioner, having failed to comply with the 
plain requirement of the statute, and to recite in the order the fact giving 
him jurisdiction to make it, the order is void 

The appeal is, therefore, sustained, and said order made by said Orrin R. 
Bouton, school commissioner, and the confirmation thereof referred to in the 
said appeal, are hereby declared null and. void. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy 
Superintendent, December 16, 1865. 

The consent of trustees or notice to them pursuant to the provisions of the general 
school act is requisite to legality in the alteration of a district. 

A commissioner can alter a school district only with the consent of the 
board of trustees, or by reciting their refusal in his original order, directing 
that his order shall not take effect within three months, and giving to such 
trustees the notice required by section 4 of title 6 of the General School 
Act. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 10, 1868. 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 543 

InsuflScient notice to trustees of a meeting of the school commissioners and town 
officers to consider and determine the question of altering the district boundaries 
vitiates the proceeding. 

On the evening of November 9th, the trustees were notified of a meeting 
of commissioner, town clerk and supervisor, to be held at the town clerk's 
ofiice that same evening for the purpose of deteiTnining whether the com- 
missioner's order altering the bonds of said district issued Nov. 4, should 
be confirmed or vacated. This was the first and only notice that the trus- 
tees had received. The meeting was held and the commissioner's order 
confirmed. 

Section 4 of title 6 of the G-eneral School Act provides, that when a dis- 
trict boundary shall have been altered without the trustees' consent, at least 
a week's notice in writing must be given to one of the trustees of each dis- 
trict affected that at a specified time and place the commissioner will be 
present to hear objections to his order. 

In the present case the notice above mentioned was not given. Thus the 
commissioner's orders are not even prima fade valid, and the said orders 
are hereby pronounced void, and are set aside as of no force or effect. Per 
V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 7, 1868. 

Insufficiency in notice may be waived by the trustees at the time and place mentioned. 

The only irregularity I see in the matter is the fact that only six days' 
notice was given by the commissioner while the law requires seven days' [a 
week's] notice. The appellants, however, waived their right to object to 
this irregularity by being present at the time and place specified without 
objecting to the insufficiency of the notice. Per V. M. Rice, Superintend- 
ent, March 30, 1868. 

No particular form of dissent required to justify the recital by the commissioner in 
his order that the trustees of the district affected have refused to consent to the 
proposed alteration. 

In proposing to set off a person from one district to another at his 
request, the party interested applied to the trustees for their consent, which 
was refused. This was sufficient to justify the commissioner in reciting the 
dissent of the trustees. The law does not require the commissioner to 
obtain the assent or dissent of trustees, nor does it require the dissent to 
be expressed in writing. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 24, 
1868. 

Order as made must conform to the consent given upon which it is predicated. 

By a resolution adopted by the board of education of a Union Free School 
district, consent was given to the setting off of certain lands belonging to 
said district. The school commissioner issued an order reciting the con- 
sent, and setting off said lands and also certain other lands of said district. 

Held, that the order is illegal for the reason that the commissioner bases 
his action on the alleged consent of the trustees, and then proceeds to set 
off lands not included in the consent given. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- 
tendent, May 20, 1869. To like effect, decision per Weaver, Superintend- 
ent, May 13, 1873. 

Consent of trustees must be given as a board at meeting duly called. 

In the matter of an appeal from the alteration of a school district, pur- 
porting to have been done by the consent of the trustees, it was shown that 



544 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

the consent of two of the trustees of one of the districts affected was 
signed by them at different times, and was not the act of the trustees as a 
board convened for that purpose. The Superintendent says: " This is so 
fatal to the order that it is unnecessary to examine other objections made 
to it. From a consent thus obtained the commissioners acquired no juris- 
diction to act in regard to the alteration of the districts." Per A. B. 
Weaver, Superintendent, November 23, 1870. 

Same. 

In a case where the consent of the trustees did show upon its face that 
it was given in their capacity as a board, but upon an appeal it was con- 
clusively established that the consent was not so given, but signed by two 
of the trustees separately, at different times, and the form of the consent 
afterward alleged to have been changed to show that it was given by the 
trustees as a board, the Superintendent held, that while the commissioner 
acted in good faith, believing that he was proceeding in conformity with 
the statute, yet he did not acquire jurisdiction, for the reason that the writ- 
ten consent of the trustees was never lawfully given. Per Neil Gilmour, 
Superintendent, September 19, 1874. 

Consent of trustees of every district affected must be had to give validity to an order 
taking effect immediately. 

An order for alteration affected districts Nos. 3, 4, 16 and 18; it was al- 
leged that the consent of all tlie trustees except of No. 16 was given. The 
Superintendent says: *' However that may be, the order never had any 
validity for want of the consent of the trustee of No. 16. In the absence 
of that consent, an order could not be made to take effect immediately." 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 16, 1871. 

Want of notice of time and place to hear objections to order vitiates the same. 

It is shown that although the trustees of the districts affected refused 
to consent to the proposed alteration, the commissioner has not at any time 
since the making and filing of the order given the notice required by sec- 
tion 4 of title 6 of the General School Act, of a time and place where he 
would hear the objections to the alteration. For want of compliance with 
this requirement, the order appealed from was entirely null and void. Per 
A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 11, 1872. 

Notice to trustees of a time and place when and where objections to an order of altera- 
tion will be heard must name a reasonable hour. 

It is alleged that the notice served upon the trustee specified no hour in 
the day for the meeting to hear objections. 

The supervisor and town clerk were at the designated place at a season- 
able hour on the day named, for the purpose of acting upon the question, 
but the decision to confirm the order had already been made by the com- 
missioner. Order set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 25, 
1873. 

Requirement of consent of trustees, etc., and notice when consent is not 
obtained, applied to dissolution as well as to alteration of districts. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, September 14, 1874. 

Order made without the consent of the trustees. 

An order made without the consent of the trustees, changing the bound- 
aries of districts, and which was never confirmed as required by section 4 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 545 

of title 6 of the Code of Public Instruction, -will be set aside and declared 
void by this department. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 
2887, September 15, 1879. 

A trustee cannot consent in the name of the district to lands owned by him being set 
off from his district into another. 

Without passing upon the merits of the action from which this appeal is 
taken, it is suflBcieut to say that the order is clearly invalid, as it assumes 
to transfer from district No. 10 to district No. 11, lands occupied by the 
trustee of district No. 10, and on which he resided at the time of consent- 
ing to the order, and that the time wh^, by its terms, it was to take 
effect. It is clear to my mind that the trustee of a school district has no 
power, in the name of the district, to consent to an order for the alteration 
of school district territory which will take him out of the district of which 
he is trustee, and by its operation vacate his office. Order set aside. Per 
W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3419, May 5, 1885. 

The notice to be given by a commissioner to a dissenting trustee or trustees, provided 
for in section 4, title VI, must be given after the commissioner's order has been 
made and entered. The notice given in this case was before the order was made, 
and was that at a certain time and place the commissioner would hear objections to 
the alteration. 

This appeal is brought from an order of the school commissioner of 
Schenectady county, dated on the 21st day of September, 1885, altering the 
boundaries of school districts Nos. 10 and 25, in the town of Duanesburgh, 
by taking certain lands from district No. 10 and adding the same to dis- 
trict No. 25. The appeal is brought by the trustee of district No. 10 to 
set aside said order. 

It appears that the first notice received by the trustee of district No. 10, 
Duanesburgh, from the commissioner, dated at Schenectady on the 12th of 
September, 1885, was of his intent on the 21st day of September, at the 
Brooklyn House, near Esperance Bridge, at 10 o'clock in the morning, to 
make an order for the alteration of district No. 10, so that its boundaries 
shall thereafter be as described in the order. The notice further states that 
the trustee of district No. 10, not having assented to such order, it would 
not take effect in respect to such last-mentioned district until three months 
from the date of this order. The trustee is further notified that he has the 
option of applying to the supervisor and town clerk of the town of Duanes- 
burgh, to be associated with the commissioner, at the time and place above 
mentioned, to determine upon the propriety of such proposed alteration. 
This notice is followed by the order dated September 21, 1885, signed by 
the school commissioner and filed in the office of the town clerk on that 
day. altering the boundary of school district No. 10, town of Duanesburgh, 
as described in said order, and reciting that the order shall take effect in 
regard to the dissenting district in three months from December 12, 1885. 

The proceedings taken are clearly defective. When a school commis- 
sioner determines to make an alteration of a school district he may do so 
with or without the consent of the trustee of the district affected by such 
order; but he should first fix in an order to be filed with the town clerk 
the date when the alteration shall take effect. In case the trustee refuses 
his consent, he should direct the order should not take effect in regard to 
the dissenting district until a day therein to be named, not less than three 
months after the notice as provided in section 4, title VI, Code of Public 
Instruction. Such order was not entered by the commissioner, and the 
notice of September 12 was simply intended to comply with the provisions 

69 



546 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

of section 4, giving not less than a week's notice to the trustee of the dis- 
senting district affected by tlie proposed alteration, that at a specified time 
and place, within the town in which the district affected lies, the commis- 
sioner would liear objections to the alterations. The notice provided for 
in section 4 assumes that tlie order has been entered, and provides that 
within ten days after making and filing such order the commissioner shall 
give the week's notice therein provided for a hearing and review, and at 
such hearing and review the supervisor and town clerk of the town withia 
which the district is situated may be associated with the commissioner. 

In this case no original order appears to have been made or entered prior 
to the notice of September 12; therefore, there was no action of the com- 
missioner M^hich could have been legally reviewed on the 21st day of Sep- 
tember, as provided for in said notice of the commissioner, and the order 
of September 21, if it had any validity at all, could be sustained only as 
an original order; but the commissioner having failed thereafter to give 
the dissenting trustee the notice required in section 4, to enable him to 
have the order reviewed, as provided for in said section, the action taken 
could not legally alter the boundaries of the district. Commissioner's order 
set aside. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3456, De- 
cember 8, 1885. 

Consent of trustees of one district affected by a commissioner's order changing school 
districts, not material when the trustees of the other district refuse consent. Such 
consent only becomes material when there is to be no subsequent meeting for hear- 
ing objections. 
A commissioner who failed to file a confirmatory order made by himself, together with 
the supervisor and town clerk, for nearly a month after the same was made, was dere- 
lict in duty ; but such negligence held not to be fatal to the proceedings. 
Failure to give proper notice of the meeting to hear objections would be waived by the 

appearance at the meeting, without objection, of all the parties entitled to notice. 
Altering districts only for the purpose of equalizing valuations not sanctioned by the 
Department ; may be an element for consideration, but should not be the controlling 
one. 

This is an appeal from an order of Albert P. Smith as school commis- 
sioner of the second commissioner district of Dutchess county, made on the 
6th day of August, 1886, and also from an order of said commissioner dated 
the 14th day of August, 18«6, made to confirm the first-mentioned order, 
which orders set off a portion of school district No. 5, in the town of 
Poughkeepsie, and attached the same to school district No. 1 of said town. 
The papers in the case are very voluminous. From them it is gathered 
that there has been considerable local controversy over the matter for a long 
time. District No. 1 seems to have been desirous of gaining more territory 
for the purpose of increasing its taxable property, and particularly seems to 
have been anxious to bring within its limits, a piece of the line of the New 
York Central and Hudson River railroad. The order of the commissioner 
effects this by cutting some three-quarters of a mile of said road from dis- 
trict No. 5 and adding it to district No. 1. This is stoutly resisted by dis- 
trict No. 5. It is said that the change will be inconvenient to the people 
living in the territory which is set off from one district to the other, and 
they protest very earnestly against it. Two subjects are properly matters 
of inquiry, viz. : 

Firat. Whether the commissioner has acted regularly, and pursuant to 
the provisions of the statute; and 

Second. Whether in case the proceedings are regular, it was an advisable 
thing to do. 

The appellant urges numerous ii-regularities in the proceedings, the lead- 
ing ones of which are : 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 54? 

(a) That the trustees of district No. 1 did not consent, in writing, to the 
order of April 6 prior to the time when the order was made, 

(&) That the orders, notices, etc., were not filed in the clerk's office until 
the 4th of September after the making of the orders. 

(c) That the commissioner proceeded to hear objections on the 14th day 
of August without proof of service of notice on the trustees. 

(d) That the commissioner made no written decision or order on the 14th 
of August. 

I do not think there is sufficient force to these objections to require that 
the orders should, because of them, be set aside. It is probably true that 
the trustees of district No. 1 did not make a written consent to the com- 
missioner's order prior to the 6th of August. They severally swear that 
they consented in fact, however, but I do not think that material. The 
consent of the trustees of the district affected is only material to the valid- 
ity of the commissioner's order changing districts where there is no objec- 
tion on the part of eitlier of the districts affected, and where there is to be 
no subsequent meeting for hearing objections. In this case the trustees of 
district No. 5 objected from the first, and that fact was recited in the order 
of August 6th. In view of the fact that there was no general assent to the 
commissioner's order, and of the necessity for a future hearing by the com- 
missioner so that the opposing parties might have an opportunity to state 
their objections, it is difficult to see any necessity of consent, written or 
unwritten, on the. part of the trustees. 

That the commissioner determined at the time of the hearing of August 
14th to confirm his former order seems to be beyond question. All accounts 
agree upon the fact that he announced his purpose so to do to the end that 
the matter might be taken upon appeal to this department, if the opposing 
parties should so desire. 

I think the commissioner was exceedingly derelict in not filing the papers 
in the clerk's office before the 4th of September, but cannot think that such 
negligence should be held fatal to the proceedings. 

There w^ould not seem to be much force in the objection that the commis- 
sioner proceeded to hear objections on the 14th of August without proof of 
service of notice on the trustees in view of the fact that the trustees of both 
of the districts affected w^ere joresent at such hearing, and participated in 
it, and that the record fails to disclose that they raised any objections of 
that nature at that time. 

It is claimed by the appellant that the order of the commissioner affects 
school district No. 4. This is denied by the respondent, and inasmuch as 
no resident of that district appears in the case, and as the papers fail to 
establish the claim satisfactorily, it cannot be sustained. 

I now come to the consideration of the question whether the order was 
advisable. 

District No. 5 had within its limits about two and one-half (2^) miles of 
the line of the New York Central and Hudson River railroad. District No. 
1 contained no portion of the road. The order appealed from cut off terri- 
tory containing about three-fourths (f) of a mile of the road from district 
No. 5 and annexed it to No. 1. The fact is undisguised that it was the 
object of the order to accomplish just this thing. No other purpose was 
advanced in support of it. It is reasoned that the railroad company is a 
large tax payer, and that district No. 1 is poor, while district No. 5 is well- 
to-do. Substantially the only ground advanced by the respondent's answer 
in support of the propriety of the order is, that it was to help a weak dis- 
trict. It is not pretended to have been made for the convenience or benefit 
of residents of the territory affected. It will not enlarge their school privi- 



548 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

leges. They feel it to be very unjust to them, and protest against it with 
all their strength. To carry the order into operation will be to disturb 
present relations and force them into new ones, which they do not desire. 
It would not be at all strange if the ill-feeling which would be brought 
into district No. 1 by the annexation would do it more harm than the added 
taxable property would do it good. In any event, I am not prepared to 
give sanction to the proposition that school districts should be changed 
only for the purpose of equalizing valuations. Perhaps it may properly be 
an element for consideration, but it should not be the controlling one. If 
districts are to be altered whenever, and only because one has more valuable 
property than another, the result would be a constant struggle for the annex- 
ation of such property, and the people and the school system would be end- 
lessly involved in controversy in consequence of it. 

This is against public policy, and as it is the essential, if not the only, 
ground upon which the change here in question was made, it cannot be 
sustained. 

The appeal is sustained and the orders of August 6th and 14th, 1886, are 
set aside and declared to be of no effect. Per A. S. Draper, Superintend- 
ent. Decision No. 3534, November 13, 1886. 

FORMATION, ALTERATION AND DISSOLUTION OF WEAK DISTRICTS. 

It is the settled policy of the Department of Public Instruction to favor the consolida- 
tion of weak and inefficient districts. 

The town superintendent of Independence, Allegany county, had consoli- 
dated two weak and inefficient districts, Nos, 7 and 11. Upon an appeal 
to the county superintendent, he reversed the order of the town superin- 
tendent, upon the sole ground that it was, apparently, the only means of 
putting an end to the quarrels and dissensions that had unhappily arisen in 
the consolidated district. The county superintendent, at the same time, 
admitted that the organization, as made by the town superintendent, was 
" the most judicious one that could be entered into under existing circum- 
stances," and that, although not perfect, "it was the best that could be 
made until the population of the neighborhood becomes more dense." 

The State Superintendent reversed the decision of the county superin- 
tendent, and confirmed the order of the town superintendent, strongly 
reprehending the bad policy of re-establishing two weak and inefficient 
districts, obviously incapable of maintaining an adequate organization. 
Per Young, December 20, 1844. 

The personal convenience of one or two inhabitants will not be permitted to control 
in the alteration of districts, where such alteration would detach property from a 
weak district and attach it to one much stronger. 

On an appeal from an order of a school commissioner altering a certain 
district, it was held, that whatever private convenience might be subserved, 
it would be at a sacrifice of settled principles of public policy to carry into 
effect an alteration, the apptirent consequence of which would be to exag- 
gerate the disparity of districts already existing, and that such alteration, 
therefore, would not be allowed. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 
9, 1857. 

The department will not sanction the setting off of a person from a weak district to a 
strong one, on account of a difficulty which he may have in the district where he 
resides. 

On an appeal from the proceedings of the local officers in setting off from 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 54^ 

a weak district the farm and residence of one of the inhabitants of said 
district, the local officers, in justification of their course, set forth that a 
difficulty of long standing exists between the inhabitant set off and the 
district of which he is a resident, and that, in consequence of this difficulty, 
he has not for some time sent to the school in his district. They, therefore, 
felt that the cause of education would be more effectually promoted by 
setting him off to another district. 

While I concede that the motives of the local officers were just and worthy 
in themselves, I cannot find in the circumstances that surround the case a 
good reason for the conclusion arrived at. The precedent established is a 
dangerous one, which, though, if it could be localized, might not be very 
unfortunate, yet, if sanctioned by the department, and thus made of gen- 
eral application throughout the State, would prove a source of unending 
contention and strife. To secure a change from one district to another 
would then only require the party desiring such removal to get into some 
difficulty with the district. 

For the reasons above set forth, the order will be set aside. Per E. W. 
Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, October 13, 1859. 

"Where a new district has been erected to settle a controversy, the inhabitants of such 
district protesting that they were able to maintain a scbool, it should not subse- 
quently be enlarged at the expense of surrounding districts. 

Where a new district has been erected as a means of settling a district 
controversy, the inhabitants forming the new district earnestly protesting 
that they were abundantly able to maintain a school, and that they would 
not, at any future day, ask for an increase of territory, held, that it is 
opposed to all sound and just policy to grant the formation of a new dis- 
trict to pacify an unhappy strife ; and a few years after to suffer the weak- 
ness and inefficiency of such a district to plead in behalf of its further 
enlargement, and the consequent reduction of surrounding districts. Such 
a policy is practically offering a premium for contention and strife ; and, 
whenever any order for the alteration of a district appears, to this depart- 
ment, to favor such a policy, it will be annulled upon that ground. Per 
E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, December 5, 1861. 

The separation of contestants in a school district will not justify the formation of a 

weak district. 

The appeal was from an order setting off six families and thirteen chil- 
dren from district No. 18 to district No. 1. 

It appears that controversies frequently arise in the district as to the 
proper management of its affairs, and there seemed to be little jorospect of 
a restoration to harmony. 

Apparently induced by this last consideration, the commissioner made 
the order appealed from with the view, apparently, of separating the con- 
testants. The object to be accomplished does not, in my judgment, justify 
the course taken by him. It has long been the policy of the department 
(it is a sound one and I shall adhere to it) to discountenance any action 
that has a tendency to make weak and inefficient districts. It appears that 
the whole number of children left in No. 18 is only twenty-two, and that 
the assessed valuation of property therein is $11,800. It appears that the 
order in question took from the district thirteen children, and more than 
one-half of its taxable property, I have no hesitation in sustaining the 
appeal and setting the order aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
March 6, 1869. 



550 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

The division of a district already weak in property and members, except for most 
urgent reasons, will be vacated. 

Ou an appeal from the division of a school district, the following facts 
were brought to view. The whole number of children in both districts 
after the division was thirty-five, and the average daily attendance in both 
schools was twenty-six. The assessed valuation of property in the two 
districts was $12,903, of which $8,203 belonged to No. 5, and $4,700 to 
No. 9. The Superintendent says: "This district was, at the time of 
making the order, quite limited enough both with respect to the- number of 
children of school age within its borders, and in its resources in taxable 
j)roperty. To justify its division would require reasons of no ordinary 
character." No such reasons were presented. The order dividing the dis- 
trict was vacated. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 15, 1869. 

An alteration that makes a strong district stronger, and two relatively weak districts 
weaker, not sustained. 

On appeal from an order setting off a portion of districts Nos. 2 and 8, 
and attaching the same to district No. 1, the following facts appeared. 
District No. 1, had taxable property amounting to $618,350, and the num- 
ber of children of school age was 740. In district No. 2, the value of prop- 
erty was $124,000, number of children eighty; and in No. 3, the property 
was assessed at $180,000, and the children of school age numbered fifty. 
The order appealed from, set off from No. 2, .|58,700 of taxable property, 
and twenty children of school age, and from No. 3, $52,325 of ^jroperty, 
and seventeen children, and attached the same to district No. 1. The 
Superintendent says: "This statement of the relative strength of the dis- 
tricts is, of itself, sufficient to show that the change made in them (by the 
order appealed from), unless called for by considerations so imperative as 
to justify a departure from the established rule, that strong and wealthy 
districts shall not be enlarged at the expense of weaker ones, was an act 
not only inexpedient, but in the highest degree unjust to the dismembered 
districts." 

Upon the alleged benefits to be derived from the alteration, the Superin- 
tendent pertinently remarks : " The principal one, to-wit : the advantage 
to be derived by the children set from those districts into No. 1, in the 
opportunity thus offered them of attending a better school than the former 
districts can now furnish, is a benefit to be attained only by the sacrifice of 
the present and future interests of those w^ho shall be left in the districts 
weakened by the division. For if those districts, unimpaired, could fur- 
nish, as the respondents allege, but indifferent educational advantages, 
depriving them of a large amount of their taxable real estate must cer- 
tainly so diminish their ability to maintain good schools, as to result in 
greatly lowering the grade of those they already have." Order of altera- 
tion annulled. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 15, 1869. 

The formation of a new district, so weak in taxable property that taxes for the support 
of the school will be onerous and oppressive, will not be sustained. 

On an appeal from the formation of a new school district, in which the 
valuation of taxable property was only $4,580, of which all but $1,250 was 
non-resident lands, the Superintendent says: 

" The necessity for the formation of the district has not been shown. 
No person having children to send to school seems to have been at an un- 
reasonable distance from a school-house, and although some pupils may 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 551 

have had to cross a hill to reach one the means of access do not seem to 
have been much if any more difficult than usual in that section. 

"Immediately after the formation of the new district, a school tax was 
levied, the proportion of which upon the non-resident lands therein was 
$424.11, being more than one-sixth of the entire assessed value of those 
lands. Such taxation is too onerous to be tolerated, unless the most im- 
perative necessity for its imposition is established." 

Nearly seventeen months elajjsed after making the order, before the 
appeal (by a non-resident owner, and agent for other non-resident lands in 
the district) was brought, but the case was so extraordinary in its inex- 
pediency and injustice, that the Superintendent waived the ordinary rule 
in such cases, and entertained and sustained the appeal, and vacated the 
order appealed from. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, October 13, 1869. 

Dissolving district too weak to maintain a school. 

When a school district is so weak that for several years no school has 
been kept, the school commissioners may set off lands from such district to 
adjoining districts. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, decision No. 3981, 
June 1, 1880. 

All taxable property should be made to bear its share of taxation toward the mainten- 
ance of a good school. The fact that the commissioner's order altering districts was 
made to take effect at a date several months after the date of the order, will not 
of itself invalidate the order. 

The school commissioner of the second commissioner district of Otsego 
county, on the 14th day of October, 1884, made an order annulling school 
district No. 2, towns of Pittsfield and Edmeston, and attaching the parts 
thereof to other districts. The appeal is brought by residents of district 
No. 2, to set aside the commissioner's order. 

It appears from the evidence that district No. 2, Pittsfield and Edmeston, 
while it had sufficient valuation of taxable property to maintain a good 
school, had not at the date of this order more than eleven children of school 
age, and that the school for a long time past has had a very small attend- 
ance, a part of the time it not having been over four pupils. Several of 
the inhabitants of the district had been in the practice of sending their 
children to the schools in the adjoining districts, which were much larger 
and better than the school in district No. 2. It appears, also, that a large 
majority of the legal voters in said district are in favor of said annulment. 

The evidence upon the increased distance which a few of the children 
will have to travel in order to reach the schools in the districts as formed 
by the commissioner's order is very conflicting. But even if it is greater in 
some instances, the better advantages which the children will receive will 
offset this objection raised by the appellants. 

By annulling district No. 2 and adding its territory to the adjoining dis- 
tricts, all of the taxable property of district No. 2 will be compelled to bear 
its share of taxation toward the maintenance of a good school. It seems 
by this arrangement that the districts adjoining district No. 2 will be 
strengthened, their schools increased in size, and the inhabitants of the 
annulled districts will receive better school facilities. In view of these 
facts I do not see that sufl&cient reasons have been presented for reversing 
the commissioner's order. 

The order was made on the 14th day of October, 1884, and was not to 
take effect until May 1, 1885. The trustees of all the districts to be affected 
by this order gave their consent thereto. The fact that it was made to 



552 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

take effect at so late a date will not invalidate the order. Per W. B. Rug- 
gles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3436, September 4, 1885. 

IRREGULARITY OP PROCEDURE. 

A district is not annulled unless all its parts are annexed to adjoining districts, so that 
nothing of the original district remains. 

Unless the commissioner's order for the alteration of a district recites the refusal or 
consent of the trustees it is null and void. 

No answer to this appeal having been filed in this department, the state- 
ments made by the appellants must be taken as true, and decisions be ren- 
dered accordingly. It appears that on or about the 3d of August, 1866, 
the said commissioner, by an order filed with the town clerk of Westville, 
divided district No. 2 of said town into two portions, calling the south 
part of the old district No. 8 and the north part No. 2. By the terms of 
the order the old district is dissolved; but, as one of the new districts formed 
consists entirely of territory formerly comprised within the limits of old dis- 
trict No. 3, it is plain that it was not a dissolution but an alteration of said 
district that was effected. A district is annulled only when all its parts 
are annexed to other districts, so that nothing of the original district re- 
mains. If any of it remains as a distinct district, though designated by a 
new name and number, it is not a case of "annulling." Now, in every 
case of alteration, when the consent of the trustees of the district to be 
affected is not obtained, it becomes necessar}' for the commissioner, in 
making his order, to recite the refusal of the trustees and to direct that 
said order shall not take effect, as to such dissenting district, until a day 
therein named, and not less than three months after notice to the dissent- 
ing trustees of the time and place when and where their objections will be 
heard. (Sections 3 and 4, title 6, General School Laws of 1864,) But the 
order above referred to does not recite either the assent or refusal of the 
trustees, but directs that the order shall take effect October 1, 1866, less 
than two months after the time of making said order. 

Very plain and clear provisions of the law have thus been altogether dis- 
regarded by the commissioner, and tlie Superintendent, cannot sustain his 
action. 

The appeal is hereby sustained, and said order, made by said commis- 
sioner as aforesaid, and filed with the town clerk of Westville, is hereby 
declared null and void. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, September 29, 1886. 

A commissioner having fixed the date when an order for the alteration of a district 
shall take effect, cannot, by a subsequent order, extend the time 

When a commissioner appoints a meeting of the supervisor and town 
clerk for the purpose of conferring or rejecting an order to alter a district 
for a day subsequent to the date fixed for said order to take effect, and, on 
said subsequent day, confirms his first order, his last order and all his pro- 
ceedings are null and void. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, July 12, 1867. 

A commissioner cannot appoint a day for hearing objections to an order 
for the alteration of a district subsequent to the date fixed for it to take 
effect. A confirmatory order made on such subsequent day is void. Per 
V. M. Rice, Superintendent, July 12, 1867. 

Filing of preliminary order as required by section 3, title 6, of the General School Act, 
essential to the validity of the subsequent confirmatory order. 

In the matter of appeal from an alteration of a school district it was 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 553 

shown that tlie commissioner did not, as required by section 3, of title 6, of 
the General School Act, make and file with the town clerk his order making 
the alteration but reciting the refusal of trustees, and directing that the 
same should not take effect until a day therein named, etc. In answer to 
these facts the respondent claims that the requirement to file such prelimi- 
nary order is merely directory, and shows also, that the preliminary order 
was filed some considerable time subsequent to the bringing of the appeal, 
and after the filing of the confirmatory order which is the subject of appeal. 
The Superintendent says : "The object in filing the original order is not 
to put on record a completed act, but to enable interested persons to ascer- 
tain the character of the proposed alterations in time to be heard concern- 
ing them," and he elaborately discusses the distinction between putting on 
record such preliminary order as part of the act to be done and the record 
of the act itself finally consummated. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
December 30, 1870. 

Order set aside for irregularit3\ 

The order simply took from No. 1 a portion of its territory, but made no 
provision for annexing that portion to any other district. Order set aside. 
Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, July 10, 1874. 

MISAPPREHENSION. 

Where trustees were misinformed as to the extent of the powers of town officers in a 
proceeding for the alteration of the boundaries of a school district, and, conse- 
quently, neglected to exercise those powers, the order of the commissioner in the 
proceeding will be set aside. 

It appears that, owing to the opinion expressed by the commissioner that 
each town of a joint district had but one vote on the question of alteration, 
the trustees neglected to notify the town clerks of their respective towns to 
meet with the supervisor and commissioner in acting upon the subject. 
They therefore claim that, being misled by this expression of opinion, the 
question lias not been fairly adjudicated, and request that it be referred 
back for review by a full board. 

The department is disposed to concur in the views of the trustees. Labor- 
ing under a misapprehension naturally and honestly entertained, and fail- 
ing to avail themselves of all the advantages which the statute confers, I 
conceive that they are entitled to the interposition of this department in 
their behalf. 

The matter is, therefore, referred back to the commissioner, with direc- 
tions to give notice of a meeting for the purpose of reconsidering the order 
already made. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, July 21, 1858. 

An order, defining the boundaries of a district, not intended as an alteration, and made 
under an evident or probable misapprehension of facts, will be vacated. 

As in matters of this kind, where the interests of individuals are consid- 
erably involved, it is but simple justice that they be preserved from the 
consequences of error, or doubt, or misapprehension ; and finding, as I do, 
from the evidence, a liability, not to say a strong probability, of such a mis- 
apprehension on the part of the board, I am disposed to give the appellant 
the benefit of the doubt there may be of the correctness of the conclusions 
arrived at, and the order of the board for the alteration of the district is 
hereby vacated, and the matter is referred again to the proper officers, to 
take such further and future action as may be deemed expedient. Per E. 
"W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, July 29, 1859. 

70 



554 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

An order made under a misapprehension of facts will be vacated. 

The order seems to have been made under a misapprehension of facts, 
the trustees and the commissioner both alike supposing that the lands set 
off embraced but a few acres, and that the proposed alteration would have 
the effect to straighten the district boundary line on the east. It appears, 
however, that about five hundred acres of land and nearly half a mile of 
tjack of the N. Y. Central R. R. Co. are set off by the order as made. For 
the reason of the invalid consent and for the additional reason that the 
order seems to have been issued under a misapprehension of facts, the 
same is declared void and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
May 20, 1869. 

Commissioner's order altering the boundaries of a school district sustained, when on 
an appeal it appears that the commissioner has acted in guod faith, and by the order 
has restored to a district, territory which had been unintentionally and under a mis- 
apprehension of facts set off from such district. 

This is a proceeding by Luther L. Ackerson, trustee of school district 
No. 6 of the town of Sterling, Cayuga county, appealing from an order of 
Josiah Galley, school commissioner of the first commissioner district in said 
county, altering the said district No. 6 by taking therefrom lands and an- 
nexing them to the adjoining district, No. 17. 

I have very carefully examined the pleadings and papers filed upon this 
appeal, and from such examination I find the facts to be : 

That previous to the granting of an order by then school commissioner 
Morehouse, some doubt and confusion had arisen as to the boundary line 
between districts Nos. 6 and 17 in the town of Sterling. That an order was 
consented to by the trustees of districts Nos. 6 and 17 and granted by the 
school commissioner taking certain farm lands claimed by district No. 17 
and annexing them to district No. 6. That the present school commis- 
sioner at that time acted as an adviser to the trustees of District No. 17, 
and advised such trustee to consent. That neither the commissioner nor 
the trustee of district No. 17, nor the present commissioner intended to 
consent or advise that the lands covered by the tracks of the said railroad 
should be included in such transfer. That in describing the line between 
said districts Nos. 6 and 17, the south side of the farm of one Jesse Carris 
was used, the commissioner and trustee of said district No. 17 supposing 
that to carry the line south of the railroad bed. But it appears that Carris 
had changed his south line by parting with a part of his farm on the south 
so that his south line was north instead of south of the track, and the efifect 
of using his south line to divide the districts was to include the railroad in 
district No. 6 instead of district No. 17. This change was unknown to 
both commissioner and trustee. Upon the discovery of the error the pres- 
ent commissioner, by the order appealed from, has set back to the district 
from Avhich it was so taken by misapprehension, the lands north of Carris' 
old south line. It is not claimed that any attempt was made to deceive the 
commissioner or the trustee of school district No. 17 at the time the original 
order was granted, but no -mention of the change of the boundary of 
Carris' farm was made, and the commissioner and trustee of said district 
No. 17 were not informed of it, and the commissioner in describing the 
boundary of the districts was misled thereby. 

From all the facts so found I am led to the conclusion that when the 
order of March 27, 1877, was granted by the commissioner and consented 
to by the trustees of districts Nos. 6 and 17, the commissioner and the 
trustee of school district No. 17 acted under a misapprehension of facts. 



FOKMATION AND ALTERATION OF DISTRICTS. 555 

and did not intend to transfer the lands mentioned from district No. 17 to 
district No. 6. 

A similar case came up on appeal to this department in 1869, and Supei- 
intendent Weaver decided the order, made nnder misapprehension of facts, 
void and set the same aside. 

But I have also considered the question of the relative strength of the 
districts, and fail to discover that there is any great difference. Both are 
and will be sufficiently strong to support suitable schools and provide 
instruction for the number of children of school age in their respective dis- 
tricts. The commissioner having acted in good faith and in the absence 
of contrary proof, I shall hold with good judgment and in accord with the 
statute. I must, from all the facts presented to me on this appeal, overrule 
the appeal and sustain the order appealed from. Per A. S. Draper, Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 3518, August 18, 1886. 

RECORD . 

Where inhabitants have been properly set off from one district to another, and the 
town clerk has omitted to record the order, thej will be regarded as inhabitants of the 
district to which they have been annexed after it has been acquiesced in for five years. 

This is an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting held on the 
28th of March, last, authorizing the trustees to levy a tax on the district to 
defray the expense of moving the school-house to the new site, or to let the 
job of moving the same to the lowest bidder. 

The appellants, in support of the appeal, allege that seven persons, who 
attended the meeting and voted, were not inhabitants of and legal voters 
in said district, having been annexed in 1839 to joint district No. 1, Blen- 
heim and Fulton, and there being no record in the town clerk's office of 
either of said towns of their subsequent transfer, either to district No. 5 or 
any other district. 

In reply to this allegation, the affidavits of the town superintendents of 
Fulton and 'Blenheim for the year 1849 are produced, showing that the in- 
dividuals referred to and their property were, in the spring of that year, 
transferred by them from joint district No. 1 to district No. 5, and that 
the order made by them to that effect was transmitted or delivered to the 
town clerks of their respective towns for record. It also appears, from the 
affidavit of the appellants, that, from that period to the present, the persons 
so transferred have acted in and been regarded as inhabitants of district 
No. 5, and their children enumerated therein. Under these circumstances, 
and after an acquiescence of five years, the proof of such transfer must be 
regarded as sufficient, notwithstanding the omission of the town clerks to 
record the same. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, May 13, 1854. 

"Where an order for the alteration of a district is alleged to have been made, but no 
such order is found recorded by the town clerk, other evidence in proof of the fact 
of such order being made will be received. 

Where no record of an alleged order altering certain school districts can 
be found, the affidavit of the town superintendent at the time of the mak- 
ing of the alleged order, that he actually made the order, will be received 
in evidence, and it will be assumed that the order was actually made at the 
time alleged. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 31, 1857. 

Where the presumption is in favor of the regularity of proceedings in the alteration of 
district boundaries, the order making such alterations will be sustained. 

On appeal from an order of the town superintendent defining and altering 
the boundaries of the district, it was held that ' ' only upon the presumption 



55 d Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

of a doubt concerning the legal validity of the order appealed from can the 
question, as an original issue, be entertained by this department." In the 
present case the record is found duly made in the town clerk's office, and 
upon a map prepared under the direction of the town authorities, the 
boundaries, as described in said record, are properly delineated. The tes- 
timony is, therefore, so strong as to be nearly conclusive, and the evidence 
to the contrary, being only negative, is entirely insufficient to rebut the 
presumption already established. 

The orders of the town superintendent are, therefore, declared valid, and 
the appeal dismissed. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, August 
27, 1858. 

Where the trustees have given their consent to an order annv;lluig a district, there is 
nothing in the proceedings which can be stayed by an appeal. 

On an appeal from an order of the commissioner annulling a certain dis- 
trict and annexing it to others, it was held that there was nothing in the 
proceedings to be stayed by the appeal, for the order of the commissioner 
had already taken effect, and the only question was, not whether it should 
be prevented from taking effect, as it would have been if the trustees had 
not given their consent, but whether the order should be reversed and the 
former condition of things restored. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
January 17, 1859. 

Where an order has once been made by a town superintendent annulling a certain 
school district, which said order has never been enforced, though duly recorded, it 
may be enforced upon the demand of competent authority. 

In the year 1855 an order was issued by the town superintendent (school 
commissioner) annulling district No. 4 of that town, which order was duly 
recorded in the town clerk's office. He failed, however, to complete the 
work commenced, by annexing the territory of the late district to those 
immediately surrounding. 

Disregarding this incomplete action of the town superintendent, the 
inhabitants of No. 4 still continued to act as a district, kept up a school, 
reported pupils, drew public money, and by the local officers and by this 
department, were recognized as a district down to the present time. The 
order of the town superintendent, before alluded to, has been held in abey- 
ance, been suspended by the subsequent action of the district and the local 
officers ; but it has not been revoked thereby, but still remains vital, to be 
enforced upon the demand of the competent authority. Per E. W. Keyes, 
Deputy Superintendent, .January 22, 1859. 

Absence of the record of the formation of a district is not material when such forma- 
tion is otherwise conclusively established. 

On an appeal by the trustees of district No. 28, from the proceedings of 
the trustees of district No. 6 adjoining, the following facts appear: That 
district No. 28 was organized by act of the school commissioners in 1843, 
being formed in part from district No. 6. Ample evidence is adduced to 
show that the district was duly formed by the proper officers, and with the 
consent of the trustees of the districts from which it was taken. By some 
miscliance, the order forming the said district was never recorded in the 
town clerk's office, and the trustees of district No. 6, in making out their 
tax lists, had assessed the property belonging to their district, as defined 
by the record, thereby, of course, including the temtory and inhabitants 
set off to No 28. From this action the trustees of district No. 28 appeal 



Formation and Alteration of Districts. 557 

The record not being a part of the act itself, but only evidence of it, its 
absence is not material when the act can be proved by other conclusive or 
satisfactory evidence. Such being the case in the present instance, the 
evidence of the formation of district No. 28 is conclusive in the absence of 
the record. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 6, 1859. 

Loss of records of boundaries of a district does not destroy its existence. 

The appellants in this case suppose that the district in question has no 
legal existence, because no record of its boundaries can be found. The 
district appears, however, to have had a recognized existence for a long 
time past. The appellants are in error in their position, that the life of the 
district is dependent upon the preservation of the record of its boundaries. 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, November 25, 1869. 

SUPERINTENDENT'S DECISIONS.. 

Decision of Superintendent confirming the formation of a district, not subject to inter- 
ference, while circumstances remain unchanged. 

The establishment of a district by a decision upon appeal to the depart- 
ment is final and conclusive; and the district is not subject to alteration by 
the local authorities while the circumstances remain unchanged. But it is 
absurd to contend that, when the circumstances under which a decision is 
pronounced have materially changed, and after" the districts, or either of 
them, have increased or diminished in territory, number or valuation, the 
local authorities are precluded from interference, by the conclusive opera- 
tion of a decision founded on an entirely different state of facts. Such a 
doctrine would be entirely inconsistent with reason and good sense. Per 
Spencer, September 24, 1840. 

Town superintendents (school commissioners) have no authority to alter the boundaries 
of a school district, if the same have been established by this department upon 
appeal, until after the lapse of three years from the time they were so established, 
without express permission of the State Superintendent. 

The appellants, in making their annual report, enumerated, among the 
children of their district, the five children of Mr. William Raynor. In 
making his apportionment, the town superintendent deducted these chil- 
dren from the enumeration of district No. 22, on the ground that they and 
their father were residents of the adjoining district, No. 21. The trustees 
of the latter district answered the appeal. 

It appears from the evidence that the farm of Mr. Raynor was taken from 
district No. 22, some five or six years since, and annexed to district No. 21, 
by an order of the town superintendent, that officer not being aware that 
the line between the said districts had been established in 1830, by the 
State Superintendent, upon appeal. 

It has been held that town superintendents have no power to alter the 
boundaries of a school district, if the same have been established by this 
department, upon appeal, unless consent shall have been previously given 
by the State Superintendent for such alteration. This rule was established 
to prevent the decisions of the department from being deprived of any 
practical effect, as might be the case, if immediately after the decision a 
new order could be made precisely or substantially similar to the one w^hich 
has been set aside. 

This reason fails, however, when lapse of- time and a consequent change 
of circumstances may have made the reasons no longer applicable wliich 



558 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

controlled the decision. As this is a subject of regulation, it will hereafter 
be held that, after a lapse of three years from the time when the boundary of 
a district shall have been established by this department, upon appeal, it shall 
no longer be requisite to apply for express permission of the State Superin- 
tendent to authorize a local officer to make an alteration of the same. 

In the case under consideration, the appeal should be sustained, without 
reference to the above-mentioned objection. It is the duty of the town 
superintendent to apportion the public money according to the number of 
children in the several districts " as the same shall have appeared from 
the last annual reports of the trustees," and not otherwise. If he deems 
the report incorrect, it is proper for him to call upon the trustees to correct 
it, and if they refuse to do so, they may, perhaps, render themselves 
liable to the penalty imposed for willfully signing a false report, with the 
intention of causing the town superintendent to apportion and pay to their 
district a larger sum than its just proportion of the school moneys of the 
town. The report, however, is conclusive until it shall be amended by 
the trustees, or the question be determined on appeal. PerV. M. Rice, 
Superintendent, May 13, 1855. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Commissioner justified in offering the alternative to a district, to build a new school- 
house or be annulled. 

It is represented that the commissioner, in the early visitation of the dis- 
trict, suggested the necessity of their building a new school-house, the old 
one being altogether unsuitable for a school. So important was it esteemed 
by him, that he assured them that unless they would build a house, he 
would annul the district. That was equivalent to saying that if they pos- 
sessed too little vitality — too little interest in school matters' — or were 
too poor and feeble to furnish a good school-house, it was evidence conclu- 
sive to his mind that the district ought to be annulled. 

In this position the commissioner was right. Per H. H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, May 13, 1859. 

The department will not set aside a consolidation proper in itself, because of the exist- 
ence of new elements of opposition that have arisen since the consolidation was 
effected. 

The local board, consisting of the school commissioner, the supervisor 
and the town clerk, by an order duly made, and in accordance with the 
policy advocated by this department, consolidated two districts. The con- 
solidation of these districts had been favorably discussed by the inhabit- 
ants of each for some time previously, but the basis of the consolidation. 
is a matter of difference, owing to certain pecuniary irregularities in the 
two districts, and, consequently, an appeal is brought from the action of 
the board. 

To reverse the action of the board now, because of conditions which 
they could not anticipate, and for which they are not responsible, would, 
to my mind, be an unjust reflection upon their oflicial integrity and wisdom 
and would, practically, offer a premium to disaffection and discontent. 
I am by no means insensible to the suggestion that a nominal union is of 
little value where the spirit of union is not found. It may even be of posi- 
tive disadvantage. The utmost, however, that I am willing to do, is to 
refer the matter back to the local authorities, empowering them to reverse, 
their action if the circumstances of the case seem to demand it. Per E. 
W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, June 4, 1861. 



Formation aj^-d Alteration of Districts. o5i> 

A district cannot be compelled to rebuild where school-house has been destroyed; 
but where it for a long time refuses to do so, may be annulled and attached to others 
adjoining. 

There is no law by which a district can be compelled to rebuild, where 
the school-house has been destroyed ; but a trustee is empowered to hire 
rooms temporarily, for the accommodation of the children, whenever he 
shall deem it necessary. This he can do without a vote of the district. If 
the district refuses to build for an unreasouable length of time, the school 
commissioner of the district will examine into the case, and report, as to ^ 
the expediency of annulling the district and attaching it to those adjoining. 
Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 7, 1866. 

Proceedings, when under title 6 and not under title 2 of General School Act. 

Any change, however slight, in the existing boundaries of a district 
makes it a case of alteration and not simply of clearly defining the bound- 
aries, and proceedings must be taken under title 6 of the General School 
Act, and not under section 13 of title 2. Decision covering this ground 
per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 22, 1873. 

DIVIDING A BONDED DISTRICT. 

A district having a bonded indebtedness must not be divided while the bonds are out- 
standing. 

The school commissioner made an order transferring certain property 
from school district No. 5 and annexing the same to district No. 4, town of 
East Chester, county of Westchester. The trustees of district No. 4 did not 
consent thereto, and served upon the supervisor and town clerk of the town 
of East Chester a resolution requesting them to sit with the commissioner as 
a local board for the purpose of hearing arguments and objections as to 
whether said order should be affirmed or vacated. The local board duly 
met and entered an order vacating the order of the commissioner. This 
appeal is brought to set aside the order of the local board vacating the 
commissioner's order. 

Among other facts in this case, it appears that district No. 5 had a 
bonded indebtedness of $9,000, at the date of the order appealed from, 
which indebtedness had been incurred for the building of a new school- 
house in the district. 

The order appealed from must be affirmed on this ground, namely, that 
the school district from which the territory in question was set off by the 
commissioner's order, was, and still is, indebted for bonds thus issued. 
Although there is no expressed prohibition in the school statutes against 
the division of a district so circumstanced, yet, after a careful examination 
of the appeal papers and due consideration of the able oral arguments of 
the counsel for the respective parties, I cannot divest my mind of the set- 
tled conviction that it would be unfair and inequitable to the remaining 
tax payers in district No. 5 to detach from said district a material part of 
its territory, while any considerable portion of said bonds are outstanding ; 
thus leaving a part only of the district to pay a debt incurred by the whole 
district for a common benefit, and to the payment of which good faith at 
least would seem to require that every part should contribute its just pro- 
portions. Order for the local board affirmed. Per W. B. Ruggles, Super- 
intendent. Decision, No. 3315, December 10, 1883. 



560 FoRMATION^ AND ALTERATION OF DISTRICTS. 

NUMBER OP CHILDREN FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT. 

No rule of the department requiring a certain population of children of school age 
before a district can be formed out of the territory upon which they reside. 

One ground of appeal was " that said order is contrary to and conflicts 
■with the uniform rule of the Department of Public Instruction, as the 
number of children of tax payers on the last assessment roll of the towns, 
residing on the territory of the district formed by the order appealed from 
is only thirteen." 

Held, that the appellant is in error in his interpretation of the rule, to 
which he refers as the above ground of appeal. There is no rule of this 
department defining the number of children of tax payers, as such, required 
to authorize the formation of a district. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintend- 
ent. Decision, No. 3316, March 6, 1884. 

DISTRICTS LYING IN TWO OR MORE COMMISSIONER DISTRICTS. 

When a sch'^ol district lies in two or more commissioner districts, it cannot be altered 
by an order of one commissioner. 

The appeal is from an order of John J. Lentz, school commissioner of 
the first commissioner district of Erie county, altering district No. 7, towns 
of Alden and Marilla, by taking therefrom certain territory and annexing it 
to district No. 9 of Alden and Lancaster. The town of Alden is in the 
first commissioner district of Erie county, and the town of Marilla, in the 
second commissioner district of the same county. 

The commissioner who made the order did not act in conjunction with 
the commissioner of the adjoining district in making the alteration as pro- 
vided in sub-division 2, section 1, and section 6, title 6, of the Code of 
Public Instruction; nor did he by notice in writing require the attendance 
of Commissioner Ide of the second district at a joint meeting for the pur- 
pose of altering or dissolving the district as provided in section seven of the 
same title. His order therefore was void for want of jurisdiction. Per W. 
B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No, 3406, March 18, 1885. 

ALTERATION AND FORMATION OF DISTRICTS. 

When a school district lies in two commissioner districts, it requires the concurrent 

action of both commissioners to alter or dissolve it. 
The confirmatory order is the one by which the alteration of the district is effected, 

and the first order merely preliminary, being in fact but one step in the procedure 

for the alterations, and if not followed up by the subsequent statutory requirements 

it is void. 
Both commissioners must unite in the confirmatory order. 

On the 26th of January, 1886, Oliver W. Hallenbeck, school commissioner 
of the first commissioner district of Columbia county, and Peter Silvernail, 
school commissioner of the second commissioner district, duly made and 
filed their order altering school district No. 1, Stockport and Greenport, 
and No. 2, Stockport, by taking a part of the territory of No. 1 and adding 
it to No. 2. The trustee of district No. 2, John P. Van Buren, duly con- 
sented to said alteration, and the trustee of district No. 1, WiUiam Morri- 
son, dissented, as was cited in the order. It appears that district No. 2 
lies wholly in the second commissioner district of the county, and district 
No. 1 partly in the first and partly in the second commissioner district. 

The trustee of district No. 1 not consenting to the alteration, the order 
was made to take effect not until the 15th of May, 1886. Copies of the 
commissioners' order and of the assent and dissent of the trustees of the 



FOKMATION AND ALTERATION OF DISTRICTS. 561 

respective districts were filed ia the town clerks' offices of the towns of 
Stockport and Greenport ou the 27th day of January, 1886. On the 29th 
day of January, 1886, notice was served by the commissioners on the trus- 
tees of both districts, that on the 8th day of February, 1886, at 10:30 a. m., 
at Kittle's Hall in Stockport, they intended to make a final order for the 
alteration of said school districts. The trustee of school district No. 2 
notified the supervisor and town clerk of Stockport of the intention of the 
commissioners and requested them to be associated with the commissioner 
at such time and place. The trustee of school district No. 1 did not request 
the supervisor and town clerk of Greenport to be associated with the com- 
missioners. It further appears that on the 8th day of February, 1886, at 
10:30 A. M., and at Kittle's Hall in Stockport, pursuant to the notices afore- 
said, the commissioner of the second commissioner district of the county 
and the supervisors and town clerks of Stockport and Greenport met and 
made an order affirming the original order. This order was duly filed in 
the proper town clerks' offices. 

The alteration of school districts is a purely statutory proceeding and the 
provisions of title VI, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, must be strictly followed. 
In the case before me, the first objection urged to the proceeding is that 
the commissioner of the first commissioner district did not unite in the 
confirmatory order made February 8, 1886, and it becomes necessary to 
examine the question as to w^hether it was necessary for both commissioners 
to unite in this order. 

The sections under which this alteration was made are three and four of 
title VI of the act referred to, and read as follows : 

§ 3. If the trustees of any such district refuse to consent, he may make 
and file with the town clerk his order making the alteration, but reciting 
the refusal, and directing that the order shall not take effect, as to the dis- 
senting district or districts, until a day therein to be named, and not less 
than three months after the notice in the next section mentioned. 

§ 4. Within ten days after making and filing such order, he shall give at 
least a week's notice in writing to one or more of the assenting and dissent- 
ing trustees of any district or districts to be affected by the proposed altera- 
tions, that at a specified time, and at a named place within the town in 
which either of the districts to be affected lies, he will hear the objections 
to the alteration. The trustees of any district to be affected by such order 
may request the supervisor and town clerk of the town or towns within 
which such district or districts shall wholly or partly lie, to be associated 
with the commissioner. At the time and place mentioned in the notice, 
the commissioner or commissioners, with the supervisors and town clerks, 
if they shall attend and act, shall hear and decide the matter; and the 
decision sliall be final, unless duly appealed from. Such decision must 
either confirm or vacate the order of the commissioner, and must be filed 
with and recorded by the town clerk of the town or towns in which the 
district or districts to be affected shall lie. 

I must examine first, what jurisdiction in respect to territory commis- 
sioners have. Section 1 of this title reads: "It shall be the duty of each 
school commissioner, in respect to the territory within his district: 1. To 
divide it, so far as practicable, into a convenient number of school districts, 
and to alter the same as herein provided." 

The significance of section one can readily be seen. The jurisdiction of 
a school commissioner to alter districts is thereby extended only over the 
territory of his own commissioner district. But school districts frequently 
lie in two or more school commissioner districts, and in such cases, the 

71 



662 Formation and Alteration of Districts. 

jurisdiction of one commissioner not extending over the whole territory, 
section six of the same title provides that " * * * the commissioners 
within whose districts any such school district lies, or a majority of them, 
may alter or dissolve it." School district No. 1, Stockport and Greenport, 
lies within two school commissioner districts. For this reason one commis- 
sioner cannot alter or divide it, but under the authority in section six, " the 
commissioners or a majority of them " may make any alteration or dissolu- 
tion thereof. One not being a majority of two, it will require the concur- 
rent action of botli commissioners to make an alteration of this district. 
This presents the question as to when, or by which order the alteration 
takes effect. A. long line of decisions upon tliis j^oint, in which the effect 
of the two orders, provided for in cases similar to tlie one here, are ably 
discussed, strengthens me in the conclusion that the jDreliminary order pro- 
vided for in section three is inchoate and of no effect whatever, until the 
same has been confirmed as provided for in section four. If, after making 
the first or preliminary order, ]io further proceeding is taken the alteration 
is not affected, "The commissioner or the commissioners, with the super- 
visors and town clerks, if they shall attend, shall hear and decide the mat- 
ter." '^Such decision must either confirm or vacate the order of the com- 
missioner." This language of the statute, and the construction that must 
be placed upon it is, that when a preliminary order for the alteration of a 
school district has been made, and the time fixed for the hearing of objec- 
tions thereto, the commissioner, if the districts affected by the order lie in 
one commissioner district, or the commissioners, when the districts are 
located in two or more commissioner districts, shall hear and decide the 
matter, and enter an order vacating or confirming the preliminary order. 
The commissioners " shall attend," the statute says. The attendance of the 
sujiervisors and town clerks is provided for so that their respective towns 
may have a voice in the decision of the matter, but the statute does not say 
tliey " shall attend." The absence of the town officials from the board will 
not in any way prevent the commissioner or commissioners from acting, or 
invalidate the proceedings taken by the commissioners at the time fixed for 
the hearing of the objections, otherwise regular. Eut if the commissioners 
do not attend, the town officers are not authorized by law to make any 
order in the premises, and the preliminary order must fall. In this case 
the school commissioner of the first commissioner district did not attend 
the meeting on the 8th of February, 1886, for the purpose of hearing objec- 
tions, and did not unite with the other commissioner in the confirmatory 
order. The confirmatory order is the one by wliich the alteration of the 
district is effected, and the first order merely preliminary, being in fact but 
one step in the procedure for the alteration, and if not followed up by the 
subsequent statutory requirements, it is void. 

The direction of the statute, the " Qommissioner shall attend," was not 
complied with. The school commissioner of the second commissioner dis- 
trict had no authority under tlie statute to make an order altering a school 
district lying wholly or partly in another commissioner district. The failure 
of the commissioner of the first district to unite in the confirmatory order 
renders the proceedings irregular, and the orders appealed from must be 
set aside. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3513, July 24, 
1886. 

Note. — See, also, Union Free School Districts. 



Library. 563 

In forming a new district, the confirmatory order should be identical with the terms of 

the original order. 
"But a person who secures a slight modification of an order, and gives his acquiescence 

to such modification, is not in a position to question the validity of the confirmatory 

order because of such modification. 

This is an appeal from the order of Charles H. Ide, as school commis- 
sioner of the second commissioner district of Erie county, N. Y., in making 
an Older, dated the 16th day of July, 1886, forming a new school district 
out of parts of district No. 4, in the town of Hamburg, and district No. 3, 
in the towns of Evans, Eden and Hamburg, and also from an order made 
by the said school commissioner, together with the supervisor and town 
clerk of the town of Hamburg, made upon the 27th day of July, 1886, 
confirming the first-mentioned order. 

Substantially the only ground upon which the appeal is taken is, that the 
order of the 27th of July was not identical in its terms with the order which 
it sought to confirm. It modified the boundaries of the new district in a 
slight particular. The appellant insists that this is fatal to the proceed- 
ings. Ordinarily it would be, but the fact is made clear to me that the 
modification was made in the interest of and for the sake of satisfying the 
appellant, and in the belief that it would prevent further controversy. The 
appellant was present at the hearing held by the commissioner, supervisor 
and town clerk, for the purpose of affording an opportunity to persons 
aggrieved to state their objections, and acquiesced in the modification so far 
as it went, but desired more of a modification. He is not now in a position 
to raise the question. The members of the board say that they would have 
confirmed the original order precisely as it stood, but for the sake of suiting 
the appellant so far as they reasonably could. He cannot be upheld in an 
€ffort to set aside the action of the board only because of a slight modifica- 
tion which he himself desired. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Deci- 
sion No. 8527. November 17, 1886. 



LIBRARY. 



That part of the district library purchased with money raised by tax upon 
the district may be sold. Per Spencer, September 17, 1839. 

Trustees may exchange old library books for new ones. 

Trustees of districts may legally exchange old books belonging to the dis- 
trict library for new, paying the difference, if any, in price from the library 
monev. Per S. S. Randall, Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
Aprif 20, 1854. 

In regard to exchanging library books. 

No objection might be raised, if a district so determine by unanimous 
vote, to the exchanging of books in a library for others more appropriate to 
the wants of the people. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, September 8, 
1854. 

District librarian is, by law, entitled to no compensation for his services. 

The district librarian is, by law, entitled to no compensation for his 
services, and the district has no authority of law for voting at the annual 



564 Meetings. 

meeting a tax to pay for such services. (See section 16, title 7, chapter 
555, Laws of 1864.) Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, September 22, 
1865. 

That part of district library which was purchased by a tax on property of district 
belongs to district, and may be disposed of by its voters as they shall direct. But 
that part bought with public money belongs to the State, and the district cannot 
sell it. 

That part of the district library which had been purchased by a 
tax upon the property of the district belongs unqualifiedly to the dis- 
trict, and may be disposed of by the voters thereof as they may see 
fit to direct. But in that which has been purchased with the public 
money apportioned to the district it has only a qualified property. This 
portion of the library really belongs to the State, and the district is the 
bailee and not the owner of it. As such bailee it has no power to sell or 
otherwise dispose of the library. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, Novem- 
ber 23, 1865. 

A part of a district set off to another is not entitled to a share of the library. 

Where a portion of a district is set off to another district, the portion thus 
set off has no claim to a proportionate share of the library of the old dis- 
trict unless there was a special agreement to that effect. Per V. M. Rice, 
Superintendent, January 13, 1866. 



MEETINGS. 

DUTY OF TRUSTEES CONCERNING. 

Trustees have no power to set aside or invalidate the proceedings of a district meeting 
upon the assumption that they were illegal. 

Though illegal votes are cast at such meeting, the trustees cannot set aside the pro- 
ceedings. The remedy is by appeal. 

On the 1st day of October last, at an adjourned meeting of the taxable 
inhabitants of district No. 2, in Belmont, held for the purpose of locating 
a site for the school-house, a site was fixed on the land of Winkley and 
Smith, and the sum of $200 voted to build a school-house thereon. A con- 
firmation and renewal of the vote fixing the site was had on the 30th of 
November last, at a special meeting of the district, more fully attended by 
the inhabitants, but no tax was voted for building the school-house. On 
the 14th of December a vote w^as adopted locating the site on lands of E. 
Stanton, Jr., and the sum of $200 directed to be raised for building. On 
the 11th of January last, the site was again changed to the lands of Wink- 
ley and Smith, and the same amount voted to be raised for building the 
school-house thereon. Notwithstanding this last and final vote of the dis- 
trict, and in the absence of any appeal from the proceedings, the trustees 
have determined to apply the tax voted to build a house on Mr. Stanton's 
land, on the allegation that an illegal vote was received at the last meeting, 
by means of which the vote was invalidated and the preceding vote re- 
mained in force, and from this determination of the trustees the present 
appeal is taken. 

If any of the proceedings of tlie meeting held on the 11th of January 
were illega.1, the appropriate remedy of the trustees, or of any person ag- 
grieved, was by appeal to this department. It is not within their power to 



Meetings. 565 

set aside or invalidate those proceedings on their mere assumption of such 
illegality. The money directed to be raised at that meeting, in the absence 
of any appeal within the time and in the mode prescribed by law, must be 
applied according to the vote then taken, and any other application of it 
will be illegal and invalid, and will subject the trustees to personal respon- 
sibility to the district for the amount so expended, and to the forfeitures 
and penalties prescribed by law. 

The allegation, moreover, of the trustees, that an illegal vote was cast at 
the meeting referred to, by which the result was changed, is wholly unsup- 
ported by the facts as they appear from the papers. 

The proceedings of the meeting of the 11th of January are, therefore, 
hereby confirmed, and the trustees directed to apply the tax voted accord- 
ingly. Per Morgan, February 11, 1850. 

It is the duty of the trustees, when requested by a respectable number of the taxable 
inhabitants of their district, to call a special meeting for the transaction of any legal 
and proper business which such petitioners may desire to bring before it. 

This is an appeal from the refusal of the respondents to call a special 
meeting of the inhabitants and legal voters of the district, for the purpose 
of taking into consideration the application and division of the public 
money of said district on the request of twenty taxable inhabitants thereof. 
The trustees in their answer set forth certain facts and circumstances ex- 
isting in the district which, in their judgment, justified them in declining 
to call such meeting and in making such disposition of the public money 
as they should deem expedient. 

This view of the subject cannot, in the opinion of the Superintendent, be 
sustained. It is the duty of the trustees of a school district, whenever re- 
quested by a respectable number of inhabitants and legal voters of a dis- 
trict, to call a special meeting for the transaction of any legal and proper 
business which such inhabitants may desire to bring before it. The object 
of the petitioners in this case was unquestionably a legal and proper one. 
The inhabitants and legal voters of the district are authorized to make 
such disposition of the public money among the several terms of the school 
as they may judge proper, and it is only when they omit to act in the 
matter that the trustees are empowered to exercise their own discretion. If 
an improper disposition of the public money is made by the inhabitants, 
an adequate remedy is provided by appeal to this department. The circum- 
stances, therefore, set forth by the trustees in their answer, were insufficient 
to justify them in their refusal to call the special meeting called for. The 
trustees, therefore, are hereby ordered, within five days after the receipt of 
this order, to cause notices to be given for a special meeting of the legal 
voters of the district, to be held within ten days thereafter, for the purpose 
of taking into consideration the application and division of the public 
money of said district for the ensuing year, etc. Per E. W. Leavenworth, 
February 28, 1854. 

Trustees will not be ordered to call a special meetmg upon the application of a re- 
spectable number of inhabitants, where successive meetings for the same purpose 
have been called and held. 

The question is whether the trustees have exercised tlieir discretion right- 
fully in refusing to call a special meeting upon the request of a respecta- 
ble number of voters to have the meeting called. Such a request is ordi- 
narily sufficient, but it is not all-sufficient. If it were so, a respectable 
minority could effectually prevent the consummation of any action by the 



566 Meetings. 

majority. There must be some reasonable pretext for a meeting to render 
the refusal of trustees an abuse of discretion. In the present case, the 
object for which a special meeting is desired has already been passed upon 
by two successive meetings, at the last one of which every voter in the 
district was present but one. The trustees have, therefore, only exercised 
a reasonable discretion in the matter, and there is no occasion for any inter- 
ference from this department. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
November 7, 1857. 

Trustees will not be directed to call a special meeting to take action upon questions 
which have passed beyond the jurisdiction of the inhabitants. 

On appeal from the refusal of trustees to call a special meeting to recon- 
sider a vote taken at the annual meeting, it appears that the annual meet- 
ing had authorized the trustees to raise $100 to repair the school-house, and 
that the trustees immediately went to work and mad6 out a tax list, con- 
tracted for the repairs; made an advance on the same, out of their own 
money, and commenced operations. This they had an undoubted right to 
do; tl>e assumption of the appellant that the trustees were bound to wait 
thirty days is wholly untenable. The repairs were needed at once, if at 
all, and under the circumstances the promptitude of the trustees is com- 
mendable. 

It follows, then, that a special meeting, if called, would have no power 
to rescind the action of the annual meeting. The trustees, therefore, acted 
within a reasonable discretion in refusing to call such meeting for the pur- 
pose named, it not being then in the power of the district to act upon the 
question. The appeal must be dismissed. Per H. H, Van Dyck, Superin- 
tendent, December 3, 1858. 

A special meeting will not be ordered to act upon questions that have been deliberated 
and acted upon at successive meetings. 

This is an appeal from the neglect or refusal of the trustees to call a 
special meeting, upon the request of a respectable number of the inhabit- 
ants. 

The appellant fails to make out a case requiring the interposition of the 
department. The mere fact of a petition for a meeting, signed by a large 
number of inhabitants, is insufficient to create even a presumption as to the 
duty of the trustee to call such meeting. If it could be so regarded, then a 
minority, respectable in numbers, could always compel the trustee to call a 
special meeting, and could thus keep the district distracted and unsettled 
upon any important issue, so long as they might choose to demand the call- 
ing of meetings. 

It is in evidence that the meeting whose action the appellant disapproves, 
and whicii action he desires a special meeting to reconsider, was the third 
special meeting that had acted upon the question at issue. 

It is a principle that has been recognized by the department that when a 
question has been deliberately acted upon at successive meetings, the trus- 
tee is not requirad to call other meetings to reconsider the question thus 
determined. 

In view of the facts and principles herein disclosed, it devolved upon 
the appellant to show, by obvious and well-attested facts, that the action of 
the meeting was not a proper expression of the will of the district upon 
the question at issue. Failing in this, I find no sufficient occasion for 
subjecting the clerk to the trouble and labor of serving notices of another 
special meeting, so soon after a series of special meetings has been con- 
cluded. 



Meetings. ^q>^ 

The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintend- 
ent, April 12, 1860. 

It does not follow of course that a petition to the trustees for a special meeting, how- 
ever numerously signed, is to be granted. 

On appeal from the refusal of the trustee to call a special meeting, on the 
application of a majority of the voters of the district, it appears that the 
object of a new meeting is to rescind the action of a previous meeting 
changing the site and voting a tax to build a new house. The meeting 
which took this action was well attended, every voter in the district being 
present but one, and the vote in favor of the resolution to change the site 
was confirmed by twenty-one to seven. 

The petition to call a new meeting bears date more than two months after 
the above decisive action had been takeen. Meantime, the trustees had 
completed their tax list, and, at the least, had entered into negotiations 
concerning the sale of the old house and site. It is remarked by the counsel 
for the appellants that it would seem as though an application for a school 
meeting, made by a clear majority of the legal voters of the district, ought 
upon the face of it to be granted. The general principle enunciated is, 
doubtless, in its broad and unrestricted sense, true; but, in its application 
to individual instances, it may, in a majority of cases, be found unwise and 
unjust, for the reason that it is scarcely possible to recognize, in the state- 
ment of such general principles, the thousand and one conditions tkat ren- 
der it inapplicable. 

I can conceive of no good resulting from an effort at so late a day to 
disturb what has been so deliberately and fairly and decisively determined. 
If it is true that so large a number of the voters have changed their minds, 
it betrays a fickleness and instability of purpose that give little assurance 
that proceedings had at any future meeting will be permitted to rest. 

I regard the discretion of the trustee as judiciously exercised, and the 
appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per E, W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, 
June 15, 1861. 

The department will not require trustees to call a special meeting to rescind proceed- 
ings of an annual meeting, on the ground that the appellants were not present at 
such annual meetmg. 

On an appeal from the refusal of the trustees to call a special meeting as 
requested by certain inhabitants of the district, it appears that at the 
annual meeting a vote was taken authorizing the trustees to levy a tax for 
fuel, and to fence the school-house site. The appellants desire a special 
meeting called to rescind that vote, alleging that they were not present at 
the annual meeting, when the tax was voted. 

The objects for which this tax was voted are legitimate and proper, and 
it is not the fault of the trustees, nor of the department, that the appel- 
lants were not present at the annual meeting, and neither should be put to 
trouble or inconvenience because of the neglect of the appellants to attend 
to their duty. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 21, 1862. 

Ordinarily it is the duty of a trustee to call a special meeting on application of ten of 
the taxable inhabitants. 

The appellant and nine other taxable inhabitants of the district peti- 
tioned the trustees to call a special school meeting for the purpose of con- 
sidering the propriety of changing the school-house site, and, by implica- 
tion, for the purpose of voting taxes to pay for a new site and new school- 



568 Meetings. 

house to be erected thereon. The trustees refused to call a special meeting 
for such purpose, I tliink the appellants have made out a good case and 
that a special school meeting should be held for the purposes above indi- 
cated. 

The trustee, and in case of his refusal, the district clerk, directed to call 
such meeting. Per V. M. Kice, Superintendent, January 21, 1868. 

Duty of trustees to call meetings at a proper place. 

The meeting was called and held at a barber's shop. The place is shown 
to have been an entirely unsuitable one and to have been actually used dur- 
ing the progress of the meeting by the occupant in the discharge of the 
ordinary duties of his vocation. 

It also appears that at the time the district had a large and commodious 
school-house, centrally located, where the meeting might have been held. 

The proper place for holding school meetings when the district has a 
school-house suitable for the purpose is in such school-house. 

Held to be a sufficient ground for vacating the proceedings, but the same 
were vacated on other grounds set forth in a previous decision. Per Neil 
Gilmour, Superintendent, May 12, 1875. 

Trustee calling special meeting upon petition. 

The supervisor and school commissioner had condemned the school - 
house in the district. A respectable number of the voters in the district 
desired a change of school-house site and petitioned the trustee to call a 
special meeting for the consideration of such proposition. The trustee 
refused to call the special meeting, and the appeal is taken from such 
refusal. A special meeting ordered. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 2990, July 10, 1880. 

A resolution to raise a sum over 8500 to build a new school-house is not invalid because 
the school commissioner did not first give his approval in writing thereto. But such 
approval must be given before a tax list and warrant can be issued. 

It does not follow, of course, that a petition to the trustees for a special meeting, how- 
ever numerously signed, is to be granted. Such a rule would be unjust and unwise. 
A wise discretion in the matter of calling a special meeting upon petition must be 
exercised by the trustees. 

At the school meeting held March 9, 1883, it was decided to acquire an 
additional school-house site, and to erect a school-house thereon. The site 
was properly described. A tax was then voted for building the school- 
house of $17,000, to be raised by installments, and a further tax of $R,000 
was voted to purchase the site determined upon. The proceedings were 
in all respects regular and conducted with a commendable degree of par- 
ticularity. The objection of appellants' that the vote upon the question of 
raising the tax for the purchase of the school-house by installment was 
illegal, is not well taken. The majority of the inhabitants attending was 
ascertained in the way the statute prescribes, namely, "by taking and re- 
cording the ayes and noes.'' The further objection that the approval of 
the commissioner of the sum in excess of five hundred dollars for building 
the school-house was not certified in writing, does not affect in any way the 
proceedings of the meeting. If such a consent had not been obtained, the 
trustees would have been prevented from levying a tax for the sum voted. 
But it appears that the commissioner has fully approved the sum named by 
the district meeting. The appellants rely mainly upon the refusal of the 
trustees to call a special meeting, in accordance with a request numerously 



Meetings. 569 

signed, to reconsider the action of the meeting designating the school- 
house site and directing its purchase. It does not follow, of course, that 
a petition to the trustees for a special meeting, however numerously signed, 
is to be granted. Indeed such a rule would be unwise and unjust and in 
this case the appellants do not show that any injury lias been suffered by 
any of the inliabitants of the district by such refusal, or that any substan- 
tial right of the appellants has been invaded. But on the contrary the 
object for which a special meeting is desired has already been passed upon 
by two successive meetings, both of which were numerously attended. The 
action of the first meeting was set aside on appeal, for a cause which 
does not appear in this appeal ; but, at both of the meetings, by a 
very large majority, the particular site to which the appellants object was 
designated by the voters. The question is, did the trustees use a wise dis- 
cretion in declining to call a meeting? A just review of this question must 
go be^'ond the petition, which the appellants make the basis of their appeal 
against the action of the trustees, and sliould ascertain from the evidence 
which the respondents have furnished, whether their refusal was arbitrary 
and unjust, or, on the other hand, dictated b}'^ a proper regard to the fair 
judgment of the district. It appears that the proceedings of the meeting 
of March 9 were in all respects regular; and it does not appear that the 
department would be justified in declaring tliat the trustees erred in the 
exercise of their discretion. Per W. B. Ruggles; Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3267, June 19, 1883. 

The fact that a proposition is pending before the school commissioner to alter the dis- 
trict, is not a good and sufficient reason for the trustee to refuse to call a special 
meeting, when requested by a respectable number of the inhabitants, to consider 
the question of new school-house and site. 

The appeal is brought from the refusal of the trustee to call a special 
meeting pursuant to a request in wn-iting for the purpose of locating a site 
for a new school-house, voting a tax to pay for building the same, determin- 
ing the size and plan of said building and appointing a building committee. 
The request was signed by twenty-three of the residents of said district. 
The trustee explains his refusal to call the meeting as requested, by the 
fact that at the time an application was pending before the school commis- 
sioner of tlie district tor the formation of a new district from portions of 
this and other districts. This does not appear to be a good or sufficient 
reason for refusing to call a special meeting when requested thereto by a 
respectable number of tiie inhabitants of the district. Had a meeting been 
called and held in conformity with the request, the pendency of the appli 
cation before the commissioner might well have been urged, as a good 
ground for adjourning the consideration of the purposes for which the call 
was issued until the commissioner's action had been determined. Per W. 
B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3275, September 14, 1883. 

A meeting, called by two trustees without consulting the third, will not be set aside 
when the third trustee attended the meeting and participated in the proceedings, 

A meeting was called by the majority of the trustees, without consulting 
the third, and upon this ground, the third trustee asks that its proceed- 
ings may be declared void. At the meetings every voter in the district, 
excepting one, who was absent from home, was present. The third trustee 
was present and voted. 

Held, that the trustees who united in ordering the call were unquestion- 
ably wrong in exercising the power without their colleague, and that, if 



^"^0 Meetings. 

any cousideiable part of the inliabitants had declined or omitted to take 
])art in the jH-oceedings, this defect in the order for its call might have 
been regarded as fatal. 

Where, however, the notice has the effect of convening all the inhabit- 
ants, with the exception of a single individual, whose vote, if present, 
would not have affected the result, the superintendent feels warranted in 
disregarding the objection, when brought by a person who himself disre- 
garded it by participating in the proceedings of the meeting. Per H. H. 
Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 14, 1857. 

Where the clerk names o wrong hour in his notice of an annnual meeting, and part 
of the inhabitants assemble at that hour and transact business, and part assemble at 
the hour of adjournment, and also transact business, both meetings may be set aside, 
and a new one ordered. 

It appears that an annual meeting in 1850 adjourned to October 5, 1857, 
at seven o'clock, and the same is so recorded. By error, the clerk in the 
written notices of the meeting named six o'clock as the hour. A part of 
the inhabitants met at that hour, and transacted the ordinary business ; a 
part, relyin-^4- upon the adjournment, met at seven o'clock, organized, and 
proceeded to business. The latter appeal from the action of the former. 

Held, that seven o'clock was the proper hour for meeting, but, a part of 
the inhaijitants having been misled by the written notices, no advantage 
should he taken of such an official error, to deprive a considerable number 
of the inhabitants of a voice in the regular proceedings. 

The proceedings of both meetings are therefore set aside, and the clerk 
of last year is directed to give notice of a new meeting within ten days 
after the receipt of this decision. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
November 30, 1857. 

Where a meeting is called by a single trustee, the others having vacated their offices^ 
the call is legal, even though it may subsequently appear that the trustee was not 
legally elected. 

On an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting, it is claimed 
that the meeting was illegal and its proceedings void, from lack of author- 
ity on the part of the person assuming, as trustee, to call the same. 

The facts of the case are that the meeting was called by an acting trus- 
tee, and that no other person was authorized to act in that capacit}', those 
elected to that office, and claiming to hold it, having resigned. 

Held, that it was sufficient that, under color of title to the office, there 
being at the time no competitor or rival claimant, and by advice of the 
commissioner and on petition of the inhabitants, the said acting trustee 
directed the clerk to call the meeting; and that, the meeting being legally 
convened, the proceedings, if not irregular, must be sustained. Per H. 
H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 31, 1858. 

The proceedings of a school meeting, held at the unusual hour of half-past seven 
o'clock in the morning, will be set aside unless there are peculiar conditions in the 
district to justify the call of a meeting at that hour. 

A meeting was held at the hour of half-past seven o'clock in the morn- 
ing, the proceedings of which are appealed from, on the ground of the 
unseasonableness of the hour of meeting. 

I cannot regard a meeting called at seven and a half o'clock in the morn- 
ing as giving an opportunity to the inhabitants for a fair and deliberate 
expression of their opinions upon the matters under discussion, unless it is 



Meetings. 571 

made affirmatively to appear that the circumstances of the district are so 
peculiar as to make that the best and most convenient time of meeting. It 
is not made so to appear in the present instance, and the appeal must^ 
therefore, be sustained. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, June 18, 

1858. 

The department will not set aside the proceedings of a meeting to which a majority of 
the inhabitants of the district are opposed, because such majority, though having, 
due notice, neglected to attend the meeting. 

This is an appeal from the proceedings of a special school meeting. The 
case presented is not one requiring any action from this department. Due 
notice was given of a meeting to take into consideration the question of a 
change of site. A portion of the inhabitants saw fit to neglect their duty 
and did not attend the meeting. Thereby a minority of the inhabitants 
were enabled to control the action of the meeting. 

There is but one way in which a majority can carry out measures of pol- 
icy, and that is to present themselves at the meeting duly and properly 
notified. 

It is no part of the duty of this department to make good, or, by its 
action, atone for, the neglect or indifference of the inhabitants. 

The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per E.W. Keyes, Deputy Superin- 
tendent, September 11, 1858. 

Where three trustees are chosen in a district, and their terms of office are designated 
by lot, instead of by vote as the law directs, the election will be declared void for 
uncertainty. 

At a district meeting it was resolved to have three trustees, and three per- 
sons were accordingly elected by viva voce vote, and the term that each one 
should serve was determined by lot or chance, and not by the votes of those 
present. 

The objection to the proceedings of this meeting is valid. By section 6, 
chapter 151, Laws of 1858, it is required that the time which each trustee 
shall serve shall be decided by vote. Consequently, the election of these 
officers in the present case is void for uncertainty, the term for which either 
was elected not being designated. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
November 15, 1858, 

The proceedings of a meeting will not be set aside because of neglect to administer the 
prescribed form of declaration to persons challenged, when it is shown that such 
persons were in fact legal voters at such meeting. 

On an appeal from certain proceedings at an annual meeting, it appears 
that on a certain question, which is not stated, thirteen voters were chal- 
lenged, to but one of whom any oath was administered. But it also appears 
that each one so challenged was a resident of the district, and owned or 
hired real property therein. Their right to vote is thus clearly established, 
and the proceedings should not be set aside for a mere informality in admin- 
istering the oath, when it is shown that such informality has no effect upon 
the general result. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, November 15, 
1858. 

An annual meeting held on the second Tuesday of October, though without notice, is 
legal, that being the day now prescribed by law. 

This department has ruled, and does rule, that any meeting held on the 
second Tuesday of October, as required by the act of April 13, 1858, is 



572 Meetings. 

legal. All have an opportunity of reading the law, and tiie presumption 
is that they had sufficient sense to comprehend it. Per H. H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, November 23, 1858. 

Proceedings set aside for uncertainty, where, on a vote by ballot, more ballots were 
deposited than there Vvere voters present. 

A vote was taken upon the question of building a new school-house. The 
vote was taken by ballot, and the result showed more ballots than voters. 
Of course the department has no power to determine, in such a case, what 
is the will of the majority. 

The proceedings of the meeting are, therefore, declared void for uncer- 
tainty. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, October 27, 1859. 

A motion to adjourn, while another question is pending, and a ballot being taken on it, 
cannot be entertained; an adjournment thus affected is void. 

At the annual meeting, a resolution was offered to elect three trustees, 
and the question was being taken by ballot on that resolution, when some 
of those offering to vote were challenged, and a discussion on tlie qualifi- 
catioa of voters arose, pending which a motion to adjourn for one week 
was made ; the question was taken on the affirmative, and declared carried 
without the negative being taken. The appellant claims that the adjourn- 
ment was legal, and that the business transacted after the adjournment 
was declared is void. 

I cannot arrive at the appellant's conclusions. In the first place, no 
motion for adjournment, nor for any thing else, was in order while a vote 
on a previous motion was being taken. While strict parliamentary practice 
is by no means to be expected in the proceediiigs of district meetings, yet 
some observances are indispensable to protect the meeting from the factious 
opposition of a minority, from aA oppressive rule of the majority, or from 
the arbitrary authority of the presiding officer. The rule here stated I con- 
sider to be of this nature. The entertainment of the motion to adjourn at 
that time was, therefore, unlawful, and the action upon jt of no effect. The 
fact that the chairman declared the motion carried without calling for the 
negative vote would be sufficient to vitiate the proceedings, had the motion 
itself been in order, for to give the chairman power, at discretion, of declar- 
ing an adjournment, without taking a full expression of the meeting, is to 
invest him with supreme control. 

The meeting not being legally adjourned, the proceedings had after the 
declared adjournment were regular and legal. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy 
Superintendent, December 9, 1859. 

An annual meeting, not adjourned to any particular time, called by the clerk at six 
o'clock, and organizing, and transacting-business before seven, is void. 

This is an appeal from the proceedings of the annual meeting. 

There is but one point made by the appellant that at all impairs the pro- 
ceedings of the annual meeting. Unfortunately, however, that objection 
is material, and cannot be disregarded. The statute of April 12, 1858, pro- 
vides, that "unless the hour and place of such (annual) meeting shall be 
fixed by a previous district meeting, the same shall be held at the school- 
house at seven o'clock in the evening." It is in evidence that the time and 
place were not fixed by a previous meeting, but that the meeting was noti- 
fied by the clerk to be held at six o'clock, that it was organized shortly after 
that hour, and that before the hour of seven o'clock it had transacted all its 
business and adjourned. 



Meetings. 573 

I have, therefore, no alternative but to declare the proceedings unauthor- 
ized, and they must of necessity be set aside, as being contrary to the stat- 
ute. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 3, 18(30. 

A district meeting is not bound by strict parliamentary rules; it makes its own. 

This is an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting. The objec- 
tions to the proceedings are to the ruling of the chairman upon certain 
questions of order. 

The department will not overrule his decisions where it was in the power 
of the meeting to reverse such decision on appeal. The failure of the meet- 
ing to take any action upon the point of order must be regarded as an acqui- 
escence in the ruling of the chair. So far as the binding obligation of com- 
mon parliamentary rules is concerned, it must ever be held subordinate to 
the will of any organized meeting, every such assemblage being free to 
establish its own rules. As I do not find the merits at all affected by the 
proceedings complained of, I cannot, upon the ground of unparliamentary 
ruling, reverse the deliberate action of the meeting. Per H. H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, March 8, 1860. 

Proceedings of district meeting set aside on account of frand. 

On an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting, it appears that, 
at the meeting, several arrests of legal voters were made, whereby one party 
obtained an improper advantage. 

The department will never sanction proceedings tainted with such fraud- 
ulent efforts to secure an advantage. The proceedings of one of the par- 
ties are marred by the appearance of an effort further to gain an advantage 
by overawing the opposition through the presence and threats of a bully 
and tighter. The department will ever exercise the full extent of its powers 
to protect and defend those, whether in a minority or majority, against 
whom such influences are arrayed. 

The proceedings of the meeting are therefore, set aside and a new meet- 
ing ordered to be held. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 
21, 1861. 

A meeting of three persons, at which it is voted to build a new school-house and levy 
a tax therefor, set aside. 

I cannot consider a meeting of three persons, at which a considerable tax 
is voted for building a new school-house, as a sufficiently authorized ex- 
pression of the sense of the district upon so important a proceeding. How- 
ever worthy the purpose, the means have too much the appearance of a 
surprise, especially in view of the fact that several inhabitants were waiting 
outside, in the belief that no one had yet arrived to attend the meeting be- 
sides themselves. The proceedings are, therefore, set aside. Per E. W. 
Keyes, Acting Superintendent, July 22, 1861. 

The election of a trustee will be set aside when opportunity for a fair expression of 
the voters was not given, whereby the result was uncertain. 

On an appeal from certain proceedings of the annual meeting, in electing 
a trustee, it appears that the meeting was attended by many besides those 
entitled to vote, and on the motion to elect A. S. trustee for the ensuing 
year, it was impossible to tell whether the voting was confined to those 
legally entitled. The chairman, however, decided that the said A. S. was 
elected. Many of those present doubted the correctness of the decision, and 
consequently this appeal is brought 



574 Meetings. 

It is evident to me from the proceedings that opportunity for a fair ex- 
pression of tlie actual voters was not afforded. The evidence of the elec- 
tion of tlie said A. S. is not clear and satisfactory, and 1 deem it but just 
tliat the inhabitants should have what they asked for, an opportunity, by 
another trial, to put the matter beyond controversy. The election of the 
said A. S. is, therefore, set aside as uncertain, and a new election ordered. 
Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, November 30, 1861. 

Proceedings ot an annual meeting where only two persons were present set aside. 

The regular annual district meeting was held without any previous notice, 
and evidently to the surprise of nearly all the inhabitants of the district. 
A chairman was elected, and also a clerk pro tern. Eesolutions were offered 
and passed, and trustees and other school officers elected by ballot. At 
this meeting only two persons were present. 

By a strange mistake the notices for the annual meeting set forth 
that the same would be held on the tenth of October, instead of the second 
Tuesday, as required by law. A meeting was accordiHgiy held on the 
tenth, supposed by those present to be the annual meeting, and the usual 
business of an annual meeting was transacted. 

This department cannot sanction the proceedings of two persons as of 
binding force and effect upon a district; especially not, when most of the 
inhabitants were prevented from being present by a misapprehension, arising 
from an error in the published notice. 

The proceedings of both the meetings held as above stated are declared 
invalid, and the district clerk is directed to give notice of a special meeting. 
Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, December 3, 1861. 

The proceedings of an annual meeting organized within half an hour after the time 
for meeting will not be set aside. 

On an appeal from the proceedings of an annual meeting, it appears that 
the meeting ^vas called for six o'clock. At half-past six it was organized, 
four persons being present. Two more came in directly, and the business 
of the meeting was transacted. 

There can be no question as to the legality of the meeting, and, though it 
would have been no more than proper and just to have waited a short time 
for others to come in, I do not feel at liberty to set aside the proceedings 
for failure to do so. A sure way to prevent any such advantage being taken 
is to be at the place in time. Those who have it in their power to protect 
and preserve their own interests, and neglect to do so, should not call upon 
others to make good what their own indifference has caused them to lose. 
Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, December 5, 1861. 

A custom of delaying the organization of school meetings for one or two hours after 
the regular time has no sanction in good usage. 

On an appeal from the_proceedings of a special meeting, it appears that 
the meeting was called for six o'clock in the evening, and that before seven 
o'clock the meeting was organized, seventeen persons being present, and a 
tax of $200 voted. 

The appellants ask that the proceedings of the meeting be annulled, 
because the meeting was organized in less than an hour after the time for 
which it was called, it being alleged that it is customary to delay the 
organization for one or two hours. 

If the custom is as above alleged, it is well that a practice so vicious 



Meetings. 575 

should be al)andoned. There is no worthy justification for it. Undue 
liaste should not be countenanced ; but a delay of half an hour can hardly 
be regarded as undue haste. This department can do nothing to put aside 
the consequences of a neglect so inexcusable as that of the appellants, in 
not attendiug at the appointed hour for meeting. 

Appeal dismissed. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 27, 1862. 

Proceedings at annual meeting set aside, on ground of organizing at too early an hour. 

The time designated for the meeting was six o'clock. It was organized 
and the business transacted with only four persons present, .one of these 
being elected trustee, another clerk. After the election of these officers, 
seven other voters of the district appeared at tlie place of meeting. It was 
alleged that the meeting was organized and the business transacted before 
six o'clock. This was denied, and much conflicting testimony on the point 
was submitted, leaving the matter in doubt. The Superintendent says: 
"I think there is at least a reasonable doubt, whether the meeting was not 
opened before the appointed time, and considering the fact that so small 
a number was present at the election of district ofhcers, there is just reason 
to believe that the inhabitants generally have not had that opportunity to 
participate in the choice of their officers, which the law intends to secure 
to them." Election of officers vacated. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintend- 
ent, November 26, 1869. 

Proceedings of a meeting set aside for precipitancy in the organization. 

The hour named for the meeting was 7 o'clock, p. m. Before that time 
a number of the voters had assembled in front of the building, but the 
door being locked they could not procure admittance. Shortly after 7 
o'clock, a person, who was shown to have had the key since 5 o'clock, 
appeared with four or five others, unlocked the door, and they hastily 
ascended the stairs to the room where the meeting was to be held. On 
motion, this person was declared elected chairman of the meeting, and took 
and retained his place as such. This was done before many of the voters 
who had assembled outside, before the door was unlocked, could reach the 
room in which the meeting was held. 

The attempt to choose a presiding oflficer in that precipitate manner, 
before the inhabitants had a fair opportunity to enter the room, was a vio- 
lation of the right of the majority to appoint a chairman. The choice of 
the chairman was made by a few individuals, with the design, and with the 
effect, of excluding from participation therein a large number of the voters 
assembled at the time and place appointed for the meeting. Proceedings 
of the meeting vacated and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
July 13, 1872. 

A school district meeting set aside because of disorderly proceedings, preventing a 
proper expression of the wishes of the majority. 

The appeal is based upon the ground that the proceedings of the meet- 
ing were conducted in so tumultuous and disorderly a manner by a minor- 
ity of the voters present, that in the choice of district officers, and in all 
other material respects, the wishes of a majority of the voters in attendance 
were overridden and set at naught. 

A careful examination of the evidence has satisfied me that the appel- 
lants have established the correctness of their allegations as to the conduct 
of the meeting, and the results produced by it. The irregularities were of 



576 Meetings. 

such a cliaracter as, in my judgment, to make it incumbent upon me to set 
aside the entire action of the assemblage. Set aside accordingly. Per A. 
B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 4, 1872 

An annual district meeting held before 7 o'clock in the evening, when an earlier hour 
had not been fixed for such meeting by a previous annual meeting, is illegal. 

The appeal is from the proceeding of an annual school meeting. The 
meeting was held before 7 o'clock in the evening. No previous annual 
meeting had fixed an earlier time than that designated by law for holding 
the annual meeting. Trustees were elected before 7 o'clock. Held, that 
the proceedings of the meeting must be set aside as illegal. Per Neil Gil- 
mour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3011, November 17, 1880. 

The law fixes the lime for holding the annual meeting, and it provides that "unless 
the hour and place therefor shall have been fixed by the vote of a previous meeting" 
it shall be held in the school-house "at seven o'clock in the evening." A meeting 
held at this time, although the clerk's notices called the meeting for half-past seven 
o'clock, is regular. 

The notices posted by the clerk for the annual meeting named half-past 
seven in the evening as the time for such meeting. At seven o'clock, or 
shortly thereafter, six residents and legal voters of the district entered the 
school-house and organized a meeting. When organized, the meeting 
elected district officers, proceeded to the other business of the annual meet- 
ing and then adjourned. At half-past seven, or shortly thereafter, a num- 
ber of residents and votere of the district, who were not in time for the 
first meeting, or wiio refused to take jDart in its proceedings, deeming it 
irregular, entered the school-house, proceeded to organize another meeting 
and to elect a trustee. This meeting was more largely attended than the 
earlier one, and it is urged by the appellants that those in attendance at the 
second meeting, representing a majority of the persons entitled to vote at 
school district meetings, were deprived of a voice in the affairs of the dis- 
trict through the mistake of the clerk, and by the trick and by the device 
of those who took part in the organization of the first meeting. The appel- 
lants, however, have failed so show any fraud in the proceedings of the 
first meeting. 

The law fixes the time for holding the annual meeting, and it provides 
that "unless the hour and place therefor shall have been fixed by the vote 
of a previous meeting" it shall be held in the school-house "at seven 
o'clock in the evening." Those who entered the school-house at seven 
o'clock and organized a meeting only foUow^ed the provisions of the law, 
and as it does not appear that the previous meeting fixed any hour for the 
annual meeting, the proceedings of the meeting held at seven o'clock will 
be binding upon the district, unless it is show^n that there were some ma- 
terial irregularity in the proceedings, or that they were vitiated by fraud. 
Indeed, if the clerk wholly neglected to give notice of the annual meeting, 
as the statute fixes the time and place, such failure would not invalidate 
the proceedings of the meeting, if otherwise regular. If they, knowing the 
law, chose to take advantage of it, and strictly following the statute, met 
and organized a meeting, even though they were aware that a number of 
the inhabitants were misled by the clerk's error, this of itself would not be 
suflficient to justify tlie department in setting aside their action. Per W. 
B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3410, March 21, 1885. 



Meetings. 577 

After an adjournment of an annual meeting the chairman with others cannot reconvene 
the meeting and go on with the business of such meeting. The refusal of the chair- 
man to longer serve as such and the dispersing of the meeting is a virtual adjourn- 
ment. 

Considerable dispute arose at the meeting over the election of trustee and 
the rulings of the chairman. After an "informal ballot " for trustee, the 
chairman refused to longer serve as such and the meeting dispersed; 
later in the evening the party who were in favor of sustaining the chairman 
in his rulings returned to the school-house and proceeded to elect a trustee 
and other district officers. I cannot regard the proceedings of the second 
meeting as regular. The action of the chairman before alluded to virtually 
adjourned the annual meeting, the inhabitants dispersed and left the school 
premises. The subsequent action of the chairman, in convening at the 
school-house, later in the evening, those who had favored his rulings, can- 
not be regarded as a legal continuance of the annual meeting; and it can- 
not be considered a new and independent meeting of the inhabitants 
authorized to act for the district, since it was convened without regard to 
any authority known to the school law. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintend- 
ent. Decision No. 3453, November 18, 1885. 

When there is a failure to show that the clerk was in the district and prepared to serve 
notice for a special meeting, the proceedings of such rheeting will not be set aside 
solely on the ground that the notices were served by a person having a claim against 
the district, which claim was to be passed upon by the special meeting. 

I cannot conclude from the single fact of his being a contractor claiming extra com- 
pensation for his services, without proof of collusion with the trustee, or a willful 
and fraudulent failure on the part of the contractor to serve the notice, that the 
meeting was improperly called. 

A contract was entered into between the district and J. B. Inman to 
build a school-house in said district in place of one that w^as destroyed by 
fire ; the contract price was placed at $725, After the building was com- 
pleted, Inman asked for an additional payment, over and above the con- 
tract price, of $210. The trustee called a special meeting, which was held 
on the 17th of October last, to consider the claim of Inman for the extra 
allowance ; notices for which meeting were not served by the trustee or 
clerk of the district, but were served by Inman, who was the party inter- 
ested in obtaining the extra allowance. At the special meeting so held, 
but five voters appeared, four of whom were tax-payers in the district, 
representing but a small proportion of the valuation on the assessment-roll. 
At that meeting the trustee was authorized to collect by tax in the district 
a certain amount of money, including the $210 claimed by the contractor. 

It is alleged that some of the tax payers received only a few hours' notice 
of the meeting, and some received no notice at all ; but no proof is adduced 
in support of this statement, nor do the appellants themselves attempt to show 
that they were not duly notified of the meeting. The only material question 
which I am called upon to decide, therefore, is whether Inman was dis- 
qualified from serving "the notices. On this point proof is lacking. The 
appellants on whom the burden of proof rests fail to show that the clerk 
was in the district and prepared to perform his duties, nor do they show 
any reason, aside from the fact that he was an interested party in the result 
of the special meeting, why Inman was incapacitated from serving such 
notices ; and I cannot conclude from the single fact of his being a con- 
tractor claiming extra compensation for his services, without proof of collu- 
sion with the trustee, or a willful and fraudulent failure on the part of said 
Inman to serve the notice, that the meeting was improperly called. Per 
W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3463, December 19, 1885. 

73 



578 Meetings. 



NOTICE. 



A notice given bj the district clerk for a meeting is legal, though the directions of the 
trustees to the clerk to give such notice were verbal. 

A sjiecial meeting was held in district No. 5, Lisbon, St. Lawrence county, 
December 30, 1848, pursuant to a notice given by the clerk for the purpose, 
and the site of the school-house was voted to be changed. 

The appellants object to the proceedings of the meeting, because the 
notices of the meeting by the district clerk were upon the verbal direction 
of the trustees. 

If the district clerk gives the proper notices for a special meeting, the 
proceedings of that meeting will not be held to be illegal, although the 
trustees may have given the clerk only a verbal direction to give the notices. 

The proceedings of the meeting, therefore, are legal and regular. 

Appeal dismissed. Per Morgan, March 6, 1849. 

An annual school meeting held at the time and place designated by law is legal, though 
the requirement concerning notice has not been complied with. 

Objection was taken to the proceedings of an annual meeting upon the 
ground that no notice of the same was given. 

The Superintendent says: "It has been for a long series of years the 
ruling of this department that the annual meeting of school districts being 
expressly ordered by statute, no neglect to call them by those upon whom 
that duty is devolved can invalidate the action of such meetings. The 
soundness of this ruling becomes at once apparent when it is considered 
that under any other construction the right of the voters in any district to 
meet and transact business would be wholly contingent upon the circum- 
stance of the trustees giving the required notice. The same principle is 
sustained by the court of appeals of this State in regard to holding general 
elections, in case of elections held without notice thereof being given by 
the Secretary of State. 3 Kernan^ 350." Per A. B. Weaver, Superintend- 
ent, February 26, 1869. 

Notices of a special meeting should state the object as well as the time and place of the 

meeting. 

It is shown that some of the voters were notified by leaving a notice of 
the meeting at their place of residence, and that the notices thus served 
stated no object for which the meeting was called. As the statute requires 
that the inhabitants shall be notified of the object as well as of the time and 
place of special district meetings, the notices referred to were clearly 
defective, and the meeting was thereby rendered irregular. {Sections 2 and 
6, title 7 of General School Act.) Proceedings of the meeting vacated. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, June 30, 1874. 

District meeting set aside because of irregularity and insufficiency in the notices. 

A resolution of the district provided for calling district meetings by post- 
ing notices of the time and place thereof, and designating the post-office as 
one of the places where such notices should be posted. 

Concerning the meeting appealed from, it is shown that no notice was 
posted at the post-office as required by the resolution referred to. 

It is claimed that many of the voters failed to attend the meeting owing 
to this defective notice. 

Held, that the meeting was irregularly called, and its action set aside 
accordingly. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, May 12, 1875. 



Meetings. 579 

Special meeting cannot be called by merely posting notices, when no previous annual 
meeting had authorized the calling of a special meeting in this manner. 

Appeal from the action of a special meeting changing the school-house 
site, on the ground that the meeting was called by posting notices. No 
previous action of an annual meeting directing special meetings to be so 
called had been taken. 

Held, that this constitutes a fatal defect, and the proceedings of the 
meeting must be set aside. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 2964, May 1, 1880. 

The words in a notice for a special meeting " purchasing a new site and building a new 
school-house," necessarily implies the levying of a tax therefor. 

The appeal is brought from the proceedings of a special meeting, one 
gi'ound of appeal being that ''the notice for the meeting was defective for 
the reason that it did not state that a tax was to be voted at the meeting 
for any purpose whatever." The special meeting was held on the 10th day 
of March, 1886, and thirty-six voters, out of a voting population of nearly 
one hundred, were present. The meeting adopted. a resolution designating 
a new site for the school-house. The resolution properly designated the 
new site by metes and bounds, and was adopted by taking and recording 
the ayes and noes. A tax of $500 was voted to pay for the new site. The 
meeting then adopted a resolution to build a new school-house upon the 
new site, and directed the levying of a tax of $1,500 to pay for the same, 
less the amount received from the sale of the old house and site, the trustee 
being directed to make such sale at public auction. 

The notice clearly set forth that the object of the meeting was to take 
"into consideration the propriety of enlarging the school-house so as to 
accommodate two teachers, or of purchasing a new site and building a new 
school-house. * * * ." The meeting could not very well provide for 
the purchase of a new site, and the erection of a new school-house without 
voting a tax for the same. It seems to me that the objection that the 
notice did not say a tax would be raised, after stating that the meeting 
was for the purpose of providing for the purchase of a new site and the 
building of a new school-house is frivolous. No one could be misled by 
such omission. Will any one pretend that he was led to believe by the 
wording of the notice, that the meeting was only for the purpose of select- 
ing a new site and resolving to build a new school-house, and then stop ? 
I think not. While it could well have been inserted in the notice that the 
meeting would levy a tax for these purposes, I think the notice was broad 
enough, and that the words " purchasing a new site and building a new 
school-house " necessarily implied the levying of a tax therefor. Per A. S. 
Draper, Superintendent. Decision No, 3509, June 5, 1886. 



POWERS. 

It is not in the power of a district meeting to control the trustees in the exercise of 
their duty of prosecuting delinquent predecessors for not rendering an annual 
account, or for not paying over a balance of money remaining in their hands. A 
resolution attempting to limit their power in this respect is void. 

A special meeting held in district No. 18, in the town of Sodus, Febru- 
ary 22, 1848. 

Resolved, That the former resolution directing measures to be taken to 
collect certain arrearages alleged to be due from former trustees should be 
rescinded; and further, that no civil proceedings should be commenced by 



580 Meetings. 

the trustees of the district for school mone3^s not paid over by former trus- 
tees, unless by a special resolution of the district. 

Both resolutions mentioned in the appeal were adopted, under a misappre- 
hension of the powers and duties of the inhabitants, when assembled in 
school district meetings. 

Every trustee is bound, by law, yearly, to render an account to the dis- 
trict of the moneys received and paid out by him, and to file said account 
with the district clerk, and also, upon going out of office, to pay over any 
balance of money remaining in his hands to his successors in office. 

For any neglect or refusal to render such acccount, or to pay over such 
balance, the delinquent forfeits to the use and benefit of the district the 
sum of twenty-five dollars, to be sued for and recovered either by his suc- 
cessors in office or by the town superintendent. The town superintendent 
(supervisor) may also sue the trustees for unpaid balances in their hands. 
It requires no vote of the district to authorize such suit to be brought, and 
a vote directing such suits to be brought, or not to be brought, is a nullity. 
Per Morgan, March, 1848. 

The inhabitants of a district have no power to dissolve or annul the district. 

The first meeting in district No. 9, Lloyd, Ulster county, was held August 
23, 1848, at which the following proceedings were had: 

A chairman and clerk 'pro tern, were chosen. The officers of the district 
were elected and a site for the school-house designated. During these pro- 
ceedings some difficulties arose upon questions of order. 

A motion was made and seconded that the meeting declare the district to 
be annulled, which the chairman refused to put, when the mover called for 
the ayes and noes, and declared the motion to be carried. 

A motion was then made to adjourn, but, not being seconded, the chair- 
man refused to put it to vote. 

The mover called the ayes and declared the meeting adjourned, where- 
upon many withdrew. 

The meeting continued its organization, and transacted business after the 
withdrawal of some of the inhabitants. 

The appellant desires that the proceedings of the meeting held after the 
motion to adjourn was made be declared void. 

The motion to dissolve the district was entirely out of order, as it was 
upon a question over which the district had no control. A motion to 
adjourn cannot be put to vote until it is seconded. The chairman was, 
therefore, correct in refusing to put to vote either of these motions. 

The appeal is dismissed, and the proceedings of the meeting confirmed. 
Per Morgan, December 22, 1848. 

An estimate of expenditures must be submitted to vote, item by*item. 
An item " for sexton, $50 " held to be illegal, being for an officer and purpose unknown 

to the law. 

The trustees having presented an estimate for several heads of expendi- 
ture amounting in the aggregate to $1,800, and the vote having been taken 
thereupon by asking each inhabitant when he deposited his ballot for 
district officers whether he voted "tax" or "no tax," without in any other 
manner submitting the propriety of the items severally, it was held that the 
tax payers have the right, not only to fix the amount of their contributions, 
but to specify the precise object to which every part thereof should be 
appropriated. The question should be submitted to them in such a form 
that every one may have the opportunity of offering amendments increasing 



Meetings. 53I 

or diminishing the amount to be appropriated to any of the enumerated 
objects, or of striking out. The proceedings not having been conducted 
in such a way as substantially to preserve this right, but, on the contrary, 
apparently to subject the voters to the dilemma of voting for the estimate 
as an entire proposition or voting against every part of it, they were held 
irregular, and were annulled. 

One of the items in the estimate being "for sexton $50,'' it was held that 
the term "sexton," being unknown to the law as the designation of any 
district officer, the duties expected of him ought to have been so defined 
by the resolution as to show upon its face an intention to appropriate the 
money for services, like cleaning the school-house, making fires, etc., which 
are legitimate objects of taxation. It is not competent to a district meeting 
to create a new office having a salary attached to it, though it is competent 
to vote compensation for services, not incumbent upon the recognized dis- 
trict officers, but which are proper objects of expenditure. Per E. P. 
Smith, Deputy Superintendent, October 2, 1855. 

The Superintendent will set aside the proceedings of a meeting voting an exorbitant 
sum to pay in advance the rent of a school-house site for a number of years. 

An appeal is taken from the proceedings of a meeting, a resolution of 
which directed the trustees to levy a tax of $150, for the purpose of paying 
the rent for a term of twelve years on a lot which was then, and had been for 
about twenty years, in possession of the district, and occupied as a site for 
a school-house. The appellants state that three dollars and fifty cents per 
annum is the rent which has heretofore been paid for said lot, and that $150 
is a most unreasonable price for the fee simple. The evidence shows that 
the value of the fee of the site does not exceed $30. 

It is, therefore, held by the department that there is no adequate con- 
sideration for an agreement to pay $150 for a twelve years' lease of the site ; 
that the appeal must be sustained, and the resolution and proceedings under 
it must be set aside. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 22, 1857, 

The proceedings of a meeting locating a site, in accordance with an award of arbri- 
trators, to whom contending parties m a district had agreed to refer their differences, 
will be sustained. 

In pursuance of an adopted resolution, several subjects of controversy in 
the district were referred to the decision of arbitrators. After hearing the 
proofs and allegations of the parties, the arbitrators made an award, by 
which they located the site of the school-house. 

At a meeting subsequent to the award, the inhabitants, by a vote of 15 to 
4, located the site at the place designated by the arbitrators, voted a tax 
for purchasing a site, and for removing the building to it. 

The objection is taken, on appeal, that the arbitrators had no authority 
to determine the site, and that the district has another site so long as it 
chooses to occupy the same . 

Held, that the tax is legal, not because of the award, but because the 
inhabitants elected to fix the site in the place where the arbitrators pointed 
out, as they had good right to do, irrespective of the award. Per H. H. 
Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 23, 1857. 

Where a contract has been made, under authority of the district, to build aechool- 
house, and a subsequent meeting votes to change and build on a new site, directing 
the trustees to pay any damages claimed by the contractor on account of the change 
in location, such action confers dangerous powers on the trustees, and is, therefore, 
unlawful. 

A special meeting voted to build on the old site, and a tax of $300 waa 



582 Meetings. 

voted and the trustees directed to prosecute the work. At a meeting of the- 
trustees, pursuant to public notice, for the purpose of considering propos- 
als for building the school-house, a petition was presented to the trustees, 
signed by a respectable number of inhabitants, asking that a special meet- 
ing be called for the purpose of changing the site. The trustees, not feel- 
ing at liberty to deny the petition, called a meeting. In the meantime, 
however, under the instruction of the previous meeting, they entered into 
a contract for the building of the house on the old site. 

At the subsequent meeting, the trustees remonstrated against any action 
being had on the subject of removing the site, for the reason that a con- 
tract to build on the old site had ah-eady been made. But the meeting 
voted to change the site, and, at the same time, voted to raise a sufficient 
tax to indemnify the contractor against all damages sustained by him in 
modifying the terms of his contract. 

Held, that in thus directing the trustees to indemnify the contractor, the 
district conferred unauthorized and dangerous powers upon the trustees 
whereby the rights and interests of the district were imperiled. 

The power to levy a tax for imaginary expenses, to incur liabilities to an 
indefinite extent, is not among those which the statute confers on district 
meetings ; still less can such power be delegated to trustees. 

I must, therefore, pronounce the action of the meeting upon a change of 
site void. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 29, 1858. 

A school district meeting has no power to take any action affecting the term of office 

of a trustee. 
An annual meeting at which only two voters were present set aside. 

At an annual school meeting at which but three persons were present, one 
of these not being a legal voter in the district, it was resolved to have 
thereafter but one trustee in place of three. Thereupon the meeting pro- 
ceeded to elect a sole trustee in place of those trustees whose term of office 
had not expired. 

Held, that no school district meeting, however numerously attended, 
could legally take any action affecting the unexpired term of office of a 
trustee, nor on resolving to change the number of trustees from three to 
one, could it then elect a sole trustee for the district. The effect of such a 
resolution is, that the trustees in office continue therein until they: terms 
of office respectively expire. {Section 27, title 7, of the General School Act.) 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 17, 1869. 

The whole proceedings of the meeting were set aside as not being a fair 
expression of the wishes of the inhabitants, only two voters being present. 
Id. 

Meeting has no power to vote to refund moneys paid on a judgment against collector's 

sureties. 

E. and W. were sureties for N. upon his bond as collector in district No. 
14. Collector failed to pay over all the moneys collected. Judgment was 
obtained against E. and W. sureties, for the deficiency, $20 and costs. 
Judgment was paid. Annual meeting voted to refund this money to E. 
and W. 

Held, the action of the meeting in voting to refund the amount of said 
judgment was clearly illegal, as much so as would have been a resolution 
to give away any other property of the district. Per A. B. Weaver, Super- 
intendent, December 17, 1569. 

Where sureties had given a note to the district, in acknowledgment of 



Meetings. 583 

their indebtedness for a deficiency on a collector's bond, a vote to cancel 
and return the note was held for the same reason as above given, to be in- 
operative. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 2, 1870. 

A district meeting has no power to vote a tax to purchase an organ for the use of the 

school. 

Appeal from a vote to raise $125 by tax, to purchase an organ for the 
district school. A musical instrument may be very desirable for many pur- 
poses, in a large public school, and as appears to be the case in the present 
instance, there may be an almost universal desire on the part of the voters 
of a district to provide one for their school. But the respondents have 
failed to show any provision of law, and I am not aware of any, by which 
a tax payer can be compelled to contribute against his will to the purchase 
of such an article. Resolution directing the purchase of an organ declared 
to be illegal. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 13, 1872. 

A tax for several objects should not be voted in a gross sum, but the amount for each 
separate object should be specified. 

There is no authority in a district meeting to vote a gross sum, to be 
applied to several objects, without specifying the amount to be raised for 
each. Under such a resolution the trustee could not comply with express 
direction of statute to prefix to the tax list ' ' a heading showing for what 
purpose the different items of the tax are levied." {Section 65, title 7, Oen- 
eral School Act) Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 8, 1874. 

The like doctrine held in a case where a district meeting voted to raise a 
tax of three and six-tenths mills on the assessed valuation of property in the 
district and to appropriate the avails to several enumerated objects without 
specifying the amount, or the proportion of the whole amount, to be applied 
to each. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, June 30, 1874. 

District meeting has no power to vote a tax to build a school-house and public hall 

combined. 

It appears from the evidence, that the structure proposed by the vote of 
a district meeting, to be erected, is designed to be a two story building, the 
first story to be appropriated to school rooms, and the second or upper story 
for a public hall, to be used when the district thinks proper, for lectures, 
concerts and other like purposes. 

There is in my opinion no authority, in the majority of the voters of a 
school district, to tax the inhabitants for the building of any edifice, except 
such as is strictly required for the purpose of the school. The law confines 
the power of a district meeting in this matter, " to voting a tax upon the 
taxable property of the district to build or purchase school-houses.'' {Sec- 
tion 16, title 7, General School Act.) Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, 
June 13, 1874. 

District meeting has no power to reduce by more than twenty-five per cent the esti- 
mate, given in an order condemning a school-house, of the sum necessary to build a 
new house. 

The school-house in said district was regularly condemned by an order 
which estimated that $600 was necessary to build a new school-house. 

The meeting appealed from herein, adopted plans and specifications for 
a new school-house, which by a resolution of the meeting was to cost $383. 
This is a sum more than twenty -five per cent less than that estimated by 
the commissioner and supervisor as necessary for the purpose, and the 



5 Si Meetings. 

action of the meetiDg was therefore clearly in violation of subdivision 4, 
section 13, title 2, of the General School Act. Set aside as void. Per Neil 
Grilmour, Superintendent, April 13, 1876. 

Where a district has been for some time disorganized, it is proper and lawful for the 
school commissioner to order a meeting for the election of officers. Though the 
supervisor might have filled the vacant offices of trustees, his neglect to do so leaves 
it within the discretion of the commissioner to act. 

It seems that this district has been for some time disorganized, and that 
the notice of said special meeting was given by the commissioner under the 
provisions of section 4, title 7, of the General School Act. 

Objections are taken, 1. That the commissioner had no authority to call 
such meeting, as, if the offices of trustee and district clerk were vacant, 
they should have been filled by appointment by the supervisor; 2. That 
the notice written by the commissioner was irregular and defective in not 
fixing the date of the meeting to be held, leaving the same blank, to be 
filled by the person to whom the same was sent ; 3. That from a letter 
written by the commissioner, the inhabitants were led to believe that no 
action would be taken in regard to building a school-house or locating a 
site, and that the proceedings in those matters were a surprise to them ; and 
4. That the site cannot be changed without the supervisor's consent. 

No evidence is produced showing that the commissioner acted without 
jurisdiction ; I am to presume that he proceeded regularly and legally, until 
the contrary is shown. 

The supervisor might have appointed persons to fill the vacant offices, out 
as he did not exercise his power, it was competent for the commissioner to 
call a district meeting to fill such vacancies and to transact other business. 

The validity of the notice is not affected by the omission of the date 
noticed by the appellant. The notice was sent by mail and as the date of 
its receipt was uncertain, the commissioner, to be sure that five days' notice 
should be given, left the date blank, but instructed the person to whom it 
was given to fill it up, which being a purely ministerial act, he had a per- 
fect right to do. 

The notice served very clearly and particularly specified the objects of the 
meeting, therefore they have no cause of complaint on the ground of surprise. 

The supervisor's consent may be obtained subsequently to the action of 
the meeting. Appeal dismissed. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 
13, 1868. 

Action of special meeting vesting certain powers in building committee. 

Held — that a school meeting cannot vest in a building committee powers 
which can only be exercised by a trustee. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintend- 
ent. Decision No. 2976, May 22, 1880. 

When the office of trustee is not vacant, no other person or persons can call a special 
meeting, except in certain and special cases. 

No business can be transacted at a special meeting except that stated in the call, and 
the inhabitants w^hen convened cannot enlarge the purposes for which they were 
called together, and no notice, however widely spread or carefully served, could 
validate the proceedings of a meeting which did not conform to the purpose stated 
in the call. 

The trustee called a special school meeting for the purpose of voting an 
appropriation to build a new school-house. The meeting was held in pur- 
suance of such call on the 30th of March, 1883, and without transacting 
any business the meeting adopted the following resolution : 



Meetings. 585 

" Resolved, That this meeting stand adjourned until the 17th day of April, 
1883, at one o'clock p. m., and that we then meet at the school-house for 
the purpose of voting on a site for the proposed new school-house, tax to 
pay for building the same, determining the size and plan of said building, 
specifying the terms of the contract and appointing a building committee, 
and that the clerk be and is hereby requested to notify immediately each 
and every voter residing in district No. 14, who is not present at this meet- 
ing, of such adjournment and the object thereof." 

On the 17th of April a still further adjournment until May 5, when a 
resolution was adopted, directing the trustee to purchase a site for the new 
school-house on the lands owned by Mr. Wm. Perry. The site was fully 
described in the resolution. The resolution then directs the trustee to 
sell the old school-house and to apply the proceeds to the purchase of the 
new site and the building of a new school-house thereon. The trustee is 
further ordered, within fifteen days, to contract for the erection of the new 
school-house, and its exact location and place is set forth. A building 
committee is named in the resolution to act with the trustee, who is au- 
thorized to levy a tax of $500, and to apply the amount collected to the 
building of a school-house "on the said Perry lot and not otherwise." The 
resolution was adopted notwithstanding the protest of the appellant, who 
claimed that at the adjourned special meetings no business could be trans- 
acted except that for which the meeting was originally called. The appeal 
is taken from the proceedings of the special meeting. 

When the office of trustee is not vacant no other officer or person is 
clothed with the power of calling a special meeting in the district, except 
in certain special cases of which this is not one, unless on appeal from the 
trustee's refusal to call a meeting the Superintendent shall order the clerk 
or some other inhabitant of the district to notify the inhabitants to meet 
for a specified purpose. 

When a special meeting is called no business can be legally transacted 
except that which was stated in the call. In this case the inhabitants, 
when duly convened, proceeded to enlarge the purposes for which they 
were called together, and no notice, however widely spread or carefully 
served, could validate the proceedings, which did not conform to the pur- 
pose stated in the appellant's call for the meeting of March 30. Proceed- 
ings of the meeting set aside. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. De- 
cision No. 3275, September 14, 1883. 

The proceedings carried by illegal votes set aside. Rescinding the action of a former 
meeting. It is not competent for a meeting to pass upon the qualification of voters ; 
the proper remedy in such a case is by appeal to the department. 

In a resolution worded " Take a vote by ballot to rescind and declare null and void all 
proceedings at the meeting held January 10, 1885, on the ground of illegal voting" — 
held, that the words "on the ground of illegal voting" is merely surplusage. 

The appeal is brought from the proceedings of a special school meeting 
in district No. 8, Ellery, Chautauqua county, held on the 10th day of 
January, 1885, and of an adjourned meeting held on the 15th of the same 
month. 

At the special meeting of January 10, 1885, a motion to build a new 
school-house was carried by a vote of ten for and five against. At the ad- 
journed special meeting on January 15 a motion was made that the meeting 
'' take a vote by ballot to rescind and declare null and void all proceedings 
at the meeting held January 10, 1885, on the ground of illegal voting." 
This motion was lost by a vote of seven in favor of and eight against. 
Among the eight voting against the resolution were John Chappel, Con- 

74 



586 Meetings. 

rad Newbery and Charles Potter, who the appellants allege were not legal 
voters at school meetings. Subseqnently, at the same meeting, a motion 
to raise a sum not to exceed |400, to build the new school-house, was 
adopted, the same persons voting for this resolution who voted against the 
resolution to rescind. 

The respondents, in their answer, declare that John Chappel, Conrad 
Newbery and Charles Potter were legal voters, and claim that Melville 
Hilbert and Albert Doud, who voted in favor of said resolution to rescind, 
were not legal voters. In all other respects the allegations of the appellants 
are admitted. 

The first question to examine in this appeal is, whether the five persons 
alleged to be illegal voters were really such. The passage of the first reso- 
lution, however, at the meeting of January 10th, to build a new school- 
house, cannot be affected by this question, for the reason that it was carried 
by a vote of ten to five. The three persons, alleged by the appellants to be 
illegal voters, voted in the affirmative, and deducting these three votes 
there would still be seven, or a majority of two for the resolution. 

The seven appellants all swear that these persons, Chappel, Newbery and 
Potter "do not, nor does either of them, own or hire any real estate in 
said school district liable to taxation for school purposes, nor do they or 
either of them own any personal property whatever assessed on the last 
preceding assessment-roll of said town of Ellery; and that they have not, 
nor has either of them, any child or children of school age residing with 
them or either of them, and have not had any such child or children resid- 
ing with them or either of them during the past year." The answer does 
not deny this statement, but attempts to show that they were legal voters,^ 
solely on the ground that at the time of holding the meeting they "were 
worth in personal property, and each was worth more than fifty dollars in 
personal property exempt from seizure or execution." This will not 
qualify them to vote at school meeting. It must, therefore, be found that 
the three votes cast by these persons were illegal, and cannot be counted. 

It is next necessary to see whether Melville Hilbert and Albert Doud, 
who voted for the resolution, were legal voters. It appears from Melville 
Hubert's affidavit, supported by that of John J. Hilbert, that at the time 
of the meeting he rented real estate in the district liable to taxation for 
school purposes, consisting of a farm of about seventy-five acres. It also 
appears that Albert Doud, for the past year, was the tenant of real estate 
in said district liable to taxation for school purposes, consisting of about 
five acres. Hilbert and Doud were, therefore, legal voters, and their votes 
must be counted. This leaves the vote upon the resolution to rescind, seven 
in the affirmative and five against. The resolution was carried by a majority 
of two of the legal votes cast. The motion to raise money was, for the 
same reason, lost by a majority of two against. 

The second question to be examined is as to the effect of, or what the 
resolution really was. The wording of the resolution, to say the least, is 
somewhat peculiar, " take a vote by ballot to rescind and declare null and 
void all proceedings at the meeting held January 10, 1885, on the ground 
of illegal voting.'' Was this a resolution to rescind the former vote, or 
was it for the purpose of declaring the first resolution carried by illegal 
votes? The meeting could legally rescind the action of the first meeting, 
but it was not competent for it to pass upon the qualifications of the voters. 
The proper remedy, when illegal votes were cast, and by their number 
decide a question, is by appeal to this department. The chairman of a 
meeting would be justifiable in refusing to entertain a motion to pass upon 
the qualifications of certain persons who had voted, or who offered their 



Meetings. 587 

votes upon any question. But this does not seem to have been the idea of 
the persons offering and supporting the resolution. They treat it only as a 
resolution intended to rescind the former action. No objection to, or 
question in regard to this construction of it is raised by the respondents, I, 
therefore, from all the proceedings, conclude that the last clause of the 
resolution is merely surplusage, and that the resolution did rescind the 
action of the first meeting. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3414, April 10, 1885. 

A meeting can, within the proper time, increase, or diminish, or rescind the action of a 
former meeting voting a certain sum to build a school-house. 

When a resolution directs the trustees to raise a certain amount, the presumption of 
law is that it must be raised by a tax on the district. 

Special meetings can only transact business mentioned in the call for such meeting. 

The board of education of a union free school district can only sell real estate belong- 
ing to the district when authorized so to do by the board of supervisors. 

The appeal is brought from the action of a special meeting held in union 
free school district No. 13, Cortland vi He, Cortland county, on the 2d day 
of February, 1885. 

Among several other objections raised to the appeal are the objections 
numbered "three" and " four." At a meeting previous to the one of the 
second of February, it was decided to build a new school-house, and such 
meeting directed that it should not cost over $3, 500. The special meeting 
of the second of February increased this amount. The appellants claim 
that the meeting had no power to increase the amount first fixed. This 
objection is without force. The action of the first meeting could, within 
the proper time, have been rescinded. And at any time when the district 
found the appropriation was not suflacient, it could vote an additional 
amount. 

3. The third objection was to the adoption of a resolution to raise $200, 
on the ground that the resolution ' ' does not state how to raise it, by tax 
or otherwise." This objection is frivolous. This resolution directed the 
board to raise this amount, over and above what had already been voted, 
to complete the building in all its parts. The usual way of raising money 
is by tax, and the legal presumption is that this money must be raised in 
this way. The district merely directed the board of education to raise, for 
such purpose, the two hundred dollars, and they must issue a tax list and 
warrant in compliance with such direction. 

4. The fourth objection is, that the vote to sell the land was taken by 
acclamation. The vote could be so taken. 

But there are two reasons, not raised by the appellant, why this action 
was illegal, and which must be interposed by this department. 

1. No business could be transacted at the special meeting other than 
that for which the meeting was called. To sell the site or any part thereof 
was not mentioned in the call for the special meeting, and the adjourned 
meeting had only the powers of the special meeting under the call. 
2. Boards of education of union free school districts can sell real estate 
belonging to the district, for the purpose of improving the school-house 
site, only when such power is conferred upon them by the board of super- 
visors, upon application of a majority of the taxable inhabitants of the dis- 
trict, voting on the question at a duly called meeting. {Sub-division 28, 
§ 1, chap. 482, Laws of 1875.) Per W. B. Buggies, Superintendent. De- 
cision No. 3415, April 13, 1885. 



588 Meetings. 

This Department, when asked to set aside the proceedings of a school meeting will al- 
ways inquire into the bona fides thereof. 

A notice to "taxable inhabitants," while irregular, will not be considered sufficient 
ground to set aside the business of an important special meeting, unless it is made 
to appear that some one has been misled by it. 

Bad spelling in a notice of a meeting will not invalidate the proceedings thereof. 
Failure to give notice of a meeting to every person entitled thereto, will be excused 
unless done willfully, or it appears that the failure prevented such persons from 
attending, and their attendance would have changed a declared result. 

No one is bound by the trustee's announcement of what qualifies a school district 
voter, particularly as no one was deterred from participating in a meeting thereby. 

This is an appeal from the action of a special meeting of district No. 5, 
town of Waverly, Franklin county, held on the 14th day of November, 1885, 
in voting to build a new school- house and levy a tax to pay for the same, and 
from the action of the trustee and collector in levying and collecting such 
tax. It seems that a special meeting was first called to be held on the 31st 
day of October, 1885, at one o'clock in the afternoon, which was not called 
to order until about half -past four o'clock, and then, without any material 
action, was adjourned to meet on the 14th day of November, 1885, at six 
o'clock, p. M., and at the latter time the meeting reconvened and voted to 
purchase a site and build a school-house. It was resolved to let the work 
to the lowest bidder, and bids were received at this meeting, the lowest of 
which was by one Frank Trim, for the sum of $405. The work was let to 
him and a tax ordered levied for the amount. Mr. Trim went on and 
erected the building, the trustee accepted it, and the tax was levied and 
the collector was engaged in raising the sum when, about the 1st of June, 
1886, this appeal was brought. 

The appellants allege various irregularities. They say the special meet- 
ing of October 31 had no jurisdiction, and that consequently an adjourned 
meeting thereof had none; that the notice of such meeting was defective, 
as it was a notice only to " taxable inhabitants," while others were entitled 
to vote at school meetings, and that it contained misspelled words and some 
abbreviations ; that such notice was not served upon persons entitled to 
notice, as the law provides; that while the meeting was called at one 
o'clock p. M., it did not convene until half-past four o'clock p. m., and that 
some persons left in the meantime, and that when the meeting did convene 
the trustee announced that only real estate owners and tax payers could 
vote, etc. There are other objections urged, but these are the essential ones, 
and if they are not availing, none set up can be. 

This department, when asked to set aside the acts of school meetings or 
school officers, always inquires into the lona fides of such acts. Were the 
things done such as it was proper to do? Did they undertake to do them 
properly according to such knowledge as they had? Has any one been im- 
posed upon or wronged? If irregularities have occurred, will the greater 
hardship be imposed upon individuals and greater help be given to the 
cause of education by setting aside or sustaining such acts? 

In the present case there is absence of proof of bad faith. The notice of 
the special meeting should have called all legal voters of the district 
rather than "taxable inhabitants," but there is no proof that anybody was 
misled by it. Indeed the appellants, nearly if not quite all of them, at- 
tended the meeting. There was some bad spelling in the notice, but to 
hold that this invalidated it would be so far reaching in its consequences 
that the result would be appalling. The notice may not have been served on 
every person entitled to notice as it should have been, but it does not ap- 
pear that this was willful, or that any were without actual notice. There 
is absence of evidence that the meeting was held without the knowledge 



Meetings. 589 

of persons who desired to be present unless in a single instance which is 
too isolated to be of weight. If this person had been present the result 
would not have been changed. If the trustee did announce his legal opin- 
ion as to who could vote, no one was bound by it. It does not seem to 
have deterred any person entitled to vote from doing so. 

The adjournment from October 31 to November 14 seems to have been 
regular. It indicates deliberation and absence of any purpose to deceive. 

But other facts are to be taken into consideration. The district had no 
school-house, and sorely stood in need of one. The undertaking to erect 
one was commendable. The building had been erected before the appeal 
was taken. To set aside the acts pursuant to which it has been constructed 
would be to deprive the builder of his pay, or to throw the expense upon 
a portion only of the district, and then they would have on their hands a 
building which would not be the district school-house. 

I have not lost sight of the fact that there are- separate settlements in 
this school district, and that the location of a school in either one does not 
meet the convenience of the other. But this fact cannot be allowed to 
have much weight in the determination of the pending case. Perhaps it 
would be well if the two settlements were separated into two school dis- 
tricts, which, should the population continue to increase, might appropri- 
ately be done after a school-house shall have been erected at the other 
settlement. It seems that a school is now being sustained there. If this 
is to be continued, a house is needed. If this should be erected, the tax 
should be borne by both settlements, as in the present case. 

In view of the foregoing considerations, I feel compelled to dismiss the 
appeal, and discontinue the stay of proceedings heretofore issued by me 
herein. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 8534, Novem- 
ber 10, 1886. 

Proceedings of an annual meeting will be set aside, and a special meeting will be 
ordered, when it seems that the trustee who called it to order arbitrarily prevented 
it from selecting whomsoever it would for presiding officer, and where the proceed- 
ings are shown to have been so turbulent and disorderly as to prevent a free expres- 
sion of the will of the legal voters present. 

This is an appeal by Cyrus Collins and others, residents and tax payers 
in school district No. 8, town of Whitehall, Washington county, N. Y., 
from the proceedings of the annual school meeting held in said district 
August 31, 1886. 

The appellants' allegations^ are substantially as follows: 
That the meeting was called to order by the trustee whose term of office 
would expire by the election of a successor at such annual meeting ; that said 
person nominated his brother for chairman ; that many persons not qualified 
to vote at school district meetings were in attendance at said annual meet- 
ing; that duly qualified voters demanded that the house be divided to 
ascertain who were qualified voters before a vote for chairman was taken ; 
that this was refused by the trustee, who called for the " ayes " on the 
selection of the chairman, but did not call for "noes," and thereupon de- 
clared his brother elected chairman ; that this action precipitated great con- 
fusion, tumult and disorder, and that it became impossible to secure an 
intelligent vote in consequence ; that Charles Chapman was nominated for 
tiTistee, and the nomination was seconded, and the chair refused to put the 
nomination to a vote ; that subsequently the nomination of the present in- 
cumbent was made for trustee, and amidst confusion and excitement the 
chair took a vote by ayes and noes and declared him elected ; that appeals 
from the decision of the chair, calls for a ballot and for a division of the 



590 Meetings. 

house were disregarded and not heeded; that in the excitement the district 
clerk, who was engaged in keeping the minutes of the meeting, abandoned 
his post and left the meeting ; that before the close of the meeting at least 
two-thirds of the tax payers, voters in said district, withdrew. 

The respondent, Warner MacFarran, answers and alleges as defects in 
the appellants' case, as presented, that appellants ask for no specific relief; 
that because of the allegations of appellant the appeal should be dismissed ; 
that there is no allegation that illegal votes were cast at the meeting, nor 
did any unqualified persons take part in the proceedings of the meeting; 
that there is no allegation that respondent did not receive a majority of 
the votes of legal voters of the district present at the meeting; that re- 
spondent was properly declared elected trustee ; that there is no allegation 
that the confusion was created by friends of the chairman and respondent; 
that it is the practice of the Department of Public Instruction to dismiss 
appeals when allegations of appellant are vague and uncertain; that there 
is no allegation of any grievance or injury whatever ; that certain of the 
appellants are not tax payers, although some of them are. 

The respondent admits that he called the annual school meeting to order, 
but denies that he nominated his brother, Seth MacFarran, for chairman, 
but avers that a legal voter did, and that the nomination was duly seconded, 
and that respondent put the nomination to a vote ; that he called for the 
ayes, and that there seemed to be an almost unanimous response ; that he 
then called " contrary," and there being no negative votes he declared 
Seth MacFarran elected chairman. He denies that there was a call for a 
division of the house at the time stated, as alleged by appellants, and that 
such demand was not made until after the election of chairman and trustee ; 
he denies that any other person than himself was nominated for trustee at 
said meeting. He claims that on the vote by ayes and noes, the ayes had 
a decided majority, and he was declared elected; and that certain of the 
appellants made the disturbance by walking, shouting and calling for a 
division of the meeting on chairman, trustee and clerk; that soon after 
certain of the appellants left and order was restored; that the confusion 
had become so great that the respondent, although he attempted to do so, 
could not read his report as trustee until said parties had left the meeting; 
that as respondent is informed and believes, none but legal voters took 
part in the meeting ; that the proceedings were regular and in order except 
as interrupted by the appellants. 

Respondent asks that the appeal be dismissed. 

This appeal presents a state of affairs which should never exist at any 
school meeting. It is surprising that orderly school meetings cannot be 
held, particularly as the principal ofllcers to be elected are chosen to fill 
positions of trust and without compensation. From all the statements 
before me on this appeal, I find many direot contradictions. On the side 
of the appellants I have the sworn statements of thirteen persons. On the 
other side, the sworn statement of the acting trustee and of the person, the 
validity of whose election and acts are questioned by this appeal. But I do 
not allow this single fact to determine the case. It is clear from the state- 
ments on both sides, that the annual meeting was disorderly; that no vote 
was taken by which a fair decision could be arrived at, either by ballot, 
division of the meeting or by a roll-call of the legal voters. The respond- 
ent called the meeting to order, and if he and his friends were in such an 
undoubted majority as he avers, it would at least have been wise (as some 
opposition was manifested) to have taken such a vote as would have shown 
the sense of the meeting clearly and beyond dispute. 

If the respondent and the other officers who are alleged to have been 



Officers. ^^^ 

elected are the choice of the voters entitled to vote at school meetings, they 
can establish the fact at another meeting called for that distinct purpose. 
A school meeting, held under the circumstances as above set forth, should 
not be upheld. 

I, therefore, set aside tlie proceedings of said annual meeting, and direct 
that a special meeting be held to transact the business of the annual meet- 
ing, within fifteen days from the date of this order, and that the last acting 
district clerk shall proceed to give the notices of such meeting, as pro- 
vided by law. 

It is further directed that School Commissioner William H. Cook, of 
commissioner district No. 2, of Washington county, attend such meet- 
ing, call the meeting to order and preside until a chairman is elected. Per 
A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3539, November 20, 1886. 

Proceedings of a district meeting will not be set aside for the reason that the records 
of the meetings were not properly kept. There must be specific acts complained 
of, and it must appear that there has not been opportunity for an expression of the 
will of the district, or that it has been thwarted. 

The several appeals from this school district and the character of the 
affidavits presented on both sides indicate a divided and unfortunate feel- 
ing among the people of the district upon school matters, which should not 
exist. Educational interests should not be allowed to suffer because of the 
quarrels and disagreements of the voters of the district. In a previous 
decision, I have sustained the action of the commissioner in forming this 
district. So much then of the appellant's ground of appeal is, therefore, 
disposed of, and the only questions left for consideration are those relating 
to the calling and conduct of the meetings of September and October. 
The first was properly called by the commissioner. The proceedings were 
not so orderly as they should have been, but it is rarely the case, where 
intense feelings have been engendered in a district that they are. The 
school district having been formed, it was next in order to elect district 
officers. This has been done, and to perfect the school organization and 
advance the interest of education, I have determined to overrule the 
appeals above entitled, except as hereinafter stated. 

It is claimed that the records of the meetings were not properly kept. 
I regret that this is too often the case at school meetings. Carelessness and 
negligence are usually the causes of it. I would regard these appeals more 
favorably if the appellant had selected some particular action of the meet- 
ings for complaint, instead of making such general charges against every 
thing done and attempted to be done to form the district, select officers 
and provide for a school. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3549, December 15, 1886. 



OFFICERS. 

PRESUMPTION CONCERNING. 

Where certain duties are required of public officers, their performanceg will be pre- 
sumed unless the contrary is shown. 

The general doctrine, that where certain duties are required of public 
officers, their performance will be presumed unless the contrary is shown, 
is too well established to admit of question. 

In the decision of Superintendent Spencer, as found on page 8, old Code 



592 Propekty. 

of Public Instruction, he excepts from this doctrine, in general terms, those 
cases in which the duty enjoined is a subsequent or final act, designed to 
give validity to certain primary proceedings. He says, to quote his own 
words, that, " The doctrine of presumption applies only to those cases where 
the act in question should have been performed in the regular and ordinary 
course previous to the final act, and was necessarily incidental to it ; as, 
after a sale upon execution, a levy will be presumed," etc. 

Now, with how much soever force and pertinence and justice this con- 
struction of the doctrine of presumption may have been applied in the par- 
ticular case under consideration, by the Hon. Superintendent at that time, 
I must dissent from it as of general utility and propriety, and as not 
sanctioned by the uniform ruling of the highest judicial authority in Eng- 
land and this country. In a somewhat extended review of the cases in 
which this doctrine is applied, I have been unable to find anywhere the 
distinction above referred to, and here sought to be made paramount. 

In 3 East, 192, the doctrine of presumption in favor of the discharge of 
duty, on the part of a public officer, is fully discussed ; and, in that case, 
the duty to be performed was a final act, indeed, a single act only, the per- 
formance of which would make certain parties responsible for any neglect. 
Here it was presumed that the officer, whose duty it was to give a certain 
notice, had given such notice; and it was held that the parties interested in 
overcoming the presumption must produce the proof positive that the 
notice required had not been given, or else the doctrine of presumption 
must prevail. 

This case is continually referred to by our courts as standard authority 
upon the doctrine of presumption, and appears to me so sweeping and con- 
clusive, as to leave to the opinion of Mr, Spencer very little force as the 
assertion of an essential and prevalent legal principle. Per H. H. Yau 
Dyck, Superintendent, February 21, 1859. 



PROPEETY. 

Apportionment of property of dissolved district. 

Where a district is annulled, and a sale and apportionment of its prop- 
erty made in a legal manner, and any inhabitant of the dissolved district 
refuses or neglects to receive the share apportioned to him, the supervisor, 
on an aflidavit of the facts, will be authorized to pay over such share to 
the trustees of the district of which such inhabitant is a member, to be 
applied by them in the reduction of any tax which may thereafter be im- 
posed on him for distinct purposes. Per S. S. Randall, Deputy Superin- 
tendent, April 28, 1854. 

The property of a district is to be sold "when a district is annulled, and portions 
thereor are annexed to other districts," and there is no provision for sale unless 
these conditions are fulfilled. 

When a district is divided simply, and two districts are formed from it 
without the addition of another territory, portions of it are not annexed to 
other districts, nor is any portion of it annexed to a (singular number) dis- 
trict. This consideration appears to fortify the conclusion which would be 
drawn from the use of the word "annulled," the signification of which is 
" reduced to nothing.'' A district can hardly be said to be reduced to 



Pbopeety. 593 

nothing while its scliool-house remains witli a territory attached thereto of 
sufficient extent to be still maintained as a district. 

If the law justifies a sale of district property in any case (after payment 
of debts), the statute imperatively requires the division of the remaining 
proceeds among the several inhabitants, in the ratio of their assessments, 
and the receipt of each year, or his written assent to a different disposition 
of the same, would be required. Per E. Peshine Smith, Deputy iSuperin- 
tendent, March 22, 1855. 

Where property in the possession of public ofRcers has been stolen or destroyed by 
fire, without negligence on their part, they are not bound to make good the loss. 

It has been settled by the supreme court, in the cases of Supervisors of 
Albany County v. Dorr (25 Wendell, 440), and Browning v, Ilanford, sheriff 
(5 Hill, 558), that a public officer, in wliose possession property has been 
destroyed by fire or for want of care, or from whom money has been stolen 
without negligence or any default on his part, is not bound to make good 
the loss. Per E. Peshine Smith, Deputy Superintendent, April 17, 1855. 



Statute provides for a sale of property only " when a district is annulled, and portions 
thereof are annexed to other districts." 

The facts show a mere division of a joint district. Changing names 
cannot change facts. In this case, the fact is that a new district (7) was 
formed from a part of joint district (8). 

But, independent of any question as to whether the action of the board 
amounted to an " annulling '' of the district, the statute provides for a sale 
of the property only "when a district is annulled and portions thet-eof are 
annexed to other districts." 

The part of the sentence which is quoted, is regarded as furnishing a 
definition of what is meant by "annulled." If, however, this be wrong, 
and the quoted words are regarded as an independent provision, it leaves 
the difficulty that both conditions must concur to authorize a sale. In the 
case of No. 8, no part was annexed to any other district. Per E. Peshine 
Smith, Deputy Superintendent, August 14, 1855. 

Supervisor should take charge of all property bequeathed to a town for the benefit of 
common schools, when no other person is specified. He should communicate the 
fact of his doing so to Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Where property is bequeathed to a town for the benefit of the common 
schools therein, without naming any particular officer or person as trustee 
of the fund, the property should be delivered over to the supervisor, who 
is the financial officer of the town. As soon as he receives the property 
the supervisor should report the fact to the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, Avho will advise with him as to its investment and in regard to 
the disposition of the interest. The duties of the supervisor in regard to 
such trusts are stated in article 2, title 3, chapter 555, Laws of 1864. Per 
V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 13, 1866. 

No power in a district meeting to direct the sale of the fence surrounding the school- 
house, without making provision to replace it. Trustees are responsible forneglect 
to protect the fence as well as other district property, from injury. 

At the last annual meeting of the district a resolution was passed " to 
sell the posts and rails (circumlocutory iov fence) surrounding the school- 
house," the object of this resolution being to throw the lot open to the 

75 



594 • Public Money. 

highway. Without reference to the injury that would result to the school 
premises, if this resolution was carried into effect, it was in itself clearly 
illegal. No district meeting has auy right to sell or otherwise dispose of 
the district property, except where it makes provision to replace it, as 
where it makes provision to erect a new school-house, it may then, but not 
before, dispose of the old building. Resolution vacated. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, December 15, 1869. 

Suggestion to trustees. 

As it appears that since that resolution was passed, some injury has been 
done to the fence, it may under the circumstances be proper to remind the 
trustees that they are under the same obligation to protect the fence inclos- 
ing school-house lot, that rests upon them in regard to all other property of 
the district committed to their charge. Id. 

Like decision in a similar ca:se. 

Resolution at annual meeting in 1870, directing sale and removal of a 
fence upon three sides of the school lot. The fence was built during the 
previous summer, pursuant to a vote of the annual meeting in 1869. Held, 
" The inclosing of the school-house premises of any district, by a fence is, in 
my judgment, a very proper and desirable improvement, and to justify the 
removal and sale of any such fence when once built, the most cogent and 
unanswerable reasons should be adduced. Much more should be required 
in a case like the present, where the improvement has been recently made, 
and at considerable expense to the district. No sufficient reasons for the 
sale of the fence are shown." Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 
31, 1871. 



PUBLIC MONEY. 

How to be applied. 

The public money must be applied to the payment of the wages of qual- 
ified teachers, and for no other purposes. Debts due the district, or bought 
by the trustees, cannot be offset against the wages. Nothing but payment 
to, or on the order of, ♦the teacher, is a compliance with the law. Per 
Spencer, April 23, 1839. 

Duty of county treasurer. 
The illegality or irregularity of the election of trustees is no excuse for a town super- 
intendent (supervisor) for refusing to pay over the public money, upon the order of 
such trustees. He must be governed by the" report of these officers, made in con- 
formity to law. 

The town superintendent of the town of Spencer, Tioga county, declined 
to pay over, on the order of tlie trustees of district No. 3, in said town, in 
favor of a duly qualified teacher, a portion of the school moneys appor- 
tioned to said district, and from this act the trustees appealed to the county 
superintendent, who sustained the appeal, and ordered the town superin- 
tendent to pay the money over, for the purposes and in tlie manner pre- 
scribed by law. Town superintendents (supervisors) will not be permitted 
to inquire, as in this case, on being presented with a written order, signed 
by the trustees of a district, into the validity of the appointment or election 



Public Money. 595 

of the persons claiming to act, and who are acting as such officers. Such an 
order, duly receipted by the person in whose favor it may have been drawn, 
would be a perfect protection to him. It is not pretended that this money 
is withheld for any defect in the last annual report, or that schools have 
not been taught in conformity with the requirements of law. As a general 
principle, collateral matters cannot be drawn in question, involving judicial 
cognizance, by any officer, when called upon to discharge a mere ministerial 
duty. And the town superintendent in this case assumes to decide who are 
not the trustees of the district, a matter entirely beyond his jurisdiction. 
The decision of the county superintendent, therefore, ordering him to pay 
over the money to the trustees as aforesaid, was correct, and is hereby 
affirmed. Per N. S. Benton, January 29, 1846. 

The public money apportioned for one year cannot be applied to the payment of 
teachers' wages of a previous year, except when a term embraces a portion of two 
years, in which case the public money of either year may be applied indiscriminately 
to that term. 

The appellees (two of the trustees) gave an order upon the town superin- 
tendent of Hoosick for $10, to be paid out of the apportionment of public 
money for 1849, in favor of the teacher for the summer term of 1848. The 
public money apportioned for one year cannot be applied to the expenses 
of a previous year except when the term embraces a portion of two years; 
in which case the public money of either year may be applied indiscrimi- 
nately to that term. 

The trustees could not legally apply any of the apportionment for 1849 
to the payment of the teacher of the summer term of 1848. 

The appeal is sustained. Per Morgan, April 3, 1849. 

The statute directing town superintendents (supervisors) to pay out public money 
only to qualified teachers, duly employed, upon the order of the trustees employing 
them, was enacted for the purpose of preventing embezzlement by trustees, and if 
they pay the public money to a trustee or other person than the teacher, without his 
order, they do it at their peril. 

The provision of the law which directs town superintendents (supervis- 
ors) to pay out public money only to qualified teachers duly employed, 
upon the order of the trustees employing them, was enacted for the express 
purpose of preventing the opportunity of embezzlement by trustees. If in 
the face of this fact public money is paid to a trustee, in the name of a 
teacher or otherwise without a properly attested order from the person to 
whom it is due, the town superintendent (supervisor) does it upon his own 
responsibility. In the case in controversy, the trustee, Reed, is liable for 
the means by which he obtained the money, and the town superintendent 
of Otto is responsible to school district No. 9 for the amount paid by him 
to Reed, and he must make good the deficiency, looking to Reed for re-im- 
bursement. 

This appeal is accordingly sustained, and the town superintendent of 
Otto is hereby ordered to pay to said Hosea Edwards, teacher aforesaid, 
the sum of $15.86 claimed by him, and to preserve district No 9 good in 
that amount, not charging said district for the amount paid illegally by him 
to said Isaac Reed. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, November 11, 1854. 

In the apportionment of public money, trustees should be governed by the wishes of 
the district ; therefore, when the inhabitants at a district meeting adopt a resolution 
in reference to the apportionment of the public money which was not by its terms 
restricted to one year, the trustees should regard it as continuous in its operation. 

It is stated to have been the custom of the district to apply two-thirds 



596 Public Money. 

of the public money to the winter term, and the remainder to the summer 
term. The appellant desires this apportionment to be continued. He 
states that no vote was taken on the subject of a division at the last annual 
meeting, under the impression probably that such direction was in force 
for a period longer than a year. 

It is not perceived that the statute requires the inhabitants to reiterate 
their wishes annually in this respect, and as it is a matter in regard to 
which the interests of the district are not liable to change from year to 
year, there is no reason of policy requiring such an interpretation. If the 
last resolution adopted by the district in relation to this subject was not by 
its terms restricted in its operations to a year, or some other definite period, 
the trustees should regard it as still in force and as furnishing the rule for 
their action. 

As it does not appear from the appeal what the fact may be m relation 
to this point, the superintendent can only indicate the princij)le which 
should govern. 

It is inferred, from the statements of the appeal, to be quite probable 
that a portion of the $52, said to be due to the teacher for wages, was 
earned by service rendered prior to the first day of last January, iu which 
case it should not be compensated from the money apportioned this year, 
but a rate bill should be issued (levied), the amount collected upon which 
shall be employed to remunerate said teacher, or to replace the sum, if it 
has been borrowed from the apportionment of this year. 

The apjDcal is sustained. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, 
April 24, 1855. 

When districts are consolidated it carries into the possession of the consolidated dis- 
trict, all rights of property which were possessed by the annulled districts. 

The public money in the hands of the supervisor apportioned to one of the annulled 
districts, at the time of the consolidation of the districts, cannot be paid to such 
annulled district for the liquidation of its debts. 

School districts Nos. 1 and 9 were consolidated to form union free school 
district No. 1, town of Richfield, on the 7th day of April, 1883. The pub- 
lic school money apportioned to common school district No. 1, " before 
the 20th day of January, 1883, was duly set apart and credited to said 
common school di.e;trict No 1, on the 3d Tuesday of March, 1883, by the 
school commissioner of said county." The amount thus set apart was 
S246.65 of which $3.7G was library money, and $242.89 for teachers' wages. 
The moneys thus apportioned were paid over to the supervisor of the town 
of Richfield, on or about the fifth day of May, 1883, and on or about the 
11th day of June, 1883, they were paid over to the treasurer of the board 
of education of union free scliool district No. 1, Richfield. 

At the time the districts were consolidated on the 7th of April, 1883, 
common school district No 1 owed for teachers' wages, $250, no part of 
whicli has been paid to said teachers, except the sum of $50. There is 
now due for teachers' wages, for the winter term ending the 28th day of 
February, 1883, the sum of $200. The appellant having learned that the 
l)ublic moneys aforesaid had'been paid to the board of education of union 
free school district No. 1, thereupon presented his claim for said moneys 
as trustee of common school district No. 1 to the said board of education, 
asking that it pay or cause to be paid over to said common school district 
No. 1, the sum of $184.10 being that part of the public moneys apportioned 
to said common school district No. 1, due for teachers' wages prior to the 
consolidation of said districts Nos. 1 and 9, after deducting from the 
amount of said teachers' wages, the balance of money supposed to be in the 



PcBLic Money. 597 

hands of the collector of the district. At a meeting of the board held on 
tl>e 13th of December, a resolution was offered directing the return of the 
said moneys, but it was defeated by a vote of five to two, and the board of 
education still refuses to pay over to common school district No. 1, the 
said public moneys or any part of them. 

These facts do not constitute a case which would warrant the interfer- 
ence of the department. If the consolidatiou of the two districts was 
legally effected, it carried with it by force the statute, section 8, title VI, 
of the Code of Public Instruction, into the possession of the consolidated 
district, all rights of property which were possessed -by the annulled dis- 
tricts. At the date of the consolidation, it appears that there was in the 
hands of the supervisor the sum of $246.65, apportioned to school district 
No. 1, and $527.78 apportioned to school district No. 9. This public 
money became at once applicable to the payment of teachers' wages and 
to the library of the consolidated district without any distraction between 
the inhabitants and pupils of the former districts. Order for the payment 
of wages due to the teachers of either district, should have been drawn 
upon the supervisor before the consolidation took effect, or so much of it 
as was applicable to the payment of teachers' wages during the term in 
which they were earned. 

Action of the board of education sustained. Per W. B. Ruggles, Super- 
intendent.. Decision No. 3343, April 24, 1884. 

Trustee cannot be custodian of the pubHc money. 

Teachers cannot be compelled to board with trustee. A contract to that effect is illegal 
and void. 

The first ground of appeal is that the trustee took from the collector all 
the district funds and retained them himself. This the trustee admits, 
but attemjDts to justify his action on the ground that the collector had 
never given a bond and was not responsible, while he, the trustee, was 
responsible for the safe keeping of the same. 

The second ground of appeal is from the refusal of the trustee to pay the 
teacher the amount of wages claimed to be due her. It seems to have been 
stipulated in the contract of hiring that the teacher should board with the 
trustee and pay for such board $2.50 per week. During Christmas week 
the appellant ceased to board with the trustee and a bitter feeling sprang 
up between the parties. Held^ That the trustee has been guilty of gross 
neglect of duty in delivering a tax list and warrant to a collector before a 
satisfactory bond had been executed and delivered to him as required by 
law, and a person who has held the office of trustee for three successive 
years, can have no reasonable excuse for such neglect. The collector ren- 
dered himself personally liable when he voluntarily paid over the district 
moneys to the trustee, as the trustee was blamable when he received them. 
Held, also, that the teacher has a perfect right to change her boarding place 
at any time. An agreement with the trustee to the contrary is illegal and 
void. While a teacher may board with a trustee it cannot be made obliga- 
tory upon the teacher so to do. Order, The trustee is hereby directed to 
pay over all the district moneys in his hands to the collector, first requir- 
ing such collector to give a sufficient bond to protect the district from loss, 
and take his receipt therefor. Also, to deliver to the appellant an order 
upon the collector for the full amount due her for teacher's wages. Per 
A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3575. May 25, 1887. 



598 Public Mon^ey. 

In a school district in which a branch school has been maintained, and subsequently 
that part of the district where the patrons of the branch school reside is formed into 
a separate district, held that so much of the public moneys apportioned to the old dis- 
trict upon the statistics of the branch school will be ordered paid to the new district. 

Taxes levied and collected before the formation of the new district will not be so 
apportioned. 

There is no provision of law for a division of common property when a new district is 
set off from an old one. 

Prior to April, 1885, the village of Garden City constituted a part of 
school district No. I of the town of Hempstead, Queens county. On the 
20th of April, 188o, the legislature passed an act making the village of 
Garden City a separate school district, to be known as district No. 2.5 of 
the town of Hemj)stead. No meeting was held for the purpose of electing 
officers and organizing the new district until August 11, 1885. For sev- 
eral years prior to this, district No. 1 had maintained a school at Garden 
City, and, notwithstanding the act of the legislature in April, this was con- 
tinued and supported at the expense of district No. 1 till the end of the 
school year. At the close of the school year 1884-85, district No. 1 reported 
the maintenance of the school at Garden City during the preceding year, 
and in the annual apportionment of school moneys in the school year 1885- 
86, said district received such sum as would be payable in consequence 
thereof, while the new district, No. 25, received nothing. District No. 25 
brings the matter before this department, and demands that district No. 1 
shall be required to pay to it such sum of money as w-as apportioned to it 
in consequence of the maintenance of a school at Garden City during the 
preceding school year. 

It also appears that in February, 1885, the board of education of district 
No. 1 levied a tax of fifteen cents on the hundred dollars, which amounted 
tt) the sum of $1,351. 35, of whi^h sum Garden City paid her proportionate 
share, which was §229.20. Having parted company, Garden City now 
thinks and demands that the part which she has paid of this tax should be 
paid back to her. 

Again, chapter 591, Laws of 1870, provides for the distribution to the 
several school districts of the town of Hempstead of a certain portion of 
the income of a fund which has arisen from the sale or rental of common 
lauds of the town, and directs that such distribution shall be calculated 
and determined "in the same manner, and upon the same basis as the 
public school moneys of the State are apportioned " After Garden City 
became a separate school district, and before the commencement of this 
proceeding, there were two of these apportionments; the first for the six 
months ending November 1, 1885, and the second for the period ending 
May 1, 1886, and at each time the sum of $0,000 was distributed. Of these 
apportionments from this trust fund, district No 25 received only such an 
allotment as was based on school population, and nothing on account of 
"pupil attendance" or the "district quota,'' that share going to district 
No. 1, pursuant to the school reports made at the close of the school year 
ending August 20, 1885. District No. 25 demands that district No. 1 shall 
be directed to pay over to her such sums as she received from these two 
distributions from this fund on account of the maintenance of a school at 
Garden City during the preceding school year. 

District No. 1 resists these several demands with energy. The trustees 
of that district in answering say that the school which they maintained at 
Garden City was only a branch of the school at Hempstead, and that they 
were not obliged to open, and that it was done only for the convenience of 
the former place, and that the report which they made at the end of the 
school year 1884-85 was such as they were required to make by law, and 



Public Money. 599 

that the school monej'^s based upon such report which they have received 
are sucli and only such as the law gives them. In relation to the tax col- 
lected in February, 1885, of which district No. 25 demands that the share 
which it paid shall be paid back, they say it was levied to meet current 
expenses for the ensuing year, and tliat Garden City received back her share 
in school privileges. Tiiey urge, also, that when a new district is set off 
from an old one, the property of the old district cannot be divided; that 
here the new district was set off at its own desire, and that it must support 
itself as best it can until the time when its school reports, made pursuant 
to law, entitle it to share in public moneys. In illustration, it urges that 
when it opened the school at Garden City it was obliged to maintain it the 
first year with no apportionment of public moneys based on the report of a 
previous school year, and that now this district must do the same. 

The public moneys, apportioned on or before the 20th day of January in 
each year, are intended for teachers' wages for the school year in the middle 
of which the apportionment is made. The apportionment is made upon 
the school statistics for the preceding school year, for the reason that that 
is apparently the most reasonable basis for a general apportionment. Ordi- 
narily, when a new district is set off, it is impossible to make any allotment 
to it during the first year of its existence, because there is no preceding 
year's statistics for a basis. That is not so m this case. The school at 
Garden City had been in operation for years. It had an individuality of its 
own. For statistical purposes it was the same school, was as perfectly and 
completely organized and was as separate and distinct from the Hempstead 
school before the new district was erected as afterward. Its register of 
attendance for the year 1884-85, kept as required by law and duly verified, 
is produced here. It shows that school wns kept more than twenty-eight 
weeks. Here is the basis upon which to determine what amount of public 
money belonged to it, equitably at least, for the year 1885-86. There can 
be no doubt but that any new district is, in equity, entitled to share in the 
State school moneys, even during the first years of its organized existence. 
Tlie difficulty is that the means of determining how much it should have 
are usually wanting. That difficulty does not exist in this case. District 
No. 1 received at the apportionment in 1886 more than it was entitled to 
for tlie year 1885-86, and district No. 25 received less than its share, because 
the Garden City statistics were included in the report of district No. 1 at 
the close of the preceding year. This being so, and there being at hand 
the data from which to determine, with exactness, liow much was paid to 
No. 1, which should, in fairness, have been paid to No. 25, the matter 
should be set right if there is lawful authority for so doing. 

The State school moneys are apportioned by the Superintendent of Pub- 
lic Instruction in the manner provided by title 3 of the Consolidated School 
Act of 1864. It was impossible to provide by statute for all exigencies 
which might arise, and it was necessary to vest some discretion in the 
Superintendent for the purpose of meeting exceptional cases. For instance, 
section 10 of title 3 directs the Superintendent to make a special apportion- 
ment to a district which has been excluded from participation in the gen- 
eral apportionment by reason of its failure to comply with some provision 
of law or requirement of the department when such omission was accidental 
or excusable. Section 11 authorizes him to withhold from any district in 
a subsequent apportionment any sum which has been given to it in excess 
of what it should have had at a prior apportionment. Section 12 provides 
that "if a less sum than it is entitled to shall have been apportioned by the 
Superintendent to any county, part of county or school district, the Superin- 
tendent may make a supplementary apportionment to it of such sum as shall 



600 Public Money. 

make up the deficiency," etc. Reading the different sections together and 
having in view the general plan of apportionment which the legislature was 
setting in operation, it is manifest that it was intended to clothe the Super- 
intendent with authority to meet and adjust an inequality like the one here 
presented. Although the precise question here involved has never before 
been passed upon by the department, the general authority requisite to 
meet it has always been exercised by it. 

I shall, therefore, direct that district No. 1, Hempstead, pay over to dis- 
trict No. 2.') such sum as it received in the apportionment of 188G, on the 
basis of the Garden City statistics; or, in case of failure to do so before 
the apportionment of 1887, that the same be deducted from the allotment 
to No. 1, and added to that of No. 25. 

The demand of district No. 25, that it be repaid so much of the tax levied 
in February, 1885, as was paid by Garden City, must be denied. This tax 
was raised before district No. 25 was set off. It was used, in part at least, 
to meet common expenses in which was included the expense of the school 
at Garden City. What was not so used, vras district property at the time 
of the separation. There is no provision of law for the division of common 
property when a new district is set off from an old one, and in the nature 
of things there cannot be. 

There is some reasonable question of the power of this department to cor- 
rect the apportionment of the local trust fund applicable to school purposes 
as provided by chapter 591 of the Laws of 1870. The appellants cite sec- 
tion 17, title 3 of the Consolidated School Act, which treats of trusts for 
school purposes, and provides that "the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion shall supervise and advise the trustees, and hold them to a regular 
accounting," etc. On the other hand, it is urged that the special act gov- 
erning this particular fund takes it out of the provisions of the general 
statute. It is not necessary to determine this question at present, at least. 
The board o'i town auditors of Hempstead have, as yet, committed no error. 
They have complied with the law and followed the State apportionment. 
It is fair to assume that they will continue to do so, and will make the cor- 
rection which the State now makes, and it will be time to consider what 
course must be taken for relief in that direction when it shall have become 
certain that some steps are necessary. 

It is accordingly ordered that the board of education of district No. 1, 
Hempstead, pay over to district No. 25, Hempstead, known as the Garden 
City district, the sum of $66.12, the same being the amount of one district 
quota apportioned to No. 1, Hempstead, in the annual api)ortionment made 
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to January, 1886, and reappor- 
tioned by the school commissioner of the second commissioner district of 
Queens county, in March, 1886. for the year 1885-86, on the basis of one 
duly qualified teacher employed for the legal term of school in the Garden 
City school for the school year beginning with August 21, 1884, and ending 
August 21, 1885; and such further sum as shall be certified by the said 
school commissioner that district No. 1, Hempstead, received for the Gar- 
den City schools for the yeaj' 1885-86, on the basis of the number of resi- 
dent children, the average daily attendance of such children, and for 
libraries, for the school year 1884-85. But in the event of there being no 
moneys in the hands of the board of education of district No. 1, Hemp- 
stead, or under their control, and available for this purpose, then the said 
school commissioner shall deduct for district No. 25, Hempstead, in the 
annual apportionment to be made by him in March, 1887, from the school 
moneys to be apportioned to said district No. 1, for the year 1886-87. the 
total amount of public school money said district No. 1 received for the 



Pupils. 601 

Garden City school in the annual apportionment of 1886, and apportion 
tlie same to district No. 25, together with the amount that No. 25 is to 
receive for the year 1886-87. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3543, November 30, 1886. 



PUPILS. 

DISCIPLINE; PUNISHMENTS. 
Abuse of discretion in the enforcement of discipline rebuked. 

The son of the appellant, a boy about eleven years of age, had been guilty 
of some light offense against the discipline of the school, and the same was 
reported to the trustee by the teacher in accordance with previous instruc- 
tions to that effect. The trustee ordered the boy to ask pardon upon his 
Tcnees of the teacher, on penalty of expulsion from school for a refusal to 
comply. The scholar expressed his willingness to ask pardon of the 
teacher, but declined to do so in the humiliating posture required. He was 
thereupon expelled from the school. 

Such an abuse of his discretion by the trustee is in my opinion entirely 
without excuse. While I would always cheerfully sustain trustees in en- 
forcing discipline in the schools by the use of proper means, such an act 
of petty tyranny as the one complained of can receive no countenance from 
me. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 27, 1872. 

Trustees have no power to impose a fine upon a pupil, and suspend him from school 

until it is paid. 

It appears that the appellant, a minor of the age of fifteen years, resid- 
ing in union free school district No. 2, town of Onondaga, has been sus- 
pended from the school until a fine of fifteen cents, inflicted upon him 
for damages done to seats and desks in the school- house, shall be paid. 
The appellant denies the charge as against him, but the decision is made 
without regard to his guilt or innocence in the matter. 

If to protect the district property the trustees deem it necessary or proper 
to suspend from the school for a reasonable period any of the scholars guilty 
of injuring such property, there is no doubt of their right to do so. But 
there is no provision of law which authorizes school officers to inflict a 
2')ecuniary fine upon the pupils for any cause. It will be the duty of the 
board of education to re admit the appellant to the school on his applica- 
tion therefor. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 25, 1873. 

" Cruel and unusual punishments" of pupils reprehended. 

A pupil accused of whispering was ordered by the teacher, as a punish- 
ment for the offense, to take a seat near a very hot stove. This the young 
man declined to do, and because he would not subsequently acknowledge 
that he had done wrong in thus disobeying his teacher, the trustee suspended 
him from school until he should make the required acknowledgment. 

Held, to be the duty of teachers to exercise a sensible discretion in their 
dealings with the pupils under their charge. To compel a scholar to sit by 
a hot. stove is an improper punishment for any offense, and when one refuses 
to acknowledge that he has done wrong in declining to submit to its in- 
fliction, a proper case is not presented for suspension from school. Per A. 
B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 15, 1873. 

76 



602 Pupils. 

The right of a pupil to wear.her hair in school according to the taste of the parent, 

maintained. 

A mother appeals from t]\e action, of the trustees iu expelling from tlie 
school her two children, a girl of nine, and a boy of seven years of age. 

The alleged ground of expulsion, is the refusal of the mother to comply 
with a requirement of the teacher and the trustees, in regard to the mode 
in which the hair of the little girl of nine should be arranged. 

Though this, as the reason of the expulsion, is denied by the trustees, it 
would seem that the conflict of opinion between mother and teacher, upon 
this important question of the arrangement of the child's hair, led the way 
at least to the final act in the controversy, the exclusion of the children 
from school. The Superintendent says: " There is no evidence of the in- 
fraction of the rules of the school by the boy, and the girl does not appear 
to have violated any rule, unless it is by coming to school with her hair ar- 
ranged by her mother in a manner different from that required by the 
trustees. 

"The action of the trustees is without lawful authoiity. They had no 
right to make such a regulation as they say was disregarded in this case, 
and consequently they could not legally inflict any penalty for its violation." 

Nor could they lawfully insist upon the conditions prescribed by them 
for re-admitting the children to the school, which are, that the mother 
shall make a written apology to the teachers of the school for alleged insults 
offered to them in connection with this matter, and shall stipulate in writ- 
ing with the trustees that all rules and regulations of the school shall be 
strictly conformed to, and that she " will not seek to enter upon the school 
lot, speak to, or address by letter either of the teachers." 

Trustees directed to admit the children to the school. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, April 6, 1874. 

The authority of trustees, and hence of teachers over pupils, ceases after the close of 
school, and their departure from the school premises. 

A rule adopted by the board of education of a union free school dis- 
trict, amongst other things forbade pupils attending parties, and their 
being " absent from their rooms and studies at unusual and improper hours 
during school week," and further provided that pupils " violating this rule, 
or any part thereof, may be suspended, or on repeated violations, expelled 
from the school by the principal, subject to the approval of the board of 
education." 

This rule was enforced against the appellants, two pupils of said schopl, 
by their suspension therefrom, the offense charged against them being their 
attendance upon a meeting of a society in the village known as the- Good 
Templars, an organization for the promotion of the cause of temperance, of 
which the appellants were members, their'attendance therein being charged 
as a violation of the above rule. 

The appellants do not lodge in the school building, and the rule in ques- 
tion is avowedly for the purpose of regulating the conduct of the scholars 
out of school hours, and when absent from the school premises. 

I am aware of the existence of no law under which trustees or teachers 
have the right to regulate the conduct of the scholars out of school hours, 
and when away from the school premises. When the school closes and the 
pupil leaves the school premises the authority of trustees and teacher ceases, 
and that of the parent or guardian is resumed. 

All rules or regulations founded upon any different basis are without 
authority, and no penalty for their violation can be legally enforced. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, May 13, 1875. 



Pupils. 603 

Unreasonable regulation of board of education, under which pupils may be perma- 
nently excluded from the school for an act of the parents, overruled. 

The board of education of union free school district No. 2, Ellington, 
adopted the following regulation: "Any scholar absenting himself from 
any examination or part thereof, appointed by the teachers, without neces- 
sity duly certified to, before hand, either by himself or his parent or guar- 
dian, shall not be admitted to the school afterward, except by permission 
of the board and the approval of the principal." 

It appears that on or about the 24th day of February, 1875, and prior to 
the examination for the wnnter term, a note addressed to two of the teach- 
ers was sent by the mother of three of the pupils, asking that they might 
be excused from school for the remaining week or ten days of the term, 
and that they were then temporarily withdrawn from the school. 

On the opening of the next term the pupils were refused admission under 
the above rule, the note sent as above stated being held not a sufficient 
compliance with said rule. From this action this appeal is brought by the 
father of the pupils on their behalf. 

It is unnecessary, in my opinion, to determine whether the appellant, in 
withdrawing his children from the school before the close of the -winter 
term in the manner set forth, did or did not violate the rule under which 
their exclusion from the school is sought to be justified, an exclusion which 
under the terms of the rule may be made perpetual. 

A board of education, under the authority given to it by law to establish 
rules and regulations concerning the order and discipline of the school or 
schools under their charge, have, in my opinion, no right to make any such 
regulation as the one in question, under which children of lawful school 
age, residing in the district, are made liable to perpetual exclusion from 
school for an act of the parent and not of the pupil, who is made subject 
to the penalty inflicted. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, June 7, 1875. 

Suspension from school for more than a j^ear sufficient punishment for using language 
to a teacher unbecoming a gentleman. Should not be made perpetual. 

The appellant was and still is suspended, " for disrespectful conduct and 
language toward his teacher," and the board of education refuse to restore 
him to the school until he shall make an apology to the teacher. This the 
pupil refuses to do. 

The Superintendent finds that the language of the pupil was sucli as no 
provocation would justify a gentleman in using toward a lady, and that his 
own sense of sell-respect should have prompted him to make an af)ology to 
the teacher without any requirement from the trustees. 

But in view of the fact that the pupil has already been deprived of the 
privileges of the school for more than a year, which may perhaps be regarded 
as a sufficient punishment for an offense committed in a moment of excite- 
ment, and by a scholar of uniform previous good conduct, the appeal is, 
with considerable reluctance, sustained, and the pupil restored to the privi- 
leges of the school. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, July 21, 1875. 

RIGHTS OF NON-RESIDENT. 

Children of non-residents are not entitled to attend a district school 
without permission of the trustees, and upon such terms as may be agreed 
upon. They cannot be permitted to share in the public money appropriated 
to the district under any circumstances. Per Spencer, March 26, 1841. 



004 Pupils. 

A resident of a district is not responsible for the tuition of a non-resident pupil who 
simply boards with the former, unless the trustees notify him at the commencement 
of the school that he will be held responsible for the tuition. 

In this case the appellant represents that the trustees have charged him 
eighty-two cents for the tuition of Erastus Hibbard, the son of a non- 
resident of the district, and who was a mere boarder in his house; and he 
alleges, in express terms, that he did not send him to the school nor en- 
gage to pay his tuition, and that he had no control nor jurisdiction over 
him. No answer has been put in by the trustees, although a copy of the 
appeal, duly verified, was served upon one of their number on the 28th of 
April last. The statement of the appellant, therefore, must be taken to be 
true, and, under such circumstances, he cannot be regarded as legally 
liable for the tuition of the boy. If the trustees had designed to hold him 
responsible, it was their duty to have apprised him of the fact at the com- 
mencement of the term. Not having done so they must look to the father 
of the boy. 

It is, therefore, ordered that the trustees strike from the rate bill (tax 
list) the charge against the appellant for the tuition of Erastus Hibbard. 
Per Morgan, May 18, 1849. 

Adults may be admitted to school on the same terms as non-residents. 

Adults are not by law entitled to the privileges of common schools, but 
this department would not discourage trustees from admitting them upon 
the same terms as non-residents. But, when such pupils commence at- 
tending school, there should be a distinct understanding between them 
and the trustees as to the price they must pay for their tuition ; and in no 
case can they be admitted to a participation in the public money. Per 
V. M. Rice, Superintendent, December 8, 1854. 

The power to admit to the district schools non-resident pupils is vested by statute in 
the trustees exclusively. 

The inhabitants of district No. 1, Elba, at their annual meeting, Septem- 
ber 4, 1855, passed a resolution to exclude non-resident children from the 
district school. An appeal was brought. 

So much of the resolution as assumes to close the school agamst pupils 
from other districts is unauthorized. The trustees are invested with the 
power to admit such pupils by the express terms of the statute. It is their 
duty to prescribe the conditions of admission, and they ought to be such 
as to indemnify the district against any increased expense resulting from 
the attendance of non-residents. Proper security, moreover, ought to be 
taken in advance for the payment of any bills for tuition to which such 
pupils may be subjected, as they cannot be collected upon a rate bill or by 
warrant. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, October 20, 1855. 

A teacher cannot, except under contract to that effect, refuse to teach non-resident 
pupils whom the trustees permit to attend the school. 

A teacher, acting in pursuance of a resolution of a school district meet- 
ing, not to admit non-resident pupils to the privileges of the school, refused 
to teach two such pupils attending with the permission of the trustee of 
the district. For this refusal, the trustee discharged the teacher, and this 
appeal was brought to have the Superintendent direct the trustee to rein- 
state the teacher. 

The Superintendent, citing section 39, title 7 of the General School Act, 
shows that the discretion of admitting non-resident pupils is vested exclu- 



Pupils. 605 

sively in the trustees, and he finds in the circumstances of this case no 
abuse of discretion on part of the trustee, and nothing to justify an order 
reinstating the teacher. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 11, 
1871. 

Right of children, residing on lands within a district which have been ceded to tlie 
United States, to attend the school of the district. 

Within the limits of school district No. 13, Champlain, Clinton county, 
are certain lands, jurisdiction over -svhich has been ceded by the State of 
New York to the United States, "for the defense and safety of the State." 
Resident upon these lands are persons with children of school age whom 
they desire to send to the school of the district witiiin whose boundaries 
they are embraced. The trustee of district No. 13 refuses to allow these 
children to attend the school in said district "without payment of a tuition 
fee, claiming that the cession of jurisdiction referred to has had the effect 
of entirely excluding the lands in question from the said district. The 
Superintendent says: *' In this position, the respondent, in my judgment, 
is in error. There exists no good reason either in the purpose for which 
the cession of jurisdiction was made, or in the terms of the cession itself, 
for excluding any of the children resident upon the lands in question from 
the advantages for education afforded by the State." Trustee directed to 
permit the children resident upon said lands, to attend the district school 
in equal terms with other children of the district. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, July 13, 1869. 

STUDIES OF, ETC. 

Trustees have full discretion in the matter of prescribing the course of study to be 
pursued in the schools under their charge. 

The exclusion of tardy pupils from admission to the school-rooms as a means of secur- 
ing punctuality not approved. 

The appellant complains, 1. " That the trustee has instructed the teacher 
of the district school not to teach algebra." 

The trustee shows but one pupil (the son of the appellant) desires to 
study algebra and alleges that the introduction of that branch for his 
benefit, would, if the recitation is heard during school hours, retard the 
progress of the other scholars. Also that the teacher has offered to attend 
to the recitations in that branch "before and after the regular school ses- 
sion, but that such offer has been repeatedly refused." 

Trustees of school districts have full discretion in the matter of pre- 
scribing the course of study in the schools under their charge, and will not 
be interfered with by this department except in cases of manifest abuse of 
that discretion. The present does not appear to be such a case. 

2. "That the teacher (by direction of the trustee) has made and enforced 
a rule that, imless scholars are in school by nine o'clock they must remain 
in the cold entry until the class then called has recited." 

It is admitted by the trustee, that with his " express approval " the 
teacher has made and "attempted to enforce "the rule, "that scholars 
coming to school while a class is reciting, shall remain in the hall until such 
recitation is finished; if the weather is chilly they are allowed to pass 
inside the school-room, but are to remain standing until such recitation is 
finished." 

So much of this rule as excludes any of the scholars, especially in the 
winter season, from entrance to the school-room, is unwise and improper 



606 Beltgious Meetings. 

As a means of securing punctuality, I think other regulations may be 
adopted which •will prove quite as effectual, and be free from the objections 
to the one complained of. I cannot approve of the enforcement of that 
Dart of the rule. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 7, 18T0. 

The suspension of a pupil from school until he will comply -svith a regulation requiring 
him to write compositions, sustained upon the ground that the teacher, subject to 
the control of the trustees, has authority to enforce such regulation. 

Where a pupil was suspended from the scliool until he should comply with 
a requirement of the teacher that he should write compositions as part of 
the school exercises, the Superintendent says: *'It would be impracticable 
to maintain jDroper discipline in a district school, if it were at the option of 
every pupil to devote his time only to the pursuit of such studies as he 
might himself select. The prescribing of such studies as shall be pursued 
by all or any of the scholars is properly left with the teacher, subject to 
the control of the trustees. If any abuse of this power should occur in 
any case, it could be remedied on appeal to this department. In the present 
instance no such abuse is shown; no branch of learning is more important 
to a student than that which enables him to write liis native language 
correctly. The practice of writing compositions in school is probably too 
little insisted upon. It is not likely ever to be carried to an extent to need 
any discouragement. There is no other study so well adapted to make the 
student correct and accurate in the expression of his ideas. Per A. B., 
Weaver, Superintendent, March 9, 1870. 

(See PwEsiDENCE, 608; TEAcnERs, 662: Trustees, 742.) 



RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 

An application to close the school-house against religious meetings must show some 
injury resulting from such use. 

An appeal is taken from the action of the trustees in allowing the school- 
hou^e to be used for religious purposes. 

This complaint is not denied, but as the appellant does not sliow that 
any injury results to the school-house nor to the district from the holding 
of meetings, there is not presented any grievance demanding the interposi- 
tion of this department. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 3, 
1859. 

Use of school-house for religious meetings considered. 

The quiet assembling of orderly persons for religious instruction, not at 
unreasonable hours, cannot be a serious injury to the school-house, nor to 
the educational interests, generally, of the district. 

At all events, I am not disposed to interfere with the discretion of the 
ti-ustees in regard to a proper custody of a school-house, until the abuse of 
that discretion is clearly proven by evidence showing that positive injury 
and damage has resulted from allowing the school-house to be used for other 
than school purposes. Per H, H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 15, 1859, 

School-house may, under certain circumstances, be used for religious meetings, lec- 
tures, etc. 

It is alleged and not denied, that the school-house is used for the pur- 
pose of holding religious meetings occasionally upon Sunday. It is not 



Religious Meetings. 607 

alleged that any injury, damage or loss is sustained by the district in conse- 
quence of these meetings. 

The trustees have the custody of the house, and their right to allow it to 
be used for other than school purposes under such restrictions as will pre- 
vent any interference with its legitimate and primary use is nowhere lim- 
ited by statute. This department will not interfere with the action of the 
trustees in this matter, except upon due proof of injury or loss to the dis- 
trict, resulting from the use of the house for other than school purposes. I 
am disposed to hold, with a previous opinion of this department, found in 
RandaWs School System, 220, that the school-house may be used, out of 
school hours and when not wanted for district purposes, for religious meet- 
ings, Sunday schools, lectures, or any other moral, literary or useful pur- 
pose, with the approbation of a majority of the district, and consent of 
trustees. Per H. ii. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 7, 1860. 

Trustees cannot, under any circumstances, be required to open the school-house for 

rehgious meetings. 

This department, in its late action, has favored the policy of opening the 
school-house for religious and other worthy objects, when not wanted for 
school purposes. Where this power is exercised by the trustees, within the 
limits of a proper discretion, and regard for the district property, the depart- 
ment will not interfere. 

But tliis is very different from compelling the trustees to open the house 
for such purposes. They cannot, as trustees of the district, be compelled 
to do any act not specifically within the range of duties prescribed. They 
are under no obligation to yield, even to the unanimous wish of the district, 
to open the school-house for other than school purposes; and for the reason 
that they are not elected as guardians of the moral or religious interests of 
the district, but of its educational interests. They cannot be compelled 
to take action outside of their official relations. For their refusal to comply 
with the wishes of the district in matters outside their official relations, 
there is no remedy but to elect others in their places, as fast as their terms 
of service shall expire. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, June 7, 1860. 

Trustees will not be ordered to open the school-bouse for religious meetings. 

No denomination has a right to the use of the school-house for religious 
or other purposes. Whoever occupies it for other than school purposes 
does so by sufferance only. The trustee who allows such privileges to be 
exercised does so without the sanction of any statute law, and is jiersonally 
responsible for any injury to the property caused thereby. 

No inhabitant of the district has a right to demand any thing from the 
trustee as an officer, which he is not lawfully bound to grant; and this 
department has no authority to order him to do any thing not required or 
contemplated by the law prescribing his duties. Consequently, the Super- 
intendent has not authority to order the trustee to open the school-house 
for other than school purposes. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, May 5, 
1862. 

Religious societies, occupying the district school-house for the purpose of religious 
meetings, must furnish their own fuel. 

On complaint that the school-house and furniture were injured, and the 
fuel of the district used at meetings of certain religious societies held in 
the school-house, the Superintendent makes order as follows: 

"In this case the trustee is directed to notify the societies permitted to 



608 Bksidence. 

occupy the school-liouse, of the complaints which have been made; to inform 
them that so long as they are permitted to occupy the house they must 
provide their own fuel, and that if the house, furniture or books shall here- 
after be injured by reason of their occupancy, he will close said house 
against them. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 14, 1SG8. 

Decision concerning religious meetings, made by Superintendent Van Dyck, affirmed. 

With reference to the use of the building for religious purposes, I fully 
concur with the views expressed by Superintendent Van Dyck, ]\Iarch 15, 
1859, in a similar appeal to the one now under consideration, and I adopt 
his reasoning in that case as entirely applicable to the present one. Per 
A. B, Weaver, Superintendent, October 23, 1868. 

The trustee is the legal custodian of the school-house, and whenever he 
permits it to be used for purposes lawful and commendable in themselves, 
which do not interfere with the school, nor injure the district property, 
this department will not interfere in the matter. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- 
intendent, Decision No. 3860, June 23, 1879. 



RESIDENCE. 

Children of temporary residents are to be enumerated in the annual reports of trustees. 

The language of the law is, that "all children actually residing in the 
district on the first day of January, although such residence may be tem- 
porary, shall be included in the reports of the trustees." And, again, "all 
children included in the reports of the trustees of any school district shall 
be entitled to attend the schools of such district." 

These provisions were evidently intended especially to meet the case of 
the children of laborers on our public works, and others temporarily resid- 
ing in school districts. Per Young, May 27, 1842. 

When an inhabitant moves from one school district into another for the purpose of 
avoiding an enumeration of his children in the former district, and immediately after 
the enumeration moves back, the town superintendent (school commissioner) should 
apportion the money drawn on account of his children to the former district. 

In this case the appellants transferred their residence from joint district 
No. 3, Cherry Creek and Ellington, vehere they have for several years 
resided, to district No. 7 in Cherry Creek, on the 30th of December last, 
with the obvious intention and design of having their children enumerated 
in the latter district, where they generally attend school, owing to some 
dilHculties existing in district No. 3. On the 1st of January, both the 
appellants returned to their former residences in the latter district, where 
they have since remained, and which is their permanent residence. 

The town superintendent, under these circumstances, very properly 
refused to sanction the fraudulent attempt to evade the spirit and intent 
of the law, and apportioned the money drawn on account of their children 
to district No. 3. In this he has been sustained by the county superin- 
tendent, whose decision must be affirmed. Per S. Young, April 9, 1844. 

An inhabitant cannot gain a residence in another district by taking a portion of his 
family with himself thereto, so as to send his children to school therein. 

The following statement of facts is submitted by the parties: 

Barclay Miller owns a farm in district No. 5, upon which he lived till the 



Hesidence. ^^^ 

spring of 1847, when he removed to another farm in district No. 12, leav- 
ing his son in the occupancy of the farm in No. 5. 

On or about the 2oth of November, 1848, a district school was com- 
menced in No. 5, to which Mr. Barclay Miller sent part of his children. 
Upon the representation of the teacher that the school was already too 
large, the trustees directed him to dismiss Mr. Miller's children from 
school. 

Whereupon Mr. Miller came with his children and a part of his furniture 
to his son's house in No. 5, leaving his wife at his house in No, 12, His 
son went to the farm in No. 12, but left his wife at the house in No, 5. 
Mr. Barclay Miller has, since this arrangement, sometimes lodged at his 
house in No. 12, and his son has also occasionally lodged at the house in 
No. 5. Barclaj^ Miller took with him to No. 5 his horses and milch cows, 
but had stock on both farms, and has since killed his hogs at the house in 
No. 12, and there packed the pork. 

Under this statement of facts, Barclay Miller cannot claim to be a resi- 
dent of district No. 5. The trustees have power to dismiss his children 
from the school, or, if they permit them to attend, they are not entitled to 
share in the public money of tlie district, nor can they be lawfully enumer- 
ated as children residing in the district. Mr. Miller is a resident of No. 
12, and his children must be there enumerated. Per Morgan, January 11, 
1849. 

It is illegal for trustees to enumerate children in their districts between the ages of 
five and sixteen, unless they compose a part of the family of their parents or guard- 
ians or employers, if such parents or guardians or employers reside at the time in 
such district. 

The trustees in district No. 5, in the town of Davenport, included in their 
annual report, dated December 31, 1848, sixty-two children under sixteen 
and over five years of age, attending a private school under charge of S. 
D. Ferguson. The children attending this private school had parents 
residing mostly in New York and Philadelphia, and the parents of none of 
them in the district. Five of said sixty-two children were orphans. It 
was not known to the department whether the said orphans were sup- 
ported by Mr. Ferguson, or were boarded like the rest, or were sent to 
school by their guardians, but the latter is supposed to have been the truth. 

The school law, section 118, of 1847, directs the trustees, to include in 
their report all children over five and under sixteen years of age, who shall 
at the date ot such report, actually be in the district, composing a part of 
the family of their parents or guardians or employers, if such parents or 
guardians or employers reside at the time in such district. From this law 
it would seem to be very clear that not one of the sixty-two children 
attending Mr. Ferguson's^'school could be lawfully enumerated in the annual 
report of the trustees. 

The trustees of district No. 5 were, therefore, wrong in including these 
children in their report. Per Morgan, March, 1849. 

Of children at boarding-school. 

Children attending an academy or boarding-school are to be enmerated 
by the trustees for the purpose of drawing public money only, where their 
parents are actually residents of the district in which such academy or 
boarding-school is situated. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, April 12, 1854. 

77 



610 Besidence. 

Where children whose home has been broken up are brought to the residence of a 
grandfather to find care and protection, for an iudefiuite^period, thoy become resi- 
dents of the district in which such grandparent lives. 

An appeal is taken from the decision of tlie trustees of a district refus- 
ing to admit certain children into the district school, or to share in the 
public moneys thereof. 

The children whose admission is thus refused are within the age pre- 
scribed to entitle them to the privileges of the school, and are residing 
with their grandfatlier, an inhabitant of the district. It also appears that 
the home of the parents of these children has been entirely broken up, and 
that they are brought to the residence of their grandfather to find the care, 
protection and privileges of a home. 

The ground of objection to their admission is, that they are not residents 
of the district. 

Held^ that they are residents of the district in the fullest sense, as 
implied by the statute, and, as such, entitled to a share in the public 
moneys apportioned to the district in which they reside. Per H. H. Van 
Dyck, Superintendent, September 28, 1857. 

Facts which prove residence in opposition to the affidavit of the party. 

Appeal is taken from a decision of the supervisors of the towns of Castle- 
ton and Southfield, Richmond county, on an application made to them to 
fill a vacancy, claimed to exist in the office of trustee in district No. 1, in 
said towns, the supervisors having decided that no vacancy exists. 

The only question is one of residence, and relates t?o the change of resi- 
dence of Jas. O. Ludlow, who, it is claimed, has removed from the district, 
thereby vacating the office of trustee, to which he was elected in 1856. In 
support of this claim, it is shown that previously to last spring Mr. Ludlow 
resided in said district with his family, and did business therein; that 
some time in the spring he sold out his store in said district, and has since 
that time done no business in the district in his own name. Further, in 
May last, the eaid Ludlow leased a house in the city of New York, for three 
years, and removed his family there ; that his family still reside there ; that 
his name appears upon the door of said house where his family reside; that 
his name also appears in the directory of said city as residing therein, and 
at the street and number where his family reside and his name is found, 
and of which premises he is known to have taken a lease. Also, that he 
himself resides at said place with his family. 

Opposed to this evidence is the affidavit of Mr. Ludlow himself, averring 
that he has been for the last sixteen years a resident of said district No. 1, 
and that he has not removed from said district. 

To my mind, no clearer case of removal could be made out. His affidavit 
to the contrary establishes nothing more than that he desires to regard 
district No. 1 as his residence. But that does not make it such. I can 
come to no other conclusion than that Mr. Ludlow is no longer a resident 
of district No. 1, and that, in consequence of his removal from said district, 
there exists a vacancy in the office of trustee, which the district or the 
supervisors are competent to fill. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
October 12, 1858. 

What constitutes residence. 
Trustees have the authority to exclude nou-resideut pupils from the district school. 

This is an appeal from the refusal of the trustees to allow one Eveline 
Oaks to attend tlie district school. 



Residence. 611 

The said Eveline Oaks is a minor and a relation of the appellant. Her 
mother, a widow, resides with her family in district No. 9 adjoining. The 
appellant fails to show that it is the intention of the child or of the mother 
to change the residence of the child from district No. 9 to the district from 
which the appeal is bronght. No such intention being shown, the legal 
doctrine that the residence of the parent is the residence of the child pre- 
vails, and the residence of Eveline Oaks must be regarded as being with 
her mother in district No. 9. Slie is, therefore, not entitled to any priv- 
ileges in the district from w^hich this appeal is brought, and the trustees 
of the latter district have exercised a just and legal discretion in exclud- 
ing her from the school. Their action must, therefore, be approved, and 
the ajipeal be dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 
8, 1860. 

Question of residence sufficient to entitle a pnpil to the privileges of the school con- 
sidered. 

This is an appeal from the action of the trustees in excluding from the 
school one Mercy C. Sweet, upon the ground that she is a non-resident. 

The evidence establishes, I think, that the relation subsisting between 
the said Mercy C. Sweet and the appellant are such as to make the home 
of the appellant the residence of the said Mercy C, whereby she is entitled 
to the privileges of the district school. The primary object of the pupil in 
coming into the district appears to be to find a home in the family of 
tlie appellant, and to render service in labor as the consideration for such 
home. 

It is always safer to err upon the side of liberality than of exclusion in 
these matters where any doubt is found to exist ; but, in the present case, 
the testimony appears to admit of no doubt. 

The trustees are, therefore, directed to admit the said Mercy C. Sweet to 
the privileges of the school. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, 
December 23, 1861. 

The question of residence to entitle a pupil to the privileges of school to be liberally 
construed in favor of the pupil. 

It is proper that the trustees should use all due precaution to prevent an 
abuse of the privileges of the district, and that the pretext of service or 
employment should not be used to cover a primary and special purpose of 
attending school. On the other hand, a liberal construction of the law 
and application of the powers of trustees may be rightfully extended 
toward those inhabitants of a free school district who pay their proportion 
of taxes for the support of school, but who, having no children to receive 
its advantages, desire to introduce members into their family for society or 
service, or both, and to extend to them the advantages of education which 
their own children might enjoy. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, 
April 28, 1863. 

Where a child goes into a district to ^et employment, and not forthe purpose expressly 
of attending the school, he is a resident of such district, and entitled to a portion of 
the public money, apportioned to district, as also to share in the privileges of the 
school. 

What constitutes a cliild a resident of a district depends upon circum- 
stances. If the child removes to a district for the sole purpose of attending 
school in such district, the parents or guardian meanwhile residing else- 
w^here, such child does not become a resident of the district, so as to be 



612 Residence. 

entitled to share in the distribution of the public money. But where the 
child goes into a district for the purpose of obtaining employment, and of 
remaining in such district, the employment, and not the school, drawing 
him to such district, in such case, he would be entitled to the privilege of 
the school, and to share in the public money apportioned to the district. 
Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, December 14, 1865. 

General guardian may constitute his own district the residence of his ward by remov- 
ing him thereto. 

Appeal by a general guardian under appointment of surrogate, from the 
refusal of the trustees of the district in which appellant resides, to permit 
his ward to attend the school in said district, except upon payment for 
tuition therein. The residence of the deceased father of the ward was, at 
the time of his decease, in a county adjoining that of the guardian and 
appellant. The trustees seem to base their refusal upon the ground that 
the residence of the ward is that of the deceased father. The Superin- 
tendent holds as fcdlows: " While it is true as a general rule, that the last 
domicile of a deceased father continues to be that of his minor child, yet 
this rule, in my judgment, has an exception in case such child becomes the 
ward of a guardian, who takes him to live in the district of his own resi- 
dence : at least, to the extent of entitling the ward to attend gratuitously 
the public school of the district in which be may thus be placed. If this 
were not so, a minor of lawful school age, if under the charge of a general 
guardian, who may, if he chooses, remove him from the last place of resi- 
dence of his deceased father, might be wholly deprived of the right to 
gratuitous instruction whieh it is the object of the common school system 
of the State to afford to all residents of the prescribed age. " Trustees di- 
rected to admit the said ward to the privileges of the school in common 
with other pupils of the district. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 
8, 1871. 

Children residing with their grandmother as part of her family and for her convenience 
and support, entitled to attend school in the district as resident pupils. 

Two minor children of M., who resides in district No. 9, town of W., 
were, by the desire of their grandmother, Mrs. D., permitted to live with 
her at her home in district No. 29 of the same town. The trustees of the 
latter district refused to allow these children to attend the school in dis- 
trict No. 29, except upon condition of paying a tuition fee, claiming that 
their residence is in No. 9 where their father resides. 

In support of the claim on behalf of the children, it is shown that Mrs. 
D. is aged and infirm in health, and needs the companionship and the aid 
to some extent of her said grandchildren in her household affairs. That 
the said children are a part of her family, that they have been placed with 
lier to assist her and make companionship for her, and that they have not 
gone to reside in No. 29 for the purpose of attending its school. It was 
decided by my immediate j^j-edecessor that where a person of school age 
had left the residence of his father, and gone into another school district 
for the purpose of earning his own support, he was entitled to attend the 
school of the latter district free of charge. I concur in the correctness of 
this decision, and deem the principle upon which it is based well founded, 
and that it is sufficient to meet the present case. 

The right of the children in question to attend the school m No. 29 upon 
the same terms. as other pupils of the district, upheld. Per Neil Gilraour, 
Superintendent, July 4, 1875. 



Residence. 613 

What coDstitutes a removal from the district. 

The evidence shows that the appellant was elected a member of the board 
of education of union free school district No. 5 in 1874 for the term of 
three years. That in the spring of 1875 he removed with his family to a 
place outside of said district, where he engaged in business and where he 
still continues to live. The appellant claims, however, to be now a resident 
of said district, declarmg it to be his intention to return thereto as soon as 
circumstances will allow. 

Held, that such declaration of intention to sometime return cannot affect 
the fact of removal from the district as fully consummated under the cir- 
cumstances. The action of the meeting in electing a member of the board 
of education to fill the vacancy occasioned by the removal of the appellant 
from the district, upheld. Per Neil G-ilmour, Superintendent, November 
30, 1875. 

What constitutes residence. 

From the evidence it appears that the appellant has, for the last ten 
years, owned real estate and transacted business in district No. 9, where, 
until about three years ago, he resided, when he hired rooms in district No. 
4, where he has since continued to lodge and take a part of his meals. It 
further appears that he has received his mail, had his washing done, and 
has voted partly in both districts. Appellant avers that his removal to dis- 
trict No. 4 was designed by him to be temporary, and was made on account 
of the superior hotel accommodations obtained there, and that whenever 
those in No. 9 shall be satisfactory to him, or when his dwelling-house in 
that district shall be occupied by a family with which he can board, he will 
return to that district. 

Held, that the condition upon which the appellant proposes to return to 
district No. 9 is too remote, contingent and uncertain to justify his claim 
to retain his residence in that district. There is no certainty that the con- 
tingency upon which his return depends will ever arise. Per Neil G-ilmour, 
Superintendent, March 15, 1876. 

RESIDENCE OF PUPIL. 

The appeal is brought from the refusal of the board of education of union 
free school district No. 3, Sinclairville, Chautauqua county, to allow the 
grandniece of appellant to attend the public school without paying tuition 
therefor. 

The appellant is a resident and tax payer in said district, and Katie 
is the grandniece of the appellant. The mother of the child is dead and 
the father, who has married again, resides in Dakota. Previous to her 
death, Katie's mother requested that Katie might live with the appellant 
and his wife. The appellant says: " We gladly responded to the request 
of her now dead mother, and, on or about March 12, 1884, we received 
Katie, aged fourteen years, into our family with the intention of not only 
furnishing a home for Katie but of caring for her as our own child." 

The facts in this case fully establish such a substantial adoption of the 
pupil as to make her a resident of the district and entitled to the privileges 
of the scliool. It has been the uniform ruling of this department that 
where children, whose home has been broken up, are brought to the resi- 
dence of one who stands in the place of the parent, to find care and protec- 
tion for an indefinite period, they become residents of the district in which 
said person lives. Board ordered to admit the child to the free privileges 
of the school. Per W. B. Ruggies, Superintendent. Decision No. 3386, 
November 38, 1884. 

(See Pupils ; Taxes.) 



^14 Schools. 

SCHOOLS. 

BRANCH SCHOOLS. 

Trustees have the power, when in their discretion circumstances require it, to estab- 
hsh temporary branch schools in the district, and employ a teacher, without any 
vote of the district, and a due proportion of the public money should be applied to 
the payment of such teacher. 

It is, perhaps, to be regretted that the law has left so much to the dis- 
cretion of trustees, in reference to the institution of temporar}^ branch 
schools. Such schools fiequently become necessary, owing to some extra- 
ordinary circumstances which for the time being exist in a district. When- 
ever such necessity does arise, the trustees have an undoubted right to 
exercise the discretion which the statute has vested in them, by employing 
a teacher, and opening a temporary school for the accommodation of the 
children, without any vote of the inhabitants. In this district the majority 
of the trustees have, on several occasions, determined that such necessity 
did exist; and the inhabitants, at their annual meetings in 1850 and 1851, 
have approved that determination by directing the application of a part of 
the public money to the support of the branch school. The institution of 
such a school in this district has also met the approval of the town super- 
intendent of Whitestown, as appears from a letter addressed by him to the 
department, and a decided majority of the taxable inhabitants have 
expressed themselves satisfied with the proceedings of the majority of the 
trustees, as appears by a petition accompanying the answer. 

Under these circumstances, though it does not clearly appear that all the 
proceedings of the district in relation to the institution of the branch school 
have been strictly in accordance with law, I am of opinion that harmony 
and good order, "which are so essential to the prosperity of a school, will be 
best secured, and the interests of a majority of the inhabitants be best 
promoted, by sanctioning the proceedings of the trustees in establishing the 
school in question, and allowing a portion of the public money to be 
applied toward its support. 

The proceedings of the trustees are therefore affirmed and the appeal 
dismissed. Per H. S. Randall, June 16, 1853. 



Trustees will be directed to establish a branch school in a remote part of the district, 
wheie there are pupils enough to support a respectable school, and where the school- 
house is inaccessible some part of the year. 

An appeal comes up on the refusal of the trustees to grant the petition of 
the appellant and six others, inhabitants of the district, to establish a 
branch school in a neighborhood remote from the school-house. 

It is shown that twenty-nine children are virtually deprived of attendance 
at school, especiallj" during the inclement season, by reason of their 
remoteness from the school-house — and that a good comfortable room can 
be obtained in the neighborhood where it is desired to establish the school, 
at a very moderate cost. 

Held^ that the trustees in the matter of establishing a branch school are 
not compelled to regard the wishes of the inhabitants, but are authorized 
to act wholly upon their own sense of justice and right. The statute con- 
fers upon them unlimited powers, and, though in their discretion they may 
properly consult the wishes of the majority, wlien emphatically expressed, 
their having done so affords no precedent in itself for the guidance of this 
department in reviewing the case and deciding upon its merits. Whenever, 
in any remote locality of the district, a number of scholars sufficient to 



Schools. ^^^ 

make a respectable school are debarred, from the fact of such remoteness, 
from attending school, the establishment of a branch will be directed. 
Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, August 12, 1857. 

Action of trustee in establishing a branch school sustained. 

On an appeal from the action of the sole trustee in establishing a branch 
school, it is alleged that such action was not called for by the necessities of 
the district; that the place selected is unsuitable, uncomfortable and inade- 
quately furnished ; and that the evils sought to be overcome by it are not 
remedied in the conduct and management of the principal school. 

It is shown by the trustee that, before the establishment of the branch 
school, the number of pupils in regular attendance was seventy; tliat the 
room was much crowded, and that no convenient seat for classes in recita- 
tion could be had. 

I am satisfied, from the evidence, that the act of the trustee, at the time, 
was dictated not only by proper motives, but by circumstances which ren- 
dered the proceeding expedient and necessary. A school of seventy, or 
even sixty, pupils of all grades, even where the room is commodious and 
ample for their accommodation, cannot be properly classified and thoroughly 
instructed by one teacher. A remedy is found in the provisions of the 
statute, which authorize the establishment of a branch school when deemed 
necessary by the trustee. 

The appeal must be, and hereby is, dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, March 25, 1859. 

Discretion of a trustee in establishing branch school overruled. 

On an appeal from the action of the sole trustee in sustaining two schools 
in the district, as public schools, and alike entitled to share in the public 
money appropriated to said district, the following facts appear: That the 
district is about three miles in extent from north to south, and that the 
school-house is situated near the center. It further appears that most of 
the children reside in the northern part of the district, while the popula- 
tion or voters of the district, interested in keeping the school at the center, 
are in the majority. The residents of the north part of the district, unable 
to secure a change of site, have maintained, during some portion of the 
year, for some time past, a school in their vicinity, and have received 
toward its support a portion of the public money. At the last annual 
meeting, it was voted that the school be kept in the "brick school-house," 
near the center of the district; but the trustee also employed a teacher to 
teach the school in the north part of the district, and from this proceeding 
the present appeal is brought. 

The size of the district, the number of pupils, the condition of tlie dis- 
trict school-house, are nowhere urged as conditions giving rise to this pro- 
ceeding. I cannot find, in the conditions presented, a necessity for the 
establishment of two schools in that district. The trustee himself concedes 
that there is no necessity for two schools in the district, except that created 
by feeling in the north, of opposition to the central school. If this feeling 
is sufficiently strong to cause them to sustain a private school, there is no 
help for it; but there is no sufficient reason, to my mind, for fostering and 
cherishing this spirit of opposition, by helping to support the school by 
making it a public charge . 

It is my opinion, therefore, that the trustee has acted without due dis- 
cretion, and his action in the matter is hereby disapproved. Per H. H. 
Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 31, 1859. 



616 Schools. 

Trustees will be restrained from establishing a branch school when there is clearly no 

necessity for one. 

The conclusion arrived at from the facts in the case is that the branch 
school is wholly unnecessary, and its establishment an exercise of arbitrary 
power and abuse of discretion sufficient to justify the interference of the 
department in restraining the trustees. No one will claim that the pro- 
visions of the statute authorizing the establishment of branch schools were 
designed or do confer power to establish two schools in every district of 
the State. 

In all cases of the establishment of branch schools the necessity must 
clearly appear, or this department will, on an appeal to it, interfere to pre- 
vent the consummation of a policy unwarrantable by the provisions of the 
statute, which provides for the exercise of such power only when necessary 
to accommodate the children of the district. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Super- 
intendent, August 8, 1860. 

Abuse of discretion by a trustee in establishing a branch school will be corrected on 

appeal. 

Appeal from the action of a trustee in establishing a branch school. 

It is made to ajDpear that district is less than three miles long, and the 
location of the school-house near the center. That it is a weak district in 
respect to property, and the whole number of children of school age is but 
fifty, and the average daily attendance at school for the last five years has 
been only about fifteen scholars. That the branch school Is attended by 
the children of but two or three families, and that other points in the dis- 
trict are quite as remote from the school-house as this one, when with equal 
propriety other branch schools might be established. 

The establishment of a branch school under such circumstances as this 
was a clear abuse of discretion on part of the trustee. Opinion of H. H. 
Van Dyck in similar case, quoted and approved. (See above.) Per A. B. 
Weaver, Superintendent, July 11, 1870. 

Power and duty of trustees in establishing a branch school not affected by any action 
of the inhabitants at district meeting. 

At a special meeting in school district No. 5, a resolution offered to estab- 
lish a branch school in the southern part of the district was voted down. 
From this action an appeal is brought. 

The power to establish a branch school, whenever necessary for the due 
accommodation of the children of a district, is given by statute to the 
trustees (section 50, title 7, General School Act), but there is no authority in 
a district meeting to establish one. The action of the meeting in voting 
down the resolution mentioned is therefore no ground of appeal. 

Conditions justifying, if not demanding the establishment of such branch, 
are shown to exist, but the trustees have refused to establish such branch 
school solely upon the ground of the vote of the district on the above reso- 
lution. That vote affords no ground for the refusal under the circum- 
stances, and it appearing from the admissions of the trustees themselves, 
that the branch school is required "for the due accommodation of the 
children of the district," it is the duty of the trustees to hire a room or 
rooms for the keeping of such school therein. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- 
tendent, August 7, 1872. 

A district meeting has no jurisdiction over the matter of opening a branch school. It 
IS entirely within the discretion of the trustee. 

The appeal is brought from the refusal of tlie trustee of school district 



Schools. 6 17 

Xo. 1, Pultney, Steuben county, to maintain a branch school. The number 
of children of school age of the appellants number from thirteen to eighteen, 
and, in order to attend the present school in said district, are required to 
travel distances rangiug from one and three-quarters miles to two and one- 
half miles over roads leading up a hill and upon which the snow drifts 
badly during the winter season. The appellants, or some of them, own a 
school house in the neighborhood of their residences, wlierein they request 
that a branch school maybe maintained. The trustee justifies his action by 
reference to a certain resolution passed by the last annual meeting in said 
district. 

Said annual meeting had no jurisdiction over the matter of a branch 
school, that being entirely within the discretion of the trustee, subject to 
the decision of this department. It seems to me clear that the mere state- 
ment of the number of children residing with the appellants, their distance 
from the present school and the assessed valuation of the district, should 
convince any one of the propriety and necessity of maintaining the branch 
school asked for by the appellants. Order entered accordingly. Per Neil 
Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2829, March 1, 1879. 

DUTY OF TRUSTEES. 

Duty of trustee to open a school for the winter term, upon petition of inhabitants, 
and for the accommodation of pupils who cannot attend during the summer time. 

It appears that the trustee neglects to hire a teacher, and that no school 
is kept in the district the present winter, although a majority of the inhab- 
itants have petitioned him to have one taught. 

It is further shown that there are ten persons in the district between the 
ages of five and twenty-one years, who cannot attend school in the sum- 
mer, and who will therefore be debarred from the privileges of school 
altogether, unless a winter term is taught. Under these circumstances 
there can be no doubt that it is the duty of the trustee to have a public 
school commenced in the district without further delay, and to have it 
continued for a reasonable period, according to the general custom. 
Ordered to establish such school under penalty of removal from office. 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 24, 1873. 

A district meeting has not the authority to direct that no school be maintained in the 

district. 

The average attendance at the district school had been very small, and 
the last annual meeting passed a resolution directing the trustee to main- 
tain no school; and since that time no school has been maintained. 

The appeal is brought from the action of the meeting and of the trustee 
in accordance therewith. 

The resolution aforesaid was illegal and of no effect, and it was the duty 
of the trustee to see that the district was provided with a school. The ac- 
tion of the annual meeting and the trustee would be practically to annul 
the district and leave it unattached to any other district. The law contem- 
plates that every inhabited portion of the State shall have the benefit of a 
public school and shall assist in the support thereof; and so long as the 
district in question remains a district it is the duty of the trustee to main- 
tain a school at least twenty-eight weeks in each year. Per Neil Gilmour, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 3086, April 11, 1881. 

78 



618 Schools. 



RELIGIOUS EXERCISES. 



School may be opened with prayers, provided that it be done before school hours, and 
that there be no compulsion to enforce attendance. 

Tn an appeal to the Superintendent, certain inhabitants of district No. 
15, Barre, complained that the teacher, with the permission of the trustees, 
"made prayer part of school discipline." The trustees replied that they 
had permitted the teacher to have prayers on condition that they should 
be had previous to school hours, and they alleged that he did not occupy 
school hours. The Superintendent dismissed the appeal, with the following 
remarks : 

" In this conduct of the trustees, the Superintendent can perceive no 
cause of complaint. Both parties have rights ; the one to bring up their 
children in the practice of publicly thanking their Creator for his protec- 
tion, and invoking His blessing; the other, of declining, in behalf of their 
children, the religious services of any person in whose creed they may not 
concur, or for other reasons satisfactory to themselves. These rights are 
reciprocal, and should be protected equally ; and neither should interfere 
with the other. Those who desire that their children should engage in 
public prayer have no right to compel other children to unite in the exer- 
cise, against the wishes of their parents. Nor have those who object to 
this time, place or manner of praying, or to the person who conducts the 
exercises, a right to deprive the other class of the opportunity of habituat- 
ing their children to what they conceive an imperious duty. Neither the 
common school system, nor any other social system, can be maintained, 
unless the conscientious views of all are equally respected. The simple 
rule, so to exercise your own rights as not to infringe on those of others, 
will preserve equal justice among all, promote harmony, and insure success 
to our schools. In the present case, the Superintendent thinks the trus- 
tees had lawful right to permit the teacher to commence the business of 
the day by public prayer, with the children of such parents as desired it ; 
and they were also right in directing that such exercises should not take 
place during school hours, nor form a part of school discipline." 

Another branch of this first question is whether the teacher has a right 
to compel the children to kneel, during prayer, or to dispense with their 
ordinary business. 

The answer already given proceeds upon the principle that prayer is no 
part of the business of a common school, but that parents may place their 
children under the superintendence and government of a teacher for that 
purpose. Of course his jurisdiction would extend to that only. But others 
have no right to disturb the performance of what is considered a sacred 
duty. As the one class is required to abstain from all attempts to compel 
the children of the other class to engage in an exercise which the latter 
disapprove, so the latter should abstain from interrupting such exercise, 
and should instruct their children, accordingly, not to enter the scliool- 
room, until the usual hour of commencmg school, and not to disturb those 
within by any noise, or other conduct calculated to annoy them. And the 
teacher should allow the children of all parents who do not desire them to 
engage in prayer to withdraw from the room, or to absent themselves from 
it. But if they come into the room before the usual school hours,, and 
choose to remain there during prayer, they must preserve the order and 
decorum befitting such an occasion. Per Spencer, May 13, 1839. 

Religious exercises are not a part ot district school exercises, and, therefore, no por- 
tion of the regular school hours is to be consumed in conducting them, 

A teacher has no right to consume any portion of the regular school 



Schools. 61^ 

hours in conducting religious exercises, especially where objection is raised. 
The principle is this : Common schools are supported and established f or 
the purpose of imparting instruction in the common English branches; 
religious instruction forms no part of the course. The proper places in 
which to receive such instruction are churches and Sunday schools, of 
which there is usually a sufficient number in every district. The money 
to support schools comes from the people at large, irrespective of sect oi- 
denomination. Consequently, instruction of a sectarian or religious denom- 
inational character must be avoided, and teachers must confine themselves, 
during school hours, to their legitimate and proper duties. Per V. M. 
Rice, Superintendent, February 5, 1866. 

Trustees have no warrant of law for directing religious exercises to be conducted in 
the school during school hours, nor for excluding pupils from the school altogether 
on the ground of their declining to be present at such reading. 

The appellant states that by the express orders and directions of the trus- 
tee, the teacher of the district school, each morning at the opening thereof, 
reads a chapter of the protestant version of the scriptures. That the ap- 
pellant from conscientious and religions scruples has kept his children from 
going to school until after such reading of the scriptures was ended. That 
in consequence thereof, appellant's children get to the school ten or fifteen 
minutes after the opening of school, and that they are for that reason refused 
admission by the teacher, and are by her sent home, she declaring to them 
^'that they must be present at the reading or stay away all day." 

The object of the common school system of the State is to afford the 
means of secular instruction to all the children withm its borders. For 
their religious training, the State does not provide and with it does not 
interfere. The advantages of the schools are to be free to all alike, and the 
consciences of none are to be legally violated. There is no authority in the 
law, as a matter of right, to use any portion of the regular school hours in 
conducting any religious exercise at which the attendance of the scholars is 
made compulsory. On the other hand there is nothing to prevent the read- 
ing of the scriptures or the performance of other religious exercises by the 
teacher in the presence of such of the scholars as may attend voluntarily or 
by the direction of their parents or guardians, if it be done before the hour 
fixed for the opening of the school or after the dismissal of the school. 
(Decisions of Secretary Spencer and Superintendent Eice, above quoted, 
commented on and approved.) 

The action of the trustee in directing the reading of the scriptures as a 
part of the school exercises, and in causing the exclusion of any of the pupils 
from the school on the ground of their declining to be present at such read- 
ing, has been entirely without Avarrant of law. Per A. B. Weaver, Super- 
intendent, August 23, 1870. 

Same. 

A long and bitter controversy between certain of the inhabitants and the 
board of education of Long Island City, involving precisely the same ques- 
tion as that in the last preceding decision, leads the Superintendent to recite 
quite fully the previous rulings of the department upon the question and the 
same arc upheld by him in the following conclusion concerning the particu- 
lar issue presented upon those separate appeals from that city : 

" The action of the board of education of Long Island City, in directing 
the reading of a portion of the bible as an opening exercise in the schools 
under their charge during school hours, and in excluding pupils from those 
schools or any of them, on the ground of declining to be present at such 



620 Schools. 

reading, has been without warrant of law." Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- 
tendent, June 5, 1873. 

Religious exercises that are held before nine o'clock a. m., and are not 
compulsory do not violate any legal right. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintend- 
ent. Decision No. 2847, April 18, 1879. 

in the matter of the application of the board of education of Union Free School Dis 
trict No. 4, of Orangetown, Rockland county. 

This application represents that the above-named board of education 
"wish to move unerringly, but firmly, in the matter of sustaining the read- 
ing of scripture and prayer as a part of the exercises in opening the daily 
sessions of our public school; " that the board has "not required the chil- 
dren of non-protestant families to participate in repeating scripture or the 
Lord's prayer, but have simply required tliem to behave with decorum ; " 
that a number of Catholic families ' ' ask that their children be allowed to 
remain outside until the devotional exercises are concluded," and that " this 
interference causes much disorder outside of the room, and the subsequent 
entrance of these pupils causes a loss of time and disturbance to class work." 

I have carefully examined the special act under which this school was 
organized to see if there was any provision therein which might be held to 
authorize any other or dijfferent rule for the government of this particular 
school, in the respect in question, than that which applies to the public 
schools organized under the general law. I do not find any such excep- 
tional provision. 

By the Constitution of this State all people, in respect to the free exercise 
and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, stand upon a footing of 
absolute equality. Interference therewith, in the way of discrimination or 
preference, even by legislative enactment, is, by the express words of that 
instrument, prohibited. 

Under our public school system, within the legal limitations of age and 
residence, instruction is free. The material resources necessary for the 
maintenance of this immense and complicated system, are drawn at large 
from a population characterized by dissimilar religious beliefs, observances, 
modes of worship and preferences. With such a public furnishing the 
mone^ to support the schools, supplying them with the children in attend- 
ance, and having equal rights to the full and equal enjoyment of all the 
benefits of the schools, if it were possible to devise some limited measure of 
religious instruction for adoption in the schools upon which all these 
diverse classes and sects could harmonize, it would be a gratifying result. 

But this is manifestly impracticable and impossible. The only alternative, 
therefore, to preserve the benefits of the constitutional guarantees, in letter 
and spirit, and to secure to all absolute equality of right in matter of relig- 
ious predilection, must be, however reluctantly the conclusion is arrived at, 
to exclude religious instruction and exercises from the public schools during 
school hours. 

This conclusion involves the liiunciation of no new principle. 

An examination of the records in this department shows a uniform series 
of decisions by my predecessors, extending over a period of more than forty 
years, in substantial conformity with the views above expressed. 

In 1838, Hon. John A. Dix, then Superintendent of Common Schools, 
referring to a former decision in 1837, says: (Orders and Decisions, vol. 6, 
p. 391) — "I have heretofore decided that a teacher might open his school 
with prayer, provided lie did not encroach upon the hours allotted to in- 
struction ; and provided that the attendance of the scholars was not exacted 
as a matter of school discipline." This was a case in which the teacher was 



Schools. 621 

in the habit of attending at the school-house at fifteen minutes before nine 
in the morning (nine o'clock being the hour for opening the school), and 
devoting the intermediate time to religious exercises. 

In 1889, Superintendent John C. Spencer, having occasion to examine 
and pass upon the question (Orders and Decisions, vol. 8, p. 101), says: 
' ' Prayers cannot form any part of the school exercises or be regulated by 
the school discipline. If had at all they should be had before the hour of 
nine o'clock, the usual hour of commencing school in the morning, and after 
five in the afternoon. * ^ * Both parties have rights, and it is only by 
a mutual and reciprocal regard by each to the rights of the other, that peace 
can be maintained or a school can flourish. The teacher may assemble in 
his school-room before nine o'clock, the children of those parents who desire 
him to conduct religious exercises for them, and the children of those who 
object to the practice will be allowed to retire or absent themselves from the 
room. If they persist in remaining they must conduct themselves with 
decorum and propriety becoming the occasion. If they do not so conduct, 
they may be dealt with as intruders." 

On another occasion during the same year (Orders and Decisions, vol. 8, 
p. 87), he says: *' Neither the common school system, nor any other social 
system can be maintained, unless the conscientious views of all are respected. 
The simple rule, so to exercise your own rights as not to infringe on those 
of others, will preserve equal justice among all. promote harmony, and 
insure success to our schools.'' 

The principles laid down in these early decisions have been followed by 
every one of my predecessors in office, no distinction having been made 
between scripture reading and prayers, but each having been held in 
separate and distinct appeals, to constitute no legitimate part of the busi- 
ness of the public schools. They will be my guide and govern my action 
in all cases of like nature which may come officially before me. 

In the particular case now under consideration, with these principles in 
view and a disposition to carry them out fairly and to respect the rights 
and conscientious opinions of all, the board of education will, I think, 
have no difficulty in avoiding further contention and securing harmony in 
the school. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent, May 27, 1884. 



STUDIES IN. 

Advanced studies in the common schools. 

The appeal is brought from the action of the trustees excluding from the 
district school certain advanced studies. 

This department will neither insist upon, nor prohibit the introduction 
and the teaching of branches not usually taught in the common schools of 
the State, unless it is clearly shown that there is a great abuse of discretion 
in such matter, beheving that the teaching of such studies constitutes a 
matter that should be left to the discretion of the district, and one which 
the district, through the election of trustees, can effectually regulate. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, Decision No. 2979, May 27, 1880. 



622 Sectarian Schools. 



SECTARIAN SCHOOLS. 

In a contract leasing a school building from the trustees of St. Raphael's church, bj 
the board of education of a union free school district, the provision that three 
teachers from the class commonly called "sisters" shall be kept employed, is con- 
trary to the spirit of the school law and against public policy. 

The local school authorities have no right to limit the class of persons, who have 
reached the required standing of learning and ability to teach, from which the teachers 
of the school may be selected. 

This is a proceeding by Leander Colt, appealing from the action of the 
board of education of union free school district No. 7, in the village of 
Suspension Bridge, town of Niagara, county of Niagara, in making a lease 
of St. Raphael's Catholic school building, situated in said village, for the 
term of one year from November 10, 1885, and the making of covenants 
and agreements in said instrument of lease, by the said board of education, 
" with the trustees of the Roman Catholic school, wherein said board of 
education undertakes, in substance, to support a Roman Catholic school 
out of the school moneys appropriated to such free school district No. 7, 
or realized from school taxes levied upon the inhabitants of said district,'^ 

(Several grounds of appeal are stated.) 

It is unnecessary to review these grounds of appeal, further than to 
examine and ascertain the effect of the lease itself. It cannot, of course, be 
assumed that the board of education have no power to lease the premises 
belonging to a sectarian body for school purposes, for it must be presumed 
that when these i3remises come into the possession of the school authorities, 
the laws of the State, prohibiting sectarian instruction, will be observed. 
But this agreement, entered into by Felix Nassory and his associate trus- 
tees of the St. Raphael's school, together with the Right Reverend Bishop 
Ryan of the city of Buffalo, parties of the first part, and the board of edu- 
cation of union free school district No. 7, party of the second part, is open 
to this fatal objection : namely, the board of education agrees in said in- 
strument, during the term of the lease, to cause one of the schools of the 
district to be kept in operation in said school-house building, and to keep 
employed as teachers therein for such school, three competent teachers 
"of the class commonly called ' sisters,' provided such teachers shall make 
application in the due form to be so employed, and shall be found to be 
duly qualified according to law to act in the capacity of teachers, and 
should any of these teachers be withdrawn from the school, others may be 
employed in their stead ' of the same class,' provided, 'three such teachers 
of the class called sisters be so employed during the term of the lease.' " 
This provision is contrary to the spirit of the school law and against public 
policy. The board of education, doubtless, have a right to employ as 
teacher, any person of the requisite age an'd possessed of the qualifications 
recognized by the statute. But the local school authorities have no right 
to limit the class of persons, who have reached the required standing of 
learning and ability to teach, from whom the teachers for the school may- 
be selected. As this provision seems to be the controlling condition of the 
lease, the action of the board of education must be set aside. ^ Per James 
E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 8493, April 1, 1880. 



Sectarian Schools. ^^^ 

The board of education can lease a building for the purpose of maintaining a public 

school. 
The intention of the board to appoint as teachers none but members of a particular 

reUgious class known as " sisters," constitutes a discrimination or preference which 

is a violation of the fundamental law of the state. 
The wearing of an unusual garb, worn exclusively by members of one religious sect, 

for the purpose of indicating membership in that sect, by the teachers m a public 

school, constitutes a sectarian influence which ought not to be persisted in. 

The facts of the case are as follows : 

1. St. Raphael's Church, at Suspension Bridge, for several years prior to 
October, 1885, maintained and managed a private and sectarian school at 
its own expense. 

2. In October, 1885, the board of education of union free school district 
Ko. 7, of the village of Suspension Bridge, leased this school property at a 
nominal rental value, and has since maintained a school at public expense 
in said property. 

3. A written lease, dated November 10, 1885, was executed between the 
board and the trustees, in which, among other things, it was agreed that 
the board should maintain a public school in the property, and should keep 
continually employed in such school three teachers " of the class commonly 
known as ' sisters.' " This lease was, because of this provision, set aside 
upon an appeal to this department. On the 1st day of February, 1886, 
another written lease was executed between the parties, by which the 
property was leased to the board for five years at a nominal consideration. 

4. The school accommodations of district No. 7, other than the St. 
Raphael school property, were not suflacient for the convenience of the 
pupils of both schools. 

5. Since the St. Raphael school has been in charge of the public school 
authorities, it has been continually taught by tliree duly qualified and 
licensed teachers, who are members of the order of St. Joseph of the Roman 
Catholic church. Two teachers who served up to September, 1886, then 
resigned, and two others, who were members of the same order, were ap- 
pointed in their places. 

6. The teachers of the school wear in the school-room, and at all times, 
in common with all of the members of their order, black serge dresses, 
hanging loosely in folds about the person, white linen coronets and black 
veils fall down to the shoulders, and white linen caps. Tied about the 
waist is a black cord and tassels, to which are attached beads and a crucifix. 

7. The teachers are commonly known to the world and are uniformly 
addressed by the pupils by their Christian names, with the prefix of " Sis- 
ter;" as "Sister Martha," " Sister Mary, " etc. 

8. No question is raised as to the personal character or intellectual or 
practical qualifications of these teachers. Their high character and capa- 
bilities are conceded. 

9. The pupils attending the St. Raphael school are very generally, if not 
exclusively, of Roman Catholic parentage. 

10. There is some evidence that the authorities of the Roman Catholic 
church seek to have the members of that church send their children to this 
particular school, but the fact is not established. 

11. It is shown that there are no religious ceremonies or exercises held 
in the school during school hours. 

Upon this state of facts the appellant asks to have the action of the re- 
spondent in taking the St. Raphael school under its maintenance and super- 
vision, and in refusing to discontinue the same upon demand, set aside and 
overruled. 

It is the duty of the people of every school district to provide public 



624 Secta^rfan Schools. 

school accommodations for all the children of school age in the district, 
desiring to attend the public schools. When application was made to the 
respondent in this case to take the St. Raphael school under its charge, it 
was bound to take the children of that school into the public school of the 
district, if there were accommodations for them there, and if not, it was 
bound to go to the extent of its lawful authority to provide accommoda- 
tions for them. The statutes confer authority upon boards of education, 
or trustees, to lease property for school purposes, and as the fact appears 
that there were not accommodations for the children of the St. Raphael 
school in the district school-house, the board seems to have acted within 
its lawful authority in entering into the lease for the St. Raphael school 
jDroperty. It is impossible to see any reason why the taking of that par- 
ticular property and the maintenance of a school in it was not a proper 
exercise of the lawful authority of the board. If the owners of the prop- 
erty found themselves unable or unwilling to continue their school at their 
own expense, and were desirous of leasing the property to the board at a 
nominal rent, upon condition that the board would maintain a public 
school therein, I see no objection to the arrangement. 

But the school which the board maintains in this property must be in all 
regards a 2^ublic school. Being supported by general taxation, it must be 
absolutely free from all things not essential to the j)urpose for which it is 
maintained, viz. : the general education of its pupils. All must have equal 
and common rights in it. There must be no discrimination in favor of or 
against anyone. Nothing must be done in it or about it to which any in- 
terested person can reasonably or properly object, and most surely must 
this be so concerning matters which the peojDle hold so sacred as their 
religious faith and opinions. 

The appellant here particularly objects to the appointment of all the 
teachers in the school from one religious denomination and from one class 
of persons within that denomination, and to the fact that these teachers 
wear, at all times, clothing which distinguishes them everywhere, as mem- 
bers of their particular sect or order, as well as to the fact that these teach- 
ers are known to the pupils and are usually addressed in school, not by 
their family names, but by names assumed by them in the religious order of 
which they are members. 

A board of education has no right to discriminate m favor of any relig- 
ious denomination in the appointment of teachers. Inasmuch as the board 
assumed charge of and continued a school previously in existence, it ought 
not to be considered reprehensible to have continued the teachers pre- 
viously employed there, even though they were all of one religious order, 
provided they were properly qualified, as is undisputed in this case. But 
three facts appear in this connection : (a) In a written lease of the St. 
Raphael school property entered into between the board and the church 
trustees, prior to the execution of the lease now in force and held to be 
void by my predecessor in office (Superintendent James E. Morrison), it was 
agreed that the board should continually keep employed in this school 
three teachers " of the class-commonly known as ' sisters.' " (b) The three 
teachers first employed were representatives of this class, and the teachers 
of the school have been exclusively confined to this class, (c) During the 
time the school has been under the charge of the board, two of the teachers 
have resigned and their places have been filled by two others of the same 
class. These facts taken together must be held to indicate a purpose on 
the part of the board to .discriminate in the employment of teachers in 
favor of this particular class. The purpose to discriminate would not be 
so manifest if these teachers had all held a common religious faith and 



School Commissioners. 625 

nothing more. That would be found to be true in many other schools, I 
apprehend. But when the facts above suggested are taken in connection 
with the " class known as 'sisters ' " is not a numerous class, it is impossible 
to arrive at any other conclusion than that the board has intended to appoint 
none but the members of this particular class of persons, This constitutes 
a discrimination or preference which is in violation of the fundamental law 
of the State. 

I liave given the question raised in relation to the dress of the teachers 
and the names by which they are known among the pupils very full con- 
sideration, and have arrived at the conclusion that the wearing of an 
unusual garb, worn exclusively by members of one religious sect and for 
the purpose of indicating membership in that sect by the teachers in a pub- 
lic school, constitutes a sectarian influence, which ought not to be per- 
sisted in. The same may be said of the pupils addressing the teachers as 
*' Sister Mary," " Sister Martha," etc. The conclusion is irresistible that 
these things may constitute a much stronger sectarian or denominational 
influence over the minds of children than the repetition of the Lord's 
prayer or the reading of the scriptures at the opening of the schools, and 
yet these things have been prohibited, whenever objection has been offered, 
by the rulings of this department from the earliest days, because of the 
purpose enshrined in the hearts of the people and embedded in the funda- 
mental law of the State, that the public school system shall be kept alto- 
gether free from matters not essential to its primary purpose and dangerous 
to its harmony and efficiency. 

In view of the conclusions which I have reached, I am compelled to 
deny the application of the appellant that the school shall be abandoned, 
but to direct that the respondent require that the teachers shall discon- 
tinue the use, in the school room, of the distinguishing dress of the relig- 
ious order to which they belong, and shall cause the pupils to address them 
by their family names with the prefix of " Miss '' as teachers are ordinarily 
addressed. 

It is ordered, that the board of education take action for the pur- 
pose of carrying the above direction into effect within fifteen days from 
the date hereof, and that the direction be fully complied with within 
thirty days from said date. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3520, March 24, 1887. 



SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS. 

A school commissioner has no power to adjudicate upon the validity of an order made 

by his predecessor. 

On an appeal from an order made by a school commissioner, annulling 
the proceedings by which certain territory was organized into a school dis- 
trict, it was held, that the declaration of his opinion, however coriect, as 
to the validity of an act by his predecessor, has no greater force than that 
of any other citizen. Per. V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 7, 1857. 

Superintendents must have evidence of the appointment of a school commissioner 
before he can receive bis salary. 

Before the Superintendent can certify to the State treasurer, that A. is 
a school commissioner, he must have some evidence of his appointment. 
He should have the order of the county judge appointing him filed m the 

79 



626 School Commissioners. 

office of the county clerk of the county, and a certificate of that fact for- 
warded by the county clerk to the secretary of State and the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, March 29, 1866. 

There is no law requiring a school commissioner to be a resident of the 
district which elects him. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, October 19, 
1865. 

A school commissioner has no power to declare illegal a meeting held to decide upon 
the formatiou of a union free school district, and to authorize another meeting. 

It appears from the testimony submitted in this case, that a special meet- 
ing was duly called and held in said district about the 10th of November, 
1866, for the purpose of deciding whether a union free school should be 
established therein. The vote on the question was taken by ballot: twenty- 
six votes were cast, of which seventeen were in favor of organizing such 
free school, and nine against the same. The proposition, not having received 
the assent of two-thirds of the legal voters present and voting, was declared 
lost. Subsequently, by order of the school commissioner of the second 
district of Chautauqua county, another special meeting was held on the 
29th of December, 1866, said commissioner having decided that the meet- 
ing held on the 10th of ISTovember, as aforesaid, was void on account of 
certain irregularities specified by him. This second meeting also proceeded 
to ballot on the question of organizing a free school in said district; six- 
teen ballots were cast which had written on them " For Union Free 
School," and ten were cast which had written on them, "Against." In 
counting the ballots, the chairman rejected all those having written on 
them the word "Against," and declared the vote in favor of a union free 
school unanimous. All those who deposited the ballots on which were 
written the word "Against," make affidavit that they are legally entitled 
to vote at school district meetings in said district, and that by the word 
"Against," they intended against a union free school. 

All the proceedings in the matter of organizing a union free school in 
this district since the meeting held on the 10th of November, as aforesaid, 
are void. In the first place the school commissioner had no jurisdiction to 
pronounce the proceedings of that meeting void, nor to order another special 
meeting to be held for the purpose of voting upon the question decided at 
that meeting. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is the only school 
officer authorized, by law, to assume jurisdiction over that class of questions. 
But, even if the second meeting had been legally held, I should still be 
obliged to decide that the motion to organize a free school in said district 
was lost, because less than two-thirds of those present and voting cast their 
ballots in favor of such proposition. The appeal is hereby sustained, and 
the proceedings of the meeting held in said district, December 29, 1866, 
are pronounced void. Per V. M. Rice. Superintendent, March 11, 1867. 

The indorsement by a school commissioner, without examining the teacher holding the 
same, of a certificate granted by another commissioner, will not, of necessity, be 
declax-ed a nullity. 

A teacher holding the certificate of a school commissioner in Wayne 
county, granted October 18, 1871, for one year, procured an indorsement of 
the same l)y a school commissioner in Cayuga county, good for one year 
from October 28, 1871. An appeal was brought by certain inhabitants of 
the district in which the said teacher was employed, asking that such 



School Commissioner Districts. - 627 

indorsement be declared null and void, upon the ground that the same was 
made without a personal examination of the teacher. No question appears 
to be made of the entire competence of the teacher. The Superintendent 
says : 

"While it would have been more strictly in accordance with the require- 
ments of the statute for the commissioner to have re-examined the teacher, 
yet his having acted upon the examination of another commissioner is not 
such an objection to his own certificate as to make it imperatively necessary, 
under the circumstances of this case, to regard it as a nullity." Per A. B. 
Weaver, Superintendent, March 17, 1872. 

School commissioner cannot properly discharge his official duties, and at the same time 
engage or continue in the business of teaching after the commencement of his official 
term. 

The question presented for my decision in this case is, whether, under 
the law as it now stands, the respondent (school commissioner) has been 
guilty of such neglect or violation of duty as renders him answerable to 
either penalty prescribed by the statute. It is clearly established that he 
neglected the performance of the duties of his office by teaching schocl for 
a considerable time after the commencement of his official term. In so 
doing, I am satisfied that the commissioner has persistently neglected to 
perform his duties, and that the case is one in which the Superintendent 
should withhold his order for the payment of that part of the commission- 
er's salary which would otherwise have been due for the quarter during 
which the delinquency occurred. Order, withholding the payment of salary, 
accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 6, 1873. 

Order issued forfeiting a quarter's salary of a school commissioner for 
neglect of duty in not complying with instructions of the department to 
make his report to the Superintendent in seasonable tinre, and in failing to 
show sufficient cause for such neglect. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
March 31, 1874. 



SCHOOL COMMISSIONER DISTEICTS. 

ALTERATIONS OF BY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. 

There is nothing in the statute conferring the authority upon boards of supervisors to 
divide their county into school commissioner districts, which prescribes the time 
when such acts shall go into operation. It must be assumed that the act is operative 
at once, unless it is specially provided that it shall not be, and unless a time is speci- 
fied when it shall become so. 

A de facto officer must have some color of right and title to exercise the functions of 
an officer. 

A commissioner cannot be considered a de. facto officer so as to have the power to alter 
the school districts of a town that had been taken out of his commissioner district by 
the board of supervisors. 

The school commissioner of the second district of Westchester county 
made an order on the 27th day of July, 1886, which order was confirmed 
on the 20th of August, 1886, changing school district No, 2 of the town of 
Mamaroneck by detaching a portion of said district and annexing the same 
to school district No. 1 in said town. The appeal from such order is brought 
on behalf of the board of education of school district No. 2, and in support 
thereof it is set up that the commissioner had no power to make the orders 



628 School Commissioner Districts. 

appealed from, because the town of Mamaroneck was not in his commis- 
sioner district at the time the order was made. 

It seems that the town of Mamaroneck has, prior to the 22d day of Janu- 
ary, 1886, been in the second commissioner district of Westchester county. 

On that day the board of supervisors of the county adopted a resolution 
rearranging the commissioner districts of tne county, and placing the town 
of Mamaroneck in the first district. This case must turn upon the time 
when such resolution of the board of supervisors went into operation. 

Commissioner Lockwood, in his answer to the appeal, says that the action 
of the board of supervisors was taken at the request of the school commis- 
sioners of the county; that they requested that it should take effect at the 
beginning of the next school year, and that it was commonly understood 
both at the time of the adoption of the resolution and since, that the action 
was not to go into operation until that time. The resolution in question 
reads thus: ^^ Resolved, That the first school commissioner district shall 
hereafter be composed of the following towns, viz. : Rye, Scarsdale, Mama- 
roneck, New Rochelle," etc. There is nothing in the statute conferring 
the authority upon boards of supervisors to divide their county into school 
commissioner districts, which prescribes the time when such acts shall go 
into operation. They can do so at any moment. It must be assumed that 
the action is operative at once, unless it is specially provided that it shall 
not be, and unless a time is specified when it shall become so. > The official 
record is the best evidence of the intent of a legislative body. If we were 
to set up any other standard we should be precipitated into endless confu- 
sion. In the present case the board resolved that " hereafter " the town of 
Mamaroneck should be in the first commissioner district. This must be 
held to mean from the moment of the adoption of the resolution, and that 
consequently the town of Mamaroneck was not in the district of the com- 
missioner making the order appealed from, at the time it was made. 

The commissioner also answers, that although it be held that the resolu- 
tion of the board of supervisors went into effect as soon as it was adopted, 
still his order should be upheld because the general understanding was 
otherwise, and because he exercised, and was recognized as possessing 
jurisdiction over the town of Mamaroneck at the time of making the order. 
I fail to see any force in this suggestion. The rule of law which upholds 
the acts of de Jacto officers, cannot be successfully invoked in this case. 
T!ie commissioner was not a de fado officer as to the town of^ Mamaroneck 
at the time of making the order. A d.e facto officer must have some color 
of right and title to exercise the functions of an officer. He must have 
some legal status which all not only do recognize, but are compelled to 
recognize, until it is overthrown. 

The commissioner cannot be said to have occupied that position in this 
case. As to the districts affected by his order he was an officer neither in 
law nor in fact. It is immaterial whether any one objected or not; no one 
was bound to object. 

Appeal sustained and orders appealed from set aside. Per A. S. Draper, 
Superintendent. Appeal.No. 3533, September 21, 1886. 



SCBOOL-HOUSES. 629 

SCHOOL-HOUSES. 

CONDEMNATION OF. 

The power vested in the school commissioner and supervisor to condemn a district 
school -house and order a new one to be built, will not be interfered with by the 
Superintendent, except upon grounds showing an abuse of discretion. 

The appellants claim that the coDdemned school-house can be repaired 
so as to be comfortable, for the sum of $200. They also complain of the 
order in question, upon the ground of the poverty and weakness of the dis- 
trict. No direct testimony as to the condition of tlie house is submitted, 
only general statements. 

The objections raised by the appellants seem to me to be not pertinent. 
The law has clothed the school commissioner and supervisor with certain 
powers in the matter of condemning school-houses, without reference to 
the wealth or poverty of the districts affected, and it is not for me, what- 
ever may be my opinion as to the wisdom of such a provision, to say that 
the power thus conferred sjiall not be exercised. I cannot pass upon the 
matter, as though I had original jurisdiction, and say what I might have 
done had a similar case been presented to me. This case as submitted does 
not in my judgment present sufficient grounds upon which to overrule the 
action of those officers. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 9, 1868. 

Where an order of condemnation is clearly shown to have been unnecessary, it will 

be vacated. 

Appeal from an order by the commissioner and supervisor condemning 
the school-house in district No. 7, Catskill. Testimony submitted satisfac- 
torily shows that the school-house can be repaired and made ample in size 
and every way convenient and suitable, as a school-house that will answer 
the purposes of the district. This claim is supported by a formal certifi- 
cate of the commissioner who made the order in question, in which he 
expresses the same opinion. It is further alleged that these repairs can be 
made for one-half the sum stated in the order to be necessary to build a new 
house. The Superintendent says : "The power to condemn the school-house 
of a district is an extreme one and should be exercised only with great care 
that the rights of the inhabitants be not infringed. In cases where the tes- 
timony might raise some doubt in my mind as to the propriety of the action 
of the proper officers in the exercise of that power, I would still refrain from 
interfering with their proceedings, and rely on their personal examination in 
forming my own conclusion. But where it is clear, as in the present case, 
that the condemnation was unnecessary, and that the order, if sustained, 
would be a hardship, I cannot hesitate in causing it to be vacated." Order 
vacated accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 3, 1869. 

A similar case disposed of in the same way. Per A. B. Weaver, Super- 
intendent, May 5, 1869. 

An order condemning a school-house will be set aside only upon evidence clearly 
showing an abuse of the discretion conferred by law. 

Appeal from an order of the school commissioner and supervisor in con- 
demning the school-house in district No. 7, etc. Although the testimony 
in reference to the condition of the school-house is conflicting, the weight 
of the evidence is decidedly on the side of the respondents in their claim 
that the building is not worth repairing. The power of condemning dis- 
trict school-houses is one which, in my judgment, the law has wisely 



630 School-Houses. 

intrusted to local officers, who, from their proximity, possess desirable 
facilities for making an inspection of school buildings. These officers have 
also been clotlied by the law with a large discretion in the matter, and it is 
one in which I have no original jurisdiction. On an appeal from the con- 
demnation of a school-house in any particular case, I have only to decide 
from the evidence submitted whether there has been an abuse of discretion 
in the matter. In the present case no such abuse of discretion is shown. 
Per. A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, October 19, 1869. 

Order of condemnation vacated where it does not conform to the requirements of the 

statute. 

An order condemning a school-house recited as grounds for such con- 
demnation, 1. " Most of the windows and benches have been destroyed," 
2. "The house is so small it is impossible to replace the seats so that all 
of the children that attend school may be accommodated." 

The order is defective on its face. There was no authority in the respond- 
ents to condemn the house for the reasons assigned by them. These as 
defined by the statute are only, "if they deem it wholly unfit for use and 
not worth repairing.'" 

It can hardly be contended that any school-house could be so considered, 
because "most of the wmdow^s and benches have been destroyed.'' The 
alleged fact that the house is too small to accommodate all the children 
that attend school may be a good reason for enlarging it, but does not 
bring the school-house within the provisions of the law authorizing its 
c'ondemnation. The power to condemn school-houses is a very extreme one, 
and its exercise can only be sustained in a case clearly justifying it, and for 
which adequate reasons must be stated in the order of condemnation itself. 
This, in my judgment, is not such a case. Order of condemnation vacated 
and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 9, 1870. 

Same ruling m a later case. 

This is an appeal from an order condemning the school-house in district 
No. 3, Phillipstown, the sole ground for which is stated in said order to be 
that the school-house is inadequate in capacity for the large number of 
pupils instructed therein. 

The only authority given to a school commissioner in concurrence with 
the supervisor of the town in which a school-house is situated, to condemn 
such building, is found in section 13, title 2 of the General School Act, and 
by that section the power of condemnation is limited to cases where these 
officers, for reasons to be recited by them in their order, deem the school- 
house "wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing." As the condemna- 
tion in this case is not based upon the ground prescribed by the statute, 
the order was, for that reason, entirely -unauthorized and is therefore 
vacated. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, December 21, 1874. 

POWER OB TRUSTEES CONCERNING. 

Trustees have no power to lease the school-house or any part thereof in a manner to 
deprive themselves ot its control. 

The board ot education of union free school district No. 1, Windsor, 
adopted the following resolution. ' Resolved, that one of the rooms m 
the district school-house be rented to the Free Masons for five years for 
then exclusive use for the sum of $60 per annum.'' 

Held^ that the trustees (or board of education) have no power to lease 



School-Houses. 631 

the district school-house, or an}' part thereof, and thereby place the same 
for the term of the lease beyond their control. The action of the trustees 
declared null and void, and set aside accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, May 12, 1869. 

Trustee has no power under the law, without a vote of the district, to remove the 

school-house from one part of the site to another. 
But such contract may be legally ratitied by a district meeting subsequently. 

As the trustee is clothed by law with no authority, simply by right of his 
office, to move the school- house of the district from one place on the site to 
another place thereon, the action of the trustee to that effect, taken with- 
out any authority or direction of the meeting of the district, was illegal, 
and the contract made by him for that purpose with one Scott is not bind- 
ing on the district. Per i^I'eil Gilmour, Superintendent, November 9, 1875. 

On an appeal subsequently brouglit from the same district, it was hela 
that a district meeting might legally vote to ratify such contract made by 
the trustee. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, January 19, 1876. 

Trustees have no right to sell the old school-house when a new one has been built 
without special authority from the district. 

The power to direct a sale of the old house or site is vested only in the 
inhabitants, lawfully assembled at a district meeting. No such authority 
was conferred upon the trustees. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
February 23, 1858. 

Where thereis no school-house in the district, and the trustees have hired a house for 
school purposes, the district is bound to pay the rent whether a school is taught or 
not. 

Where a teacher is employed who has no license the school thus taught becomes a 
private school. 

The district is not bound to pay for fuel used m such school. 

On an appeal from certain acts of the trustees, it appears that the district 
is destitute of a school-house, and that the trustees hired a house in which 
to have the school taught, and also that they hired and continued in then 
employ a teacher of the district school, one who had no legal license or 
certificate of qualification from the proper officer. 

The fact that the teacher engaged had no legal license renders the school, 
during the period which he taught, a private school. 

The trustees have made out a tax list for the rent of the house, and for 
fuel purchased for use of the school. There appears to me to be a distinc- 
tion between the two objects for which this tax is levied. The contract to 
pay rent for the house was valid and bindingupon the district in any event, 
whether the house should be occupied or left vacant. 

The expenses of tne school, however, are different things; in purchasing- 
fuel for a school in which they had employed an unqualified teacher, they 
were not acting for the district, but upon their own individual responsibility. 
They were acting only as self-constituted agents of a voluntary association 
of individuals engaged in sustaining a private school. I shall not sanction 
the enforcement of taxes for the support of private schools — that is, of 
schools taught by a teacher without the legal qualifications. The negli- 
gence of teachers to provide themselves in season with proper certificates, 
and the indifference of trustees to this neglect, are abuses which it is im- 
portant to check. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 19, 1859. 



632 SceooL-HoDSES. 

Trustees, under certain circumstances, will be sustained in having the school at another 
place than the school-house. 

On an appeal from the action of the trustees in having the school taught 
at another place than the school-house, it is alleged that the school-house 
can be made comfortable and convenient for school purposes for the sum 
of money which the trustees are authorized to raise for that purpose, and 
also that the place selected by the trustees for the school is unsuited to 
that purpose, and is inconvenient of access for a large number of pupils. 

The trustees deny that the school-house can be made comfortable for the 
sum authorized to be raised; that the place where the school is at present 
taught is commodious and comfortable, and accessible to as large a number 
of the children as is the school-liouse. 

The evidence relative to the actual condition of the school-house is not 
very conclusive on either side. The common presumption of law that the 
trustees have acted within the scope of a just and legitimate discretion must 
therefore prevail. If the inhabitants M'ill not vote a sufficient sum to repair 
a school-house that has been built for tliirty years, they will hardly command 
the sympathy of the department, even though, in consequence of such parsi- 
mony, they are compelled to send two and a half miles to school. Per H. 
H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 3, 1860. 

A new buildinoj erected for a district must be accepted by the trustees before it can be 

regarded as the legal school-house of a district. 
When a district has two school-houses, the trustees may call the annual meeting to 

assemble at either of them, unless one of them has been designated at a previous 

annual meeting as the place of assemblage. 

The troubles in this district commenced in May, 1864, when the old school- 
house burned down, and have continued without intermission down to the 
present time. The record of the actions and proceedings of the contending 
parties, the one headed by the appellant and the other by the respondent 
herein, shows that neither party has acted in a temperate or forbearing man- 
ner, but, on the contrary, that each party has been ready to take undue 
advantage of the other, and that the object for which the district was 
organized has been of minor importance in the eyes of the contending 
parties. The record is one of continued "sharp practice," the advantage 
being first with one side, then with tlie other. This department has, on 
various occasions, sought to act as mediator between the contending parties, 
and has suggested various plans of settlement, with a view of restoring 
haimony to the district, all of which have been rejected, each party insist- 
ing upon the full measure of tlieir legal rights and refusing to compromise 
for any thing less. Thus, Hill, when trustee of the district and before the 
new school-house was built, refused to call a special meeting for the pur- 
pose of changing the site of the school-house, although it was a well-known 
fact that a majority o( the voters were in favor of such change, and desired 
a meeting to be held for that purpose. Again, when a special meeting had 
been called by Hill for the purpose of voting a tax to build on the old site, 
the meeting met at precisely the hour for which it was called, all the Hill 
party being present by private understanding, and, without waiting a 
moment for the arrival of other voters, organized the meeting, voted a tax 
of $1,000 to build on the old site, and adjourned in less than half an hour. 
Now, it had been the custom lo that district, as it is in many others, not to 
organize district meetings till the expiration of one hour from the time for 
which such meeting had been called. 

Relying upon this custom, Mr. Collins and his party, composing, as afore- 
said, a majority of the legal voters of the district, and all of them opposed 



School-Houses. 633 

to building on the old site, did not arrive at the place of meeting till nearly 
an hour after the time for which the meeting had been called. They then 
found, to their great astonishment and indignation, that the meeting had 
tiansacted its business and adjourned. In this way a tax was voted, and 
subsequently collected, against the wishes of a majority of the legal voters 
of the district. The practice was sharp, but it was perfectly legal, and as 
the Hill party insisted upon receiving the full benefit of the advantage thus 
gained, the department had no choice but to sustain them. In October, 
1865, Collins was chosen trustee of the district, and, not to be outdone of 
sharpness, the Collins party passed resolutions directing tne calling of 
special meetings by posting one written notice in the post-office at Fisher's 
Station, instead of by personal notice, thus practically putting the Hill party 
beyond the reach of notice of such meetings. The trustee, also, exercising 
a discretion which the law had reposed in him, refused to accept the new 
school house, alleging that it was not built according to contract, but hired 
other rooms in a rough building near Fisher's Station, and opened and main- 
tained school therem. This was also "sharp practice ; " but upon an appeal 
being brought from Collins' action m refusing to open school in the new 
house, and in maintaining a school in the building near Fisher's, known as 
the '"Shanty," and in applying the public money to the support of said 
school, the department was obliged to hold that the trustee was only exer- 
cismg a power which the law had vested in him, and that, until he liad 
accepted the school-house, or had been ordered to do so by some competent 
authority, he had power to hire other rooms temporarily, and to open and 
maintain school therein. This decision was rendered May 22, 1866, and the 
facts in regard to acceptance have not since been changed nor altered. The 
annual meeting of this district in 1865, at which George S. Collins was 
elected trustee, was held in the "new school-house" then not completed by 
the contractor, and was adjourned to be held at the "school-house" one 
year from that time. Some time about the 1st of October, 1866, Collins 
caused four notices to be posted in conspicuous places in the district, stat- 
ing that the annual meeting would be held on the 9th of October, 1866, at 
six o'clock p. M., railroad time, at the school-house where the school had 
been kept during the past year. In accordance with this notice, thirty 
voters of the district met at the time and place specified in said notice, 
organized and proceeded to elect district officers, and to transact other busi- 
ness. George S. Collins was unanimously chosen trustee for the ensuing 
year. After completing its business, the meeting adjourned. 

Meanwhile, twenty- five of the legal voters of the district met at the '' new 
school-house " on the evening of the 9th of October, 1866, organized by the 
election of chairman and clerk, and proceeded to elect district officers and 
to vote district taxes, amounting m the aggregate to about $2,000. Jerome 
Hill, the respondent herein, was unanimously designated by this meeting as 
the trustee of the district for the ensuing year. Hill immediately issued a 
tax list for the collection of the taxes voted by the meeting which elected 
him trustee, and placed the same, with his warrant, in the hands of a person 
whom he had appointed collector in the place of one elected by said meet- 
ing, but who had resigned, and this person, Briggs by name, proceeded to 
enforce collection of said tax list, in certain cases levying on and selling 
property to satisfy the same. To determine who is the legal trustee of the 
district, Collins has brought this appeal, complaining of the actions of said 
Hill and Briggs, and alleging that they are not legal officers of the district. 
He asks that the proceedings of the meeting held at the "new school-house," 
as aforesaid, on the 9th of October, 1866, be set aside and declared void as 
a school meeting. 

80 . 



634 School-Houses. 

The main question in this matter is, ''Where is the district school-house?" 
If that building herein designated as the '* new school-house " be in reality 
the school-house of the district, and the only school-house of the district, 
then the appellant had no power to direct that the annual meeting should 
be held in another place. But if such building be not the district school- 
house, or if the district possesses another building which has been more 
generally used for school purposes, then the meeting held in the aforesaid 
'•new school-house " was not the legal district meeting. 

Now, a building erected for a district school-house in pursuance of con- 
tract must be accepted by some competent authority, either openly or by 
implication, before it in fact becomes the school-house of the district. This 
point was clearly established in the decision before referred to, rendered 
May 22, 1866. If the trustee had taken possession of the house, and opened 
and maintained school therein, that would have amounted to an acceptance. 
But the well known facts in this case are, that the trustee has all along 
refused to accept this house from the contractor, or to open school therein, 
alleging that it has not been completed according to contract. Whether 
his allegation be true or untrue can make no difference with the facts in this 
case, since his refusal to accept the house is only the exercise of a discretion 
which the law has reposed in him as trustee. The respondent cannot claim 
to be ignorant of this holding, since the precise point was established in the 
decision of May 22, 1866, on an appeal brought by himself against Collins as 
trustee. If, as is claimed by the respondent, Collins has willfully and wrong- 
fully refused to accept the house, the remedy is plain; the respondent can, 
either by a suit commenced in the courts, or by an appeal brought to this 
department, compel the trustee to accept the house. But he cannot set 
himself up as the judge to decide the question of acceptance. He cannot 
proceed upon the assumption that the official acts of Mr. Collins are void. 
Again, admitting, for the sake of argument, that the house which has never 
been accepted by the trustee is in fact a district school-house, the trustee 
would still have power, under section 50, title 7, if he deemed it necessary 
for the due accommodation of the children of the district, to hire rooms 
temporarily and to open and maintain school therein. The rooms thus tem- 
porarily hired would be, for the time being, one of the school-houses of the 
district, and the trustee would have full power, under section 9 of title 7 of 
the said school act, to designate such school-house as the place where the 
annual meeting should be held. Take whichever of these two views we may, 
it follows, as a logical deduction, that the meeting held in the building 
which for the last year has been used as the district school-house was the 
legal annual meeting of the district; and, as but one annual meeting can be 
held in the same year, it also follows, that the proceedings of the meeting 
held October 9, 1866. in the building herein designated as the new school- 
house, and at which Jerome Hill was elected trustee of said district, were 
void, and of no force or effect whatever as an annual meeting. Another 
thing is to be borne in mind : the meeting at which Collins was elected 
trustee was held pursuant, not only to adjournment, but to the notice 
required by law. Four written notices of the time and place when and 
where such meeting would be held, signed by the district clerk, were posted 
in conspicuous places in the district seven days before the time for holding 
such meeting. This shows that the appellant designed to take no advant- 
age of the respondent or his part3% and that the meeting was not intended 
to be a surprise to any voter. The meeting held in the "new school-house," 
on the contrary, convened not only without notice, but in opposition to 
regular official notification. Now, although an annual meeting may be con- 
vened without notice and no imputation of bad faith attach to it, an annual 



SCHOOL-HODSES. 635 

meeting convened not only without notice but in opposition to official 
notice can have but one purpose — to act as a surprise, and to try to effect 
by trick that which could not be effected upon open trial. 

The summary of the whole is this : Tlie meeting at the temporary school- 
house was held pursuant to official notice, in a building which had pre- 
viously been recognized by this department as a school-house of the dis- 
trict, and was attended by a majority of all the legal voters of the district. 
That meeting unanimously elected George S. Collins trustee of said dis- 
trict for the ensuing year. It is, therefore, hereby decided that the pro- 
ceedings of said meeting were legal, regular and binding, as the proceedings 
of the annual school meeting of the district; that George S. Collins is the 
legal and sole trustee of said district for the year ending the second Tues- 
day of October, 1867; that the persons respectively chosen at said meeting 
to fill the offices of district clerk, district collector and librarian were 
legally chosen, and are entitled to perform the duties of said officers ; and 
that the collection of taxes for school purposes voted at said meeting may 
be legally enforced. 

It is also hereby decided that the proceedings of the meeting held in the 
"new school-house," on the ninth day of October, 1866, at which Jerome 
Hill was elected trustee, were void, and of no force or effect as an annual 
school meeting. Per Y. M. Rice, February 13, 1867. 

Trustee must receive authority from district to act in relation to matters pertaining to 
the erection of a new school-house. 

Designating a location, plans and specifications for a new school -house is 
a matter which the law intrusts not to the trustee, but to the district. The 
trustee must carry out the directions of the district. A trustee cannot 
contract for the building of a school-house before he is authorized to do so 
by the district, and when he does enter into a contract before such author- ! 
ization the contractor proceeds at his peril. The trustee has no right to 
set up his own views against the deliberate action of the district in a mat- 
ter which the law intrusts not to him but to the district. Per Neil Gil- 
mour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3074, March 9, 1881. 

REPAIRS. 

Where a district has voted to make certain repairs to the school-house at a certain 
expense, and these repairs have been made under the direction of one trustee, the 
other trustees will be required to unite in making out a tax and warrant for the 
expenses thus incurred, to the amount voted. 

At a district meeting it was resolved to repair the school-house, and a 
committee was appointed to report in regard to the plan for repairing, and 
the necessary expense. Their report set forth what repairs were expedient 
and stated that they could be effected by raising the sum of $20. This 
report was adopted by a vote of thirteen to six, and the repairs were made 
under the direction of one trustee and the committee before mentioned, 
without the consent or approval of the other two trustees, and they refuse 
to unite in making out a tax list for the amount thus expended. 

Held^ that the direction of the voters to repair the school-house, and fix- 
ing the extent and cost of the repairs at $20, was equivalent to voting that 
sum, and the trustees have no excuse for refusing to make out a tax list 
therefor. The error of the trustees consists in their assuming to judge of 
the expediency of the repairs. This was settled by the district, and the 
trustees are bound to acquiesce in and execute its will. Per H. H. Yan 
Dyck, Superintendent, July 17, 1857. 



636 School-Houses. 

Repairs in the way of removing a desk and substituting a table approved as necessary. 

On appeal from a tax list made out by the trustee, the complaint is 
that the trustee has, without authority, removed a desk from the school- 
room, aud provided in its place a table and chair. I infer that the appel- 
lants have little idea of the conveniences and necessities of school-room fur- 
niture. If they had, they would never object to any reasonable expense 
incurred in substituting a table and chair for a desk and bench. But, 
aside from the convenience to the teacher which is thus promoted, it is in 
evidence that the room thus occupied by this cumbrous, unseemly and 
awkward desk was absolutely needed for class exercises — there being no 
place where pupils in class could be accommodated without exposure to 
the burning heat of the stove. Under these circumstances, I cannot but 
regard the alteration as comprised under the head of " necessary repairs," 
for which the trustee is authorized to levy a tax not exceeding $10. Per 
H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, April 16, 1861. 

Trustees may make any repairs on school-house, pursuant to the direction of school 

commissioner. 

Section 50 of title 7 of the Consolidated School Act of 1864 declares: 
"They," the trustees, "may make any repairs pursuant to the direction of 
the school commissioner." Should a school meeting pass a resolution as 
follows, viz. : "Resolved, that the trustees be directed to repair the school- 
house aud make it comfortable for school purposes," I should think it ad- 
visable and safest thereupon, before making any very extensive repairs, to 
procure the direction of your school commissioner, specifying what repairs 
are to be made. 

In his order directing the trustees to make the repairs, he would do well 
to commence with a preamble, setting forth that, whereas the inhabitants 

of school district No. — , of the town of , did, at a school 

meeting legally called and held at the school-house in said district on 

the day of October, 1865, j^ass the following resolutions, viz. (give 

the resolutions), aud whereas the trustees of said district, viz. (giving their 
names), have requested me to designate such repairs as it shall deem 
proper to be made, pursuant to the resolution, and to a direction given by 
me for making repairs, as provided by section 50 of title 7, of the Con- 
solidated School Act of 1864, now, therefore, etc. (ordering specifically the 
repairs to be made). The commissioner cannot authorize the trustees to 
build anew, but merely to repair what has been formerly built or constructed. 
Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent of Public Instruction, October 27, 1865. 



Action by a district meeting voting to repair a school-house condemned by order of 
the school commissioner and supervisor, invalid; also, like action to rebuild for 
$250 where the order aforesaid, has named §600 as a requisite sum for the purpose. 

By an order of the school commissioner and supervisor, the school-house 
in district No. 6, Andover and Scio, was condemned as unfit for use, and 
the sum of $600 was declared necessary to erect a suitable house for said 
district. 

At a special school meeting held after the issuing of said order, it was 
resolved that $250 be raised to rebuild the old school-house on the same 
site, etc. At a subsequent meeting it was resolved to rebuild the school- 
house according to certain specifications submitted and adopted. From 
these it clearly appears that the old building was to be repaired, not a new 
one erected. This proceeding was unauthorized, as under the order of con- 



School-Houses. 637 

demnation it was beyond the power of the district to repair the house. If 
the action of the meeting was intended not for repairs, but for the purpose 
of putting up a new school-house in place of the old one, it was illegal in 
appropriating but S250 for the purpose, as it was out of the power of the 
district to reduce the estimate of the commissioner and supervisor by more 
than twenty-five per cent thereof. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
October 29, 1868. 

Trustees have no power to levy a tax to repair a condemned school-house. 

Trustees of school districts have no authority to levy a tax for repairs to 
a school-house when once condemned by the proper officers in accordance 
with the statute as "wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing." The 
tax in question, so far as it relates to the condemned building, was therefore 
illegally levied, and the tax list and warrant for its collection must be and 
are hereby vacated and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
March 21, 1871. 

Vote to build rescinds former vote to repair. 

The action of an annual meeting in voting to build a new school -house 
rescinds the action of a former special meeting, which voted to repair the 
old school-house. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2940, 
December 30, 1879. 

Repairing after school-house has been condemned. 

A district meeting cannot vote a tax to repair a school-house which has 
been legally condemned by the supervisor and school commissioner. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3007, September 14, 1880. 

A district meeting cannot delegate to a building committee the power to appoint a 
member of such committee to carry out the wishes of the district, in case the com- 
mittee cannot agree. 

Among other proceedings of the special meeting appealed from is the 
adoption of the following resolution: " That a committee of two be asso- 
ciated with the trustees as a building committee, with full power to repair 
said school-house as in their judgment will best meet the wants and wishes 
of the district, with instructions, that if they cannot agree to act together, 
they shall choose one of their number to so act. 

The adoption of this resolution at said meeting, for the appointment of 
a building committee with full power to repair said school-house, will be 
sustained only so far as such committee acts in an advisory capacity with 
the trustee; the latter portion of the resolution, which instructs the com- 
mittee that if they cannot agree to act together they shall choose one of 
their number to carry out the wishes of the district, is invalid. The trus- 
tee is the agent of the district accredited by the law for this purpose. 

The instruction contained in said resolution, to which reference has been 
made, is hereby set aside. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3301, January 15, 1884. 

It is clearly the duty to make repairs in obedience to the order of the school commis- 
sioner. When such repairs have been made, the district becomes liable therefor, 
and the trustee must issue a tax-list and warrant to raise the necessary amount to 
. pay for the same. 

Instance where claim had been assigned. 

On the 16th day of June, 1884, the school commissioner of the second 
district of Schoharie county, made an order directing the trustee of school 



638 School-Houses. 

district No. 2, Fulton, Schoharie county, to make certain repairs upon the 
school-house of the district in the form of an addition thereto. This order 
was made under and in accordance with the provisions of subdivision 3, 
section 13, title 2 of the consolidated school act of 1864. This appellant, 
Jacob Feek, at the date of said order, was the trustee of the district, and 
made or caused to be made the repairs or additions to the school-house in 
obedience to such order. By so doing he contracted a liability on the part 
of the district of the sum of $188.58 for material and labor. The district, 
at the annual meeting, refused to order a tax for the payment of this 
amount or any part thereof. Two appeals have been brought to this depart- 
ment, and decisions rendered sustaining the claims of two persons who fur- 
nished material and labor for the repairs upon its school-house. The 
remainiug claims for materials and labor, amounting to ^165.47, since the 
expiration of said Jacob Feek's term of office as trustee of said district, 
have been assigned to this appellant, who on the 11th day of March, 1885, 
presented said claim to George L. Haner, the trustee of said district, and 
requested him to pay the same to this appellant. Thereupon the trustee 
refused and still refuses to pay this claim, or to issue a tax list and warrant 
for the same. 

Assuming that the order of the school commissioner was regularly and 
legally made, and no appeal having been taken therefrom, it cannot now be 
questioned; it was clearly the duty of the trustee to make the repairs in 
obedience thereto. This done, the district became liable therefor, and must 
pay for the benefits which it has legally received, and is now enjoying. 
Trustee ordered to issue tax list and pay claim. Per W. B. Ruggles, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 3413, April 2, 1885. 

The consent of the tax-payers of the district to the expenditure of a larger sum than 
the statute allows the trustee to expend in repairs upon the school-house, will in no 
way legalize the expenditure of such larger sum. 

The law gives others besides taxpayers the right to vote at a district meeting upon this 
question. 

The trustee made repairs to the school-house at an expenditure of more 
than fifty dollars, without first procuring authority from a district meeting. 
In explanation of this failure to conform to the statute, the trustee sets 
up the fact that he obtained the consent of the tax-payers of the district 
individually, before he made the repairs, and. therefore, did not deem it 
necessary to call a special meeting. This would in no no way excuse or 
legalize the action, for the law gives others besides the tax-payers the right 
to vote at school district meetings on questions involving taxation. But it 
appears from all the evidence in the case, that at the annual meeting a reso- 
lution was adopted that a tax be levied as provided by law, for the purpose 
of paying off the indebtedness of the district, as shown by the report of the 
trustee, and this resolution seems to have been a ratification of the action 
of the trustee in the matter of the repairs to the school-house. 

The appeal from his action is overruled. Per James E. Morrison, Acting 
Superintendent. Decision No. 3497, April 3, 1886. 

When a school district meeting adopts plans for anew school-house and directs the 
trustee to build accordingly, the trustee can issue his tax-Ust for the amount neces- 
sary to build the house in accordance with the plans adopted. 

The trustee must not place lands upon the tax-list which are not taxable in the district 
at the time the tax-list and warrant are issued. 

At a special meeting held in district No. 1, Caldwell, Warren county, 
February 21, 1880, it was voted to enlarge the school-house and raise there- 
for $600 or so much thereof as might be necessary. At an adjourned meet- 



School-Houses. ' 639 

ing thereof, held February 28, a certain plan for the enlargement of the 
school-house was adopted. For the purpose of making this enlargement 
pursuant to such plan, the trustee on the 29th of March issued a tax-list in 
which was levied and assessed the sum of $1, 100, and it was not shown that 
the said sum is more than sufficient for the purpose. 

The appellant w^ho is a resident of the city of New York owns a parcel 
of thirty-nine acres of land, seven acres of which lie in said district and 
thirty-two acres of which lie in district No. 3, of said town. The whole of 
said land is occupied by one G-ordon as agent of the appellant, and that said 
Gordon on the 9th day of ]March, removed from district No. 1 to district 
No. 3, where he still continues to live. 

The appeal is brought from the action of the meeting of February 28, and 
from the action of the trustee in assessing appellant's lands in district No. 1. 
Held, the meeting of February 28th had the right to take the action appealed 
from, and the action of the previous meeting in voting to raise $600 con- 
stituted no restriction preventing the trustee from issuing a tax-list to raise 
the sum of $1,100. 

But the trustee was in error in assessing the land of the appellant, as no 
part of said land was taxable in district No. 1 at the time the tax-list was 
issued. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2969, May 10, 
1880. 

Note. — For the authority to issue the tax-list to build the school-house, which was 
held regular in the above appeal, see section 51, title 7, Code of Public Instruction. 
J. E. K. 

Before a tax-list for over $500, to build a new school-house can issue, the school com- 
missioner must give his approval in writing to such sum. 

A district meeting cannot vote a tax for repairing school-house to be raised in install- 
ments. 

A special school meeting voted a tax of S2,000, to be raised for the pur- 
pose of building an addition to and repairing and enlarging the school- 
house in said district, and to raise said amount in four equal annual install- 
ments. The appeal is brought from this action. The appellants allege that 
the sum of $500 was raised by tax and expended in repairing the school- 
house w^ithin a year last past, and that only ordinary repairs are now needed 
or required to said school-house. 

The important question raised by this appeal is whether the meeting 
determined to build a new school-house, or to repair an old one. If it is 
proposed to rebuild the school-house, at an expense exceeding $500, the 
consent of the school commissioner should have been obtained, before the 
issuing of the tax-list and warrant by the trustee. It appears that such a 
consent has not been obtained. If on the other hand, it is proposed to 
expend the $2,000 for repairs to the present school-house, the resolution 
adopted at the meeting, to raise the said amount in four equal annual install- 
ments is illegal and void, as a tax by installments cannot be raised for any 
other purpose than for building, hiring or purchasing a school-house. 
The tax-list issued for the collection of the $2,000, stayed the proceedings 
of the meeting set aside, and a new meeting ordered. Per W. B. Ruggles, 
Superintendent. Decision 3272, July 27, 1883. 

Note. — The above decision in reference to voting a tax to be raised in installments 
will not apply to union free school districts. {See section 10, title 9, Code of Public 
Instruction.) J. E, K. 

A tax not exceeding $500 for the purpose of building a new school-house cannot be 

raised by installments ; the amount must exceed §500. 
A tax cannot be voted and raised in installments to pay for a school-house site in 

common school district. 



640 School-Houses. 

This appeal is brought from the action of a district meeting in 
school district No. 22, Onondaga, Onondaga county, held October 30, 
1885, in adopting a resolution directing tlie trustees of the district 
*' to lease, for a period of not less than two years, a site near the pump- 
house of the Syracuse Water Company" for the erection of a school- 
house; also directing that "a committee of five be appointed, of whom 
the trustee shall be chairman, for the purpose of co-operating with the 
trustee in erecting a building for school purposes and auditing accounts, 
and that for such purpose a sum of money not to exceed $500 be bor- 
rowed by the trustee, the loan to be secured by a bond payable by install- 
ments, $50 every year, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding six per 
cent." 

It will not be necessary to pass upon the merits of the action of the 
meeting of October 30, from which the appeal is taken, as it clearly appears 
that the resolution directing the leasing of a site for the school-house 
and the building of the school-house thereon, which was intended to be 
the designation of an additional site for school purposes, had not received 
the consent of the school commissioner at the time of the bringing of the 
appeal. 

2. The description of the site as being neaf "the pump-house of the 
Syracuse "Water Company " is not sufficiently definite to be considered a 
designation of a school-house site within the meaning of the statute. 

3. The resolution directed that the amount necessary for the lease of the 
site should be raised by installments, which is without any authority under 
the statute. 

4. The same objection may be urged against the borrowing of the 
$500 and issuing bonds therefor. Even if this amount is to be used only 
for the building of the school-house, the issuing of a bond therefor and 
the raising of a tax by installments to pay the same is illegal, as the only 
case in which the statute empowers the inhabitants of a common school 
district to vote a tax to be raised by installments is for the purpose of 
building or purchasing a new school-house, at a cost of more than $500. 
Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3458, December 9, 
1885. 



Trustees are not authorized to allow temperance societies to use the school-house for 

the purpose of their meetings. 
Trustees' powers in the premises generally discussed. 

The question is presented whether a district meeting or the trustee can, 
over the objection of any interested party, let school property for the exclu- 
sive use at certain times of such an organization as that mentioned in the 
appeal. 

The law constitutes the trustee the custodian of the school-house. But 
it does not thereby become his private property and he cannot put it to any 
use which he sees fit. He is, as a general rule, to manage it as the repre- 
sentative of the district and for school purposes only. He must find some 
express provision of statute authorizing him to permit it to be used for any 
other purpose before he is justified in doing so, provided objection is made 
by any interested party. The only provision of the statute of such a nature 
is found in section 52 of title VII of chapter 555 of the Laws of 1854, which 
allows the trustee "to permit the school-house, when not in use by the dis- 
trict school, to be used by persons assembling therein for the purpose of 
giving and receiving instruction in any branch of education or learning or 



Sites. • 641 

in tlie science or practice of music." It cannot be claimed that the leasing 
in the present case was for such a purpose as is here mentioiied. In this 
case, the house was given over to the use of a secret society. The people 
of the district, who were not members of the society, were excluded. 
The persons who were thus permitted to use it, did not assemble for the 
purpose of giving and receiving instruction, but for the promotion of 
temperance. However laudable the purpose of their assembly, it is not a 
purpose recognized by the State. I am, therefore, of the opinion that 
the leasing complained of was unlawful and that the appeal must be 
sustained. 

It may be proper to say, however, that it has always been the practice of 
this Department to refrain from preventing the use of school property for 
other than school purposes, when such other use does not interfere with 
the use for which such property is maintained and when such other use is 
acquiesced in by the taxpayers and electors of the district. This has 
unquestionably been a wise policy. Frequently, in the rural school dis- 
tricts, the school-house is the only suitable place in the district for holding 
a meeting of any character, and such policy has greatly promoted the con- 
venience as well as the intellectual and moral activity of the people of the 
district. But when a school building is used for any other purpose or in 
any manner which interferes with its use for school purposes, or where 
there are differences of opinion among the people of the district as to the 
advisability of using the school-house for any other purpose than school 
purposes, it becomes the duty of the Department to strictly observe and 
enforce the laws governing the matter. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3577, July 31, 1887. 



SITES. 

AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE OR CHANGE. 

A school district cannot delegate the power to select a school-house site. A designa- 
tion should be specific as to location and size. 

The inhabitants of district No. 15, in the town of Smyrna, at their first 
meeting, resolved that the trustees purchase a site for the school-house, on 
the corner of Benjamin Hartwell's land, or on Seth Shepard's land where 
the cooper's shop now stands. 

The trustees selected the corner of Benjamin Hartwell's land, paid forty 
dollars for the site, and contracted for the erection of a house. 

They then called a special meeting, for the purpose of ratifying what 
they had done and raising money to finish the house. 

The meeting, by a vote of twenty-six to twelve, refused to ratify their 
selection, and passed a resolution that the site should be "at a certain 
beech tree in widow Brown's hollow." 

The Supreme Court, in the case of Benjamin v. Hall, 17 Wend. 437, de- 
cided that the district could not delegate the power to designate a school- 
house site to the trustees. It cannot make any difference whether a general 

81 



642 Sites. 

authority to select is given, or whether the authority is to choose between 
two points. 

The designation made by the special meerting is too indefinite. Verbal 
explanations, not a part of the record, though given at the meeting, can- 
not be permitted to locate the spot. The vote was utterly void for uncer- 
tainty. Per Spencer, August 36, 1839. 

A majority of voters at a school district meeting may empower the trustees to purchase 
additional territory adjoining the school-house site, for the purpose of enlarging their 
grounds for school purposes. It is not a case of removal of site. 

The only question involved in this appeal is whether the purchase of an 
additional quantity of land adjoining that on which the former school- 
house of the district had been erected and which was burned down, ren- 
dering it necessary for the district to build a new one, and the rebuilding 
of the district school-house wholly or in part ui:)on the new ground thus 
purchased, is such an act as requires the assent of two-thirds of the voters 
present at a district meeting called specially for the purpose under the pro- 
visions of section 1, No. 85 {section 20, title 7), of the laws relating to 
common schools. I do not doubt the legal right of a majority of the voters 
in any district meeting duly convened, to lay a tax upon their district to 
purchase ground additional to and adjoining a site already owned by the 
district, if such ground be suitable for the purpose of the existing site, and 
the school — such as j^lay-ground for the children, wood-house or other 
appendages. Nor could the certificate of the town superintendent be 
necessary to render such an act legal any more than for building a wood- 
liouse, or repairing the school-house. The district, as I understand the case, 
owned no more ground than was covered by the buildings. Now, what 
were the acts which the law intended to prohibit the mere majority from 
doing after a site had been purchased and a school-house built or purchased 
for the district while the same remained unaltered ? 

Certainly not to prevent the purchase of more ground immediately ad- 
joining, if necessary, nor the erection of additional buildings thereon, if 
the exigencies of the district required it for the accommodation of the 
school, or even the erection of a new house sliould it be necessary. 

These are acts which, in my judgment, it is perfectly competent for the 
majority of the inhabitants of the district to i3erform, when assembled in a 
school district meeting. I cannot hold this to be such a change of site as 
comes within the provisions of the section above mentioned. Per N. S. 
Benton. July 10, 1846. 

In levying a tax for the purchase of a school-house site, the district is not limited as to 
the amount to be raised. 

The certificate of the town superintendent (supervisor) is not necessary, and the dis- 
trict may, by a majority vote, raise such an amount as shall be necessary for the 
purpose. 

At a special meeting of the inhabitants of district No. 5, Troy, held July 
20, 1848, a site for a school-house M'as designated, and a tax of $475 was 
voted to pay for the same. The site thus designated was for the second 
school-house in the district. 

The appellant desires that the proceedings be set aside for the following 
reasons : 

1. Because the commissioners did not certify that a larger sum than $400 
was necessary to purchase the site; 

2. On the ground of expediency. 



Sites. ' 643 

By subdivision 8, section 62, School Laws, provision is made for desig- 
nating sites for two or more school-houses in a district. 

With the consent of the town superintendent, or the commissioners, as in 
this case, the inhabitants of a district, when legally assembled, may, by a 
majority of votes of the legal voters present, designate a site for the second 
school-house in their district, and may lay a tax upon the taxable property 
of the district to purchase such site. The limitation to $400 ($1,000) does 
not apply to such cases. The section which requires the consent of the 
town superintendent to raise a larger sum only applies "to building, hir- 
ing or purchasing a school-house." 

The proceedings of the meeting of July 20 were legal. 

As to the question of expediency, this department does not feel at liberty 
to interfere without proof of palpable wrong or abuse of power, which 
does not appear in this case. 

This decision is not intended to favor the abandonment of the old site. 

The appeal is dismissed. Per Morgan, September 26, 1848. 

When the trustees have contracted to locate the school-house on any particular place 
upon the site, in the absence of any instruction from the district, this department 
will not interfere. 

The trustees located a school-house a few feet less than four rods from 
the south line of their lot, which is bounded on the highway. The appel- 
lants and a majority of thie district desired to leave full four rods in front. 
The trustees, however, in the absence of any explicit instructions or direc- 
tion from the district, agreed upon the present location, and entered into 
a contract with a builder who had commenced his work prior to any in- 
structions from the district. The trustees having gone on, for aught that 
appears to the contrary, in good faith, in the location of the house prior to 
any expression of the wishes of the district, and having entered into con- 
tracts and incurred liabilities in the prosecution of the work, it is deemed 
unwise and inexpedient to subject the district to the expense which must 
be incurred by a change in the location. 

The appeal is dismissed. Per A. Gr. Johnson, Deputy Superintendent, 
August 30, 1849. 

It is not necessary that a majority of all the taxable inhabitants should be obtained, 
in addition to the consent of the town superintendent (supervisor) in order to 
change the site, but only a majority of those present and voting at a meeting duly 
notified. 

This is an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting held in said 
district on the 18th day of October, 1851. 

At this meeting, it appears that resolutions were passed changing the 
site of the school-house, and authorizing the collection of $10 by tax, for 
purchasing a new site, and $175 for building a new school-house thereon. 
The appellant alleges that these resolutions were not passed in the manner 
required by law, and that the town superintendent never legally gave his 
consent to the 2)roposed change of site. 

The appeal j)apers concede that the resolution to change the site was 
passed by a vote of a majority of all the taxable inhabitants of the district 
who were present and voted at the meeting. Therefore, if the consent of 
the town superintendent was given in accordance with law, the resolution 
to change the site was passed by the required legal majority of the inhabit- 
ants. For it is not necessary that, m addition to the consent of the town 



644 Sites. 

superintendent, a majority of all tlie taxable inhabitants residing in the 
district should be obtained, in order to change the site, but only a majority 
of those present and voting at a meeting duly notified. 

It appears by the answer that the town superintendent did give his con- 
sent in writing, to the proposed change, on condition that the requisite 
majority of the inhabitants of the district should be in favor of the cliange. 
This consent became absolute the moment the condition was complied with. 
The requisite consent was obtained upon the passage of the resolutions. 

Appeal dismissed. Per H. S. Randall, March 35, 1852. 

Site of a school-ho-ise in union free schoo. district established and changed by vote of 
inhabitants in same manner as in districts subject to general school law. 

The site of a school-house in a union free school district is established 
and changed by the vote of the inhabitants in the same manner as in those 
districts subject to the general school law. The board of education, like 
the ordinary trustees, are in this respect mere executors of the popular 
will. If it is not absohitely necessary, it is at least the only safe mode, to 
procure the ratification by a district meeting, of a selection made by the 
board under a vote requesting them to purchase. Per E. Peshine Smith, 
Deputy Superintendent, May 8, 1855. 

When a district has been altered, the site of the school-house may be changed by a 

vote of the majority of those present at the meeting. 
Due notice of a meeting will be presumed, unless the contrary be shown. 

A special meeting of joint district No. 9, of Manheim, Herkimer county, 
and Oppenheim, Fulton county, was held December 19, 1854, and a vote 
was passed to change the site of the school-house. The meeting then 
adjourned to receive j)ropositions. On the twenty-third day of June, 1855, 
a new site w^as designated, and, at a subsequent adjourned meeting, an 
adjournment to the second Tuer>day of October, 1856, was carried. 

The trustees, however, called a special meeting for December 4, 1855, at 
which a tax of $450 was raised for iDurchasing the new site, $1,000 for 
buildi.ng a new school-house, and $200 for w^ood-house and privies. The 
certificate of the town superintendent, that $1,200 was necessary for the 
house and out-houses, had been given. 

The appellant raised the following points . 

1. That the school- house site was illegally changed, no consent of the 
town superintendent having been obtained. 

It ni^ht suffice to say that no such point was made in the appeal; but it 
is conclusively met by the reply of the trustees, which shows that the dis- 
trict has undergone repeated alterations since the erection of the school- 
house. No consent of the superintendent was neccessary to authorize the 
fixing of a new site by a majority of the votes of those present and voting. 

2. The appellant objects that it does not appear by the return of the 
district clerk, or otherwise, that the legal voters of the district, or any of 
them, were duly notified of such meeting. The burden of proof on this 
pomt rests on the appellant. The presumption always is that public oflScers 
have done their duty. This presumption is supported in this case by the 
express statement that one voter received no notice, for it implies that no 
other failure to give notice could be alleged. Those who attended cer- 
tainly had notice, and the omission iu a solitary instance is not averred to 
have been willful or fraudulent. 

The proceedings were legal and regular. Per V. M. Rice, February 6, 
185G. 



Sites. 645^ 

The department will not interfere with the authority of a district in purchasing a 
site, except where the title to said site is clearly and conclusively shown to be 
defective. 

In considering a question of title, it must be borne in mind that it is not 
in the province of this department to pass upon that question so as to affect 
at all the interests of those claiming ownership m the soil. This depart- 
ment can only determine, from the evidence presented, whether the pre- 
sumption of invalidity is so strong as to justify its interference in arresting 
the action of the district. If the title is so clearly defective that its accept- 
ance wdll involve protracted and hopeless litigation, peril the peace and 
prosperity of the district, and thus arrest or retard educational progress, it 
becomes manifestly the duty of this department to interfere, even in oppo- 
sition to the will of a majority of those interested. 

In the present case, a majority of the district, fully informed upon the 
merits of the case, individually interested in being right, and personally 
liable to expense if wrong, unhesitatingly declare themselves satisfied of 
the validity of title. It would require a clear case of invalidity of title to 
justify the interposition of this department under circumstances like these, 
and, as such invalidity is not shown, the department will not interfere. 
Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, August 14, 1857. 

Where the district does not authorize a change of site, this department will not inter, 
fere to compel such change, even though justice requires it. 

It appears that the present site of the school-house is quite far from the 
center of the district, and in the north part of the same. The inhabitants 
residing in the south part of the district are naturally and justly desirous 
of changing the site, and of establishing it near the center of the district. 
At a meeting of the district called for the purpose of considering this ques- 
tion, a resolution was offered that the site remain where it w^as. This res- 
olution was lost by a tie vote, and before any further action was had the 
meeting adjourned. From this neglect of the inhabitants to take any 
affirmative action upon the question of removal, this appeal is brought. 

Reld, that, while the desire of those who are striving to change the site 
appears to be just and reasonable, the circumstances of the case do not 
justify the interference of this department. It is a high prerogative to 
come in and overrule the action of a majority of the district — formally 
and legally taken — and one which the department will not exercise except 
for the strongest reasons — the most urgent necessity. 

Here the site is already established, and has for a long time been occu- 
pied by the district. The district is the only competent authority for 
changing the site, and I do not regard the authority of this department, 
even, as sufficient to take up the original question, and direct that a change 
of site shall be made. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputv Superintendent, Septem- 
ber 9, 1858. 

In locating two sites in a district, the whole district must act upon the question of 
each site, not simply the sections to be respectively favored. 

Taxes have been voted for the building of two school-houses in the dis- 
trict, for the accommodation of the inhabitants in the remote sections, no 
one central site being accessible to all the inhabitants. 

In establishing these two sites, the law vests the authority in the voters 
of the district — does not confine it to the voters of each section or local- 
ity, for whose benefit the site is to be established, and the whole district 
must act on the question of the location of each site. Per H. H. Yan 
Dyck, Superintendent, May 8, 1860. 



646 Sites. 

Districts that have been altered in their boundaries since the establishment of a site 
and building of a house are not restricted in their power to change such site at any 
legal district meeting. 

It is not difficult to ascertain the meaning of tlie statute in regard to the 
change of site of school-houses. It imposes a limitation upon the general 
power of school districts in regard to changing the site of the school-house. 
The general limitation is expressed in the following words: " As long as 
the district shall remain unaltered." Districts not embraced in this general 
limitation are not referred to in the subsequent limitation. In short, the 
power of the inhabitants of districts that have been altered is left wholly 
unimpaired, as this section of the statute says nothing concerning them, 
and hence applies to them no limitations whatever. Per V. M. Rice, 
Superintendent, February 20, 1864. 

An annual school district meeting has no power to change the school-house site. 

At an annual meeting by a vote of sev^en to six it was resolved to change 
the site of the school-house to a place designated in the resolution. 

This case must be decided in favor of the appellants for the reason that 
an annual meeting has not power to change a site upon which there is a 
school-house erected or in process of erection. Per A. B. Weaver, Super- 
intendent, April 15, 1869. 

A special district meeting has no power to change the school-house site, without such 
intention being expressed in the notices issued for the meeting. 

At a special meeting held in pursuance of the following notice, to-wit : 
•* There will be a special school-meeting held at the school-house in district 
No. 15 of the township of Bedford, on Thursday night at seven o'clock, 
October 26, 1868, to transact such business as shall come before the meet- 
ing," a resolution was adopted for the purchase of a new site. 

"On this showing," says the superintendent, "the meeting on the 26th 
of October by which the site is claimed to have been changed, was without 
the requisite power to change the school-house site," as that could only be 
done '' at a special meeting called for that purpose." {Section 20, title 7 of 
the General School Act.) Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 9, 1869. 

School-house site can only be changed at a special meeting called for the purpose. 

The changing of a school-house site, under the existing law, can only b© 
effected by a sjjecial district meeting "called for that purpose." {Section 
20, title 7, General School Act.) It follows, therefore, that the resolution of 
the annual meeting appealed from, changing the school-house site, was 
illegally passed; it is therefore hereby so declared, and all action under it 
is vacated and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, November 
25, 1869. 

Department cannot locate sites. 

It is not within the power of this department to locate sites for school 
districts, its only duty in the matter being, when appealed to, to see that 
the law is complied with by the districts in designating sites. Per Neil 
Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3138, November 23, 1881. 

Failure to give notice of a special meeting to all the inhabitants that will invalidate the 
proceedings of the meeting must be willful and fraudulent. A meeting is not pro- 
hibited from selecting land that is mortgaged. 

It is alleged by the appellants that three legal voters were not notified to 
attend the meeting, but to give validity to this objection, the appellants 



SiTHS. 647 

should liave shown that tlie omission to give the notice to these persons was 
willful and fraudulent. {Section 7, title 7, cliayier 555, Law8 of 1864.) This 
they have not attempted to do. 

The objection that the site selected " is on lands wliich are mortgaged " 
is not pertinent to the action of the meeting, and would in no wise invali- 
date the designation of the site, if otherwise regularly made. It is not to be 
assumed that the trustee will take title until the site is released from the 
burden of the mortgage. Per W. "B. Ruggles, Superintendent, Decision 
No. 3354, May 26, 1884. 

The sale of the old sites, designation and purchase of a new site in the case where sev- 
eral districts are consolidated. 

The appeal is from the proceedings of the several meetings in the new 
districts. 

School districts Kos. 11, 18 and 21 were consolidated in October. On 
the first day of November following, a school district meeting was held and 
attended by a majority of the inhabitants of the district, at wliich meeting 
the appellants being present, the voters directed the sale of the property of 
the former school districts Nos. 11, 18 and 21. The sale was duly adver- 
tised by the trustee, clerk and building committee. The sale of the school- 
house in old district No. 11 was made pursuant to said notice. It was sold 
at public auction and the sale was regularly conducted. The building was 
sold to the highest bidder. The sale was largely attended and the property 
brought its fair value. At the meeting of November first a committee was 
authorized and directed to report a site for a school-house and to make and 
submit plans for the school-house at a meeting to be called by the trustees. 
At a subsequent meeting held on the sixth day of December this committee 
reported and recommended the designation of a school-house site on the 
land known as the "Thorp site." The recommendation was adopted and 
money was appropriated for the purchase of the site. 

It must be borne in mind that district No. 11 is a new district formed 
from the consolidation of several old districts. The designation of a site 
for a school-house in this case, cannot be regarded as a change of site under 
the statutes, and the limitation contained in section 21, title 7, of the gen- 
eral law, does not seem to apply, A district meeting designated a site ; 
this having been done, it was competent for the district meeting to dispose 
of the school-houses and sites belonging to the district which were no 
longer necessary for school purposes, and to apply the proceeds as purchase- 
money for the new site and school-house. The fact that the person on 
whose land the site was designated refused subsequently to convey, does 
not impair the right of the district. Even after such a refusal, title may be 
acquired without the consent of the owner by proceeding under chapter 
800, Laws of 1866. Furthermore it was not necessary that the site should 
have been designated before laying the tax for building the school-house. 
It seems to me that this rule will apply to a tax for the purchase of a site. 
Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3722, June 4, 1885. 

CONSENT OF SUPERVISOR. 

Consent of supervisor to a change of site must be as prescribed by statute. 

The statute that provides for change of school-house site, where the same 
has once been duly established, carefully guards against capricious action 
on the part of the inhabitants of a district, occasioned by slight changes in 
the numerical strength of parties very evenly divided. It is provided by 



648 Sites. 

the statute that the site shall not be changed without the written consent 
of the supervisor, "stating that, in his opinion, such removal is necessary." 
The object of this provision is to vest this discretionary power in one pre- 
sumed to be disinterested, and who will act solely with reference to his 
opinion of the educational interests to be promoted. 

It is manifest, therefore, that neither the letter nor the spirit of the 
statute is complied with when the supervisor, instead of expressing an 
opinion founded on his own convictions, certifies that he thinks the 
removal "necessary, if the inhabitants so determine." His opinion must 
be founded on the condition of things existing in the district, not upon 
what may be the vote on the question, and a consent founded upon a vote 
of the inhabitants amounts to no consent at all. Per H. H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, December 4, 1860. 

Where two sites have been designated and purchased after a protracted controversy 
before this department, the question of the consent of the commissioner will not be 
considered upon a subsequent collateral issue. 

On an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting, objection is taken 
to a certain resolution, passed at said meeting, whereby certain sums of 
money were voted to be expended upon two school-houses or sites in said 
district. The objection is that the district has no such site, because due and 
proper consent was never obtained to establish the same. But that question 
had already been settled on a former appeal to this department. 

The department will not at this late day enter upon the consideration of 
that question. The district, and, if I mistake not, these appellants them- 
selves, have, by their previous action, recognized the fact of such site; it 
has been, as I understand, purchased, a valid title obtained, and all the 
ostensible evidences of ownership on the pai-t of the district have been at 
one time or another produced. I do not, therefore, now, choose to inquire 
whether the formal consent of the commissioner to the purchase of that 
site was ever given. That would have been a proper question to present in 
order to prevent the purchase, but should not be raised, and will not now 
be considered, since the purchase and other acts incident thereto have been 
substantially acquiesced in. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, 
March 38, 1861. 

Where the consent of the supervisor to a change of site is obtained by misrepresenta- 
tion, the proceedings will be set aside. 

A special meeting voted to change the site of the school-house to the 
farm of Jesse Carpenter, the consent of the supervisor of the town having 
been first obtained. 

The appellant objects to the proposed change, the said new site being in 
a remote corner of the district, distant four miles from the residences of 
those living on the opposite side of the district. He claims that the pro- 
ceedings of said meeting in the matter of changing the site as aforesaid 
were illegal and void, and asks to have them so declared and set aside for 
the following reasons : 

1. Because no legal notice of said special meeting was served upon the 
inhabitants of the district. 

2. Because the consent of the supervisor to the aforesaid change of site 
was obtained through fraud and misrepresentation; 

3. Because the minutes of the said meeting were not properly kept, and 
do not show on their face the precise location of the proposed new site. 

Either one of the two first objections urged by the appellant will be, if 



Sites. 649 

proven, suflScient cause for pronouncing the proceedings of said meeting 
void, and of no effect whatever. 

Passing over the objection first taken, it is established, beyond doubt, by 
the affidavit of William E. Teal, supervisor of said town, that he was 
induced to give his consent to the proposed change of site — the exact loca- 
tion of said new site not having been agreed upon when his said consent 
was given — upon the express understanding that the new site should be 
centrally and conveniently located, so as to accommodate all of the inhabit- 
ants of the district. The committee who applied to the supervisor for his 
consent to said change of site mentioned two central localities where they 
hoped to be able to obtain the said site, and by these representations, and 
by disclaiming any intention of locating the site in a remote corner of the 
district, induced said supervisor to give his consent as aforesaid. The said 
supervisor swears that under no circumstances would he have given his 
consent to the location of the new site in so remote a corner of the district 
as that selected by said special meeting, and further, that, as soon as he 
was informed of the action of the meeting, he immediately addressed a 
note to the committee which had waited upon him, revoking the consent 
which he had given. Consent thus obtained is no consent at all. Fraudu- 
lent representations vitiate any contract or agreement, and in this case it is 
clear that it was only through misrepresentation that the consent of the 
supervisor to said change of site was obtained. 

The excuse offered by the committee which located the aforesaid new site, 
that no central location could be provided, is disproved by the affidavits of 
Ferris and others. It should also be remembered, that the district could 
procure a central site even without the consent of the owner of the land, 
by complying with the provisions of chapter 800 of the laws of 1866. 

For the reasons above set forth the appeal is sustained ; the consent of the 
supervisor to the aforesaid change of site is declared void, as having been 
obtained through misrepresentation; and the subsequent proceedings of the 
special meeting had in said district as aforesaid, so far as they relate to a 
change of site of the school-house of said district, are, also, hereby pro- 
nounced illegal, void and of no force and effect whatever ; such proceedings 
havmg been founded upon the fraudulently obtained consent of the super- 
visor, without which consent they would have been void in themselves. 
Per V. M. Rice, July 13, 1866. 

Vote to change school-house site may be taken before consent of supervisor is 

obtained. 

The law does not say that no vote shall be taken to change the school- 
house site without the consent of the supervisor, but that such site shall 
not be changed without such consent. It has been many times decided 
that the vote to change the site may legally be taken before such consent is 
given. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 9, 1868. 

Refusal of supervisor to consent to a change of site overruled. 

This appeal is brought from the refusal of the supervisor to give his con- 
sent to a change of site. 

From the testimony submitted I have arrived at the conclusion that the 
educational interests of said school district demand a change of site and 
that the supervisor erred in refusing to give his consent. The appeal is 
sustained and the said district is hereby permitted to change the school- 
house site to the place selected by the special meeting held as stated in the 
appeal. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 19, 1868. 

•82 



650 Sites. 

Consent of supervisor to a change of a site will not be set aside, upon the ground that 
without personal examination of the necessity of removal, he relied upon the state- 
ments of others. 

Concerning the consent given by a supervisor to the change of a school- 
house site, he deposes upon an appeal therefrom, that he was induced to 
join in such consent by misrepresentations as to the location and desirable- 
ness of the proposed site, and a subsequent personal examination of the 
locality has satisfied him that the change would be prejudicial to the 
district. 

The law requires a supervisor to state in his written consent, that a 
removal is necessary. This devolves a personal duty of examination upon 
that officer, and he can properly discharge that duty only by the exercise 
of care and deliberation. He cannot be permitted, after having executed 
the formal document required by law, to revoke it on the ground that he 
has in effect been guilty of a violation of his duty in signingit; that he has 
done so without proper examination, relying upon the statements of others. 
The appeal from his order cannot be sustained upon that ground. Pei" A. 
B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 7, 1870. 

When supervisor's consent is not necessary. 

When a district has been altered after its erection, the consent of the 
supervisor is not necessary to a change of school-house site. Per W. B. 
Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3387, November 9, 1883. 



POWER TO LEASE. 

A school district has no authority by law, and this department will not permit the 
inhabitants, to take a perpetual lease for the site of a school-house. The district 
should have the fee simple before building. 

The trustees of district No. 5, in the city of Troy, called a special meet- 
ing of the district to be held on tne 29th of February, 1848. This meet- 
ing was organized and adjourned to the 27th of March following. 

At the adjourned meeting, a resolution, which had been introduced at 
the previous meeting and laid on the table for future action, was called up. 
The resolution was amended, and, as amended, adopted unamimously. The 
resolution adopted read as follows : 

^^ Hesolved, That the trustees of school district No. 5, of the city of Troy, 
be directed, by and with the consent of the school commissioners of the 
city of Troy, to lease, from Messrs. Marshall, Belding & Christie, lots Nos. 
14, 15 and 16, on the north side of Christie street, in the fifth ward of the 
city of Troy, at a yearly rent not exceeding the sum of $34 per annum, 
with the privilege of buying off said rent at seven per cent within ten years 
from date." 

The contemplated lease was for the site of a school-house. 

The only question necessary to be considered is this : Can a school dis- 
trict lease or purchase a site for a school-house in the manner contemplated 
in the resolution before mentioned? 

By the fourth and fifth clauses of section 62, chapter 480, laws of 1847, 
the inhabitants of a district have power to designate a site for a district 
school-house, and to lay such a tax on tiie taxable property of the district as 
the meeting shall deem sufficient to purchase or lease a suitable site for a 
school-house, and to build, hire or purchase such school-house, and to 
keep in repair and furnish the same with the necessary fuel and ap- 



Sites. 651 

pendages, and section 82 authorizes the trustees to carry such vote into 
effect. 

The word ' ' lease " used here must be interpreted to mean a lease for a 
limited tenii, one two or three years, of a lot of land and building to be 
used by the district till such a time as a suitable site can be procured in 
fee, or the conveyance of a lot of land to the district, to be the property 
of the district so long as it shall be occupied for a school-house site. 

Under the new Constitution, no agricultural land can be leased for a 
longer period than twelve years ; and, although individuals in cities may 
still lease building lots for longer terms, or in perpetuity, it is certainly de- 
sirable that land to be used as the site of a school house should be free 
from any and every incumbrance. 

The statute confers no authority upon a school district to purchase land 
and give a mortgage or any other security for the consideration money. 
In the section authorizing the inhabitants to lease, authority is given to 
raise a tax for that purpose. It cannot be, therefore, that the authority to 
lease gives the inhabitants the privilege of voting that such a contract 
shall be entered into as will entail a perpetual debt upon the district and 
put the people to the necessity of raising a tax to pay rent every year 
throughout all coming time. It has heretofore been held that the district 
could not purchase a site and give a mortgage for tlie purchase-money, 
one-half to be paid in five years and the balance in ten j-ears. This de- 
partment has, also, repeatedly held that districts could not be permit- 
ted to buy a site and erect a school-house upon land incumbered by 
mortgage. 

No good reason can be given against permitting the district to give a 
mortgage for the purchase-money of a site wliich will not bear with equal 
force against permitting them to enter into a contract by which the site 
of the school-house may be subjected to a perpetual incumbrance. If a 
mortgage is given, the interest must be paid annually, and the principal 
within some specified time. If a perpetual lease is given, the interest of 
the stipulated value of the land must be paid annually, but the principal 
cannot be paid at all except at the option of the lessor. The fact that the 
principal cannot be demanded is not a sufficient reply to the objection, for 
the real difficulty is that the lien and incuntbrance can only be removed 
with the consent of persons claiming the lien. 

What is this contract as contemplated in the resolution? It is just this: 
The lots are assumed to be worth about $487. The present owners say that 
the district may have an unconditional title in fee conveyed to them at any 
time in ten years, on the payment of that sum and the interest annually 
at seven per cent. But if the $487 is not paid within ten years, then the 
owners may demand $500 or $1,000, or just such sum as they may think 
proper. 

A mortgage may be foreclosed, if interest and principal, or either, are 
not punctually paid, and the premises sold, but in that case the proceeds, 
after paying the debt and costs, are refunded to the mortgagor. 

If rent is not punctually paid, the landlord may re-enter and take posses- 
sion of the premises leased, together with all the improvements, and may 
have judgment for costs. 

If, therefore, any incumbrance upon a school-house site is allowable, a 
mortgage would be preferable to a perpetual lease. 

The appeal is therefore sustained, and the resolution adopted by the 
meeting of the twenty-seventh of March aforesaid is set aside and declared 
null and void. If the district need a new school-house, the site for it must 
be purchased, and a tax levied to pay for it. Per Morgan, July 6, 1848. 



652 Sites. 

A two story school-house may be built upon land leased, with the arrangement that 
the rent, or consideration of the grant, shall be the use by the lessor of the upper 
story out of school hours. 

The consistory' of the Reformed Dutch Church in the town of Greenbush, 
granted to district No. 2, of said town, a lot of land for a school-house 
site, so long as the same should be used for that purpose, reserving an 
annual rent. Subsequent to the execution of the lease, an agreement was 
entered into between the trustees and the consistory, that the school-house 
should be built Avith two stories, and that when the upper story was not 
wanted for school purposes the consistory might use it, and such use, while 
permitted, should be in full payment for the rent. With full knowledge of 
this agreement, the district, thirty-three to seven, voted to raise a tax of 
$400, to procure the site and erect a school-house. Held, that the use of 
the upper story by the consistory was a fair equivalent for the rent, and 
that the agreement was not improper or illegal. Per Spencer, April 23, 
1839. 

TAKING AND RECORDING, VOTE FOR. 

Taking vote for site, when district does not own a site. 

A vote taken at a special school meeting to locate a school-house site and 
to purchase the same is legal when taken other than by the ayes and noes, 
in case the district did not at the same time own any site. Per Neil Gil- 
mour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2954, February 19, 1879. 

Taking vote for a change of site. 

The fact that the change of site was determined by ballot, and not by 
taking and recording the ayes and noes, as required by section 20, title 7, of 
the Code of Public Instruction, was an error fatal to the regularity of the 
proceedings taken. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3289, November 14, 1883. 

Upon a vote to change the school-house site, the intention of the statute is, to preserve 
the record, not merely of the majority, but of those who constituted the majority of 
the legal voters of the district who were present and took part in the proceedings. 
The names of the voters as well as the way they voted must be recorded. 

The appeal is brought from the action of a special school meeting, chang- 
ing the school-house site. The objection raised is that the ayes and nays 
taken in designating the site in question were not recorded as required by 
law. 

Section 20,title 7, of the Code of Public Instruction, distinctly requires that 
the site of the school-house "shall not be changed, unless a majority of all 
the legal voters of said district present and voting, to be ascertained by 
taking and recording the ayes and nays, at a special meeting called for that 
purpose, shall be in favor of such new site." It appears from the evidence 
that a tally was kept of the number of voters in favor of and against the 
proposition, and this was the only record made of the vote. I am of the 
opinion that this is not the record contemplated by the statute. The legis- 
lative construction of constitutional provisions, similar in character to this 
statute, has been generally and concurrently in favor of the view that a 
record should be made of the persons voting for or against the bill on reso- 
lution. Thus the Constitution of the State of New York, article 3, section 15, 
provides that, "no bill shall be passed unless by the assent of a majority of 
all the members elected to such branch of the legislature, and the question 
upon the final passage shall be taken immediately upon its last meeting, and 



Sites. 653 

the yeas and nays entered on the journal." Tins has been construed to 
mean that the names of members shall be recorded upon tlie journal as 
voting either yea or nay. It seems to me to be obvious that the intention 
of the statute is to preserve the record, not merely of the majority, but of 
those who constituted the majority of the legal voters of the district who 
were present and took part in the proceedings. I deem the failure to make 
such record fatal to the action of the meeting in designating the site. Per 
W. B. Ruggles, Superiiitendent. Decision No. 3383, November 19, 1884. 

VARIOUS TOPICS. 
The occupancy of a school-house sufficient notice to purchaser of land. 

Twenty years previous to the date of appeal, district No. 6, Lincklaen, 
had taken a lease of a site for the school-house, for as long a period as th-^ 
same should be occupied for a district school. James S. Graves j)urchased 
the land and appurtenances, without any reservation, and forbade the 
trustees from entering upon it, or from occupying the school-house. 

Mr. Graves purchased the land subject to the lease, and the fact that the 
land was occupied by the district for a school-house and site was sufficient 
notice to him. The district has a rightful claim to the possession of the 
land under the lease, and should take legal measures to assert their right. 
The occupancy is sufficient notice to the purchaser of the title of the dis- 
trict, and he is bound to ascertain it at his peril, notwithstanding the omis- 
sion to put the lease upon record. Per Spencer, January 23, 1840. 

In designating a site for a school-house, the description should be by metes and 
bounds and the quantity of land should be stated, that every inhabitant of the dis- 
trict may be able to vote intelligently. 

At a special meeting held in district No. 6, Lansing, March 1, 1849, 
resolutions were passed to change the site of the school-house "to the first 
corner north of the road, on a piece of land owned by Mary Dickerson;" 
to raise a tax to purchase the new site, and also a tax of |300 to build a 
school-house, etc. 

The notice for this meeting having been deficient and improperly given, 
another special meeting was called, to be held March 15, 1849. At this 
last meeting, a resolution was passed confirming the proceedings of the 
meeting of the 1st of March. 

The principal point in the case is that the site was not sufficiently desig- 
nated, 

The resolution to move the site " to the first corner north of the road " is 
too vague and indefinite, and cannot be regarded in law. It does not state 
whether the trustees are authorized to purchase one-half acre or five acres 
on the corner, nor is the description of the land given sufficient to give an 
idea of its location. 

In designating a site for a school-house, the description should be by 
metes and bounds, and the quantity of land should be given, that every 
inhabitant of the district may be able to vote intelligently. Per Morgan, 
April, 1849. 

The mere act of voting to select a particular piece of land upon which to erect a 
school-house does not establish the site. It must be followed by an actual leasing 
or purchase. 

The appellants in this case allege that, on the 31st day of May, 1851, at a 
special meeting regularly called, a resolution was passed authorizing the 



654 SrrEs. 

selection of a site for building a scliool-house on the land of Mr. Fenner, 
and the collection of a tax to pay for the same. 

The trustees assessed the tax. and al)Out S45 of it was collected, but they 
neglected to purchase the site. On the 12th day of March, 1853, at a regu- 
larly called meeting, a resolution was passed authorizing the selection of a 
site on the land of J. H. Dwick, and a tax of $350 for building a school- 
house. The trustees then took the money which had been collected for 
the jDurchase of the site first selected, and with it purchased the Dwick site. 
It is claimed by the ap^Dellauts that it was illegal to change the site after 
the money had been collected to pay for the same ; that no change could 
be made without the consent of the town superintendent, and it was illegal 
to use for the Dwick site the money that had been raised for purchasing 
the 'Tenner" site. 

In reply to these allegations, the trustees state that, after the meeting of 
May 31, 1851, and on the 15th of Xovember of that year, at a special meet- 
ing legally held, a resolution was passed rescinding the resolution of the 
former meeting authorizing the selection of a site upon the land of Mr. 
Fenner. At a subsequent special meeting, a resolution was passed author- 
izing the selection of a site upon. the land of j\Ir. Dwick. No action was 
taken at that meeting in reference to the disposition to be made of the 
money which had been raised for the purchase of a site ; but, at the annual 
meeting held since this appeal was brought, the trustees were directed to 
use the money in the purchase of the " Dwick site." 

The case referred to by the appellants, in Barbour's Supreme Court Re- 
ports (vol. 4, p. 25), in support of their first objection, does not sustain the 
point they raise. The court merely decides that a district cannot legally 
rescind a resolution imposing a tax, after the tax-list has been made out 
and the tax partly collected. That decision is in accordance with repeated 
decisions of this department, in which it has been held that a district 
could not legally rescind a resolution conferring any authority upon the 
trustees, after they have entered upon the performance of the duty imposed 
by the resolution. But these decisions do not touch this case. The reso- 
lution authorizing the collection of the tax was distinct and separate from 
that authorizing the selection of the site, and the repeal of the latter in no 
respect affected the right of the trustees to collect the tax. Besides, it is 
conceded, and in fact is made the subject of complaint, by the appellants 
that the trustees had not taken any steps toward i^urchasing the sfte named 
in the resolution which was rescinded. If they had not, the district clearly 
possessed the power of rescinding the resolution in the manner they did, 
unless their action liad so established the site that it could not be changed 
without the consent of the town superintendent. The mere act of voting 
to select a particular piece of land upon which to erect a school-house does 
not establish the site. Something more" is necessary to accomplish that. 
The vote must be followed up by an actual leasing or purchase. In this 
case there is no pretense that a title to the site could not be procured. 
But it is alleged that the trustees neglected to procure it, although they 
might have done so, and the district afterward took from them the author- 
ity to make the purchase. This. I think, they had a right to do without 
the consent of the town superintendent, if they deemed it proper. I can, 
therefore, perceive no illegality in the proceedings of the meeting, in select- 
ing a site upon the land of Mr. Dwick. 

The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per H. S. Randall, November 29. 
1853. 

Money must not be paid for site until clear title is obtained. 

Trustees ought not to pay money for a site until they have a valid title 



Sites. ' 655 

from all the owners, and a regular release under seal of any existing mort- 
gage or other incumbrance, and a satisfaction of any incumbrances which, 
though paid in fact, as may be supposed, are not discharged of record. 
Per E. Peshine Smith, Deputy Superintendent, March 24, 1855. 



"Where trustees purchase a site designated by the district, an appeai from their action 
will not lie; it should be brought from the proceedings of the meeting in designat- 
ing that site. 

This is an appeal from the action of the trustees in purchasing a school- 
house site, and contracting for the building of a school-house thereon. 

The acts complained of w^ere under the authority and direction of votes 
of the inhabitants, duly convened in district meeting. The appeal should 
have been brought from these proceedings before thirty days had expired, 
and before the trustees, in obedience to the votes of these meetings, had 
contracted for the site and for the building of the house. The district is 
bound by these contracts, and the matter has now passed beyond the reach 
of equitable interposition by this department, and must, therefore, be per- 
mitted to take its natural course. Per H. H. Van Dvck, Superintendent, 
July 9, 1860. 

Division fences. 

In regard to division fences, a school district is subject to the same lia- 
bilities as any other owner of real estate. If the district chooses to let the 
site lie open to the highway, you cannot compel them to build or maintain 
any portion of a division fence. If, however, you build such fence, and 
the district afterward incloses the school lot, you can compel the inhabit- 
ants to refund half the expense of building the line fence. Per Y. M. Rice, 
Su^Derintendent of Public Instruction, October 26, 1866. 



District is not required to dispose of the old school-house and site after a new one is 

obtained. 

The district is not legally bound to dispose of the old school-house and 
site, simply because a new site has been selected. They may be held with 
the consent of the school commissioner as an additional site and a branch 
school be maintained therein. The law in regard to the sale of the old 
school-house and site is permissive only, not mandatory. {See section 21, 
title 7, General School Act.) Per Y. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 9, 
1868. 

Supervisor and commissioner cannot condemn school-house site. 

By subdivision 4, sec. 13, title 2, Code of Public Instruction, the school 
commissioner and supervisor are given power to condemn a school-house if 
they deem it wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing; but the law 
nowhere confers upon such officers power to condemn a school-house si^e. 
Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2819, February 10, 1879. 

Fencing site. 

The discretionary powers conferred upon the trustee do not include the 
right to fence the school-house site. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3101, June 13, 1881. 



656 Sites. 

Location of building upon site. 

In the absence of any special designation of tlie spot upon the site pre 
viously selected for the school-house, by the district meeting, it was com- 
petent for the trustee to build on any part of the site which, in his 
judgment, would be for the best interests of the district. Per W. B. 
Ruggles Suuerintendent. Decision Xo. 3281, October 6, 1883. 

The proceedings of a district meeting, properly called and conducted in an orderly 
manner, changing a school-house site, will not be disturbed, unless it is made to 
appear clearly that the site selected is unsuitable or would not be convenient to the 
greater number of patrons. 

But little weight can be given to the statement of a public officer made for the pur])Oses 
of impeaching his own official act. 

This is an appeal by Leander Cole, a resident and tax payer, against the 
action of the district meeting held September 9, 1886, in joint school dis- 
trict No. 1 of the towns of Roxbury in Delaware county, Prattsville in 
Greene county, and Conesville and Gilboa in Schoharie county, in voting 
to change the site of the distiict school-house. 

There is no allegation against the regularity of the proceedings. The 
school meeting was regularly convened. Due notice was given to all, and 
it seems that all of the duly qualified voters of the district were present at 
the meeting. It is said that the resolution changing the school-house site 
was taken inconsiderately, but it is shown to have been under discussion 
some three-quarters of an hour. The proposition to change the site has 
since received the approval of the supervisors of the four towns in which 
the district is located. One of these supervisors makes affidavit, in which 
he swears that he gave his assent under a misunderstanding of the circum- 
stances, and regrets that he did it ; and one or two of the others are alleged 
to have made statements somewhat in the same direction. It is impossible 
to give much weight to such statements on the part of a public officer, 
made for the purpose of impeaching his own official act, and there seems 
to be no reason why the action of the meeting should be set aside on this 
account. The main question for me to determine is, whether the change 
in the site will be to the convenience of the greater number of patrons of 
the school or not. The statements of the respective parties upon this sub- 
ject are exceedingly contradictory. It must be assumed that the majority 
of legal voters assembled in a school meeting will locate the school site at 
the point which is best calculated to promote the convenience of the greater 
number in the district. Before the department will be justified in over- 
turning the action of the majority, it must have clear proof to the contrary. 
There is no such clearness of proof in this case. The new site has been 
conveyed to the district free of cost. It is said to be not more than fifty-six 
rods from the old site. There is considerable proof that the old site is not 
a suitable one for a school-house, being surrounded by the forest and not in 
sight of any house, and dangerously near a high precipice overhanging the 
Schohane creek, while the new site is said to be removed from the preci- 
pice and in sight of three residences. In all s])arsely settled school districts 
some people must be farther from the school than others, and be incon- 
venienced by the long distance which their children are obliged to traverse. 
That is undoubtedly true in this case ; but the proofs do not show that the 
greater number are put to increased inconvenience by this change, while I 
think that it is proved that the proposed site is more suitable for school 
puiposes than the old. 

I am unable to sustain the appeal, and it will be dismissed. Per A. S. 
Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 8542, November 24, 1886. 



Superintendent . 657 

Commitlee to purchase site District meeting cannot delegate the authority to 

determine a site. 

The delegation of power by the district meeting held October 5th, to a 
committee to select and ]Hirchase a site, is illegal. The statute does not 
authorize such a proceeding. The district meeting alone has tiie power to 
designate a school- house site, and so far as this action is concerned, the 
last above entitled appeal is sustained. Per A, S. Draper, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3549, December 15, 1886. 

Selection of school-house sites. 

In deciding this appeal, it is proper that I should advise against the prac- 
tice of erecting school buildings upon sites of which the district is not the 
absolute owner. T wish to encourage, as far as possible, the purchase of 
sites by districts when a new school house is to be constructed. 

The site to be selected should be as nearly centrally located for the con- 
venience of patrons of the school, as possible. It should be a healthful 
spot and one easy of access at all times of the year. I find the evidence 
presented upon this appeal very conflicting upon this point. It appears that 
the selection of the contemplated site w^as secured by a very close vote and 
that enough legal voters were prevented by stormy weather from attending 
the district meeting to have changed the result. A site chosen should be the 
choice of a majority of the legal voters of a district after deliberate con- 
sideration and one which the supervisor of the town will approve of as 
required by the statute. Per A, S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision Ko. 
3587, April 15, 1887. 



SUPERIISrTENDENT. 



JURISDICTION. 



The law intends the jurisdiction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to be State 
wide and to cov^er all controversies touching any official act of local school otficers. 
His jurisdiction is not obtained from local school acts, but from the general school 
law, and is general unless taken away by a special act in language so clear as to leave 
DO doubt of its intent. 

In an appeal brought from the action of the board of education of the 
city of Binghamton in the matter of the change or designation of certain 
text-books, the board denied that the Superintendent had any jurisdiction 
to hear and decide the appeal. 

" It is said that the school system of the city of Binghamton is governed 
by a special act of the legislature (chapter 332 Laws of 1861) and its amend- 
ments and that there is notliing in this special act conferring upon the State 
Superintendent the authority to determine appeals from the acts of the 
board of education of that city. It is also insisted that the provisions of the 
Consolidated School Act (chapter 555 Laws of 1864) concerning appeals to 
the State Superintendent from the acts of local school officers do not extend 
jurisdiction to the act of a board of education in a city having a special 
school act. It is accordingly argued that there is no jurisdiction at all in 
the present case. " 

The question is an important one and I have endeavored to give it that 
examination which its gravity demands. 

83 



658 SUTEKINTENDENT. 

I have examined the statutes speciall}- referring to tl\e supervision of the 
schools of tlie city of Binghamton with considerable care and am of the 
opinion that, if jurisdiction in this case depended alone upon these statutes, 
it would not be difficult, reading the several successive acts together, to dis- 
cern an intention to confer it, on the part of the legislature. 

But in my opinion it does not depend upon the provisions of the special 
acts, having reference only to a particular locality. Title XII, section 1, 
chapter 555 Laws of 1864, is as follows: 

" Section 1. Any person conceiving liimself aggrieved in consequence of 
any decision made, 

1. By any school district meeting. 

2. By any school commissioner or school commissioners and other officers, 
in forming or altering, or refusing to form or alter, any school district, or 
in refusing to apportion any school moneys to any such district or part of a 
district. 

8. By a supervisor in refusing to pay such moneys to any such district. 

4. By the trustees of any district in paying or refusing to pay any teacher, 
or in refusing to admit any scholar gratuituously into any school, 

5. By any trustee of any school district library concerning such library, or 
the books therein, or the use of such books. 

6. By any district meeting in relation to the library. 

7. By any other official act or decision concerning any other matter under 
this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools, may appeal to the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is hereby authorized and required 
to examine and decide the same; and his decision shall be final and conclu- 
sive, and not subject to question or review in any place or court whatever." 

The seventh subdivision of this section contains language as compre- 
hensive as could well be employed. It authorizes any person aggrieved 
at " any other official act or decision concerning any other matter under 
this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools,'' to appeal to the 
State Superintendent. The contention of the respondent's counsel that the 
phrase, " any other official act," refers only to acts by the same body, or of 
the same nature as though specified in the first six subdivisions of the sec- 
tion, cannot be adopted. It is an official act concerning " any other matter 
under this act, or under any other act pertaining to common schools," 
which is the subject of appeal. It was the obvious intent of the legisla- 
ture to provide an easy, inexpensive, speedy and conclusive way for pro- 
curing a determination of complaints against any official act of any local 
school official. Both the language of the law and the different steps taken 
by the legislature to bring it to its present state, sustain this construction. 
Enacted in the early days of the scliool system, it has from time to time 
been added to with the evident purpose of making it clear that the juris- 
diction of the Superintendent is intended to be State wide, and is to cover 
all controversies touching any official act of local school officials. 

These provisions of the general law were, in substance, in force long 
before the passage of the special laws referring only to the city of Bing- 
hamton. If the legislature had intended to cut off the right of appeal, 
as to that city, it would have so provided in the laws paiticularly applicable 
to it. It not only did not do this, but it is worthy of note that it expressly 
preserved the right in the first instance, and omitted to do this only upon a 
re-enactment of the Binghamton school laws, consequent upon the granting 
of a city charter to the place. It is fair to assume that the omission at that 
time was either because of inadvertence or because an express reservation 
was deemed unnecessary. In any event, the State Superintendent does not 
get jurisdiction from local school acts, but from the general school law. 



Supervisors. ' 659 

The authority must be held to be general, unless taken away 1)y a special 
act, in language so clear as to leave no doubt of its intent, and there is no 
such taking away in the statutes applicable only to the city of Binghamton. 

There is another consideration which has not been suggested by the able 
and alert counsel who appeared upon the argument of this ajDpeal, and 
which, in view of the foregoing, is perhaps not material to the determina- 
tion of the question of jurisdiction, and yet it has sufficient bearing upon 
it to justify me in mentioning it. The appellant claims that tlie action of 
the respondent is in violation of chapter 413 of the Laws of 1877, entitled 
*'An act to prevent frequent changes of text-books in schools." This is an 
•'act pertaining to common schools." The question brought here is one 
arising under it. The determination of this question may involve the con- 
struction of the provisions of this general law, rather than of the special 
laws relating to Binghamton. It will hardly be contended that the legisla- 
ture meant to leave it to the board of education or trustees in each city or 
district having a special school act, to place such construction as it sliould 
see fit upon this general law, and to suit its acts to its views of the meaning 
of the law, without affording a means of redress to persons differing with 
it in opinions and aggrieved by its acts. Such a view would result in as 
many different constructions of the meaning of this statute as there are 
different localities having special acts, and would defeat the purpose and 
intent of this general law. 

In view of these considerations, it seems clear to me that the grievance 
of the appellant is properly brought before the department by means of 
an appeal, and that, under the laws, it is the duty of the Superintendent to 
■determine the matter. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3583, April 4, 1887. 

On this same subject, see, also, decision No. 3576, dated ^larch 19, 1887. 



SUPERVISORS. 



Town superintendents (supervisors) can use no discretion in the matter of paying over 
public money on the order of the trustees. 

Town superintendents are by law required to pay over the library money 
^i^portioned to the several districts, to, or on the order of, the trustees of 
such districts respectively. The question of the legal or illegal expenditure 
of such money can only arise on the apportionment, and must be determined 
from the annual report of the trustees for the year preceding such appor- 
tionment. Where, therefore, an order of the trustees, legal on its face, is 
presented to the town superintendent (supervisor) for the payment of the 
whole or any portion of the library money of any district, he has no other 
alternative than to pay it, unless he knows, or has good reason to suspect, 
it has been wrongfully procured, and even then he refuses payment on his 
own responsibility, should the order prove to be genuine and valid. 

It is true, trustees of districts have no legal authority to apply the library 
money to the purchase of maps, globes, or other scientific apparatus, with- 
out a vote of the district to that effect, but this is a matter with which the 
town superintendent (supervisor) has nothing to do. The trustees are 
responsible for the proper performance of their duty only to their district, 
their successors in office, and the department of public instruction; and if, 
without a vote of the district, they give an order for the library money on 



660 SCPEKVISOKS. 

purchasing apparatus, etc., such an order is valid, and the town superin- 
tendent (supervisor) cannot go behind it in search of the authority under 
which it was given. The designation of a portion of such money as inter- 
est does not affect tlie right of the holder of the order to receive payment; 
and, if the supervisor has not funds of the district in his hands to an 
amount sufficient to meet the order, he may indorse the amount paid on the 
order, or take a receipt for the same. Per V. M. Rice, Supenntendent, 
:\[ay 19, 1854. 

Irregularity in proceedings to determine the relative valuations of property in a joint 

district. 

The supervisors of Cazenovia and Sullivan were applied to under the 
statute in such cases to inquire and determine whether the valuations of 
real property upon the several assessment-rolls of those towns were sub- 
stantially just as compared with each other so far as district No. 3, lying 
partly in each of those towns, was concerned. The two supervisors being 
unable to agree, a third was called in, and they determined that the amount 
of $10,650.31 should be added to the assessment of the town of Cazenovia 
for said district. 

Held^ that the proceeding of the supervisors was irregular. Their action 
was not such as is contemplated and required by law. Their duty was to 
determine the relative proportion of taxes tiiat ought to be assessed upon 
the real property of the parts, if lying in the different towns. Instead of 
doing this the supervisors undertook to equalize the valuation of the real 
estate in the different towns so far as the said district is concerned, and for 
this no warrant of law can be found. The action of the supervisors is set 
aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 10, 1869. 

Apportionment by supervisors of the valuation of real property in the several parts of 
a joint district when unequal and unjust, will be set aside. 

m a school district comprising parts of four towns, the supervisors upon 
application met and determined the relative proportion of taxes in said 
district that ought to be assessed upon the real property of the parts of 
said district lying in the different towns. From this determination, the 
trustee of said district appealed. Only two of the supervisors answered, 
and to the effect that they had become convinced upon further examination 
that the determination made was unjust and erroneous against the inhabit- 
ants of two of the said towns. Other confirmatory evidence of the injus- 
tice wrought was submitted. The Superintendent says: "From a careful 
consideration of the testimony submitted, and of the whole case, I have 
come to the conclusion that the determi"nation of the supervisors as to the 
relative proportion of taxes that ought to be assessed upon the real property 
of the parts of the district lying in the different towns is unjust and 
unequal as compared with each other, and that it should be set aside." Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, June 23, 1875. 

Same. 

A like determination set aside where it was shown that the supervisors 
in making the same were misled by an erroneous statement submitted to 
them of tile amount of real estate in said district lying in one of the towns, 
the same having been represented greater than it was. Per Neil Gilmour, 
Superintendent, October 14, 1875. 



Taxes and Taxation. , 661 

Same. 

From tlic papers submitted, the determination of the supervisors is erro- 
neous; and even if said determination were just so far as the Howe's Cave 
Association is concerned (which pays tlie principal part of the taxes in one 
l)art of the district), it is certainly unjust toward the other tax payers in the 
part of the school district situated in tlie town of Cobleskill. Per Neil 
Gilmour, Superintendent, May 22, 1876. 

Supervisors will be directed to consent to the renewal of the warrrant of a school dis- 
trict collector where they show no good reason for refusing to do so. 

In tliis case the collection of the tax had been delayed and prevented by 
tlie bringmg and hearing of appeals against its enforcement. Several renew- 
als had already been made with the consent of the supervisor, and no reason 
was given by him for his refusal again to consent to a further renewal of 
the same. Directed to approve of a further renewal of the said warrant. 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 2, 1870. 

Same. 

As no reason has been shown why it should not be further renewed for 
the uncollected portion of the tax, it appears to be the manifest duty of 
the respondent (supervisor) to give his approval in writing to the renewal 
of the warrant in question. So ordered. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, 
September 16, 1874. 



TAXES AND TAXATION 

ASSESSMENT AND TAX-LIST. 

When the assessment-roll of a town is at the county seat in the custody of the board 
of supervisors, and a tax is voted in its absence, it is a sufficient excuse for not 
making out the tax-list within thirty days after it is voted. The statute is merely 
directory. 

At a district meeting in the town of Wilson, held November 28, 1848, a 
tax of $15 was voted for the purpose of furnishing the school with wood 
during the winter. 

The last assessment-roll of the town being at the county seat, the trustees 
did not make out the tax-list within the time directed by law. Thinking 
the tax had become void, they gave the district clerk a verbal notice to 
cause a special meeting to be hetd the twentieth day of November for the 
purpose of voting the tax again. The meeting was held and the tax voted. 
Also a tax was voted to repair the school-house, without the proper notice 
being given. Objection being made by some of the inhabitants to this 
meeting — first, because the notice of the trustees was not written, and sec- 
ond, because a tax was voted to repair the school-house without the proper 
notice — the trustees called another meeting, to be held the twenty -third 
of December, for the same purpose. At this meeting the motion to raise the 
tax for wood was negatived. 

From this vote the trustees appeal. According to a vote of the district 
at the annual meeting, the trustees assumed responsibilities in behalf of the 
district for which they were directed to raise a tax. Althougli the tax-list 
may not have been made out within thirty days aftei the tax was voted, no 



662 Taxes and Taxation. 

subsequent vote of the district could change their li.ability to taxation for 
wood. The trustees acted under the direction of the district, and could 
not therefore be made personally responsible, if they acted in good faith. 
The statute relating to the time of making out a tax-list is directory merely, 
and a failure to comply with it, through accident or for good reasons, does 
not render a tax that has been voted, illegal The trustees in this case had 
good reasons for not completing the tax-list in thirty days, to-wit, the 
absence of the assessment-roll. The trustees are hereby authorized to levy 
the tax voted at the annual meeting. Per Morgan, January, 1849. 

In making out a tax-list, all the trustees must be consulted and act together. 

Two of the trustees of district No 1, Hornby, Steuben county, made out 
a tax-list without notifying or consulting with the third. The other trustee 
and Mr. Chalion Headley appealed, and asked that the said tax-list be set 
aside, without pointing out any error or alleging any special grievance. 

It is a clear and undoubted principle that the public have the right to the 
counsel and service of all the members of a board of trustees, and of every 
other tribunal, in all their doings which involve the exercise of discretion 
and judgment. The making out of a tax-list is of this character. The 
trustees have to determine who are taxable inhabitants, and for what amount 
they shall be respectively assessed. It is true that, upon examination, they 
may ascertain that the taxable inhabitants of their district are the same 
persons and no other than those enumerated in the last completed towm 
assessment-roll, and that their property respectively remains, without any 
variation, as it did at the time such roll was completed. That determination 
having been reached, the duty of copying so much of the assessment-roll 
as relates to the inhabitants and property of their district is a purely cleri- 
cal one, which may as well be discharojed by one trustee as by three. It is, 
however, always a preliminary question, whether such be the fact, and the 
public have an interest that each of the trustees should be heard upon this 
question. A trustee who is absent might know and be able to show his 
colleagues that a particular inhabitant had received a large accession to his 
personal property, and thus reduce the contribution of every other tax 
payer. 

The appeal is therefore sustained, and the proceedings of the trustees 
declared irregular. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, November 
8, 1855. 

The form of a tax-list is deemed important. 

The form of a tax-list is of more importance than is generally conceived, 
and there is no reason why that prescribed in the Code of Public Instruction 
should not be followed. It might not vitiate the tax-list that its form was 
not precisely like that required by law, but it affords a substantial ground 
for directing the trustees again to make out their list. Per H. H. Van 
Dyck, Superintendent, March 25, 1858. 

A tax-list, made out by one of the trustees and signed by t?ro of them, without notice 
to, or consultation with, the third trustee, will be set aside. 

On an appeal from the proceedings of two of the trustees in making out 
a tax-list, it appears tliat the said tax-list was made out by one of them and 
issued with the signature of but two attached, the third not having been 
consulted concerning it. 

The statute expressly requires the trustees to meet and act together in 
determining the assessment; and, in the instructions from this department 



Taxes and Taxatiox. • 663 

in the circular containing the amendment to the school law, passed April 
12, 1858, this point was especially dwelt upon, and the liability of trustees 
was distinctly set forth, 

I have, therefore, no alternative but to declare the tax-list invalid, and to 
order the trustees to meet together for the purpose of making out a new^ 
one. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 4, 1849. 

An appeal from corrections in a tax-list made at the suggestion and desire of the appel- 
lant will not be sustained. Tax-lists must be made out from the last assessment- 
roll, otherwise they are not valid. 

This is an appeal from the acts of the trustees in making out two tax- 
lists, and in proceeding to enforce the collection of the same. 

The objection to the first of these tax-lists is sufficieut to establish its 
invalidity. The complaint that the trustees corrected it upon his sugges- 
tion and at his desire comes with poor grace from the man in whose behalf 
the corrections were made. The department, therefore, now justifies and 
approves the amendments complained of. 

The objection to the second tax-list is that it was made from the assess- 
ment-rolls of 1859, though at the time the assessment of 1860 was com- 
plete, and had been delivered to the supervisor. 

This fact, being admitted by the trustees, is fatal to the validity of the 
tax-list, though the trustees acted ignorantly or in good faith That does 
not change tlie question. The statute invests them with no authority to 
nse any other than the last assessment-roll, and this department has no 
power to contravene the provisions of the law. Per H. H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, February 16, 1861. 

Trustees act judicially in levying a tax, and this department will not set up its judg- 
ment in opposition to theirs, a^ to the correctness of the taxation. 

It is not the business of this department to assess the property of dis- 
tricts, nor to make out tax-lists. The law imposes that duty on trustees, 
and to a certain extent they act judicially in the discharge of that duty. 
The supreme court has refused to interfere to correct assessments, even 
where it was proved that property had been erroneously omitted ; and this 
department certainly does not possess greater power in such cases than the 
supreme court. 

The department will not set up its judgment in opposition to that of the 
trustees, as to the correctness of the taxation. Per V. M. Rice, Superin- 
tendent, August 18, 1862. 

Department will not order land placed upon the tax-list when the district boundaries 
are in dispute, so that it will virtuall}'^ pass upon such boundaries. 

This department will refuse to direct trustees to include in a tax-list, land 
concerning which there is a question as to which district it belongs, and 
will not pass upon the matter of disputed boundaries in disposing of a pro- 
ceeding asking for a correction of the tax-list. The school commissioner 
has original jurisdiction, and the law makes it his duty to amend the record 
of district boundaries. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 
2996, July 23, 1880. 

Trustee must follow supervisor's equalization. 

A trustee must make out his tax-list in accordance with the ordej of the 
supervisors determining the relative proportions of taxes that ought to be 



<^^4 Taxes and Taxation. 

assessed upon the real property of respective parts of the district lying in 
two towns. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3049, Jan- 
uary 23, 1881. 

Must include amount of judgment in tax-list. 

When a sheriff collects a judgment against a school district of one of 
the trustees, the board of trustees must include the amount so paid in the 
tftx-list, and recompense such trustee. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, 
Decision No. 3105, June 22, 1881. 

Trustees must act in issuing tax-list at a meeting of which all the trustees had notice. 

The issuing of a tax-list must be decided upon at a meeting of the 
trustees of which all had legal notice. A tax-list must be prefixed with a 
heading showing for what purpose the different items of the tax is levied. 
The tax-list must also include all the taxable property in the district. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3164, February 1, 1882. 

Amending heading of tax-list. 

Ti'ustee must not amend the heading of a tax-list without the authority 
of this department. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3254, April 5, 1883. 

Where the tax-list is issued before the equalization by the supervisors, the trustees 
must follow the last assessment-rolls of the towns. 

When the equalization is made subsequent to the issuing of the tax list, the Super- 
intendent will not order the tax-list withdrawn, unless some fraud or bad faith of the 
trustees is shown in issuing it before the equalization was made. 

The tax-list in question was made out from the last assessment-rolls of 
the two tow-ns in which the district was situated, as revised by the 
assessors. Subsequently the supervisors of said towns, on the application 
of tlie trustee, equalized the assessed valuation of the real estate of the two 
towns lying in said school district. 

The parties to this agreed statement ask, substantially, that the Super- 
intendent direct the withdrawal of said tax-list and warrant, and that a 
new^ one issue in its place on the basis of the equalization made as aforesaid. 

To justify the Superintendent in granting the relief sought, it should 
have appeared that the equalization was made by the supervisors before the 
warrant was issued, or that there was some fraud or bad faith of the trustee 
in issuing the warrant, after knowledge that an application had been made 
to the supervisors for an equalization. In this case no element of bad faith 
appears; but, on the other hand, it is agreed that the tax-list was made out 
as directed by the statute, and that tliB w^arrant was legally issued. Per 
W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3451, November 13, 1885. 

TOWN ROLL TO BE FOLLOWED. 

Where town assessment-roll is corrected by the assessors, or adopted by them with- 
out correction, it is henceforth the assessment-roll of the town for all district taxes. 
Board of supervisors having equalized taxation, addition or subtraction of a per- 
centage does not change proportionate valuation between inhabitants of same town ; 
but, in joint districts, supervisors are to determine the relative proportion of taxes 
to be assessed upon real property of parts lying in each town. 

When tlie tow^i assessment-roll is corrected by the assessors, or finally 
adopted by them after notice of its completion without correction, it 



Taxes and Taxation. . 665 

becomes the assessment-roll of the toAvn for the purpose of all district taxes 
thereafter. The equalization by the board of supervisors being made, the 
addition or subtraction of a percentage does not change the proportionate 
valuation as between inhabitants of the same town, and is, therefore, to be 
disregarded. In joint districts, however, the statute {section 69, title 7, 
chapter 555 of 1854) provides for equalization by the board of superin- 
tendents (supervisors) of the several towns of which the district is composed. 
They are to determine "the relative jiroportion of taxes which ought to be 
assessed upon the real ])roperty of the parts" lying in each town. The 
proper course is to find, in the first place, the aggregate valuation of the 
])art lying in Sherburne from that town roll, of that lying in Hamilton from 
the Hamilton roll, that in Lebanon from the Lebanon roll. 

Suppose the aggregate valuations of the parts to be — Sherburne, 
$25,000, Lebanon, $30,000, and Hamilton, $45,000. You are to inquire if 
these are substantially just, as compared with each other. If it appears 
imjust, then add and subtract until you obtain the fair proportion, accord- 
ing to your judgment, of the value of the property. Suppose that you 
arrive at the determination that the Sherburne part ought to be valued at 
$35,000, Lebanon at $26,000, and Hamilton at $39,000 —making the same 
aggregate, you will observe. Then you reduce your determination to 
writing, stating therein tnat, in all taxes for school purposes thereafter to 
be raised in the joint district, thirty-five cents of every dollar thereof ought 
to be assessed upon the real property of the part of such district lying in 
ths town of Sherburne, according to the valuation of such property in the 
corrected assessment-roll of Sherburne, wdiicli shall last precede the making 
out of such tax, twenty-six cents of every dollar in Lebanon, and thirty- 
nine cents, etc., etc., in Hamilton. 

The trustees, in making out future taxes, will have to use all these rolls, 
and it is desirable, though not imperative, that you should facilitate their 
labor by giving them the proportions in decimals of a dollar. Per E. 
Peshine Smith, Deputy Superintendent, March 23, 1855. 



The assessment-roll of a town, as revised by the assessors and delivered to the super- 
visors, is complete so far as to bind the trustees in making out a tax-list, 

The trustees of joint district No. 1, Gates and Chili, Monroe county, in 
making a tax -list on the 15th day of October, 1855, adopted the valuations 
of the town assessment-rolls for 1854. The rolls for 1855 had not then been 
levised by the supervisors, and, as those of the two towns differed very 
materially in their valuations of real estate, the trustees considered it un- 
just to follow^ them until such revision. In this the trustees erred, and 
their tax-list is consequently erroneous. It has been repeatedly decided by 
this department, and also by the supreme court, that wiien the assessment- 
roll has been revised by the assessors and delivered to the supervisors, it 
becomes so far complete as to bind the trustees. 

If the trustees of a joint district regard the valuations of the two town 
assessment -rolls as not substantially just, as compared with each other, so 
far as such district is concerned, they have the right to apply to the super- 
visors of the towns, parts of wliich are embraced within their school dis- 
trict, to determine the relative proportion of taxes that ought to be assessed 
upon the real property of the parts of such districts so lying in different 
towns. (Section 69, title 7, chapter 555, Laics oj 1864.) 

They can resort to this remedy as well after as before the board of super- 
visors has revised and equalized the town assessment-rolls. 

.84 



6Q6 Taxes and Taxation. 

The appeal is sustained, and the trustees authorized to amend their tax- 
list in accordance with law. Per E. P. Smith, June 4, 1856. 

In making out a tax-list, if the trustees follow the town roll, it will not be held invalid, 

although land belonging to the sou is assessed to his father. 
When the town assessors have assessed a minister of the gospel for his property, the 

trustees, in making out a tax-list, must presume that the $1,500 exemption allowed 

by statute has been made. 

Appellant complains that the trustee, in making out a tax-list, pursuant 
to the vote of a special meeting held in the district, April 23, 1867, omitted 
to tax Lucius Still 'Jon for fifty acres of land owned by him, and situated 
and taxable in said district. Also, that one Junius Voorhees, who voted 
at said special meeting, and who has taxable property above the value of 
$50, is not assessed iu said tax-list. Also, that appellant is a regularly 
ordained minister of the gospel, and that he claimed an exemption of $1,500 
on that account, which respondent refused to allow. Kespcmdent shows 
that said Lucius Stillson is a young unmarried man living with his father, 
and that said fifty acres of land is assessed to tlie father on said tax-list, 
the same as on t!ie town-roll, This being the case, the appellant is not 
aggrieved, the land is taxed, which is the important thing, and the appel- 
lant has no grounds of complaint, even admitting that the land was 
assessed to the wrong person. In regard to Voorhees, the respondent 
shows that he is not assessed on the town roll, and that he has no knowl- 
edge of any taxable property in his (Voorhees') possession. In making 
out tax-lists, trustees are not bound to vary from the town roll in regard to 
personal property, except from personal knowledge of an alteration since 
the town roll was made, or to correct a known or an acknowledged error. 
I do not see, therefore, that the trustee is at fault in the matter com- 
plained of. 

Concerning the assessment of appellant, respondent shows that he fol- 
lowed the town roll, and assessed him $1,830 on property worth at least 
$5,000. Appellant does not show that the town assessors did not reduce 
his valuation to the amount of $1,500, on account of his being a minister 
of the gospel, and, not having proved the contrary, the presumption is that 
the assessors performed their duty and allowed such reduction, if he was 
entitled to it. The appeal has failed to establish any real grievance on the 
part of appellant, and it must be, and is hereby, dismissed. Per V. M. 
Rice, August 17, 1867. 

Trustees must follow the last completed assessment-roll of the town in making out a 
tax-list, regardless of the time when the tax should have been levied. 

In making out a tax-list in 1870, after, the assessment-roll of the town 
for that year had been completed, the trustee followed the assessment-roll 
of 1869 for the reason, as stated by him, that the tax, which was for teachers' 
wages, should have been collected by his predecessor in office prior to the 
completion of the roll of 1870, and at a time when the roll of 1869 was the 
last completed roll of the town. 

The conclusion of the respondent is erroneous. The provisions of the 
statute with reference to making out a tax-list are imperative, and direct 
that the last assessment-roll of the town is the one to be followed in mak- 
ing assessments without reference to the time when the tax might have 
been, or properly should have been levied. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- 
tendent, January 7, 1871. 



Taxes and Taxation. . 667 



EXEMPTION. 

A district has no power to exempt any inhabitant from taxation in consideration of a 

gift by him of a site. 

A taxable inhabitant was intentionally omitted in the tax-list, in con- 
sideration of his having given half an acre of land for the site of the school- 
house. Held^ on appeal, that the trustees are required by law to assess 
every tax upon all the taxable inhabitants of the district, and that a dis- 
trict meeting has no power to relieve them from this obligation. Per V. 
M. Rice, Superintendent, February 4, 1857. 

Non-practicing clergymen not entitled to the reduction of $1,500, made in favor of 
practicing ministers of the gospel. 

Where clergymen have to all intents and purposes given up their profes- 
sion, the fact that they have for a number of years been engaged in busi- 
ness of an entirely different character, and have not meanwhile been settled 
over any church as pastor, affords strong ground of presumption that they 
have given up the practice of their profession. They are not in my opin- 
ion, entitled to the reduction of $1,500, which the law makes in favor of 
practicing ministers of the gospel. The intention of the law is to exempt 
those who are actual clergymen practicing their profession, or who, if not 
pi-acticing it, are not engaged in any other business. Per S. D. Barr, 
Deputy Superintendent, November 23, 1865. {Letters, vol. 4, p. 561.) 

A lot owned by a church, on which there is no church building, is not 
exempt from taxation. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent Public Instruction, 
April 23, 1866. 

A parsonage lot owned by a religious society and occupied by the minister as tenant 
is not exempt from taxation. 

Appeal from the neglect or refusal of the trustee to assess the parsonage 
lot, situate in said district owned by a religious society and occupied by 
the minister of said society as tenant. 

The trustee gives as his reason for exempting said lot, that it has always 
been exempted by the town assessors, and that it is supposed said premises, 
being occupied by a minister of the gospel as a tenant, should, for that 
reason, be exempted. 

There is nothing in this statement by the respondent to justify the 
exemption of the premises in question from assessment and taxation for 
school purposes. It is only the real estate of a minister of the gospel or 
priest of any denomination to the amount of $1,500, when it is both owned 
and occupied by him, that is exempt from taxation. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, May 34, 1869. 

A regularly ordained minister of the gospel is entitled to the exemption from taxation 
allowed by law, although at the time he have no society in charge and works at a 
trade. 

It IS shown that the person m question is a minister of the gospel, in 
good standing, and that he officiates as such in accordance with the rules 
of the denomination to which he is attached, and of which he is a regu- 
larly ordained clergymen. He acknowledges that he performs manual labor 
as stated by the appellants, for the reason that he is required to do so to 
obtain a proper support. 



608 Taxes and Taxation. 

Under the circumstances, I am clearly of the opinion that lie is entitled 
to the exemption allowed by law to ministers of the gospel. Per Neil 
Gilmour, Superintendent, May 16, 1874. 

Note. — It will be seen that the facts are different somewhat from those stated lu a 
previous opinion, per S. D. JJarr, Deputy Superintendent, and given above. 

TAX BY INSTALLMENTS. 

A tax voted for the purchase of a site cannot be raised by instalhnents. A tax-list 
for the whole amount must be made out within thirty days from the voting of the 
tax. 

This is an appeal from the procedings of an adjourned special meeting 
held on the 4th of May last, at which the site of the school-house of the 
district was changed and a tax of $200 voted to build a scliool-house thereon 
and to fence the site, such tax to be collected in two equal installments, 
one-half on the 1st of September and the remainder on the 1st of December 
next. 

There is an objection appearing on the face of the proceedings, which 
is fatal to the validity of the vote for raising the tax for purchasing the site. 
The Superintendent is unable to find any authority in the school law for 
raising the amount provided for by the vote of the district in two install- 
ments, one payable in September and the other in December next. When 
a greater sum than $400 ($1,000) is directed to be raised for building a 
school-house, in the manner prescribed by section 19, title 7, school laws, 
such amount may be raised in equal annual installments, as therein pro- 
vided ; but where the amount to be raised is for the purpose of a site, no 
provision exists for raising such amount by installments, and the law 
requires the tax-list for the whole amount to be made out within thirty 
days from the voting of the tax. The resolution referred to was therefore 
illegal and invalid for this cause, and so much of the proceedings of the 
special meeting appealed from as relates to the raising of the tax of $200 
to purchase and fence the site, payable in installments, as therein specified, 
is hereby set aside. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, June 12, 1854. 

IRREGULARITIES. 
A warrant issued twenty-one days after the tax to which it relates was voted, is invalid. 

A tax-list and warrant issued about November 2, 1870, embraced an item 
of $25 for repairs voted by the district on the 11th of October previously. 

This fact is fatal to the validity of the tax-list, for the statute requires 
{section 82, title 7 of the (reneral School Act) that "a warrant for the collec- 
tion of a tax voted by the district shall. not be delivered to the collector 
until the tliirty-Jirst day after the tax was voted — and here an item em- 
braced in the tax-list was a tax voted, only about twenty-one days prior to 
tlie issuing of the warrant. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 11, 
1871. 

Irregularities in a tax-list causing the same to be set aside. 

The testimony shows that no heading is prefixed to said tax-list showing 
for what purposes the same is levied, as required by section G5, title 7 of the 
General School Act. Also, that in the warrant, the collector is directed to 
pay over to the trustee all the moneys collected by virtue thereof. Also that 
the valuations of property are taken from the town roll as completed by the 
assessors, whereas said valuations have been equalized by the board of super 
visors, of which equalization no notice has been taken by the trustee. The 
testimony further shows that the said tax ie for teachers' wages, that but 
two-thirds of the public money apportioned to the district has been applied 



Taxes and Taxation. . 669 

by the trustee to the reduction of said wages, and that he has not been 
directed by a vote of a district meeting to divide such public money into 
two portions. 

The tax-list set aside and the trustee directed to call a special meeting of 
the inhabitants for the purpose of deciding what portion of the public money 
apporti(med to said district, shall be applied to the winter term of school. 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 3, 1868. 

LIABILITY. 

A mortgage given to secure the purchase-money of real estate is subject to taxation in 
the district where the mortgagee resides. 

From the statements of the county superintendent in this case it appears 
that on the 12th of March last a tax was voted in district No. 8, in which 
the appellant resides, for the purpose of erecting a school-house, which was 
duly assessed on the taxable inhabitants, according to law, by the trustees, 
on the 23d of the same month. At the time of voting the tax the appellant 
was the owner of a farm in the district, which was leased to a tenant, whose 
term expired on the 1st of April subsequently. On or about the 18th of 
March intermediate the voting and the assessment of the tax, he sold the 
farm to a non-resident of the district and took a mortgage for the purchase- 
money, stipulating to give possession on the expiration of the lease, from 
which period interest on the amount secured to be paid by the mortgage 
was to commencCi The principal question involved in the appeal is, as to 
the right of the trustees to tax the appellant for the amount secured to be 
paid as the purchase-money of the farm sold by him. The county superin- 
tendent decided that the trustees were legally authorized to include the 
amount in their tax-list, under the head of personal property, from which 
decision the present appeal is brought. The rule of law in this respect has 
been correctly stated by the county superintendent. It is that, where a 
farm is sold, the vendor remaining in the district .s taxable for the avails of 
such sale as personal property, whether such avails are in the shape of money 
or securities for its payment, while the purchaser or his agent, whether resi- 
dent or non-resident, is taxable for the real estate. In the present case the 
farm of the appellant had been sold and a mortgage executed for the pur- 
chase-money prior to the assessment of the tax previously voted ; and in 
accordance with the principle above laid down, the appellant was clearly 
taxable for such purchase-money as personal estate, and the purchaser as the 
non-resident owner of the real estate. Nor can this principle be in any 
respect affected by the arrangement between the parties relative to the period 
when possession was to be taken, or interest to commence running on the 
mortgage. Per S. Young, December 4, 1844. 

It is the duty of the trustees in laying a tax to assess the same against every person 
within the district who owns, or is in possession of taxable property at the time of 
making out such tax-list. 

On the third day of February, Mr. Hoyt sold all his real estate in said dis- 
trict to William Moreau, and executed and delivered a deed to him. Mr. 
Hoyt remains in possession, and by the contract will remain in possession 
till April 1, 1848. February 15, 1848, the trustees of the district proceeded 
to make out a tax-list for a tax voted January 15, 1848, to build a school- 
house. They, with a full knowledge of the above sale and conveyance, 
assessed Mr. Hoyt with the farm and real estate so sold. 

Mr. Hoyt claims that the land should have been assessed to Mr. Moreau. 



670 Taxes and Taxation. 

The trustees were right. By section 85, chapter 480, Laws of 1847, the 
trustees are required to apportion a tax upon "all the taxable inhabitants 
holding property in the district, according to the valuations of tlie taxable 
property which shall be owned or possessed by them at the time of making 
out such list." Mr. Hoyt, at the time of making out the list, had not given 
up possession and must be considered the possessor. 

It is to be presumed that the purchase-money is not to be paid until pos- 
session is delivered, in which case the trustees could not assess the price of 
the farm to Mr. Hoyt as personal property. The appeal is dismissed. Per 
Morgan, March 18, 1848. 

The general rule is that a vendor remaining in possession of land sold, is 
liable to pay the taxes assessed upon such land. Per A. B. Weaver, Suoer- 
iutendent, May 13, 1868, citing and approving the above. 

Taxation of a person having the naked possession of land without color of title. A 
previous case commented on and explained. 

On the first diy of April last, Mr. Davis executed and delivered a deed 
of his farm to Mr. Frost, the owner of the adjoining land, receiving from 
him a payment of $900 in cash, and the promissory notes of third persons, 
and a mortgage for the residue of the purchase-money. On the twelfth 
day of April, the trustees made out a tax-list, and, as Mr. Davis still con- 
tinued in possession of the farm he had sold, assessed him for the value 
thereof. Upon his objecting, and stating to the trustees that he was in 
possession only at sufferance, while waiting for the opening of lake naviga- 
tion to transport his family and effects to Wisconsin, the trustees proposed 
to assess him for the price of the farm as personal property. To this he 
replied that he had already made a contract for the purchase of a farm in 
Wisconsin, and bound himself to pay a larger sum than that for which he 
had sold his farm, and offered to make an affidavit that his debts exceeded 
the value of his personal ^-roperty. The trustees being satisfied of the 
truth of his statement, but supposing themselves bound to assess him for 
the farm by a decision of the Superintendent, united with Mr. Davis in sub- 
mitting the facts for a decision. 

The trustees have been misled by overlooking the distinction between the 
present case and that to which they refer. In the former case, Mr. Hoyt 
reserved the right of possession for a definite period, and was the actual 
owner, with all the responsibilities of ownership, until that period arrived. 
In this case, Mr. Davis, though actually in possession, is without any claim 
of title to possession for an hour. Mr. Frost is the admitted owner, though 
he has not exercised his extreme right by inhospitably turning his neighbor 
out of doors. As such owner he is liable to be taxed for the real estate 
purchased. 

The facts conceded in respect to the indebtedness of Mr. Davis are a 
conclusive answer to any supposed obligation on the part of the trustees to 
assess him for personal estate, though the fact that he is about to remove, 
and can receive no benefit, from the tax, has no legal importance in the 
question. Per A. G. Johnson, Deputy Superintendent, May, 1849. 

Where a tax payer voluntarily moves from one district to another he is hable to a tax 
for building a school-house in the latter district, even if within four year he has paid 
a tax for that purpose in the district from which he removes. 

Benjamin Mix, the petitioner, owns a farm partly situated in district No. 
16, and partly in No. 10, Gouverneur, St. Lawrence county. Until last 
August he lived within the bounds of No. 16, but at that time he moved 



Taxes and Taxation. 671 

into district No. 10. While a resident of No. 16, lie contributed his share 
of the expense of building a school-house in tliat district. This was about 
eight years since. 

The inhabitants of No. 10 have recently raised a tax to build a new 
school-house, and have included the farm of Mr. Mix in the tax list. He 
wishes to be released from the payment of the tax. 

This petition must be denied, because the law exempts only those who 
have been set off from another district witliout their consent within four 
years from the payment of a tax for building a school-house. 

Mr. Mix voluntarily moved from No. 16 to No. 10, and moreover upward 
of four years have elapsed since he was taxed for building a school-house, 
so that he cannot claim exemption on either ground. 

The petition is dismissed. Per A. G. Johnson, Deputy Superintendent, 
August 7, 1848. 

Presumptively, tlie trustees of a school district have no ngnt to go beyond the bound- 
aries of their district to tax ; and when they do, it lies upon them to establish the 
power to tax, and not upon the party taxed to disprove it. 

The trustees, in the answer, rely upon the fact that the appellant did not 
show that he claimed a reduction of his tax, or that he notified them of the 
alienation of the property, by the taxation of which he is aggrieved. They 
do not deny any of the facts set up in the appeal. 

The appellant avers that, about two months previous to the making out 
of the tax list, he had sold the southern part of lot No. 35 (120 acres), in 
parcels, to two persons, who took possession and resided upon it. It is not 
within the limits of district No. 7, but adjoins lands owned by the appellant 
in that district. This is the only circumstance in sui3port of the authority 
of the respondents to tax it. The statute, however, requires that it should 
be owned or possessed by a taxable inhabitant of their district at the time 
of making out such list. 

The power being in derogation of common right, which would exempt 
all land from being taxed elsewhere than in the district where it lies, must 
be construed rigidly. The possession of the purchasers is of itself notice 
of their rights, and should j)ut the trustees upon inquiry 

While tlie last assessment-roll is to guide them in the valuation of any 
property w'hich they may be authorized to tax, unless the right to a reduc- 
tion of such a valuation be established, it cannot, in the nature of things, 
establish the liability of such property to taxation. Presumptively, the 
trustees have no right to go beyond their district limits ; when they do so, 
it lies upon them to establish the power, and not ujjon the party taxed to 
disprove it or to take notice that it is about to be exercised unless he 
remonstrates. The appeal must be sustained. Per V. M. Rice, February 
28, 1S55. 

Land worked under a contract, by which the lessee is to share in the produce thereof 
is subject to taxation in the district where it is situated. 

The appellant is the owner of lot No. 34, included in the boundaries of 
district No. 9, Wirt, Allegany county, and also of lot No. 26, which adjoins 
it, but is included within the boundaries of district No. 1, and is in the 
occupation of an inhabitant of district No. 1, holding under a lease by 
which he renders a share of the produce to the appellant. The statute 
expressly provides that any person working land under a contract for a 
share of the produce of such land shall be deemed the possessor, so far as 
to render him liable to taxation therefor in the district where such land is 



672 Taxes and Taxation. 

situate. The trustees aver that the existence of such a lease never came to 
their knowledge until after the making out of the tax-list. This is doubt- 
less true; hut they were bound to know the limits of their own district, and 
■were bound at their peril not to impose a tax upon any one, in respect to 
land outside of their limits, unless it was in his actual possession, consti- 
tuting a part of real property " partly within such district and partly in an 
adjoining district." 

It is an anomaly that land lying in one district should, under any cir- 
cumstances, be withdrawn from its liability to support the public burdens 
of such district, and made to contribute to those of another in which the 
owner may reside. The law is to be so construed as to restrict such cases 
within the narrow^est possible limits. 

The appeal is therefore sustained. The trustees must correct their tax- 
list, by excluding therefrom the valuation of lot No, 26, and by assessing 
so much of the tax as is imposed upon the appellant by reason of his own- 
ership of such lot on the taxable inhabitants of the district, in proportion 
to their respective valuations. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, 
May 20, 1856. 

a person set off from one district to another, bj an order that does not take effect until 
three months after its issue, will be liable on any taxes levied in the district from 
which he is set off, prior to the taking effect of such order. 

In March, 1857, an order was made, by the school commissioner having 
jurisdiction, transferring the lands of the appellant and others, from dis- 
trict No. 1 to district No. 2. The trustees of No, 1 having withheld their 
consent, this order will not take effect till the expiration of three months 
from the first day of April, 1857, when notice thereof was served. While 
the alteration was inchoate, the district meeting was held, against the pro- 
ceedings of which this appeal is directed, and a tax to defray the expenses 
of changing site and building a new school-house was voted. The appel- 
lant objects that the effect will be to charge him with the payment of a tax 
for constructing a school-house from which he receives no benefit. 

Held, that this was a proper consideration for the judgment of the inhab- 
itants of district No. 1, in determining whether they would build at once or 
postpone till after the alteration should have taken effect. The appellant 
continues an inhabitant of the district for all purposes until the first day of 
July, If the appellant is set off from the district without his consent, he 
will be exempted from paying a tax from building in No, 2, for four years. 
If he has given his consent, he is responsible for' all the consequences, and 
cannot be permitted to trammel the action of either district for the purpose 
of avoiding any personal charge or inconvenience. Per H, H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, June 2, 1857. 

"When a person ceases to be an inhabitant of a district after a district tax is voted and 
before the expiration of the time allowed trustees in which to make out their tax-list, 
he should be omitted from such tax-list. 

On the 9th day of February, 1857, the appellant made a contract for the 
sale of his farm in the district, stipulating therein to execute a deed and 
transfer possession on the first day of April follow^ing. On the first day of 
April the contract was executed on both sides. 

On the 14th day of March. 1857, after the equitable title to the farm of 
the appellant had been alienated by him, but before the freehold had legally 
passed, a district meeting voted a tax to build a school-house. The tax-list 
was made out on the 30th day of March, and the appellant was included 



Taxes and Taxation. ' 673 

therein as the owner of the farm. He was notified of the fact, and on the 
next day removed from the district and became the resident of another. 

It is obviously just tliat the tax for a permanent improvement in a dis- 
trict should be borne by those who are to receive the benefit of it, and those 
who in good faith cease to be inhabitants before the expenditure for such 
improvements is made should be exempted from contribution whenever the 
letter of the statute will permit. 

Trustees are directed by the law to make out their tax-list within thirty 
days after the meeting at which the tax is voted, and it is made their duty 
to deliver the same to the collector after the expiration of thirty days. 
Where a person has, during that time, ceased to be an inhabitant of the 
district in pursuance of an arrangement previously made, he ought to be 
exempted, and the person who, under such circumstances, became the owner 
of the property, should bear the burden of an expenditure by which its 
value is permanently increased. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, 
June 17, 1857. 

Assessment of a bond and mortgage as personal property is good, but at the same time 
assessing the owner thereof for the farm upon which he holds the mortgage, and upon 
which he resides only temporarily, disapproved. 

This is an appeal of J. P. from an assessment against him on a tax-list 
made out by the sole trustee. The facts upon which the appellant relies 
are as follows: On or about the first of October, 1859, he agreed to sell to 
one D. B. the farm then owned and occupied by said appellant. The 
agreement contemplated that the purchase-money ($12,000) should be paid 
on the first of April following, at which time possession of the said prem- 
ises was to be given. A regular deed of conveyance was executed by the 
owner to the purchaser, and a regular bond and mortgage conditioned for 
the payment of the purchase-money was given on the other hand. These 
conveyances were all duly recorded. The position that the appellant main- 
tains is that this deed was not a sale or conveyance, but a convenient sub- 
stitute for a contract of sale, and that the mortgage not being given for an 
actual, but merely for a contingent indebtedness, is not personal property 
liable for taxation. 

I fail to apprehend this matter in the light in which the appellant pre- 
sents it. The propriety of going back of the records to inquire into their 
meaning is, upon an application of this kind, extremely doubtful, to say 
the least. But if we were to do this, we find that there has been, in good 
faith, duly executed, a deed of conveyance. Both parties so regard it. 
Clearly, to my mind, D. B. is in law and in fact the' owner of the farm 
herein spoken of. By the purchase of the said farm, he became indebted 
to the appellant in the sum of $12,000, for which he executed the mortgage 
before named. This can be regarded as no other than personal property, 
as defined in part 1, chapter 13, title 1, section 3, Revised Statutes, 4th 
edition, and as such liable for taxation for school purposes under section 
85, chapter 480, Laws of 1847. I do not see how, under the statute, the 
trustee could exercise any discretion. His duty was plain and unavoidable. 

Concerning the taxation of the farm, the trustee could, under section 1, 
chapter 176, Laws of 1851, assess it to the owner or occupant, or as non- 
resident lands. He exercised the discretion thus conferred and assessed it 
to the appellant as " occupant.'' I should be disposed to give considerable 
weight to the presum^jtion of the just exercise of this discretion, if it were 
true, as alleged, that the appellant, as tenant, can recover the amount thus 
paid from the owner. By reference to the statute {section 88, chapter 480, 
Laws of 1847), it will be seen that the purposes for which this tax was 

:85 



674 Taxes and Taxation. 

levied will bar auy recovery from the owner by the tenant. The appellant 
is, therefore, without auy remedy under the statute. Under this aspect of 
the case, I cannot but think it just and right to have assessed the farm to 
D. B., the owner. 

The general conclusion at which I arrive is, therefore, that the assess- 
ment of the bond and mortgage to the appellant as personal property is 
right and legal, but that the farm occupied by him should be assessed to 
the owner, D. B. ; and the trustee is authorized and directed to amend his 
tax-list by assessing the tax on said farm as above indicated. Per H. H. 
Van Dyck, Superintendent, April 23, 1860. 

Parcels of land bought of different parties, but all connected with the original farm 
upon which the owner resides, are taxable as one farm in the district of his 
residence. 

This is an appeal of W. S.,. a resident and tax payer in district No. 18, 
from a tax assessed by the trustee of district No. 15, upon a parcel of land 
belonging to the appellant, and lying in district No. 15. 

It is in evidence that the appellant is the owner of said parcel of land, 
that he improves, occupies or cultivates it himself, and that it is attached 
to the premises upon which he resides, by an unbroken connection of lands 
owned and occupied by him. 

This, to my mind, establishes his claim to regard these parcels of land, 
bought at different times, of different persons, and lying within the bound- 
aries of different districts, as one farm ; the taxation of which, for school 
purposes, is carried into that district in which the owner resides. The 
hardship to the district thus deprived of its taxable property must be con- 
ceded ; but this is a consideration to address to the legislature. The pro- 
visions of the statute are now clear and imperative, authorizing the taxa- 
tion in the district as above stated. The appeal is, therefore, sustained, and 
the trustee of No. 15 is directed to amend his tax-list by omitting there- 
from the tax on the parcel of land in question. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy 
Superintendent, June 11, 1860. 

"Where it is claimed that land lying in one district is taxable in another adjoining, by 
virtue of its being part of a parcel upon which the owner lives, in such adjoining 
district, that fact must be clearly proved. 

The primary condition of real property, rendering it liable to taxation in 
a given town, ward or district, is that the property shall lie withio the 
bounds of such town, ward or district. Every instance in which this con- 
dition is fulfilled without the corresponding liability attaching must be 
regarded as exceptional, and these exceptions must be strictly construed, 
according to the spirit of the exceptional provision. It is claimed for the 
land in question that it is embraced in 'the exceptional provisions of the 
statute, exempting it from taxation where it lies by virtue of its being tax- 
able in another district which it joins. The language of the statute is as 
follows: "The trustee shall apportion the tax on all taxable inhabitants 
of the district, **=»•' according to the valuation of the taxable prop- 
erty which shall be owned or possessed by them at the time of making out 
such list, within such district, or partly within such district and partly 
within an adjoining district." 

Here is the only provision conferring upon the trustees of a district 
authority to assess upon their tax-lists lands not lying within the bounds of 
their district. This power must be exercised strictly according to the letter 
of the statute. 



Taxes and Taxation. 675 

The natural legal i^resiimption is that the trustees have not exceeded 
their legitimate authority, and that the property lying within the limits of 
a given district is taxable in that district. 

This presumption can only be overcome by the production of affirmative 
and conclusive proof to the contrary. It has ever been the policy of this 
department, in cases of doubt concerning the liability of land to taxation 
for school purposes in either of two districts resjDectively, to give the bene- 
fits of the doubt to the district in which the land should lie. This appears 
to me to be sound policy, conforming to the evident spirit and intention of 
the statute and controlled by the spirit of equity, by which, wlien not in 
direct contravention of law, this department will be guided. The condi- 
tions contemplated by the statute must be affirmatively proved before the 
presumptions above referred to will be overcome. Per E. W. Keyes, Act- 
ing Superintendent, May 16, 1861. 

A stockholder in a national banking association is liable to be taxed for personal 
property in the district where the bank is located, on the amount of stock owned 
by him in such bank. 

In the matter submitted by the trustees of district No. i, Kingsbury, 
Washington county, and A, F. Hitchcock, a non-resident of said district, 
the following facts appear : 

The First National Bank of Sandy Hill is located, and does business 
within said district No. 1. A. F. Hitchcock is a stockholder in said bank, 
but does not reside in said district. 

The trustees have assessed the said A. F. Hitchcock, upon a tax-list made 
out by them in said district, for the amount of stock owned by him in said 
bank, and have taxed him thereon. 

The question presented is, whether such assessment is lawfully made, and 
hence whether the tax levied thereon can be lawfully collected. 

The capital of these national banks is, by law of congress, required to be 
invested in bonds or securities of the United States, and the stocks, bonds 
or other securities of the United States are, by another act of congress (the 
constitutionality of which has been affirmed by the supreme court of the 
United States) exempted from taxation by any State. Hence, it follows 
that the First National Bank of Sandy Hill is not, as a corporation, liable 
to taxation on its capital invested in United States securities. 

The act of congress, passed June 3, 1864, authorizing the formation of 
national banking associations, provides, however, " That nothing in this 
act shall be construed to prevent all the shares in any of the said associa- 
tions, held by any person or body corporate, from being included in the 
valuation of the personal property of such person or corporation in the 
assessment of taxes imposed by or under State authority, at the place where 
such bank is located, and not elsewhere." 

While, therefore, the capital of the banking association is, by the act 
of congress, exempt from State or local taxation, the shares of stock owned 
by any individual or corporation in such association are not exempt, but 
are left to the operation of the State laws concerning taxation, under cer- 
tain limitations, one of which is that such shares shall be assessed only at 
the place where the bank is located. 

It must follow that the trustees of the district where Mr. Hitchcock re- 
sides can have no power to assess him for the shares owned by him in a 
bank located in another district. Discussion as to the policy or justice of 
these provisions is fruitless; our only concern is with the law as it stands, 
and in this view the above conclusion appears inevitable. 



676 Taxes and Taxation. 

"We have onlj' to inquire furtlier whether there is authority under the 
laws of this State for the assessment of these shares of Mr. Hitchcock by 
tlie trustees of district No. 1, where the bank is located. To determine 
this question, reference must of course be made to the laws of this State 
relating to taxation. Those pertinent to the issue are the following: ''All 
lands and all personal estate within this State, whether owned by individ- 
uals or by corporations, shall be liable to taxation, subject to the exemp- 
tions hereinafter specified." (1 R. S. [otJi ed.] 905, § 1.) 

The terms "personal estate " and " personal property," wherever they 
occur in this chapter, shall be construed to include (among other things 
enumerated) stocks in moneyed corporations. (1 R. S. [5th eel] 907, § 4.) 

" The owner or holder of stock in any iucoriDorated company, liable to 
taxation on its capital, shall not be taxed as an individual for such stock." 
(1 K S. [oth ed] 907, § 14.) 

From the above citations we cannot fail to draw the following conclu- 
sions : 

1. That all personal property not exempted is liable to taxation; 

2. That shares of stock in a banking association, incorporated by what- 
ever authority, are "personal property;" 

3. That the capital of a national bank, being exempt from taxation (not 
liable thereto), under the operation of the higher law of the United States, 
the owner or holder of stock in such banking association is not relieved 
from liability to taxation on such stock by virtue of section 14 above cited. 

Ordinarily, these banking associations would be taxed as a unit — a cor- 
porate body — bat the supreme law of the land, the act of congress, has de- 
creed that they shall not be taxed in that way. It has not overruled the 
law of the State, wdiich says they shall be taxed, but has directed that the 
tax shall be assessed upon the shares of the indiviual or corporate holders 
thereof. The trustees thus derive their authority to tax or assess these 
shares from two sources of power — State and national. The State gives 
the power to assess and prescribes the mode ; the national government 
yields assent to the power to assess, but overrules, in this partcular instance, 
the mode, substituting its own. The result is precisely the same under tlie 
operation of the law of congress that it would be under the. operation of 
the State law. 

Believing, therefore, that the trustees of district No. 1, Kingsbury, have 
acted under the authority of the law^ in the assessment referred to, and 
that, to have omitted to make this assessment in the way it was made, 
would be to have exempted the stock in said bank from any taxation what- 
ever for school purposes, I can do no less than approve and affirm their 
action. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, December 8, 1864. 

The law of the State was subsequently made to conform to the opinion 
above expressed. (See chajyter 761, Lmcs q/* 1866, p. 87, ante.) 

The personal property of the deceased is taxable in the district where the 
administrator resides. (See section 5, title 2, chap. 12, H. >S., 5th eel.) Per 
V. M. Rice, Superintendent, November 24, 1865. 

Where territory is added to a district after tax has been voted to build new school- 
house, but before tax-list for same has been made oute.nd placed in hands of collec- 
tor, it does not affect the action of district in voting tax, and newly -gained territory 
is hable to pay its part of tax. 

The addition of territory to a district after a tax has been voted in such 
district for the purpose of building a new school-house, but before the tax- 
list for the same has been made out and placed in the hands of the collector, 
does not affect the action of the district in voting the tax, and the newly- 
acquired territory is liable to pay its proportion of the tax. 



Taxes and Taxation. 67? 

A special meeting may, however, be called at any time, and before 
the tax-list has been completed by the delivery to the collector the inliab- 
itants may, by a majority vote, rescind the resolution authorizing a tax 
for a new school- house. ^ Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, November 28, 
1865. 

Of land lying in one body. 

Land lying in one body and owned or occupied by the same person must 
be taxed in the district where the occupant or owner resides, although the 
land may be in two districts. When land owned or occupied by the same 
person is not in one body it must be taxed in the respective districts in 
which it is situate. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2798, 
December 30, 1878. 

Same. 

Land lying in two school districts and being contiguous must be owned 
by one person to be taxable in the district where the owner resides under 
section 66, title 7, Code of Public Instruction. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 2839, March 24, 1879. 

Laud lying in one body, crossed by a railroad. 

Where a farm lies in different districts, but is separated by railroad prop- 
erty, it cannot be regarded as land lying in one body, and the respective 
parts must be assessed in the districts in which they lie. Per W. B. 
Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3282, October 5, 1883. 

Continuous gas mains and pipes under the law of 1881 must be taxed as real estate, 
but cannot be considered as land lying in one body under the provisions of section 66, 
title VII, Code of Public Instruction, so as to be taxed in the district where the 
company resides. Section 66, referring to land lying in one body, has reference to 
the " land itself above and under water," and only such structures as become part of 
the realty within the generally accepted definitions of real estate. 

This is a proceeding by the Rondout and Kingston Gas-light Company, 
appealing from the assessment of a school tax levied by the board of educa- 
tion of the Kingston school district, on the 3d day of August, 1885. 

It appears from the evidence that said company is assessed as follows : On 
assessed value of real estate in said district, fifteen thousand dollars; total 
tax, sixty-two dollars and eighty-one cents. On the loth of June, 1885, the 
Kingston board of education gave notice that they had completed their 
assessment-roll for the year 1885, and would meet on the 6th day of July 
to review the same. 

On the review day the attorney of the gas-light company appeared before 
the board of education and asked that said assessment, at first placed on 
tlie tax-list at twenty thousand dollars, be stricken from the roll, on the 
ground that neither said company, nor its property, could be legally assessed 
for any school district tax in said Kingston school district. After said 
review, on the 8d day of August, the board of education completed the 
tax-list, as revised by them, and on the same day delivered it with their 
warrant, dated August 3, 1885, to the collector of the Kingston school 
district. It appears that the board of education decided not to strike said 
assessment from the roll, but to reduce it to fifteen thousand dollars, and 
from this decision not to strike the assessment from the roll, and from the 
assessment of fifteen thousand dollars, and from the whole of the tax in 
said district against said company, said company takes its appeal. 



678 Taxes and Taxation. 

The facts alleged are admitted, and the question to be decided is purely, 
is the Kingston and Rondout Gas-light Company assessable for any portion 
of its gas mains and property in the said Kingston school district. 

In an able brief prepared by the appellant's attorneys, it is contended 
that the gas conductors and pipes for conducting gas through the streets 
are real estate within the meaning of section 2, title 1, chapter 13, part 1, of 
the Revised Statutes, as amended by section 1, chapter 298. of the laws of 
1881, wherein it is enacted that the term " land '' must be construed to include 
" all mains, pipes and tanks laid or placed in, upon, above or under any 
public or private street or place," and that the term "real estate '' and " real 
property'' wherever they occur in the chapter, shall be construed as having 
the same meaning as the term " land " thus defined. 

It is further contended that as the lot of land with gas works upon it and 
the continuous gas conductors, or pipe, are all connected together, and are 
all necessarily used by the company, and are all "land" by the statutory 
definition of the law of 1881, they constitute "land lying in one body and 
occupied by the same person," to wit: the company, and that the residence 
of the occupant must be regarded as the place where its principal place of 
carrying on business is situated, or the place where its operations are car- 
ried on, and it is therefore urged by the apppellant that the residence of 
the appellant is in school district No. 3, where it has its buildings and 
works, where all of its operations of manufacturing supplies are carried on, 
and where, exclusively, it has always been assessed for school district taxes. 

But it is further urged if the residence of the corporation is not in district 
No. 3, it must be in district No. 3, where it has its principal office, and 
w^here its financial concerns are transacted, and that in either case, it would 
have no residence in the Kingston school district, where it has neither 
office nor works. 

It will be observed that while statutes have been passed providing for the 
manner of the assessment or the apportionment of the assessment to school 
districts, for railroad, telegraph, telephone and pipe-line companies, the 
legislature has not provided any special method of assessment or of the 
apportionment of assessment for school purposes in the case of gas-light 
companies. In the taxation of the land or real estate, of gas-light compan- 
ies, the same proceedings must be taken by local school authorities, as are 
taken in the case of individual tax payers; that is, recourse must be had to 
the last assessment-roll of the town as revised by the assessors, or, if from 
the assessment-roll the true value cannot be ascertained, an original assess- 
ment must be made under the statute. This appears to have been the course 
adopted by the local school authorities, and as the statutes stand to-day, it 
is immaterial whether the company was regarded as a non-resident or a 
resident owner of realty ; so that the only question remaining to be passed 
upon, is whether the continuous gas mains of a gas-light company, running 
through three or more school districts," and perhaps through portions of 
several towns, are to be regarded as land lying in one body, within the 
meaning of section 66, title YII, of the General School Act, as amended by 
the law of 1875. 

After a careful examination of the subject and all the authorities cited, 
which do not fairly point out the principle contended for by the appellant, 
I am led to conclude that section 66, referring to land lying in one body 
has reference to the "land itself above and under water" and only such 
structures as become part of the realty within the generally accepted defi- 
nition of real estate. 

In this view of the case, the gas mains remain taxable as real estate by the 
statute of 1881, and are assessable for school purposes in the several districts 



Taxes and Taxation. 679 

through which the mains pass, by the local school authorities thereof, accord- 
ing to the measure or proportion of their value in each of said districts, to 
be ascertained as was done by the board of education of the Kingston 
school district. The action of the board sustained. Per James E. Morri- 
son, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3495. April 2, 1886. 

ORIGINAL ASSESSMENT AND NOTICE, 

When different parcels of property, of different quality and value, lying 
in two districts, are so coupled together in the town assessment-roll in one 
aggregate valuation, that their separate value is not apparent, and cannot 
be fixed, without an exercise of judgment on the part of the trustees, a 
new valuation should be made, and notice given. Per Young, November 
23, 1842. 

"When the trustees make any change to the valuation of property differing from the 
valuation as appears by the assessment-roll, they should give twenty days' notice of 
the changes they have made to the inhabitants of the district affected thereby. 

The appellant in this case represents that, on or about the 2d of March 
last, a tax was voted for the support of schools at a special meeting called 
and held in district No. 1, under the provisions of the new school law ; and 
that the trustees, in apportioning the tax thus voted, altered the valuations 
of the taxable property of the district from the assessment-roll of the town 
in several instances specified by the appellant, and, among others, in his 
own case, without giving the notices prescribed by law, in consequence of 
which a larger sum has been assessed to him and others than was equitable 
and just. 

The trustees, in their answer, do not deny the charge that a departure 
from the last assessment-roll of the town was made by them in ascertaining 
the valuation of the taxable property referred to, without giving the notice 
prescribed by law, but claim that the valuations put by them on such prop- 
erty were substantially correct and in accordance with the standard adopted 
by the assessor. 

The Superintendent is of opinion that the defense thus set up by the 
trustees is invalid and untenable. The law specifically requires that, in all 
cases where the valuations of taxable property cannot be ascertained from 
the last assessment-roll of the town, the trustees shaU ascertain the same 
from the means of information within their power, giving notice to all per- 
sons interested, and proceeding in the same way that town assessors are 
required to proceed in the first instance. Unless, therefore, this requisition 
is strictly complied with, the assessment thus made by the trustees is illegal 
and invalid, whatever may be the standard of valuation adopted by them, 
or whether such valuations are just and equitable or not. 

The persons interested in such alteration were entitled to notice in the 
mode prescribed by law, and to an opportunity of appearing before the 
trustees and claiming a reduction of their assessments as so ascertained;, 
and they may legally avail themselves of the omission to give such notice, 
either to resist the collection of the tax thus illegally imposed, or to bring 
an appeal to this department for such redress as may be in its power to 
afford. The tax-list, being void in part, is void throughout. 

It is accordingly hereby ordered that the tax-list made out by the trus- 
tees of district No. 1, in the town of Fowler, in pursuance of the vote of 
the special meeting held in said district, be, and the same is hereby set 
aside, and the trustees are directed and required, within thirty days from 
the date hereof, to make out a new tax-list in accordance with law, and to 



680 Taxes and Taxation. 

deliver the same, with their warrant annexed, to the collector of the dis- 
trict for collection, refunding, if required, any amount heretofore illegally 
collected. Per Morgan, June 4, 1850. 

Distinction between increasing the valuation of real property and increasing tbe amount 
of personal property considered. " 

On an appeal from the proceedings of the trustees in making out a tax- 
list and warrant under the authority of a vote of the district, it appears that 
the trustees, in making out the tax-list complained of, increased the amount 
of personal property very considerably, while the valuation of the real 
property was copied substantially from the town roll. 

The trustees are directed to ascertain the valuation of taxable property, 
as far as possible, from the assessment-rolls; the discretion concerning 
valuation is, therefore, not given them where the same is determined by the 
assessors. But the persons who are taxable, and the amount of taxable 
property possessed by them, the trustees are to determine. 

If, on the assessment-roll, they find a man taxed for one hundred acres 
of land, valued at fifty dollars per acre, they cannot change that valuation, 
though they may know that it is richly worth one hundred dollars per acre. 
But, if they find him assessed for one hundred acres of land, when they 
know that he has taxable, within the district, two hundred acres, they may 
assess him for the full amount of his property. But this latter condition is 
not likely to occur, except where property has changed hands, or been 
increased by accession in the way of new buildings or other conspicuous 
improvements. 

In the assessment of personal property, however, different conditions 
arise. If a man is found assessed for five thousand dollars, when it is 
known that he holds bonds and mortgages to the amount of ten thousand 
dollars, the error is not in the valuation, but in the amount assessed. 

The true rule is that trustees have power to correct an error in the amount 
of property assessed, but not an error in the valuation. 

The appeal must, therefore, be dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Super- 



Where the trustees make an original assessment, they must give the legal notice of 
twenty days, and permit the party claiming a reduction to be heard at a time and 
place to be designated by the trustees. 

The New York Central Railroad Company, by their tax agent Franklin 
Hinchy, bring this appeal from the action of the trustee, in the matter of 
the assessment of a school district tax on the property of said company, 
which assessment it is claimed was illegally made, and is, besides, exces- 
sive. The assessment complained of is an original assessment made by the 
trustee, it having been found to be impossible to ascertain the valuation of 
said company's property from the last assessment-roll of the town, and it 
was completed by him, according to his own statement, on the 24th day of 
March, 1866. It being an original assessment, the trustee was obliged, in 
accordance with the provisions of section 68, of title 7, of the General 
School Law, to proceed " in the same manner as town assessors are required 
by law to proceed in the valuation of taxable property." 

He accordingly posted five public notices in conspicuous places, dated 
March 24th, 1866, giving notice of the completion of his assessment, and of 
the fact that said list would for the space of twenty days be open to the 
inspection of all parties interested, at the house of the trustee, and also 
giving notice that the said trustee would be personally present on the 7th 



Taxes and Taxation. 681 • 

day of April, 1866, at four o'clock, p. m., for the purpose of reviewing 
said list. It will be observed that the twenty days would not expire till 
the 13tli day of April, 1866. The law does not authorize assessors to assem- 
ble for the purpose of reviewing their assessments, until the day after the 
expiration of the twenty days' notice which they are required to give (sec- 
tion 18, title 2, chap. 13, part 1, R. S.). Now, as trustees, in making orig- 
inal assessments, are required to observe the rules and regulations prescribed 
for the government of assessors, it follows that notice given by the afore- 
said trustee, of a meeting to review his assessments before the expiration 
of the twenty days, was illegal, because unauthorized. His notices speci- 
fied no other time nor place where he would meet persons dissatisfied with 
his assessments, and review the same, than that above mentioned. On the 
10th day of April, 1866, the said company served on the said trustee a notice 
of th^ir claim to a reduction of $3,000 on the assessment against them as 
made by him. This was three days before the expiration of the twenty 
days' notice to which said company was entitled, and it is nowhere made 
to appear that the said trustee gave notice to said company, or any person 
whomsoever, of a time and place when and where he would, after the 
expiration of the twenty days' notice required by law, meet to consider their 
claim to a reduction. Without meeting the agent of the company, and 
without giving to the company legal notice of a time and place when and 
where he would hear and determine their claim, the said trustee went on- 
ward, completed his tax-list, issued his warrant, and placed them in the 
hands of the district collector. This was wrong and unjust. Tax payers 
have certain rights which assessors or persons acting in the capacity of asses- 
sors are bound to respect. These rights cannot be lost to them by the arbi- 
trary or illegal action of public officers. The company in the present instance 
had a right to a notice of the time and place when and where their claim 
would be heard by the trustee, who has been guilty of nonfeasance sufficient 
to invalidate the tax-list made out by him. The assessment made out by the 
trustee on the 24th of March, 1866, and the tax-list and warrant based 
thereon, are hereby declared illegal and void. Per V. M. Rice, June 6, 
1866. 

When the board of education or trustees make an original assessment of personal 
property, and the person assessed does not appear to answer such questions as 
may be put to him in relation to his estate, but presents by his attorney an in- 
sufficient and unsatisfactory affidavit, a reduction of the assessment will be denied. 

On or about January 24, 1867, the board of education made out a tax 
list for the collection of a district tax, upon which the appellant was 
assessed for $50,000 personal property. Upon the last assessment-roll of 
said town, appellant is not assessed for personal property. Notice was 
given to appellant of the assessment made against him by said board of 
education, and at the appointed time he appeared before said board by 
attorney, and submitted an afl&davit setting forth that he had no personal 
estate whatever over his indebtedness, "excepting certain government 
bonds, not taxable." He thereupon claimed a reduction to the full amount 
of the assessment against him. The board declined to reduce said assess- 
ment, whereupon this appeal is brought; the appellant claiming that said 
board have exceeded their jurisdiction, in making an original assessment, 
when he is not assessed for personal estate on the town roll, and that, even 
if they were not bound by the town roll, they were bound to reduce his 
assessment upon the statements contained in the affidavit submitted by him 
and heretofore mentioned. 

In regard to the first point, as to whether the board of education ex- 

86 



682 Taxes and Taxation. 

ceedcd t'leir jurisdiction in making an original assessment, the law says: 
"The valuation of taxable property shall be ascertained, so far as possible, 
from the hist assessment-roll of the town, after revision by the assessors,'^ 
When the valuation of taxable property cannot be ascertained from the 
last assessment-roll of the town, the trustees shall ascertain the true value 
of the property to be taxed from the best evidence in their power, giving 
notice to the persons interested, and proceeding in the same manner as the 
town assessors are required by law to proceed in the valuation of taxable 
property. {Sections 67 and 68, title 7, chapter 555, Laios o/'1864.) 

From the above it is evident that, when a board of trustees acquire juris- 
diction, they have the same powers that are possessed by a board of town 
assessors. 

The rule in regard to variations from the town assessment-roll in the 
matter of the valuation of personal estate is more stringent than that in 
regard to the valuations of real estate. Notwithstanding this fact, the rule 
is broad enough to give the board of education jurisdiction in this case. 
Trustees cannot assess an individual for personal property if he has been 
taxed for none on the last assessment-roll of the town, on the mere suppo- 
sition that he may have more than his debts amount to. The assessment- 
roll of the town settles that matter, and the trustees cannot vary the 
amount but from some knowledge of an alteration after that roll was made 
out, or to correct some known and acknowledged error. {John A. Dix, 
Common School Decisions, 842.) 

It is claimed by the board that they had knowledge of an increase in 
the appellant's personal estate, after the last town assessment-roll was made 
out, though the appellant characterizes their statements as vague and in- 
definite, and denies their truth. 

It is an undisputed fact that, at the time the board of education made 
out their tax-list as aforesaid, they were convinced that the taxable per- 
sonal estate of the appellant amounted to $50,000. This being the case, it 
was their duty to make an original assessment so as to include such prop- 
erty, because, if such nroperty had been acquired since the town roll was 
made out, they would be varying the amount from knowledge of an altera- 
tion after such roll was completed; while, if the appellant possessed the 
same property at the time the town roll was made out, and the assessors 
failed to include it in their roll, such failure was an error sufficient to 
justify the board in making a new assessment under the last clause of the 
rule above quoted. 

It is a case in which the true value of the property in question could not 
be ascertained from the town assessment-roll, and where, therefore, it 
became the duty of the board to proceed in the same manner that town 
assessors are by law required to proceed in ascertaining the value of taxa- 
ble property. "This they did, and the appellant, through his attorney, 
submitted an affidavit claiming reduction. The statements contained in 
said afiidavit have already been set forth. They were unsatisfactory, and 
as the appellant was not present, and as his attorney was not authorized to 
make additional statements, nor to answer such questions as would have 
been pertinent, and which the board had power to ask, the claim for re- 
duction was properly denied. I say the appellant's affidavit is unsatisfac- 
tory, because he makes himself the judge of certain questions which it was 
the province of the board to decide. He does not state what his property 
is, but says: "I have no personal property subject to taxation under the 
laws of the State of New York. I have no personal estate whatever, over 
and about the amount of my indebtedness, except certain bonds of the 
United States, etc." Thus, for all that is shown in the affidavit, he may 



Taxes and Taxation, 683 

have deducted his entire indebtedness from his taxable personal estate, 
leaving only the non-taxable over and above such indebtedness. That 
would be a species of sharp practice which assessors ought not to allow. 
I see no good reason for interfering with the action of the board of educa- 
tion in this matter and the appeal is, therefore, hereby dismissed. Per V. 
M. Rice, July 8, 1867. 

Notice required to be given where an original assessment is made. 

The appellant objects to the imposition of the tax upon the ground that 
the trustee made an original assessment of his proj)erty without giving him 
twenty days' personal notice before the tax-list was delivered to the collec- 
tor. The objection is founded upon section 68 of title 7 of the G-eneral 
School Act, and the note thereon. It is the settled rule of the department, 
in construing the statute above cited, that in all cases like that under con- 
sideration personal notice should be given to the party the valuation of 
whose property has been increased. A due regard for the just rights of the 
tax payers of a district requires that this rule should be strictly adhered to. 
The tax-list set aside accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
January 12, 1869. 

To like effect. Per Weaver, Superintendent, March 15, 1869. 

All the stockholders in banking associations, organized under the laws of this State or 
of the United States are to be assessed on the shares of stock held by them, for 
school purposes. 

Where real estate has been greatly enhanced by improvements since last assessment- 
roll was made, trustees should make an original assessment. 

Appeal from a tax-list, made out by the board of education of union 
free school district No. 1, Olean, Cattaraugus county, on the ground of 
omif-ing to ij.-ess the stockholders in the "Bank of Olean," and the stock- 
holders and real estate of the "State Bank of Olean," two institutions 
transacting banking business in said district. The latter appears to be a 
banking association, organized under the laws of this State. 

The omission to assess four of the stockholders in the said " State Bank 
of Olean " is admitted, and as it was the duty of the trustees to assess all 
the stockholders in said bank, the appeal is, upon this ground, sustained. 

It fm-ther appears that the real estate of the said bank was assessed, on 
the tax-list, by the trustees at one hundred dollars, that being the amount 
at which it was assessed on the last assessment-roll of the town, against 
the former owner. But it is shown that prior to the issuing of the tax-list 
appealed from, the value of the real estate in question had been gi'eatly 
enhanced by the erection thereon of a banking-house, at a cost of about 
$8,000. 

Under these circumstances, any assessment against this bank for its real 
estate, by the respondents, should have been an original one under the pro- 
visions of section 6^, title 7 of the General School Act. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, September 30, 1871. 

Notice in case of original assessment to be personal to the interested parties. 

While the provisions of section 68, title 7 of the General School Act 
authorize the trustees to increase the assessment of any person of whom 
they have knowledge that he has acquired property since the last town 
assessment-roll was completed, they have no right to increase the assess- 
ment without giving him personal notice that his tax has been increased. 

The general notice given by the trustees in this case was insufficient. Per 
A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 9, 1871. 



684 Taxes and Taxation. 

An original assessment should be made where real estate has been greatly enhanced in 
value by the erection of a building since the completion of the last town roll. 

Ou an appeal from a tax-list for various alleged irregularities it was 
shown that certain real estate assessed to a business firm upon the last 
assessment roll of the town, had, since the completion of that roll, been 
largely enhanced in value by the erection of a building thereon, but that 
no assessment had been made by the trustee for such increase of value. 

The omission of the trustees to include in the tax-list an assessment for 
such increased value of the premises referred to was erroneous, and the tax- 
list and warrant appealed from must, for that reason, be, and they are 
accordingly, set aside as irregularly issued. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- 
tendent, September 18, 1872. 

Where claim for reduction of an assessment is duly made, it is the duty of the trustee 
to examine the claimant under oath concerning the same. 

An original assessment increasing the personal property and the value of 
the real property of a taxable inhabitant of a school district was made by 
the trustee, and notice given by the person affected thereby. She appeared 
before the trustee at the proper time and place for examination under oath 
in relation thereto, claiming a reduction from both of said assessments. 

The trustee refused to make any examination and insisted upon and 
retained the assessments as made by him originally. 

The respondent (trustee), by his refusal to examine into the justice of the 
appellant's claim for reduction of the original assessments, made upon her 
property, acted contrary to law. It was his duty to make the examination 
demanded, and to correct the assessments if they appeared from such 
examination to have been erroneous. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, 
SeiDtember 19, 1874. 

Twenty days' notice must be given where an original assessment is made increasing 

the valuation of personal property. 
Duty of trustees concerning original assessments defined. 

On an appeal from a tax-list and warrant upon the ground of original 
assessments illegally made. 

From the evidence submitted it appears that an original assessment of 
$30, 000 personal property was made in said tax-list against the appellant, 
that twenty days' personal notice thereof was not given to him, and that 
numerous other original assessments were made in said tax -list. 

This department has always held that in cases of original assessment, 
twenty days' personal notice is necessary; and from a careful reading of 
section 68, title 7 of the General School Act, and sections 19, 20 and 21, 
title 2, chapter 13, part 1, Edmunds' Statutes at Large, I am of the opinion 
that such holding is legally based, while of its equity there can be no 
question. 

The law gives trustees no power to revise the work of the town assessors, 
but directs that they shall be governed by it "so far as possible." Trus- 
tees cannot vary from the town roll except in cases where there is a change 
in the value of property since the completion of such roll; as for example, 
where buildings have been erected or destroyed, or where the personal 
property of a party is clearly known or acknowledged to have been in- 
creased, as by bequest or otherwise; or where the town assessors have ?m- 
questiondbly made an error, as in assessing one for 100 acres of land when 
he is known to own but 50 acres (or vice versa). But these cases are not 
frequent ; and trustees must not assume to jDass ujDon the judgment of the 



Taxes and Taxation. • 685 

town assessors. When the town assessors have settled the question of val- 
uation it must not be re-oi^ened by trustees because these officers are of the 
opinion that it is wrongly determined. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, 
February 1, 1876. 

POWER OF TRUSTEES TO LEVY. 

Where the iuhabitauts at a district meeting direct the trustees to do an act which tliey 
are authorized by law to direct, as the removal of a school-house, the trustees may 
levy a tax to defray the expense, without a vote of the district. 

The inhabitants of district No. 17, town of Wilna, voted a new site for 
the school-house, and directed the trustees to move the house by a *'bee." 

The trustees made a "bee," but there not being much of a "turn out" 
on the part of the inhabitants, they were only able to get the school-house 
into the highway. Foreseeing the difficulty attending the removal by such 
means, and not receiving the requisite aid, the trustees moved the school- 
house to the site selected at an expense of $25. 

A special meeting was called on the 4th December, 1847, without stating 
the object of it in tlie notices, at which a tax was voted to meet the expenses 
of the trustees. Only four legal voters were present at the meeting. 

The vote directing the trustees to move the house by a ''bee " was void, 
as they could have no authority over voluntary aid, and could not depend 
upon it as a means of moving the school-house. 

When the inhabitants of a district direct the trustees to perform a work 
where expenses are to be incurred the trustees are authorized to raise the 
amount thereof by tax, without a vote of the district. In this case the 
trustees would necessarily incur an expense in moving the school-house, 
which is chargeable to the district and can be collected by tax the same as 
if it were voted. {School Lmos No. 134.) And although the vote of Decem- 
ber 4, 1847, to raise the tax was illegal on account of the want of proper 
notice, the levying of the tax was legal on the ground that the: trustees pos- 
sessed the requisite power without a vote of the district to raise the tax. 
{Section 51, title 7, chapter 555, Laws of 1864.) 

The appeal is dismissed. Per A. G. Johnson, Deputy Superintendent, 
August 3, 1848. 

A tax may be voted, levied and collected in a school district to purchase a site and 
school-house, but the money cannot be applied until a valid title is obtained. 

The appellants in this case to set aside the proceedings of a special meet- 
ing held in district No. 9, on the 29th of November last, at which resolu- 
tions were adopted for the purchase of a new site and house, upon the ground 
that a valid legal title cannot be obtained to such site and house. They 
allege that the house was built by private subscription, and is now owned 
by various persons in and out of the district. This allegation, vague and 
general as it is, is explicitly met and denied by the trustees, who assert that 
they can procure a good title. This question of title, however, is one which 
cannot come up at this stage of the proceedings. The tax voted may legally 
be levied and collected, but cannot be applied until a valid legal title is 
obtained. 

Prom the proofs before him, the Superintendent entertains no doubt of 
the sufficiency of the title, and so much of the appeal as relates to this por- 
tion of the proceedings of the meeting is therefore dismissed. Per Morgan, 
January 18, 1851. 



686 Taxes and Taxation. 

A tax may be voted to pay expenses beyound estimates expended by trustees in build- 
ing an authorized school-house. 

A tax was voted to defray the excess beyond the estimates expended by 
tlie trustees in building a new school-house, from which vote there is au 
appeal. 

Held, that a majority of those present and voting was sufficient to give 
validity to the resolution, and that the appeal must be dismissed. Per V. 
M. Rice, Superintendent, January 11, 1856. 

Where trustees are authorized to build a school-house of certain dimensions, and they 
slightly vary from these dimensions by causing the house to be built larger, paying 
for the excess out of their own funds, the district must pay such sum as the house 
would have cost if built of the specified size. 

The trustees were instructed to build a house 24 feet long by 20 feet wide. 
They made the contract accordingly ; but, in order to use the old founda- 
tion, and thereby save the expense of laying new, they agreed with the 
builder to construct the house of the same size as the old one, viz. : 26 by 
22 feet, and the difference in price they agreed to pay out of their own 
pockets. The contract for building of the size authorized by the district 
was $280. The trustees also incurred an expense of four dollars for remov- 
ing the i-ubbish around the building. Some persons refused to pay their 
portion of the tax of $284 levied by the trustees to pay for the house, and, at 
a district meeting called to ratify the action of the trustees, the meeting 
refused to ratify. From this refusal the trustees appeal. 

Held, that the trustees substantially complied with the resolution of the 
district, and that the tax of $284, for building the house of the original size, 
and removing the rubbish, was properly and legally levied, and may be col- 
lected. Per V. M. Eice, Superintendent, September 12, 1856. . 

a vote to raise by tax a certain sum to build a school house, the same to be paid at 
discretion in labor or materials, is illegal and void. 

A district voted to raise a tax of $150, for the purpose of building a 
school-house, with the privilege of paying said tax in labor and material. 
The trustees made out a tax-list for the amount, and enforced the collection 
of it. Held, that the code prescribes but one mode of proceeding in the 
assessment and collection of taxes, and evidently recognizes but one material 
as a lawful tender in payment thereof. If, therefore, the district vote to 
raise a tax, and prescribe any other mode of collection, or any other material 
as lawful in payment, they and the statute are in conflict, and the trustees, 
if they proceed to collect the tax at all, must do so in the mode prescribed 
by law. But the interest of the inhabitants in imposing these conditions is 
evidently to have the tax collected in that manner or not at all. It may be 
safely assumed that the inducement with many to vote the tax was the 
accommodation afforded by the conditions annexed, and that without these 
they would have opposed the tax. The department must, therefore, regard 
this as one of those cases of complicated action, in which the dependence 
of several provisions is so intricate, that invalidity in any part renders the 
whole invalid. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, September 14, 1857. 

The authority for levying a tax must not be indefinite. Taxes should be specifically 

voted. 

At the annual meeting the trustees presented their report of the receipts 
and disbursements of money for the past year, with a statement of the 
ex])euses already incurred, which they had no means to meet, and of neces- 



Taxes and Taxation. - 687 

sary expenses for the ensuing year, and recommended that a tax be levied 
for the purpose of paying such arrearages and such expenses as were set forth 
in the statement. This report of the trustees was adopted, and the appeal 
relates to the action of the meeting in adopting said report. 

I concur fully witli the appellants in the opinion that the adoption of the 
report of the trustees does not authorize the levy of a tax agreeable to the 
recommendations therein contained. A tax must be specifically voted before 
it can be lawfully levied or collected. The adoption of the report by the 
meeting is merely to be regarded as an approval of the recommendations of 
the trustees, without authorizing their enforcement. Per E. W. Keyes, 
Deputy Superintendent, December 3, 1859. 

FOR TEACHERS WAGES. 

A trustee can only levy a tax to pay teachers' wages after such tax has 
been voted by a district meeting, or after such wages have been earned, and 
no money belonging to the district and applicable thereto remains in the 
supervisors' hands. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3044, 
January 11, 1881. 

RAILROADS. 

Tax assessed upon the property of a railroad corporation where the value of said prop- 
erty has not been apportioned amongst the several districts by the assessors, or oy 
the supervisor, pursuant to the provisions of chapter 694, laws of 1867, illegal. 

The ground of appeal from the tax-list, by the Erie railway company, is 
that the assessors of the town did not for the year 1 868, make and file any 
apportionment of the valuation of the said company's property amongst 
the several school districts through which the railroad passes in that town 
as .required by chapter 694 of the laws of 1867, nor had the supervisor of 
said town made or filed in the town clerk's office, any such apportionment 
as is further provided by said act, but the valuation of said company's 
property in said tax-list ajjpealed from, was made by the trustees them- 
selves. 

The exception to the tax-list on the grounds stated is well taken, and the 
appeal must be sustained. The object of the act was to supersede all 
original assessments of railroad property by the trustees, and to confine 
the duty of making such assessments to the assessors, or in case of their 
omission to do it, to the supervisor. Per A, B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
August 2, 1869. 

Proceedings of assessors in fixing the vahiation of railroad property in the several 
districts not completed when only the number of acres in each district has been 
determined. 

Duty of school commissioners in altering the boundaries of a school district to deter- 
mine what change has been made in the valuation of railroad property therein. 

The action of the assessors in fixing the aggregate valuation of the prop- 
erty of the appellant, a railroad company, in the town and in determining 
the number of acres thereof to be taxed by each school district, was thus 
far a performance of their duty under the statute ; but their action was 
incomplete in not determining the valuation apportioned to each district. 

The commissioner having altered the boundaries of the district so as to 
affect the amount of railroad property therein, omitted to determine as 
required by section 5, chapter 694 of tlie laws of 1867, what change in the 
valuation of said property was effected by such alteration. This was a 
defect that could not be remedied by an unauthorized valuation by the 



688 Taxes and Taxation. 

trustee. The assessors having failed to complete their clutj^, and the com- 
missioner having failed to do his, it was tlie duty of the ti-ustee to apply, 
under the act cited, to the supervisor of the town to make the proper appor- 
tionment of the value of the railroad property in the several districts. Tax- 
list set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, September 16, 1871. 

Trustees have uo authority to make an original assessment of railroad property within 
their district, where the assessors acd the supervisor have failed to apportion the 
valuation of such property in the town amongst the various school districts in which 
such property lies. 

It is shown that the valuation of the property of said railroad company, 
as It appears upon the assessment-roll of the town, had not at the time of 
making out the tax-list by the trustees, been apportioned by the town 
assessors, " among the several school districts in their town in which any 
portion of said (railroad) property is situated," nor had such apportionment 
been made by <-he supervisor of the town, who is required to make it upon 
application to him for that purpose, when the assessors have failed. It is 
conceded that the trustees assumed to make an original assessment of that 
portion of the railroad property situated in their school district, and have 
taxed the corporation in accordance with such assessment. The statute 
confers no authority upon trustees to make an original assessment in such 
cases. The tax-list is therefore vacated. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
March 25, 1873. 

RESCISSION. 

When a special meeting had voted a tax for building a new house, and had adjourned 
four weeks to consider proposals for building, and at the adjourned meeting voted 
to rescind the vote levying the tax, the vote to rescind was legal and valid, even 
though the tax-list had been made out, and a part of the tax voluntarily paid. 

At a special meeting duly called a vote was taken and carried, ayes 2S, 
noes 24, to raise $1,000 by tax on the district, for the purpose of building 
a new school-house. The meeting then adjourned for four weeks for the 
purpose of receiving propositions, that might meantime be submitted to 
the trustees relative to site. At the adjourned meeting a motion was car- 
ried to reconsider the vote of the last meeting, after which the meeting 
adjourned sine die. 

In the meantime the tax-list for the $1,000 had been made out, and a 
part of the same had been voluntarily collected before the aajourned meet- 
ing; but this will avail nothing, as the trustees could not issue their war- 
rant till the expiration of thirty days after the tax was voted. No legal 
collection could therefore have been made before that time. Voluntary 
payments may have been made which the trustees would be authorized to 
receive, but these are not such collections as the courts contemplate in 
order to place the repeal of a tax levy beyond the power of a district meet- 
ing. 

It is assumed by the appell-ants that the special meeting being adjourned 
for a specific purpose, no other business could be transacted than that speci- 
fied in the notice for adjournment. This is an error. The meeting was 
competent to transact any business brought before it. 

From the evidence before me, I am compelled to regard the proceedings 
of the adjourned meeting as a fair expression of the will of the district 
upon levying the tax, and it is unfavorable to such action. The vote at the 
adjourned meeting is mucli larger than tliat of the special meeting; it is 
plain, therefore, that no advantage was taken of the absence of any con- 



Taxes and Taxation. . 689 

«iderable number of the voters by the majority in their vote to rescind the 
tax. Under these circumstances, therefore, the proceedings of the adjourned 
meeting are declared legal and are hereby affirmed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, February 18, 1858. 

SUBJECTS OF TAXATION. 

A tax for wages of an unqualified teacher, illegal. 

Appeal from a school district tax. It appears from the papers submitted, 
that the tax in question embraced a charge of $16 for wages of a teacher 
while she was without a license. This renders the tax-list illegal, for it is 
only to collect the amount due to qualified teachers after the payment to 
them of public moneys legally applicable, that a tax can be assessed for 
teacher's wages. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 15, 1870. 

The board of a teacher when stipulated for by trustees, is to be regarded as part of the 
teacher's wages, for the value or which a tax may be levied. 

Where trustees contract with a teacher that he shall board around in the 
district, the value of the board is to be regarded as part of the wages of 
the teacher, and the trustee may collect the same by tax, as for teacher's 
wages, and pay over to those who by reason of having boarded the teacher 
at the request of the trustees, are entitled thereto. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, January 3, 1872. 

Items erroneously included in a tax-list made out by the trustee, without a vote of a 

school meeting. 

A tax-list issued to collect taxes not previously voted, contained items as 
■follows: 

1. For stove and pipe, banking, repairing, and insuring the school-house, 
$22.38. 

2. Charges and expenses in answering two appeals, and attending a law 
suit, $31.31. 

3. For incidentals, $5. 

The first of the above is erroneous, in that it includes three items under 
one head, which should have been stated separately, with the amount for 
each. If the amount therein intended for repairs exceeds $20, it exceeds 
the sum for which the trustee is authorized to levy a tax without a vote of 
the district. 

The second item seems to be for costs in defending proceedings, without 
the previous instruction of a district meeting, and cannot be legally col- 
lected until authorized by a district meeting, under section 8, title 13, 
General School Act; or if such authority be refused, proceedings must be 
had under sections 9, 10 and 11 of said title. 

The third item, "for incidentals," is wholly unauthorized. Tax-list and 
warrant vacated as irregularly issued. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
May 3, 1873. 

Items of a tax struck out on appeal, as unauthorized. 

On an appeal from a tax levied by the trustee of school district No. 5. 
The tax-list embraces six items, all of which are objected to. Only those 
overruled by the Superintendent will be considered. 

A tax of $42 for fuel furnished by the trustee. The wood for the pre- 
vious winter cost only $21. For reasons which seem adequate, derived 

87 



690 Taxes and Taxation. 

from the testimony, the Superintendent thinks $25 would be a fair amount 
to allow. An item of $7 for building fires, is cut down to $5. An item 
of $44.85, is charged for repairs of school-house, wood-shed and privy. 
The school-house was repaired by direction of the school commissioner, 
which is competent authority for the expenditure, but from the amount 
must be deducted the sum paid for repairs to the wood-shed and privy, 
for which no authority is shown. For an item of $7.03, for incidental ex- 
penses, no authority is shown. Incidental or contingent expenses can be 
collected by tax only when authorized by a vote of a district meeting, nor 
would such vote authorize the charge of $3.50 for expenses incurred in con- 
nection with hiring a teacher and bringing her into the district. Per Neil 
Gilmour, Superintendent, September 11, 1875. 

The like holding to the last, in a case where the trustee included in his 
tax list an item of $2, for making out the same. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- 
intendent, September 13, 1875. 

TURNPIKE. 

Trustees are to assess the road-bed of a turnpike precisely as if that portion of it lying 
in their district belongs to an individual not owning the remainder; unless the net 
annual income of the company over and above all expenses for repairs, etc., is less 
than five per cent upon the original cost, in which case the road is exempt from tax- 
ation. 

The turnpike company were not assessed upon the town roll, and the 
trustees admit that they gave no notice of the completion of their roll, and 
consequently neither the appellant nor any other person had the opportun- 
ity of calling for the correction of the valuation of the company's property. 
The appellants swear positively that the property of the company assessed 
at $600 is worth $2,000, and the respondents in their answer show that 
they assessed it simply as they would agricultural property at $30 per acre, 
and apparently without allowing any thing for the labor and materials em- 
ployed in making the land covered by the road-bed productive and valu- 
able as a turnpike. It is of course impossible for the Superintendent to 
judge to what degree this valuation may be erroneous. It is sufficient ob- 
jection, however, that the appellant has not had the opportunity, which 
the statute designed to secure, of producing such evidence to the trustees 
as he deemed proper to induce them to increase this valuation and thereby 
lighten the burden of his own taxation. The judgment of the supreme 
court in the case of '■'■The Albany and Schenectady Railroad Company y. 
Osbom'''' (12 Barlour's Supreme Court Reports, 223) shows that the appellant 
is mistaken in supposing that the value of the stock is to control the trust- 
ees in judging of the value of that portion of the plank-road in their dis- 
trict. They are to assess the road-bed precisely as if that portion of it in 
the district belonged to an individual- owner not owning the remainder, 
unless the net annual income of the company over and above all expenses 
and repairs and collection of tolls is less than five per cent upon the orig- 
inal cost of the road, in which case the road is exempt from taxation. 
{Laws 0/1854, p. 168.)- Per Y. M. Rice, March 24, 1855. 

TO ELECT IN WHICH TOWN TO BE TAXED. 

Chapter 59, laws of 1886, authorizing certain tax payers to elect and give notice in 
which of two towns they will pay taxes held to apply to school taxes. 

Eeld, further, that the act applies to cases which arise subsequent to the passage of 
the act as well as to the then existing cases. 

This is an appeal from the action of Samuel Decker, sole trustee of school 



Taxes and Taxation. 691 

district No. 21 of the town of Middletown, Delaware county, N. Y., in 
levying a tax for the sum of $198.87 by a tax bill dated July 5, 1886, and 
renewed August 5, 1886. The appellant insists that such tax-list is incor- 
rect and invalid as to it, and that it should not be taxed in district No. 21 
at all. The property of the appellant consists of a hotel and accompanying 
buildings, and about one hundred acres of laud. The line between Dela- 
ware and Ulster counties, and between the towns of Middletown and Shan- 
daken, runs through said property and through said hotel building, leaving 
a portion in each town. 

The appellant claims that scliool district No. 3 of the town of Shandaken 
includes the entire property, and the description of said district as recorded 
in the town clerk's office of said town seems to support this view. The 
respondent insists, upon the other hand, that the boundary between district 
No. 21, Middletown, Delaware county, and district No. 3 of the town of 
Shandaken, Ulster county, is identical with the boundary line between the 
two counties, so far as the same runs through this property, and supports its 
claim by numerous affidavits of former trustees and other residents who 
profess to have been familiar with all the circumstances for more than 
thirty years. It is impossible for me to determine the disputed question 
and the location of the district line from the papers in the case. It prob- 
ably can only be determined by a survey, which should be made. If I 
could feel justified in sustaining the appellant's claim in this regard, that 
w^ould settle the controversy; but I cannot. The appellant says, however, 
that even if the respondent's claim as to the location of the boundary line be 
assumed to be correct, that even then it ought to succeed in this appeal, for 
the reason that it has elected to pay taxes in the town of Shandaken pursuant 
to the provision of chapter 59 of the laws of 1886. Proof is made that the 
appellant, in the month of March, 1886, caused to be served upon the asses- 
sors of each of the towns of Middletown and Shandaken, a notice signed 
by the president of the appellant, together with a copy of the act (chapter 
59 of the laws of 1886), and stated that, pursuant to such chapter, the 
appellant would elect to pay taxes thereafter in the town of Shandaken. 
It is insisted by the respondent that chapter 59 of the laws of 1886 only 
applies to taxes levied and unpaid at the time of the passage of the act, 
and that in any event it does not apply to taxes for school purposes. The 
language of this act is, perhaps, unfortunate and difficult of construction ; 
it must be read in its entirety, and its different provisions must be con- 
strued in line with its general purpose, and, so far as possible, held to 
carry out that purpose. Its general purpose is to relieve the owners of 
dwelling-houses, or other buildings through which town boundary lines 
run, from the embarassment and annoyance of being subjected to taxation 
in the two towns, and to avoid controversies between the same in relation 
to their respective claims. It does speak of "taxes levied thereon, which 
shall remain unpaid by the owner * * * at the time of the passage of 
this act;" but section two provides that "the occupant shall cause to be 
served upon the assessors, or one of them in both said town and city, or in 
both of said towns in the same or different counties, at least thirty days 
prior to the date fixed by law for the date of assessment, a written notice 
of his said election, together with a copy of this act," etc. This provision 
that the notice of election shall be served at least thirty days prior to the 
date of assessment would be meaningless, if we were to hold that the act 
applied only to taxes levied at the time of its passage. On the contrary, 
it plainly indicates the intent of the legislature to make a general provis- 
ion not only for the benefit of existing cases, but of such as might arise 
after the passage of the act. Furthermore, the act refers to taxes in gen- 
eral, and I think must be held to include school taxes. 



692 Teachers. 

For the foregoing considerations, the appeal must be sustained, and the 
tax levied against the appellant in the town of Middletown must be held 
to be null and void, and the trustee of school district No. 21 of said town 
is hereby directed to withdraw the tax-list in question from the hands of 
the collector, and to correct the same by striking therefrom the name of 
the Summit Mountain House Company. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. 
Decisioa No, 3531, November 13, 1886. 



TEACHERS. 

CERTIFICATES- ANNULMENT. 

The infliction upon a pupil of unnecessary and cruel punishment is good cause for 
annulling a teacher's certificate. 

A teacher, for an act of disobedience, ordered a boy, fifteen years of 
age 3to hold out a book, of the ordinary size used in schools, at arm's 
length, level with his shoulder. The boy, after holding it in that position 
from five to eight or ten minutes, let it fall and said he could not hold it 
any longer. On being ordered to hold it out again, he peremptorily re- 
fused. The teacher, then, with a curled maple rule, over twenty inches 
long, one and three-quarters wide, and half an inch thick, struck him fiom 
fifteen to twenty blows on his back and thighs, and in so severe a manner 
as to disable him from leaving school without assistance. A physician was 
called and found his back and limbs badly bruised and swollen. The 
teacher on the succeeding day sent to him a physician, who pronounced 
him "very badly bruised." It was ten or twelve days before he so far re- 
covered as to be able to attend school. 

The Superintendent expresses his unqualified disapprobation of a pun- 
ishment so severe and unreasonable. If the disobedience of the boy had 
been the result of sheer obstinancy and willfulness, it could not justify the 
infliction of fifteen or twenty blows with such a bludgeon, upon the back 
and limbs of the boy disabling him for a fortnight. Such a measure of 
punishment for such an offense would be sufficient ground for annulling a 
certificate. Per Young, March 29, 1843. 

The department will annul the certificate of a teacher for cruel and unreasonable dis- 
cipline in the government of a school. 

Mr. Bly was employed as a teacher in district No. 7, Amity, by the trus- 
tees on the 4th of December last, and soon afterward commenced his school 
under a certificate of qualification granted by the town superintendent. 
From the statement of the respondents, in answer to the appeal, it appears 
*' that much dissatisfaction prevailed in the district, on account of the 
severe, not to say outrageous, manner pursued by the teacher in punishing 
the scholars." And on a visitation of the school on the day above referred 
to by the town and county superintendent, but twenty-eight out of fifty- 
eight children on the teacher's list were present. " The great part of the 
absentees, Bly acknowledged, had been driven from the school in conse- 
quence of his severity, etc. He also remarked to us, that 'if he could get 
rid of a few more, he thought he could govern the rest.' " 

The respondent further states, during the examination "the greatest 
confusion, insubordination and anarchy continued ; " that the teacher was 



Teachers. ' 693 

informed at the close, and after the children had left, in .the most kind and 
friendly manner, that some method better calculated to preserve order in 
his school must be adopted, and lie was advised to " address his pupils in 
a spirit of kindness, etc,," at which he evinced great anger, announced 
his intention "to adopt and. persist in his own course, and to receive dic- 
tation from no man." The superintendents then informed him that in their 
judgment the indiscriminate use of the rod was improper, that the "insub- 
ordinate conduct of his pupils was in a measure owing to his indiscrimi- 
nate and severe use, not of a rod, but of a bush about three-quarters of an 
inch in diameter, and three feet long, with several branches well twisted 
together," and that unless a reformation in this respect was promised, they 
should be under the necessity of depriving him of his certificate. 

This he peremptorily refused to do, and distinctly informed the superin- 
tendents that he should continue the same course of discipline he had 
adopted for the government of his school. Under these circumstances, 
they deemed it their duty to annul his certificate. 

The practice of inflicting corporeal punishment upon scholars, in any 
case whatever, observes General Dix, has no sanction but usage. The 
Superintendent is not prepared, in the present imperfect condition of edu- 
cational science, entirely to prohibit its use as a means of school discipline, 
but he will sustain town and county superintendents in every effort to re- 
strict it to the smallest possible compass consistent with the preservation 
of order and government, and he will in no case tolerate the slightest 
abuse, in the discretion conferred in this respect by usage, or otherwise, 
upon teachers. 

In this case the town and county superintendents were amply justifiable 
in annulling the certificate, and their proceedings are therefore confirmed, 
and the appeal dismissed. Per S. Young, February 1, 1844. 

A teacher's certificate of qualification cannot be annulled without giving him notice 
and a reasonable opportunity, if he desire, to appear and be heard in defense. 

The trustees of district No. 5, in Guilford, employed Mr. Matteson to 
teach their school for the winter term. The school commenced November 
1, 1847. November 26, 1847, Mr. Carhart visited the school, examined Mr. 
Matteson and gave him a certificate. December 6, the superintendent stop- 
ped at the door of the school-house and told the teacher that complaints 
had reached his ears in regard to his mode of punishing scholars, and in- 
timated that his certificate might be annulled. December 20, the super- 
intendent served a notice upon the teacher that he should annul his certi- 
ficate unless certain complaints "arising from his mode of punishment" 
were cleared up. December 25, the teacher wrote the superintendent, re- 
questing an investigation of the charges and complaints against him. Jan- 
uary 5, the superintendent annulled the certificate, and gave notice thereof 
to the trustees, without having given the teacher any opportunity to reply 
to or explain the charges made against him, and assigning, as his reasons 
therefor, the complaints mentioned in his previous notice and his own ob- 
servations. The trustees all signed a paper stating that, in their opinion, 
the charges against the teacher were of a trival character and wholly un- 
founded, and that the course of the superintendent was " under-handed, 
prejudiced and ungentlemanly," and "meets our unqualified disapproba- 
tion." 

The conduct of the town superintendent in this case will hardly admit 
of a reasonable explanation. He visits a school twice, and then gives the 
teacher a legal certificate. In less than a month he gives the teacher notice 
of his intention to annul his certificate, without having, in the meantime, 



694 Teachers. 

visited the school or required a re-examination, and upon complaints not 
stated in writing or assuming any tangible shape, but, so far as appears at 
the time, mere heresay reports and neighborhood gossip. The pretense 
that the superintendent had become satisfied, from "personal observa- 
tions, " that the teacher was unqualified, is very strangely inconsistent with 
the fact that he made no "personal observations" after granting the cer- 
tificate. The teacher requested specifications of the charges. None were 
given. He desired to be heard in answer to whatever could be alleged 
against him. No opportunity was allowed. 

A certificate of qualification should not be annulled without a statement 
of tlie complaint, and an investigation of its truth, and an opportunity 
given to the teacher to be present during such investigation. Such are the 
rules prescribed by this department in proceedings to annul a teacher's 
certificate, and they are a part of the law. The superintendent proceeded 
in this matter without a proper and needful statement of the charges and 
specifications, and without giving the teacher an opportunity to be heard 
in defense. 

It is, therefore, decreed that the order of the town superintendent, 
annulling Mr. Matteson's certificate, be set aside. Per Morgan, February, 
1848. 

A teacher's license should be annulled for intemperance. 

It must be borne in mind that, in the matter of the character of a teacher 
of youth, the commissioner or other competent authority bases his certifi- 
cate upon the assurance that the applicant is of good moral character. 
Were the schools throughout the State accessible to and in charge of 
teachers guilty of the habit of drunkenness, it would present a spectacle at 
which the moral sense of the people would stand appalled. I could never 
grant a certificate to such a person setting forth among other things, that 
lie was qualified in respect to moral character to teach any district school ; 
and if, unwittingly, I had given him such a testimonial, I should be com- 
pelled, upon evidence of his immoral practices being submitted, to retract 
a statement so clearly at variance with the facts disclosed ; the only practi- 
cal mode of doing which would be to annul the certificate which he held. 
Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 7, 1860. 

Refusal to annul teacher's certificate for inflicting proper punishment. 

On a petition asking this department to annul the license of A. B., a 
teacher, it is alleged that the said A. B. inflicted cruel and unusual punisli- 
ment upon a pupil. 

The severity of the punishment is conceded, but not to the extent nor in 
the manner charged. The facts appear to be that the pupil flatly refused 
to obey the teacher, by not taking the seat he was directed to take. The 
teacher came toward the boy, intending to compel him by force to take 
the seat assigned to him. The boy, with an oath, bade the teacher not 
come near him, and, a& the teacher approached, the boy struck at him 
several times. The teacher caught the boy, and with force put him in his 
seat, the boy meantime kicking, striking, yelling and swearing. To stop 
this outrageous and unseemly noise, the teacher took the most effectual 
means at his command ; he intercepted the passage of air between the lungs 
and the vocal organs, long enough to suppress the disturbance, but not long 
enough to injure the boy. But the boy was not subdued by any such gentle 
restraint, for no sooner was he left alone than he ran out of doors. The 
teacher pursued and caught him, and brought him back to the school-room, 



Teachers. . 695 

not, it appears, without some considerable force, for the boy resisted with 
all his strength ; and it would really not be strange if in the struggle he 
received some severe blows. 

And for this the Superintendent is asked to annul the certificate of the 
teacher. 

I decline to do any thing of the kind. The teacher, in the matter of the 
boy, did no more than he was compelled to do; he might have done much 
more, and still be acquitted of inflicting cruel and unusual punishment. 
It was not cruel, and if it was unusual, it was only so because the conduct 
of the boy was unusual. Petition denied. Per V. M. Rice, Superintend- 
ent, March 24, 1862. 

Annulment of a teacher's license for incompetence known to the commissioner does 
not require legal notice. 

The annulment of a license for inability, found to exist on a personal 
examination by the commissioner, requires no notice at all, and for the 
obvious reason that testimony is not available to discredit the deliberate 
judgment of the commissioner, founded upon his own personal knowledge. 
Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 13, 1863. 

Entitled to a copy of charges, and to proper notice of time and place to appear and 
defend himself, when these relate to moral character. 

On the 25th of December, 1867, the school commissioner annulled the 
license of W. W. Alexander, upon charges affecting his moral character. 

It is admitted that no copy of the charges was furnished the teacher and 
the only attempt to notify him to appear and defend himself, was a verbal 
authorization to the trustee of the district where the teacher was employed 
to give such notice, also verbal. In law and in fact, this was no notice at 
all. Commissioners cannot be too careful in examining and deciding upon 
charges affecting the moral character of a teacher, to proceed in accordance 
with the requirements of the statute and of the department. These were 
established for the protection of teachers who may, very properly, insist 
upon a faithful and accurate observance of them. The attention of com- 
missioners is particularly called to subdivision 7, section 13, title 3 of the 
General School Act. 

The commissioner's action in annulling said license is hereby declared 
void, al) initio^ for want of due notice to the accused. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, June 4, 1868. 

Annulmentof teacher's license for want of ability to teach, without any reexamina- 
tion, declared invalid. 

On the 3d day of February, an order was served upon the appellant by 
the commissioner, to show cause, on the 15th day of February, why the 
license held by him should not be annulled, and setting forth the intention 
of the commissioner, on that day, to examine him in reference to his ability 
to instruct common schools and also on charges specified in such notice as a 
cause for annulling said license. On the following day, the above-mentioned 
order to show cause was withdrawn and an order was served instead on the 
appellant, annulling his certificate. The commissioner claims that his action 
was under title 2, section 13, sub-division 6 of the General School Act. 

The clause cited gives the commissioner power and makes it his duty, " to 
re-examine any teacher holding his or his predecessor's certificate, and if he 
find him deficient in learning or ability, to annul his certificate." 



696 Teachers. 

But in this case, there was no sucli re-examination as is contemplated by 
the law. The act was, in my judgment, a mere arbitrary exercise of power 
by the commissioner. 

There is no occasion for, and I refrain from passing upon the question of 
the fitness of the appellant to hold a license as a teacher of common schools. 
That question is not before me. The only issue presented here is whether 
he was legally deprived of the license that had been granted to him. 
Believing, as I do, that he was illegally deprived of it, I hereby declare the 
annulment of it by the commissioner, on the 4th day of November, 1867, to 
be invalid and of no effect. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 13. 
1869. 

A teacher's certificate should not be annulled for moral delinquencies known to the 
commissioner at the time of issuing the same, and where no departure from moral 
rectitude is shown to have occurred since. 

A certificate of qualification was granted to one Parks by tlie school com- 
missioner, notwithstanding it had beeen charged, and admitted by the 
teacher, that twice prior to the time of his examination for said license, he 
had played cards for money. The commissioner, in view of this moral 
delinquency, required Parks to bring testimonials as to character, which he 
did, signed by reputable citizens, and in view of which the previous lapse 
of the teacher from morality in the respect noted, was condoned and the 
certificate issued. 

Subsequently, formal complaint was made to the commissioner against 
the teacher upon the ground of this previous delinquency, and the commis- 
sioner went through the formality of a hearing, upon which, however, noth- 
ing, not previously known to the commissioner, was elicited. The certifi- 
cate, however, was annulled. 

It does not appear that Parks had violated the dignity of his profession, 
by gambling, subsequent to holding said certificate, or that he had the 
reputation of being a gambler, which would of course unfit him for the 
business of teacher, but that his reputation for morality is good, and he 
produces strong testimony to that effect. 

Under these circumstances, I think the commissioner should have over- 
looked these two acts of indulgence prior to the granting of the certificate. 

The Superintendent would not for a moment countenance the licensing 
as teachers, of persous of immoral character; on the other hand, it is very 
hard to annul the certificate of a successful teacher, and one whose moral 
character is shown to be now good, for acts committed some time ago. In 
all such cases there should be charity, and a disposition to help rather than 
hinder any one who is trying to reform and lead a better life, especially in 
a case of this kind, where the commissioner, with full knowledge of all the 
facts, issued the certificate. Order of commissioner annulling certificate 
vacated. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, January, 28, 1876. 

In a proceeding to annul teachers* certificate on the ground of immoral character, the 
aim of the commissioner should be to mquireinto the _p resent chavactev of the teacher. 

In a proceeding to annul a teacher's certificate on the ground of intoxica- 
tion charged against him, which intoxication occurred two years previous to 
the examination before the commissioner, the aim of the commissioner 
should have been so far as possible the present character of the teacher, and 
the events of two years past could only be material so far as they bore on 
the question of present character. Tiie order of the commissioner annulling 
certificate set aside. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3002, February 12, 1881. 



Teachers. 697 

The cause assigned for the aunulment of the teacher's certificate is "incompetency." 
This is a very grave and serious finding, and should not be reached, as it embraces 
not merely the ability to teach, but may also look to the moral character of the 
teacher and his learning, without a full and fair investigation on the part of the com. 
missioner, after notice to the teacher that such investigation would be had, giving 
him an opportunity in the presence of the commissioner to show his ability to teach, 
if that is called in question, and to refute any charges made by others and upon 
Avhich the commissioner proposes to act. 

The school commissioner annulled the teacher's certificate, on the ground 
of incompetency on the 14th day of December, 1885. This annulment 
vras made by the commissioner after a brief visit to the school on the 9th 
day of December, just before the close of the school-house, and without 
])revious notice to, or opportunity for a hearing on the part of the appel- 
lant. The commissioner admits that his action was taken under the pro- 
visions of subdivision 6, section 13, title 2 of the Code of Public Instruc- 
tion, which provides that every commissioner shall have power, and it shall 
be his duty "tore-examine any teacher holding his or his predecessor's 
certificate, and, if he find him deficient in learning or ability, to annul his 
certificate." In his answer the commissioner sets up the inability of the 
teacher to conduct the school; but it would not seem that the commissioner 
had sufficient opportunity, from his observation, to determine the ability 
or inability of the teacher, to whom he had previously granted a certificate 
of qualification. If the commissioner depended upon his advice and infor- 
mation derived from others, it is only fair that the teacher should have an 
opportunity to be heard in his own behalf in writing, and if possible, re- 
futing the charges touching his ability to conduct the school. The com- 
missioner, after disclaiming any desire or intention to entertain or pass 
upon any charge affecting the moral character of the teacher, introduces a 
series of affidavits, directed to the proof of bad temper and inability to rule 
his own passions, want of self-control and partiality in the conduct of the 
school on the part of the teacher, and I must assume that it was upon testi- 
mony of this character that the commissioner proceeded to annul the 
teachers certificate /(9r incomijetency . It has been frequently held by this 
department that where complaints against a teacher of this kind are made, 
the teacher should have an opportunity to refute or answer the charges. 
The cause assigned for the annulment of the certificate is "incompetency.'* 
This is a very grave and serious finding, and should not be reached, as it 
embraces not merely the ability to teach, but may also look to the moral 
character of the teacher and his learning, without a full and fair investiga- 
tion on the part of the commissioner, after notice to the teacher that such 
investigation w^ould be had, giving him an opportunity in the presence of 
the commissioner to show his ability to teach, if that is called in question, 
and to refute any charges made by others and upon which the commis- 
sioner proposes to act. I look upon the action of the commissioner as a 
violation of subdivision 6, section 13, title 2, under which he assumed to 
act, as he cannot be said, within the language and spirit of the statute, to 
have afforded a re-examination to the teacher. Appeal sustained and the 
commissioner's order revoking the teacher's certificate vacated and set 
aside. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 
3496, April 2, 1886. 

A teacher's license ought not to be annulled except for a cause sufficiently grave to 
justify a public and permanent revocation of the right to teach. It is not to be re- 
sorted to for the purpose of removing a teacher from the school, because people in 
the district are dissatisfied with her. 

The appeal is from the commissioner's action in annulling the teacher's 
certificate previously granted by him. 

88 



698 Teachers. 

There is no charge made against the appellant affecting her character. 
The charge seems to be that she neglected classes, and scholars, and that 
her methods of teaching were faulty. I am unable to find that she was 
not intelligent, active and did not give all her time during school hours, to 
the instruction of the pupils under her charge. 

As bearing upon the allegation that her methods were faulty, I find that 
the commissioner, as late as the 13th day of December, last, just two weeks 
prior to the order of annulment, visited the school taught by appellant, 
and made the following entry upon the teacher's register: 

"Visited this school December 13, 1886. I am well pleased with all the 
school work, and believe that if the teacher had the full and hearty co- 
operation and support of the parents, this would be a term of school marked 
with more progress than any school I ever visited here. 

(Signed) Perrln A. Strough, 

School Commissioner.''^ 

After this visit, it appears that the commissioner did not visit the school, 
but upon the examination relied mainly upon the testimony of several 
pupils of the school, who had not attended school very regularly. 

It may be that the teacher has not managed the school as well as some 
other might have done. But, assuming that to be the case, is it just to 
subject her to the public humiliation of an annulment of her certificate, 
in the middle of a term, without any charge against her character and 
within a few days of the time when the commissioner had made an official 
record indicating his satisfaction with her work, and his belief that the 
co-operation of parents was the only thing necessary to make the school a 
better one than any he had ever before visited there? If her school is not 
as well classified and arranged as it might be, why not aid her to do it bet- 
ter? If her methods are faulty, why not help her to improve them? There 
is nothing to indicate any effort to do so, either by the trustee or commis- 
sioner, and nothing to show her unwillingness to be guided by the sugges- 
tions of these officers, or to do the best she can. 

The annulment of a license is a severe penalty to inflict upon a teacher. 
It ought not to be imposed except for a cause sufficiently grave to justify 
a public and permanent revocation of the right to teach. It is not to be 
resorted to for the purpose of removing a teacher from the school because 
people in the district are dissatisfied with her. Moral delinquency, or a de- 
liberate infraction of school laws, or the willful defiance of the proper sug- 
gestions or directions of supervisory officers, or utter inability to follow 
them, may be sufficient grounds for annulling licenses, but nothing less 
grave than this is. The case of the appellant does not come within this 
rule, and her appeal must, therefore, be sustained. Per A. S. Draper, Su- 
perintendent. Decision No. 3572. March 2, 1887. 

CERTIFICATES — REFUSAL TO GRANT. 

A commissioner is justified in withholding acertificate from a teacher where evidences 
of his good character do not affirmatively appear. 

The basis of every certificate issued by the commissioner is his satisfaction 
concerning the qualifications of the applicant in respect to moral character, 
learning and ability. Under certain circumstances the commissioner has 
the right to presume that the moral character of the applicant is unim- 
peachable, but he may withhold the certificate until the applicant shows 
affirmatively that he possesses good moral character. 



Teachers. 699 

It must be borne in mind that the commissioner is the servant of the 
people, pledged to protect their interests and rights in matters relating to 
the education of their children, and he has no right to imperil those interests 
by legalizing the presence and labors amoug them of a person concerning 
whose moral reputation there is a doubt. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Super- 
intendent, May 30, 1859. 

A commissioner cannot withhold a certificate from a teacher with whose character, 
learning, and abilities he is satisfied, on the ground that said teacher is employed iu 
a district against the feeUngs or prejudices of the inhabitants. 

On an appeal of the trustees from the refusal of the commissioner to grant 
a certificate to the teacher whom they had employed to teach the school in 
their district, it is established that, at the examination of said teacher, the 
commissioner found no fault with her qualifications in respect to moral 
character, learning and ability, but declined to give her a certificate upon 
the ground that she was a resident of the district in which she proposed to 
teach, and that there had been and still was much opposition to her teach- 
ing said school, and that he had pledged himself not to give a certificate to 
any person whose presence in the school would be objectionable to any 
considerable number of the inhabitants. 

The motives of the commissioner in seeking to prevent the occasion of 
strife and contention in the district are worthy, and the means, if they were 
within the legal authority of that officer, would be justifiable. I cannot, 
however, deem the discretion of the commissioner in this instance legally 
exercised. His discretion in licensing a teacher extends only to determin- 
ing upon the qualifications required by the law, and when these require- 
ments are fulfilled he has no right to impose other conditions. 

After the qualifications in respect to moral character, learning, and abil- 
ities, have been certified, the trustees alone are vested with the discretion 
of selecting or rejecting an applicant upon the ground of personal or local 
considerations. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 23, 1859. 

A commissioner has no right to withhold a certificate from a teacher found to be com- 
petent, upon the ground that he intends to teach in some particular school which the 
commissioner does not approve. 

The commissioner refused to license a teacher for the reason that the 
latter intended to teach a particular school against the wishes of said com- 
missioner. When a commissioner has satisfied himself in the prescribed 
manner that the applicant for a certificate possesses the qualifications 
required, as to ability and moral character, it becomes his duty to issue the 
license in the form prescribed by the department. The forms of certificate 
prescribed by the department for teachers of the first and second grade 
contain no limitation as to any particular school within the commissioner's 
district. The respondent does not pretend that if the appellant was entitled 
to any certificate it was to one of lower than the second grade, such as had 
previously been issued to him; any attempt therefore on the part of the 
commissioner to dictate. as to the particular school or schools in his district 
in which the appellant should or should not teach, as a condition of issuing 
a certificate to him, was an entirely unwarranted usurpation of authority on 
his part. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 30, 1869. 

A teacher is not entitled to dictate as to the time and place when and where the com- 
missioner shall examine him for a license. 

Where a school commissioner has appointed times and places for the 



700 Teachers. 

public examination of teachers, he cannot be required to examine a teacher 
who may apply for a special and separate examination at some other time. 
Where a teacher upon such a state of facts as the above appealed from 
the refusal of the school commissioner to examine him for a license, it was 
held that the appellant had failed to show that the respondent had refused 
to examine him, on any fair and reasonable construction of the law imposing 
that duty. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 8, 1870. 

Refusal to license a teacher upon the ground of his habit of profane swearing justified. 

Appeal from the refusal by a school commissioner to grant a license to a 
teacher. The only point material to present appears in the following extract 
from the decision. 

" That the appellant is somewhat addicted to profanity is, however, evi- 
dent from the testimony, and he admits that he sometimes indulges in 
swearing although he denies ever swearing in the school-room. There is 
considerable conflict in the testimony whether he did use profane language 
or not. But whether he did or did not I am of the opinion that no person 
addicted to profane swearing should be licensed as a teacher. No such 
person is fitted to form the habits and train the minds of the young. Until 
the appellant entirely overcomes the habit in question he can probably 
exercise his talents more usefully in some other vocation. Per A. B, 
Weaver, February 16, 1874. 

Commissioner cannot except some particular district in the teacher's license to teach. 

A school commissioner cannot grant a certificate to teach in any school 
district in such commissioner district, excepting some particular district. 
Such exception is void, and the teacher may use the certificate anywhere 
in the district. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2991, 
July 19, 1880. 

Where serious charges are made against the moral character of a person applying for 
a certificate to teach, the commissioner would be justified in withholding a certifi- 
cate, until the applicant satisfied him by affirmative proof of the invalidity of the 
statements, formulated as charges, and his moral character. 

The appeal is from the action of the school commissioner in withholding 
from the appellant a certificate of qualification to teach, because of charges 
preferred against him touching his moral character. This is not a case of 
the annulment of a certificate upon charges, therefore it is not to be gov- 
erned by precisely the same principles. I think the information brought 
to the commissioner was sufficient to put him on his guard in this case, 
and would justify him in withholding a. certificate from the appellant, 
until he satisfied him by affirmative proof of the invalidity of the state- 
ments, formulated as charges, and of his moral reputation. A review of 
the evidence adduced by the appellant would seem strongly to favor his 
allegation that the charges before the commissioner were ill-founded, and 
while the appeal must be overruled and the action of the commissioner thus 
far taken sustained. I think the case suggests the course, and I consequently 
direct the commissioner, within a reasonable time after notice to him of the 
filing of this order, to investigate in full the charges brought against the 
appellant, giving him an opportunity to furnish such proof as he may desire, 
with a view to the refutation of said charges and to establish his good 
reputation, so that a certificate to teach may be issued to him. Per James 
E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3499, April 3, 1886. 



Teachers. - 701 

CERTIFICATES — STATE. 

Holders of State certificates are not exempted from examinations, by school commis- 
sioners or city superintendents, in the places where they seek situations as teachers. 

A State certificate does not of course authorize the holder to demand 
employment of right, from any school officer, or board of officers. These 
have the nght to demand just such evidence of qualification as they deem 
proper. Hence they may say to any applicant for a position who holds a 
State certificate, ' ' we will employ you if you can procure a certificate from 
the local commissioner or from the city superintendent." If he refuses to 
comply, of course they may refuse to employ him. Hence it follows that 
the board of education in the city of New York may prescribe such con- 
ditions of qualification as they see fit, as a precedent condition to employ- 
ment. If they require examination by the city superintendent, the teacher 
has no alternative but to comply. The holder of a State certificate is sup- 
posed to be so thoroughly qualified in all respects, that he is ready to 
pass an examination at any time. He should seek, rather than avoid, the 
application of the several tests that can be applied to his character and 
scholarship. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, April 13, 1864. 



A State certificate while unrevoked " shall be conclusive evidence that the person to 
whom it was granted was qualified by moral character, learning and ability to teach 
any common school m the State." For this reason a board of education cannot dis- 
charge a teacher who was hired for a stated time upon the ground of incompetency, 
who holds a State certificate. 

The teacher was employed in pursuance of a certain contract dated June 
16, 1885, for the school year beginning September 7, 1885, at a salary of $500 
a year. The teacher continued in her engagement as principal of the school, 
until the second day of Febiniary, 1886, when she was dismissed by order 
of the trustees. A tender of five dollars was then offered to her which at 
first she refused to accept, but afterward did accept; she gave the board 
credit for that amount, but claimed that they owed her the balance of the 
$500, the contract price, which they had not paid, and held herself in 
readiness to teach the school. It appears that the amount which will be 
due her at the expiration of her term, and for the unexpired term, is S257. 
She asks that the action of the board in discharging her be set aside, or 
that she be paid the amount of the salary due and to become due to her on 
the contract. In answer, the board of education urge as reasons for the 
dismissal of the teacher, her deceit in misstating her age; her unjustifiable 
interference with, and the annoyance to which she subjected an assistant 
teacher in the school; conduct on her part tending to destroy the disci- 
phne of the school ; interference with the comfort and convenience of the 
pupils, according to whim or caprice ; inability to perform or conduct the 
affairs of the school, and a want of moral rectitude. 

I find that the appellant holds a State certificate, granted to her in 1867, 
at which time as at present, the provision of section 15, title 1 of the Code 
of public instruction, was operative and controlling. This section distinctly 
provides that the Superintendent's certificate while unrevoked ' ' shall be 
conclusive evidence that the person to whom it was granted was qualified by 
moral character, learning and ability to teach any common school in the 
State." The case cited by the respondents, therefore, decided by Superin- 
tendent Van Dyck in 1858, which holds that the teacher's license from the 
proper officer is prima facie evidence, only, that the ai)plicant possesses 
the requisites of moral character, learning and ability to teach, but it is not 
conclusive '' — does not apply to the holder of a certificate granted by the 



702 Teachers. 

State Superintendent. I am debarred, therefore, by the statute from consid- 
ering the allegations of the respondents touching the moral character, learn- 
ing and ability of the appellant, and the respondents are concluded from 
olferiiig any testimony on this point. It must be shown that there was an 
express violation of tiie terms of the contract made with the teacher, in 
order to justify her dismissal during the term for which she was engaged. 
An attempt is made to do this by showing that she was negligent in the 
matter of keeping the register, but this seems to have been an after thought 
of the board of education, and the register, it appears, was properly com- 
pleted before the time of the answer to the appeal. I am, therefore, con- 
strained to sustain the appeal, and to set aside the action of the board of 
education in dismissing the appellant. The respondents are, therefore, 
ordered forthwith to restore the teacher to her position and to permit her 
to continue her contract until the expiration thereof ; or, if they deem con- 
tinuance in the school will not be for the best interests of the district, they 
are ordered, from time to time, and at such times as payments are usually 
made by the board, to pay her the amount of her salary, named in the con- 
tract as the same would be due, had she been permitted to continue her 
services as teacher, subject to the deduction of any amounts of money 
which the said appellant may have received for services elsewhere during 
said unexpired term and up to the time of any such payment as herein 
ordered. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 
3501, April 5, 1886. 

STATE CERTIFICATE, ANNULMENT OF, UPON CHARGES. 

No general charge of immoral character will be sufficient to put a person upon the 
defensive. The charges j^hould state the immoral acts of the teacher and should be 
drawn with care and distinctness. 

The respondent must be given an opportunity to defend; to confront and cross-exam- 
ine witnesses produced by the appellant. 

The department cannot revoke a license upon charges affecting character, except upon 
clear and unquestioned proofs. 

Trustees must not rely upon the department to relieve them from their unwise con- 
tracts. 

The board of education preferred charges before the school commis- 
sioner of the district, against the teacher, and asked him to revoke her cer- 
tificate on the groimd of immoral character. The teacher was properly 
notified of such charges and given opportunity to defend. A hearing was 
set and three days occupied by the commissioner in receiving testimony 
offered by the board to sustain the charges, at the end of which time the 
proceedings were withdrawn by the parties instituting them. The princi- 
pal reason given for such withdrawal is that the commissioner refused to 
receive affidavits of persons not present -as evidence. The commissioner 
was instructed by the department that affidavits should not be received as 
evidence in an oral examination. Counsel for the teacher asked the com- 
missioner to render a decision in the matter to the effect that the charges 
had not been sustained. - This the commissioner refused to do, and the 
board was allowed to discontinue without any judgment or decision being 
rendered by the commissioner. 

On the 28th day of May, 1886, the proceedings now before me were 
commenced. A copy of the charges and affidavits submitted in support 
thereof was served upon the respondent. The respondent has filed no 
answer and the case must be examined upon the evidence of the moving 
parties. 

In proceedings of this kind, two rules must be complied with : 1. The 



Teacheks. 703 

charges must be definite aud specific. No general charge of immoral char- 
acter •will be sufficient to put a person upon the defensive. The charges 
should state the immoral act of the teacher and should be drawn with as 
much care and distinctness as an indictment. 

2. The respondent must be given an opportunity to defend, to confront 
and cross-examine the witnesses produced b}-^ the appellant. 

In the examination of the charges and the afiidavits filed therewith, it 
appears that the principal charges are those of lying, perjury and dis- 
respect toward the board of education on the part of the respondent. The 
charges are in the main, general, although some statements of the teacher 
are set out and characterized as false. 

A large number of affidavits are filed and similar ones were upon the 
former appeal. The board of education entered into a written contract 
with the teacher without first having a personal interview with her. Dur- 
ing her term of service as teacher, the exact time does not appear, mis- 
understandings and contentions arose between the respondent and the 
board. The papers are very voluminous, covering a mass of irrelevant matter. 
The controversy is a highly unfortunate one, and it would have undoubtedly 
have been far better if the respondent had never been employed to teach in 
this school, but with that the department has nothing to do. The only 
question left for me is, whether the papers in the case show the respondent 
to be a person of such immoral character as to render it improper for her 
to hold a certificate to teach in the common schools of this State. It is not 
whether she lacks judgment; it is not whether she is a successful teacher; 
but whether she is of immoral character. The department cannot revoke a 
license upon charges affecting character, except upon clear and unques- 
tioned proofs. The fact, unquestionably is, that there has been a heated 
controversy, and that disagreeable things have been said on both sides. 
Undoubtedly some things have been said which are not altogether true, as 
is the case in all such controversies, but I find no evidence sufficient to 
justify me in holding that the respondent is a woman of immoral character. 
The allegations against her are, in the main, general and indefinite and 
such specific allegations of fact as are contained in the charges are not sup- 
ported by the proofs. 

If trustees will employ teachers without sufficient caution, without pre- 
vious acquaintance or inquiry, they must not rely upon the department to 
relieve them from their unwise contracts, and particularly so when the 
most that can be said against a teacher so employed is that she lacks tact 
and management, or talks offensively under opposition and criticism. 

The charges are dismissed. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3510, June 11, 1886. 

CLAIM FOR WAGES. 

Where a teacher leaves his school before nis term of engagement is concluded, because 
the trustees will not sustain him in the enforcement of reasonable rules, he is entitled 
to wages for the time taught. 

On an appeal of the teacher for the refusal of the trustees to pay him the 
sum of thirty dollars and sixty-six cents, earned by him as teacher of the 
district school, it appears that he had been hired for the term of three 
months, by the trustees, at the rate of sixteen dollars per month. It fur- 
ther appears that one of the pupils was guilty of insubordination, in openly 
and flagrantly disobeying the orders of the teacher, and lie being a large, 
stout lad, the teacher wished to avoid personal conflict with him, and so 
called upon the trustees to interfere, and assist him in securing obedience ; 
but they refused to give him any assistance ; and he, deeming his services 
under such a condition of things of no value to the district, left the school. 



704 Teachers. 

I cannot but think tlie trustees erred in their estimate of their powers 
and duties in this case. The teacher is held responsible for the educational 
development of his pupils, and he is therefore entitled to the aid and sup- 
port of tlie trustees in carrying out all reasonable and judicious plans for 
the promotion of this object. When, therefore, the trustees refused to sus- 
tain tlie teacher in his requirements, he could not but see that his plans for 
the educational development of his pupils were frustrated, and his useful- 
ness, to a great extent destroyed. 

The provocation to leave was serious, and I believe the act justifiable. It 
certainly is not just, whatever be the technicalities of law in the case, to 
deprive the teacher of wages for services actually rendered. Only under 
circumstances of aggravated injury to the district should the trustees be 
willing to take any mean advantage of technical construction, and deprive 
the teacher of wages honestly and faithfully earned. 

Under the circumstances, therefore, it is my judgment that the appellant 
is entitled to the sum claimed by him. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintend- 
ent, July 25, 1859. 

Where a teacher leaves a school voluntarily before the close of the term for which she 
was engaged, even at the request of the trustees, she can recover wages only for the 
time actually taught. 

This is an appeal from the refusal of the trustees to pay the full amount 
of wages claimed for services as teacher. 

The appellant alleges that she was hired for a term of two months, at 
three dollars per week, and that at the end of four weeks she was discharged 
from said school, or was compelled to leave, and she now asks that the 
trustees be directed to pay her wages for the full term. 

I think the appellant fails to prove that she was discharged, or was 
under any moral or physical compulsion to leave. The trustees desired her 
to leave, and so expressed themselves to her. But she was unwilling, and 
they did not insist. She afterward determined to leave, and sent for one 
of the trustees to take her home. This action on the part of the trustees 
cannot be considered as a breach of the contract. Her yielding to their 
suggestion to abandon the school was not compulsory. The trustees must 
pay the teacher for the time she taught, and she must be content with that. 
Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, April 27, I860. 

Trustees cannot offset against the wages of a teacher a note of his which they or either 
of them have purchased. 

The appellant alleges that the trustees offer in part discharge of the wages 
due him as teacher in the district, two notes given by him to other parties, 
and purchased by them. 

The only question is : Are these notes a valid and legal tender to the 
teacher in liquidation of his claim ? I must answer they are not. The dis- 
tiict owes the teacher a certain sum. That sum he is entitled to collect; 
and it cannot be offset by any claims, however valid and just, of third 
parties; the trustees hold those notes only in their individual capacity; 
they owe the teacher only as agents of the district, and they cannot offset 
their private claims against the debts owing by them in their fiduciary 
capacity. Were the teacher to sue the trustees for the balance of his wages 
no court would allow these notes as an offset for any part of his claim. Per 
H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, June 6, 1860. 

See also decision to like effect. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
1873. 



Teachers. '^05 

Where a teacher after teaching three days of his terra found the school-house locked 
against him, and without applying to the trustee left and made no demand for oppor- 
tunity to continue his school until fifteen days afterward, held, that he had abandoned 
the contract voluntarily. 

This is an appeal from the refusal of the trustee to carry out a contract 
made by a former trustee with the appellant. 

The appellant fails to establish that the contract was first violated by the 
trustee. He admits that he was suffered to occupy the schooi-liouse for 
three days, and that tlicn the door was locked against him. He does not 
say by whom this was done, and admits that the first demand he made upon 
the trustee for opportunity to continue his school was fifteen days after the 
time at which he alleges the door was closed against him. There is no 
evidence produced by him that he sought any opportunity to continue his 
engagement, or made any demand for such opportunity, prior to the expira- 
tion of fifteen days. This I think effectually concludes the case against 
him. By all ordinary construction and usage I think this must be regarded 
as an abandonment of the contract on his part, which left the district to 
enter into another engagement. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Suj)erintendent, 
March 30, 1861. 

The teacher is legally responsible for the safe-keeping of the school register, and if it 
is lost or stolen through his carelessness he cannot receive any pay for his services. 
But if he can make oath that it was correctly kept, and not lost or stolen by any fault 
of his, the trustees may give him an order upon the supervisor for bis wages. 

The teacher is legally responsible for the safe-keeping of the school reg- 
ister, and if he by carelessness leaves the register in the school-house, and 
not under lock and key, he must suffer the consequences. In short, the 
teacher must show that he has used due diligence in taking care of the 
register, or in other words, that its loss was no fault of his before he is 
entitled to auy pay for his services. If he can make oath that the register 
was correctly kept, and that he cannot j^i'oduce it because it is lost or 
stolen without any fault of his, the tiustee would be justified in giving him 
an order upon the supervisor for his wages. Tlie trustees should at once 
supply the teacher with a new register and cause it to be carefully kept for 
the remainder of the school year. If the trustees make application in 
season, I have authority to authorize the commissioner, in his apportion- 
ment of 1867, to make to their district an equitable apportionment, although 
their record of attendance for the time school has been taught during the 
present school year is stolen or missing. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, 
March 19, 1866. 

Not entitled to extra compensation for building fires, without a special agreement to 

that effect. 
Nor for the use of apparatus voluntarily furnished by them for the use of the school. 
Nor to damages for injury to reputation because of discharge before the expiration of 

their term, especially where such premature discharge is not proven. 
Nor to auy wages for any part of the term taught, so long as they neglect and refuse to 

make out and verify the register of attendance. 

An appeal was brought by a teacher from the refusal of the trustee to pay 
him the full amount of wages claimed as his due ; also a certain sum claimed 
to be due for extra services in building fires, taking care of the district 
property, and for books and school apparatus furnished by the teacher; also 
to recover damages for injury to reputation resulting from dismissal before 
the expiration of his alleged term of engagement. Concerning the latter 
the controversy related to the terms of the contract, whether it was for six- 
teen weeks or foiu* months, tlie trustee claiming that the former was the 

89 



706 Teachers. 

undei-standing, and the teacher maintaining the same for the latter. Being 
purely a question of fact, whichever conclusion was reached can have no 
signilicance in this compilation. 

Upon the question of extra compensation for building fires and taking 
charge of the district property before the commencement and after the close 
of school each day, the Superintendent, after discussing the claim with 
exemplary patience, reaches the very just conclusion that in the absence of 
a special agreement to that effect, the teacher has no claim to compensation 
for such services. Concerning the exhausting efforts attending the care of 
the district property, supposed to have been exercised in keeping the pupils 
from picking up and running off with a red hot stove, or overturning the 
school-house, before the opening and after the close of the solemn and soul- 
subduing exercises of the school, the Superintendent says: "It is the duty 
of the teacher to see that no damage is done to the school-house or furni- 
ture, while the scholars are assembling in the morning and when they are 
preparing to return home, and for this service he is entitled to no extra com- 
pensation." And so the teacher got no $25.41, as claimed by him, for his 
extra vigilance in preventing games of snow ball from being played through 
the school-house windows. 

The Superintendent also finds that the teacher furnished a dictionary, 
two bells — he should have furnished a string of bells and charged accord- 
ingly! — a time piece (probably carried a watch), and some writing tablets 
(for the use of which, for the term of sixteen weeks, he claims $20), "of his 
own motion, without being requested to do so by the trustee, and he is 
entitled to no compensation for the use of the same." 

The damage to reputation which the teacher with great modesty puts at 
the insignificant sum of $100, is very summarily disposed of by the Super- 
intendent, who says, he has "no power to award exemplary damages, or 
damages for injury to character or reputation, " and he turns the appellant 
over to the civil courts to pursue his remedy there against the trustee per- 
sonally. 

It further appears that one ground of refusal by the trustee to pay the 
teacher his wages, even for the term taught, is the neglect and refusal of 
the latter to verify the record of attendance of pupils for the whole of the 
period taught by him, the same being verified only from Februarv 24 to 
March 7, 1868. 

In justification of this refusal, the teacher offers sundry frivolous excuses, 
to the effect that the trustee did not furnish him with a register, etc., 
although it is shown, and admitted by him, that he did have a register, 
ample for the purpose, furnished by the district clerk, which he failed to 
use, keeping instead his own private memorandum. How he came to omit 
this in his charges for extra compensation, is among the wonders which 
will forever baffle conjecture. 

But the Superintendent makes short work of these, saying "These excuses 
will not answer," and then proceeds to give him a good sound dressing 
down, but in such manly and dignified tone that the writer greatly fears it 
was wasted on the subject to whom it was addressed. 

The conclusion of the whole matter is, that when the teacher discharges 
his duty and complies with the law in making and verifying the register of 
attendance, he will be entitled to the wages agreed upon, for the term of 
sixteen weeks, which the trustee admits he employed him for. Per A. B. 
Weaver, Superintendent, June 18, 1868. 



Teachers. 707 

Teachers, if duly qualified, are entitled to wages without any deduction for the time 
spent in attending teachers' institute in the count}'. 

Appeal from the refusal of a trustee to pay to a teacher his wages for that 
part of the term of his engagement spent in attendance at the teachers' insti- 
tute held in that county. 

Proofs of such attendance are duly furnished. 

It is expressly provided by section 5, title 11 of the G-eneral School Act, 
that trustees shall give to teachers employed by them the whole of the time 
spent by such teachers in attending at regular sessions of an institute in a 
county embracing their school district, without deducting any thing from 
their wages for the time so spent. 

The trustees are hereby ordered and directed on due proof of tlie appel- 
lant's having been at the time he so attended a teachers' institute, a duly 
licensed teacher, to pay him for that time at the rate of wages agreed upon. 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 24, 1869. 

Trustee cannot offset a private claim ao;ainst the wages due to a teacher for services to 

the district. 

The amount due to a teacher for services under her contract was $148. 
The trustee proposed to pay her S144 only, reserving $4 to pay his son for 
building the lires, which he employed him to do at the teacher's request. 

This settlement was declined by the teacher. 

The trustee cannot insist upon its acceptance. He has no right to set off 
his own or his sou's private claim upon the teacher, against her claim for 
services rendered to the district. Per A, B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
August 5, 1873. 

TEACHERS' CONTRACT. 

The contract with teachers for the year including two months of vacation. Pay for 
vacation time, termination of the year, and power to discharge teacher. 

The appellant has for some years been a teacher in this district, and in 
common with the other teachers, was engaged at or before the beginnino- 
of each school year, viz. : the first of September, to teach at a certain price 
per month; the engagement was to be terminated on ninety days' notice by 
either party. The school was actually taught about ten months in each 
year. About one month before the close of each school year, the appellant, 
in common with the other teachers, received notice from the board termi- 
nating her engagement. The teachers all received compensation for the two 
months of vacation in each year. After the close of the school year end- 
ing July 3, 1878, the appellant was not re-engaged by the respondents, and 
the respondents refuse to pay her for the two months of vacation followino* 
said school year. ° 

1 am convinced that the nominal amount of two months' wao-es in excess 
of the time actually taught was part of the consideration for which the 
appellant faithfully and fully performed her last year's service, and that 
she is entitled to the same. This she, as well as the other teachers, had 
always received, and it was a well-settled arrangement between the teach- 
ers and the board that the former should receive it. The department must 
presume that the respondents acted legally in paying the so-called "vaca- 
tion money," and it therefore cannot be presumed that such payment was 
in any sense a gift in gratuity. It must have been paid for services act- 
ually rendered, and the appellant performed all of the services she had con- 
tracted to perform. This payment must have been for services rendered 
during the school year preceding the vacation, for it is nowhere alleged 



708 Teachers. 

that newly engaged teachers were paid for the vacation preceding their 
first year's work. Neither can it be set up that "vacation money" was 
paid to teachers because they were during the vacation practically in the 
employ of the board and restrained from being employed elsewhere, as it 
is clearly shown that at the close of the actual school year they were regu- 
larly and legally discharged and freed from all obligations to the board. 
It, therefore, is apparent that the appellant had duly earned the "vaca- 
tion money" usually paid to teachers, and should receive the same. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3838, March 24, 1879. 

TEACHBRS' WAGES. 

Trustees cannot purchase for the district claims against a teacher and ofifset the same 
against the teacher's wages. 

The appellant was employed as principal of the district school. Pre- 
vious to the expiration of the time for which he was hired, he was dis- 
charged by the board of education for alleged cause. He subsequently de- 
manded pay for the full time for which he had contracted to teach, and the 
trustees assumed to offset such claim by certain note, and an account 
owing by the appellant to third parties. 

The trustees of a school district must restrict themselves to an exercise 
of the powers conferred upon them by the law, and the law does not au- 
thorize them to invest the district funds in notes or accounts against a 
teacher. This is well settled, and if the respondents as trustees owe the 
appellant as teacher, the obligation can only be discharged in the usual 
way. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3052, January 
27, 1881. 

When the school is closed by the trustees for fear of an epidemic, the teacher is enti- 
tled to wages for the time it is so closed, provided it occurs within a term for which 
the teacher is hired. 

If extra weeks are taught at the end of the term, the teacher is entitled to extra com- 
pensation for such time. 



The appellant was engaged as principal of the school at a salary of 
a year, to begin in the following September and to consist of thirty-six 
weteks. The appellant entered upon the discharge of the duties of his 
office on the 11th day of September, 1882. The school year was divided 
by the board of education into three terms, the first to consist of fifteen 
weeks, the second twelve weeks, and the third nine weeks. After the 
school had been in session for the space of three weeks, a meeting of the 
board was called to consider the advisability of closing the ochool on ac- 
count of the prevalence of diphtheria, and the board decided to close the 
school for one week next succeeding. .x\t the expiration of the week it 
was decided by the board that the school should remain closed one week 
longer, to re-open on the 30th of October. The school was opened on the 
30th day of October, and continued in accordance with the regulations of 
the board until the 8th- day of June, 1883. In accordance with the ex- 
pressed wish of the board, the appellant taught an additional fortnight, and 
for this additional period of service claims as compensation at the rate of 
$800 a year, amounting to $44.44. 

There is no doubt in this case that the thirty-six weeks which were to 
comprise the school year would have closed two weeks earli i!r than the 22d 
of June, namely, on the 8th day of June, 1883, had it not been for the ac- 
tion of the school board in closing the school through fear of an epidemic 

The school was closed by no act of the appellant ; he was at his post in 



Teachers. "^^^ 

readiness to obey the orders of the board of education, and there appears 
to be no reason why the two weeks from the 16th to the 30th of October 
should not be regarded as a part of the term for which he was employed. 
The closing was not a vacation in the customary sense of the term. The 
two weeks succeeding the 8th day of June must be regarded as an addi- 
tional term of service for which the teacher should receive additional com- 
pensation, and it would appear that the value of his services should be 
measured by the salary agreed upon in his previous contract with the trust- 
ees. Board ordered to pay appellant's claim. Per W. B. Ruggles, Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 3309, June 32, 1883. 

The acts and contracts of a de facto trustee, which are not illegal 'per se, are valid and 

binding upon the district. 
An annual meeting had the power to order a tax for a teacher's wages after such wages 

have been earned, although the teacher was hired by a de facto trustee. 

The appeal is brought from the action of the annual school meeting direct-, 
ing the trustee to levy a tax and pay a teacher the sum of $195.84 as balance 
of wages due her. 

The point raised by the appellant is that the said teacher was hired by a 
"private individual and not the trustee." 

It appears that the teacher was hired by a trustee appointed by the 
supervisor, and that his appointment was afterward vacated upon appeal 
to this department. The school was taught by the teacher employed by 
the de facto trustee, and the annual meeting adopted the resolution referred 
to. 

"While it is true that the appointment of Hill as trustee was vacated 
and set aside, he, nevertheless, at the time of the hiring of tlie teacher 
whose services the appellant asks shall not be paid for by the district, was 
the de facto trustee, and it is a well-established principle of law, and the 
ruling of this department, that the acts and contracts of a de facto trustee, 
which are not illegal 'per se, are valid and binding upon the district. The 
district meeting by passing the said resolution ratified the contract made 
with the teacher. 

But in this case it would not be necessary to find that the teacher was 
hired by a trustee whose election or appointment to ofiice was regular be- 
fore she could be paid her wages. The teacher had rendered the district 
services by teaching the winter and summer terms, and the annual meeting 
directed and provided for the payment of $195.84 as balance due her for 
such services. The statute expressly gives a district meeting tiiis power. 
Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3369, September 30, 
1884. 

Teacher cannot be paid for the time she did not hold a certificate. 

It appears that the teacher commenced to teach on or about the 29th 
day of September, 1884, and she did not procure a certificate until the 4th 
day of October. If between the 29th day of September and the 4th day of 
October, she was not possessed of a legal license to teach, her wages for 
that period cannot be paid from public money apportioned to the district, 
nor can they be made a charge upon the district for which a tax may be 
legally raised. It seems, however, that she was legally employed between 
the 4th day of October and the 3d day of December, on which day, by 
proper legal procedure, her certificate was annulled by Isaac T. Haight, 
school commissioner of the second district of Columbia county. From this 
day until the granting of a new certificate to her, on the 3d day of Jan- 
uary, 1885, by Commissioner Silvernail, she was not a qualified teacher 



710 Teachers. 

within the meaning of the law, and for her services rendered during this 
period she could not be paid from public money or from moneys raised by 
tax upon the district. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3416, May 5, 1885. 

In drawing au order any sum allowed a teacher for board should be denominated 
wages, and the order can be drawn only in favor of the teacher. 

The trustee agreed to pay a teacher $3 per week and board. After 
trying several places, the teacher asked and was permitted to board with the 
trustee, 'Wheu the term of service was ended a new trustee was in office, 
who refused to allow the teacher the amount asked for board, namely, $3 
per week for fourteen weeks. The trustee claims that the teacher is not 
entitled to the board, and that the $3 per week having been paid her, 
and she liaving received her board, the district owes her nothing. On the 
other hand the teacher maintains that she owes the board bill and must 
Lave the money from the district to pay it. 

It has been uniformly lield by the department that the m.ode of paying 
teachers must be the same, no matter what the contract. The whole must 
be paid in the manner provided by law for the payment of teacher's wages. 
The wages of the teacher included the whole compensation allowed him or 
her for board or any other object. In drawing an order any sum allowed 
for board should be denominated wages, and the order can be drawn only 
in favor of the teacher. 

The trustee ordered to pay the teacher the amount claimed. Per W. B. 
"Kuggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3460, December 18, 1885. 

A teacher is entitled to pay for services during the time a school shall be closed by the 
trustee on account of an infectious or contagious disease in the district, when such 
clogure occurs during a term for which the teacher was employed. 

A teacher can teach another school or engage in any other occupation during vacation 
time between terms for which such teacher was hired. 

The appeal is brought from the refusal of the trastee to pay the teacher 
for three weeks of service as claimed. 

On the 2d day of September, 1884, this appellant and P. P. Warren, the 
trustee of school district No. 9, Schroon, entered into a contract under the 
terms of which Belle M. Doherty, then a duly licensed teacher, was to 
teach the district school in said district for a period of thirty-two weeks at 
a weekly compensation of eight and one-fourth dollars. 

The thirty-two weeks were to be divided into two terms, the first term 
commencing on the 15th of September and ending on or about the 1st day 
of January following. The school was then to be closed during the winter 
months and until the last of April, owing "to the condition of the roads, 
severity of the weather, and the distance-of the houses of the children from 
the school-house which is in a sparseh'^-settled portion of the Adirondack 
region." Tiie balance of the thirty-two weeks were then to be taught. 

In accordance with this contract, the appellant commenced teaching the 
school on the loth of September, 1884, and continued to teach the same 
until the 8d day of Decmber, 1884, when the school was closed by the 
trustee in obedience to an order of the board of health of said town 
"through fear of contagion of some disease then prevailing in said town." 
The school remained closed by virtue of said direction during the remainder 
of the first term. The school was not again opened until the 27th day of 
April, 1885, when the trustee directed that the second term should be 
commenced. This second term was continued until closed by the trustee 



Teachers. 711 

at the end of the scliool year, making the time actually taught twenty-eight 
weeks and two days. 

It will be seen from the above that there were three weeks and three 
days of this time during which the school was closed by order of the 
trustee ; and the trustee of the district, elected at the annual meeting in 
1885, refused to pay appellant for such time. The appellant thereupon 
offered to continue the school to make up for the lost time, but said offer 
was also refused by the trustee. 

The question to be passed upon is, that of the liability of the district to the 
teacher for three wrecks and three days. This is easily disposed of for the 
following reasons: 

First. As a matter of law, a teacher is entitled to pay for services dur- 
ing the time a school shall be closed by the trustee on account of an infec- 
tious or contagious disease in the district, when such closure occurs during 
a term for which the teacher was employed. The school was not taught 
by this appellant for the three weeks and three days for the reason that it 
was so closed. Second. It does not appear that there was any good or 
sufficient reason for refusing to allow the appellant to continue the school 
long enough to complete a period actually taught of thirty-two weeks, 
although under the law, as above stated, this offer of service was not neces- 
sary upon the part of the teacher. 

It is urged by the respondents that the appellant is not entitled to any 
compensation for these three weeks and three days for the reason that dur- 
ing the period the school was closed she taught a school in another district 
for a few wrecks. This objection is without any force, as it appears that 
under the terms of the contract there was to be a vacation during the winter 
months, and it was during this vacation period that the appellant taught 
for three or four weeks a school in another district. This she was legally 
entitled to do, or to engage iij any other work or business she might desire, 
as district No. 9, town of Schroon, had no claim upon her whatever for 
such service during the vacation period between the close of the first term, 
on or about the first of January and the opening of the summer term on the 
37th day of April. 

The district is, therefore, indebted to this appellant under the contract 
for three weeks and three days at eight and one-fourth dollars per week, 
amounting to the sum of twenty-nine dollars and seventy cents. Per James 
E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3468, January 18, 1886. 

A teacher is entitled to her wages for the week spent in attendance at the teachers' 
institute, and the trustees cannot require her to teach an extra week to make up for 
the time so spent. 

The appellant contracted with the board of education to teach three 
terms of thirteen weeks each, for the sum of $500. She has fulfilled her 
contract except as to one week, during which she was in attendance at the 
teachers' institute held in the county. She subsequently, at the request of 
the board, taught an additional week. She has been paid the sum of 
$410.26. 

The appellant should have been paid her wages promptly. She is entitled 
to her wages during the week she was in attendance at the teachers' insti- 
tute. She is also entitled to pay for the extra week taught, at the contract 
rate, which amounts to the sum of $12.82. I infer that the board under- 
took to require her to make up the week of her attendance at the institute. 
This they had no right to do. The board is ordered to pay the teacher the 
sum of $102.56. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Appeal No. 3523, 
September 15, 1886. 



712 Teachers. 

CONTRACT. 

Every contract made with teachers in our common schools necessarily includes the 
condition that the agreement cannot be binding for a longer period than teachers 
may hold certificates of qualification, and on the annulling of their certificates all 
claim for future services ceases. 

The appellant, in the year 1845, had made a contract with the trustees of 
school district No. 10, in the town of Champion, to teach the district school 
for a limited period, and at a stipulated price per month for his services; 
and, before the expiration of the term limited by the contract, on the 27th 
day of November, 1845, for causes satisfactory to that officer, the town 
superintendent annulled the certificate of qualification, which act was 
affirmed by the county superintendent. 

On appeal to the department, it was deemed advisable, for the reasons 
stated in the decision then given, not to interfere with the acts of these 
officers, by a formal reversal of their decisions. 

The appellant claimed of the trustees of the district his wages, under his 
contract, for the unexpired term after the annulment of his certificate, as 
before mentioned; and those officers, or a majority of them, having refused 
payment, he appealed to the county superintendent, who declined inter- 
fering, on the ground that the appellant had no legal claim to compensation 
under his contract from the time his license as a teacher was annulled, and 
from this determination the appellant has again appealed to this depart- 
ment. 

Every contract made by trustees with a teacher in our common schools 
necessarily includes the condition that the agreement cannot be binding 
upon them for a longer period than the teacher may hold a certificate of 
qualification. I do not mean by this that trustees cannot with a full knowl- 
edge of all the facts in regard to a want of license make a contract with an 
unlicensed teacher which will bind them personally, but I do hold that this 
department cannot in the exercise of its rightful powers and jurisdiction be 
called upon to enforce a performance of any such contract. 

I assume that when the trustees made the contract with the appellant 
for his services as a teacher, both parties understood that the appelhi.nt had 
a proper license, and that the contract was to cease whenever he became 
legally disqualified as such; but if he be able to establish a different con- 
tract by competent proof, then he must resort to another tribunal, for this 
department cannot afford him any relief. 

The decision of the county superintendent is affirmed and the appeal dis- 
missed. Per N. S. Benton, July 13, 1846. 

A teacher employed under a contract, to teach by the month, specified as twenty-six 
days, is entitled to dismiss school every Saturday afternoon, or each alternate Satur- 
day, according to the custom of the country, and the trustees have no right to with- 
hold any portion of the amount due him for so doing. 

A contract was made between Mary Dwight and Jacob Harder, one of 
the trustees of district No. 1, Windsor, and part in Conklin. by which she 
was to teach the district school at three dollars a week for an indefinite 
time. 

The trustees dissenting, on the twenty-second day of November, a new 
contract was made between said Mary Dwight and Jacob Harder, with the 
consent of the other trustee, Alanson Alden, by which she was to teach 
four months, at the rate of $12 per month of twenty-six days. 

The said Mary Dwight taught from November 22, 1847, to March 21, 
1848, inclusive, a period of 121 days, deducting Sundays. She, therefore, 
taught four months of twenty-six days, according to contract. 



Teachers. 713 

But it is alleged by Harder that the said Mary agreed to teach Saturdays 
or lose those days. The said Mary denies this, and alleges that "Satur- 
days " were not mentioned when the contract was made. The affidavit of 
Jared N. Hoadley confirms the allegations of said Mary D wight. Hoadley 
swears that Mary Dwight agreed to teach twenty-six days for twelve dol- 
lars, on condition that she taught four months. 

Hoadley's affidavit proves a contract by the month, at $13, Such a con- 
tract would authorize the teacher to dismiss her school every holiday and 
Saturday afternoon, or every alternate Saturday, according to the custom 
of the district. And the custom of dismissing school every Saturday after- 
teruoon or every alternate Saturday is a good and wholesome one. 

The amount withheld by the trustees from Mary Dwight is $3.11. It is 
adjudged and decreed that said Mary is entitled to receive from said trus- 
tees said sum of $3.11, in addition to the sum of $44.89 already paid to 
her, and the trustees are hereby ordered to pay the same to her forthwith. 
Per Morgan, June 7, 1848. 

Where one trustee engages a teacher to teach in the place designated by a district 
meeting and the other two engage a teacher to teach in a place selected by them- 
selves, neither is a legal school. 

One trustee cannot legally engage a teacher for the district, neither can two trustees 
legally engage a teacher to teach in a place designated by themselves when the dis- 
trict have selected another place. 

The school-house in district No. 7, Guilford, Chenango county, was 
destroyed by fire in January, 1847. In February following, the inhabitants, 
in district meeting, voted to hire a temporary place for the school. Accord- 
ingly, a school was regularly opened on the 12th of May, 1847, in the 
place so designated. In the following winter, two of the trustees opened a 
school in another place without the vote of the district, and gave an order 
upon the town superintendent for two-thirds of the teacher's money appor- 
tioned to the district, which was paid. 

In the meantime, Mr. Mills, the other trustee, opened a school in the 
house which had been designated by the district for the summer school. 

Each party claims a right to the public money, but neither is entitled to 
it, as neither school was legally established. 

In all cases the inhabitants of a district are to designate the place where 
the school shall be kept, and trustees alone are responsible for the expenses 
incurred in support of a school opened by them without this authority 
from the district. 

One trustee cannot hire a teacher or open a school without the concur- 
rence of at least one other trustee. Nor is any act of the trustees valid 
without all being consulted, and without the concurrence of a majority. 

The public money obtained on the order of the two trustees could not be 
applied to the payment of their teacher, as the school was not a district 
school. 

It is, therefore, hereby adjudged and decided that the public money 
apportioned to district No. 7, G-uilford, for teacher's wages, cannot be 
applied to the payment of either of the teachers' employed in the schools 
hereinbefore mentioned. Per Morgan, July 14, 1848. 

Where one trustee employs a teacher without consulting with his associates, and his 
action ia silently acquiesced in until the expiration of the term, their approval of the 
contract will be implied, and they should sign an order for the public money for 
teachers' wages when applied to. 

This is an appeal taken by a teacher from the action of two of the trus- 
tees of school district No. 8, in the town of Oxford, Chenango county. 

90 



714 Teachers. 

Said trustees refuse to sign an order upon the town superintendent of Oxford 
for the sum of $20 to compensate the appellant for her services as teacher 
of the school in said district, upon the ground that the appellant was 
employed in January, 1854, as teacher by George Stratton, the third trus- 
tee, upon his own responsibility, the respondents not having been informed 
by said Stratton of the employment of the appellant, nor of the conditions 
either of time, wages or qualifications; and that, therefore, appellant is not 
entitled to any share of the public money for the school taught by her last 
"winter. 

It appears that said Harriet Webb was employed by one of the trustees 
in his official capacity to teach a public school in said district at the rate of 
$2 a week, and that she was so employed ten weeks. Neither of the other 
trustees appear to have dissented. They cannot be presumed to have been 
ignorant of the fact, and must be considered as having acquiesced. This 
is tlie view which would be taken in any court of judicature having juris- 
diction of the case. 

The appeal is, therefore, sustained, and the town superintendent of the 
town of Oxford is hereby ordered to pay to the said Harriet Webb, for her 
services as teacher in said district, the sum of ^20 from the share of the 
public money belonging to said district. Per V. M. Rice, October 23, 1854. 

Where two trustees employ a teacher, without consulting the third, the contract is 
binding only upon the trustees making the bargain, unless the conduct of the third 
trustee is such that his acquiescence may fairly be inferred. 

This is an appeal of a trustee of school district No. 6, in the town of 
Vernon, Oneida county, from the action of his two colleagues, upon the 
ground that a teacher has been employed to instruct the school of said dis- 
trict, commencing on the 30th day of October last, and to continue through 
the winter, in and relating to which engagement the appellant was not con- 
sulted, and had no knowledge. The respondents acknowledge the fact as 
charged, pleading that they had no suspicion that he would object. 

The basis of this appeal rests upon broad principles, involved in the 
general laws of trust which govern all fiduciary transactions. Contracts 
entered into by all the trustees of a school district, and signed by two of 
them, are binding; and when so signed the presence of the third is pre- 
sumed until the contrary is shown. Two trustees can contract against the 
will of the third, if he was duly notified of a meeting of the trustees, or 
was consulted and refused to act. (9 Wendell, 17.) 

The appellant not being consulted in the contract with the teacher, Miss 
Delia A. C. Alford, could in no sense be responsible, unless when he dis- 
covered the fact he should have acquiesced. 

Yet no fiduciary transaction can exist without all parties to it are cogni- 
zant. The contract in question is binding only with the respondents, but 
is void so far as the trustees officially and the district are concerned. 

The aj)peal is, therefore, sustained. Per V. M. Rice, November 21, 1854. 

A consultation of two trustees, without the presence and advice of the third, can result 
in nothing which can be regarded as the action of the board, unless the third has 
been regularly notified and fails to be present. 

The controversy, in this case, respects the validity of the contracts with 
three different teachers. No one of them has been engaged in a legal man- 
ner, for in no case have the trustees met and consulted together. 

A consultation of two trustees meeting by themselves, without the pres- 
ence and advice of the third, can result in nothing which can be regarded 



Teachers. • 715 

as the action of the board, unless the third trustee lias been regularly noti- 
fied of a meeting and continues absent after his colleagues have waited a 
reasonable time for his attendance. 

The trustees cannot delegate any discretionary power to a third person to 
execute the decision to which they may have arrived; still less can any one 
of them do so, although they may doubtless employ the services of a mes- 
senger to convey to a proposed teacher intelligence of a positive and uncon- 
ditional determination ; but this, for the sake of certainty, and to preserve 
the evidence of the matter, should be reduced to writing and authenticated 
by the signatures of a majority. 

It results in this case that, without reference to who may be the legal 
trustees, none of them liave contracted with any teacher in a manner render- 
ing their acts obligatory upon the district. Whether they have rendered 
themselves personally responsible to the proposed teacher is a different ques- 
tion, which it is not necessary now to consider. 

The principles herein stated will guide the trustees in contracting with a 
teacher. Any two of them may fix the time and place of a meeting for the 
purpose of acting upon this subject, giving the third trustee not less than 
forty-eight hours' notice of the time and place fixed upon and the object of 
the meeting. 

The}'' should examine the certificates of such teachers as may be proposed, 
and receive from them written propositions specifying the period for which 
they offer to teach, the amount of their salary, and the manner in which 
they are to be paid ; and should make and sign a written memorandum — 
indorsed upon the written proposition which may be accepted, or repeating 
it in terms which will identify it — of their action in the premises, filing 
the same with the district clerk. 

This appeal is sustained. Per V. M. Rice, February 23, 1855. 

The vote of a district meeting to hire a certain teacher has no legal binding force upon 
the trustees, even though they may have agreed to abide such result. 

A district meeting, by a unanimous vote, selected a teacher, and the trus- 
tees had agreed to abide by such a decision; they, however, employed 
another teacher, and certain of the inhabitants of the district appeal against 
the proceedings of the trustees. 

Held, that the agreement by the trustees to abide by the decision of the 
district was of no legal consequence, as the selection of a teacher belongs 
to the trustees. This department cannot annul a legal contract with a 
teacher; it can only be done by some positive violation of duty on his part. 
Per Y. M. Rice, Superintendent, December 9, 1856. 

Where a teacher has in good faith fulfilled a contract to teach, entered into with one 
trustee, the others not dissenting, the contract will be enforced without regard to 
irregularities in its inception. 

It appears, in this case, that the business of hiring a teacher devolved, 
by common consent, if not by express direction, upon one of the trustees. 
He agreed with the teacher to pay her $2 per week if the number of schol- 
ars did not exceed eighteen, and $2.25 per week if the number was more 
than eighteen. The number attending was considerably more than eight- 
een, and the teacher claims the advance wages as agreed upon. The 
present trustees refuse to allow her more than $2 per week. 

In the opinion of this department, there is nothing to justify any inter- 
ference with the contract that would not equally justify setting aside the 
whole proceedings. That there were grave irregularities in the course pur- 



716 Teachers. 

sued is apparent, but for these and the consequences and misapprehensiona 
resulting therefrom, the trustees are alone responsible. They cannot plead 
their own neglect, nor that of their predecessors, as a sufficient ground for 
not fulfilling a contract duly executed by the party with whom it was made. 
The proceedings might be entirely set aside if their legal bearings alone 
were to be considered, but the teacher would still have a valid claim against 
the district for services rendered, the amount of which would have to be 
determined by competent authority, and I cannot think the award would 
be less than that already agreed upon. In this view of the case I cannot 
find sufficient reason for disturbing the contract made by the teacher with 
the trustee as above stated. She, having fulfilled her engagement in good 
faith, should not be made to suffer for the neglect of the trustees to proceed 
in a formal and legal manner. The trustees are, therefore, directed to give 
the teacher an order for her wages at two dollars and twenty -five cents per 
week, the amount agreed upon in the contract. Per H. H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, February 16, 1858. 

Where an outgoiu^ trustee, in answer to an application of a teacher for the winter 
school, says that if he had the power to contract he would hire him, it is not a con. 
tract, even though the trustee had authority to hire. 

The appellant called upon the trustee for the purpose of securing the 
school for the ensuing term. The trustee was favorable to hiring him, but 
expressed a doubt as to his having the right to contract with him for a term 
to commence after his own should expire ; but said he would contract with 
him, if he was assured that he had the legal right to do so. The teacher 
regards this as a contract, and claims enforcement of it. 

The department has ever discountenanced the policy of tying the hands 
of the trustee newly elected to office, thus making him, or his administra- 
tion, responsible for a policy initiated by his predecessor. Whatever fea- 
tures of legal construction leading to different conclusions the question may 
have, the department will leave to the courts to decide. 

But that question aside, or even deteraiined according to the construction 
of the appellant, I cannot find in what transpired between him and the 
outgoing trustee, that which comprises the essential element of a contract. 
There is, therefore, in my view, no occasion for the interference of this 
department. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, December 1, 1859. 

The consent of three trustees, separately given to hire a teacher, does not make a legal 

contract. 

This is an appeal of J. E., one of the trustees, from the act of his asso- 
ciates in hiring a teacher. 

There is but one question formally before the department, and that is the 
legality of hiring the teacher. He was hired, as is customary in school dis- 
tricts, by going from one to another of the trustees, and getting the consent 
of each to his having the school. This is not a legal proceeding. In a cir- 
cular issued by the Superintendent May 31, 1858, the following language 
was used: "No official -act will be regarded by this department as valid, 
•where it is shown that the same was not determined upon by a majority of 
the board, at a meeting duly called." It was considered that under the 
law of April 12, 1858, if a district should elect three trustees, it would be 
because they deemed the action of three men indispensable to the welfare of 
the district. The assent of each separately taken is not a compliance with 
the law. I have no choice, therefore, but to say that no legal contract was 
made with the teacher. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, March 
7, 1860. 



Teachers. 717 

A contract made with a teacher by two of the trustees, without consultation with the 
third, may be confirmed subsequently by taking the proper legal steps. 

Concerning the hiring of a teacher, it is necessary that the trustees meet 
to call a meeting to act upon the contract. They may pass a resolution 
confirming the contract already made by two of the trustees, but until such 
action has been had the contract has no binding validity. Per H. H. Van 
Dyck, Superintendent, January 9, 1861. 

Where one of the trustees is delegated to make known to teachers the conditions of 
engagement to teach, he acts as agent for the whole board, and the board is bound 
by the terms of agreement as stated by him and accepted by the teachers. 

On an appeal from the action of the trustees in discharging certain 
teachers from employment before the close of their engagement, the ques- 
tion before the department is whether the act of the trustees in discharging 
said teachers was or was not in violation of the contract entered into with 
them. 

The following facts are disclosed by the testimony submitted. 

1. On the 19th of September, 1861, the trustees, at a meeting duly held, 
all being present, passed a series of resolutions, to the effect that it was the 
mind of the board to employ as teachers in the different departments of the 
district school the appellants in this case, for the term commencing October 
1, then ensuing, at wages named in the resolutions, and subject to the con- 
dition of a liability to be dischared if they should fail to fill their situations 
respectively to the satisfaction of the trustees. 

2. G., one of the trustees, was formally or informally authorized to con- 
tract with the appellants under the authority of said resolutions. 

3. The said appellants were employed by the trustee above named, but 
without any intimation on his part that any such condition as that named 
in the resolution, relating to the tenure of their term of service being 
dependent upon giving satisfaction to the trustees, was a part of the con- 
tract. Each of the teachers on her part consented to an engagement under- 
stood to be for a term of six months, at wages specified and subject only to 
the ordinary conditions that attach to any such contract. 

4. The appellants entered upon their term of engagement, and discharged 
their duties to the evident and expressed satisfaction of the trustees until 
December 10. On that day the trustees adopted resolutions to the effect 
that the teachers then employed had failed to give satisfaction, and that 
the school be closed and the teachers discharged on the Friday following, 
December 13. 

5. Notice was given to the appellants respectively of these resolutions, 
and causes of their discharge duly assigned, and they were directed to leave 
the school; but, by the advice of the dissenting trustee, they still continue 
in possession, and to discharge their duties as heretofore. 

The question before the department, as previously stated, relates to the 
just and legal claim of these teachers for a continuance of their services in 
said school until the expiration of six months, and for the wages agreed to 
be paid to them for such term. 

In regard to this claim, it must be determined by the principles that 
govern and control the relations of principal and agent. The said trustee, 
G., in contracting with these teachers, acted as agent for the board of 
trustees. In considering how far the act of the agent is binding upon the 
principal we are not to look so much to the actual authority conferred, as 
to what third parties may reasonably have supposed the agent to be invested 
with. No principle of law is better established than this, it having been 
repeatedly affirmed by the highest courts. The teachers had a right to 



718 Teachees. 

presume that the terms offered to them were authorized by the board of 
trustees. They assented to no other terms than these, hence were parties 
to no other contract. They cannot be permitted to suffer from the laches 
of the board, who permitted them to take their situations without inform- 
ing them of the terms prescribed by the resohitions. 

A contract made with a person authorized to represent the trustees is 
binding upon them, though contrary to the letter of their instmctions. If 
any damage results to the trustees from this disregard of their instructions, 
the agent is responsible to them, but the trustees cannot shield themselves 
from the responsibility to the teachers. 

The conclusion is, therefore, that the contract with the appellant for a 
term of six months is valid and binding upon the trustees, and the services 
of these teachers cannot be discontinued before the expiration of said 
term. 

Appeal sustained. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, January 
25, 1862. 

Two of the trustees cannot hire a teacher without consultation with the third. 

This is an appeal from the proceedings of two of the trustees in hiring a 
teacher. 

The difficulty that gives rise to this appeal proceeds directly from the vi- 
cious and useless practice of having three trustees to do the business that one 
could better do alone. Where there are three trustees it is very commonly 
the practice for two of them to agree upon some teacher who is afterAvard 
hired by one of them. Meantime one of the trustees becomes dissatisfied and 
unites with the third in hiring some other teacher. Of course a conflict of 
authority arises, the neighborhood is divided and the prosperity of the school 
is impaired. 

The evidence in this case shows that there has never been a meeting and 
consultation of the three trustees in relation to hiring a teacher at which 
any agreement has been had. It appears, however, that two of the trustees 
agreed to hire a certain teacher, but as the assent of the third trustee is 
nowhere established in such manner as to make the transaction legal, I 
must hold that the contract entered into cannot be enforced. Per V. M. 
Eice, Superintendent, April 7, 1862. 

Trustees of union free schools may hire teachers related to them within two degrees. 

It has been held by the Superintendent that the provision of the Gen- 
eral School Law prohibiting trustees from employing teachers who are re- 
lated to them within two degrees, without first obtaining the co'isent of 
two-thirds of the inhabitants, does not apply to union free schools, or to 
schools under special act of the legislature. The general rule governing 
such cases is, that when the special or union free school act is silent upon 
a given question, then the provisions of the general act will apply, unless 
they are incompatible with the provisions of the special or free school acts. 
The restriction contained in the general act in regard to the hiring of 
teachers, if it applied to all union free school districts and to districts under 
special acts, would frequently cause these districts much trouble, for these 
reasons : 

1. The board of education consists usually of not less than nine mem- 
bers, and therefore under such a restriction a much larger class of teachers 
would be excluded than in ordinary districts; 

2. These districts are usually much larger and more populous than or- 
dinary school districts, many of them having a population of over ten 



Teachers. 719 

thousand inhabitants, and it would be therefore a great hardship, if not 
impossibility, to call a special meeting of the inhabitants to legalize the 
hiring of one of the relatives of a trustee, as provided in tlie general act. 

For these reasons, as well as others that might be mentioned, I uniformly 
hold that the provisions of the General School Act before referred to do 
not apply to such districts as are organized under special act, or as union 
free schools. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, July 11, 1866. 

Where two trustees, in the temporary absence of the third, hired a teacher, lield^ that 
the contract was not valid for a longer time than the majority of the trustees saw 
fit to continue the services of the teacher. 

This is the appeal of H. S., a teacher, from tlie action of the trustees in 
discharging him from employment as teacher before the expiration of his 
alleged term of engagement. 

The following are the material facts : At the annual district meeting, 
G. B. was elected trustee for three years. 

At this meeting the appellant was present and urged P., one of the 
trustees holding over, to decide upon his application to teach the school 
for the ensuing winter term. B., the trustee elected that evening, was then 
absent from the district and could not be consulted. 

Upon the suggestion, however, of the appellant, the two trustees holding 
over conferred in regard to hiring the appellant to teach the winter school. 
The result was that the appellant was employed by them, and he com- 
menced his term of service on the 2d of November following. 

On the 15th of February, at a meeting of the trustees, it was resolved to 
discontinue the services of the said H. S. from that time, one of the trus- 
tees dissenting. 

The appellant alleges that his contract was for a term of one hundred 
days, and asks to be allowed to complete the full term of his engagement 
or to receive pay therefor according to the terms of his contract. 

It is a principle well established that two trustees cannot act without 
consulting with the third, or giving him notice of consultation and action. 
Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, April 26, 1864. 

If a teacher engages to teach by the month, the legal holidays will be allowed him. 
Three months from December 5, 18G4, extend to and include March 4, 1865. 

From December 5, 1864, for the next three months, there are only three 
legal holidays, Christmas, New Year's and Washington's birthday, and 
such school holidays as custom or express agreement has sanctioned in the 
district, together with any thanksgiving or fast days occurring within the 
term and appointed by the president or governor. 

If the teacher keeps the school open on a holiday, he is not entitled to 
have such day's services counted in lieu of another day not a holiday, ex- 
cept by agreement with the trustees. 

The statute provides, section 7, article 1, title 3, chapter 555, Laws of 
1864, that a deficiency, of not more than three weeks in the twenty-eight 
weeks required by law for the school year, shall be excused when such 
deficiency was caused by the attendance of the teacher at an institute dur- 
ing his term. The trustees may allow the teacher the time or not, as they 
shall elect. Per Y. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 15, 1865. 

The word ''month," in law, means a calendar month of thirty days. 
The word " month,'' in law, means a calendar month of thirty days. I 



720 Teachers. 

cannot tell you the number of days in a school month. If we accept this, 
"from a given day in one month to the same day in the following month 
is a month," then the month will vary as to the number of days for school 
according to the number of Sundays, legal holidays and Saturdays 
allowed to the teacher. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, April 
13, 1865. 

The approval of hiring certain relations for teachers must be had by a two-thirds vote 

at a district meeting. " 

Under the statute of 1864, the approval of a majority of the inhabitants 
(voters) of a school district, in my judgment, corrects the disability of rela- 
tionship in the hiring of a teacher, and it cannot affect the question that 
such approval is given at any time subsequent to such hiring. 

The law has been amended now, so that in future such approval must be 
had by a two-thirds vote, at a district meeting. Per V. M. Rice, Superin- 
tendent, May 8, 1865. 

A vacancy in the board of trustees does not deprive the remaining members of power 

to contract. 
A district meeting has no power over a contract made by the trustees with a teacher. 
Measure of damages for breach of contract by trustees. 

Upon an appeal from the refusal of a trustee to pay the wages of a 
teacher under a contract, the fact and terms of which were not disputed, 
the trustee sought to justify his refusal upon the following grounds: 

1. That the contract was made when there was a vacancy in the office of 
trustee, one of them having removed from the district, hence contract not 
binding. 

Held^ that the remaining trustees were clothed with all the powers of a 
full board, and "competent to contract. {Section 48, title 7, General School 
Act.) 

2. That subsequently to the making of the contract, the district voted to 
employ another teacher. 

Held, that such a vote could have no possible effect in relieving the dis- 
trict from the obligations of a contract theretofore made for its benefit by 
its duly authorized agents, the trustees. 

3. The teacher might have secured a school in another town, or might 
have obtained employment in a collar factory in the immediate vicinity of 
her residence. Hence the measure of damages should be only the actual 
loss she might have sustained from inability to find employment elsewhere. 

Held, that there is no law that requires the appellant, in order to pre- 
serve her rights, to have sought or to have accepted employment, even in 
her profession as teacher, at a point distant from that where she had agreed 
to give her services, much less that would compel her to engage in any 
other occupation however convenient to her residence. The principle in 
2 Ben. 609, cited as applicable in this case. 

The fact that the district by upholding this contract will have to pay two 
teachers for the term of twenty weeks, will doubtless be felt as a hardship, 
but they are wrong-doers in the matter, and the appellant, as the injured 
party, is justly entitled to have her rights protected at my hands. Per A. 
B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 13, 1869, 

A contract illegal in its inception, may be ratified by acquiescence of all trustees, and 

execution by teacher. 

A contract with a teacher, made by two trustees without consultation 



Teachers. . 721 

with the third, may be ratified by subsequent execution and tacit concur- 
rence of the third trustee. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 3, 
1873. 

A contract by two of the trustees with a brother of the third trustee is of no binding 
force unless approved by the district. 

The brother of one of the trustees was employed as teacher by the other 
two trustees without the approval of a district meeting as required in such 
cases. Upon an appeal from this action, it was contended by the two trus- 
tees that as the brother of the teacher did not join with his associates in 
the hiring of his relative, the provision of the statute requiring the approval 
of two-thirds of the voters at a district meeting does not apply. This posi- 
tion is erroneous, the language of the statute being, " but no person who 
is within two degrees of relationship by blood or marriage to any such trus- 
tee, shall be so employed, etc." A board of trustees is as much restricted 
by the statutes, in employing a relation of one of the members of the board 
to teach the district school, as is a sole trustee. The contract of the trus- 
tees with the said teacher is declared to be without binding force upon the 
district. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, June 8, 1874. 

Termination of contract at will of parties. 

A contract which reads as follows "and in case the trustee of said dis- 
trict shall become dissatisfied with the services of the said first party and 
for any cause shall wish to have his service as principal and teacher of said 
school cease and terminate, that said services shall cease '' is one that can 
be terminated at the will of either party. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintend- 
ent. Decision No. 3952, February 5, 1880. 

Hiring by two trustees. 

A trustee is entitled to notice of a meeting of the trustees when a teacher 
is hired. When such notice is not given the hiring is illegal. Per Neil 
Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3059. 

Contract with de facto trustee. 

A contract between a de facto trustee and a teacher to teach the district 
school is legal and binding upon the district when made before the trustee 
was informed of the illegality of his election. Per Neil Gilmour, Superin- 
tendent. Decision No. 3953, February 11, 1880. 

Trustee cannot paj a relative within two degrees more than he is authorized to by a 

district meeting. 

A trustee who is authorized by a special meeting to hire his sister as 
teacher to teach and pay her $3.50 per week cannot hire her at a larger 
salary, and an agreement to pay her more than that sum will be void. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3180, March 11, 1882. 

The law prohibiting trustees from making contract with relative. 

It has been uniformly held by this department tliat the provision of the 
General School Law, subdivision 9, section 49, title 7, chapter 555 of the 
laws of 1864, prohibiting trustees from hiring teachers who are related to 
them within two degrees, without first obtaining the approval of two-thirds 
of the voters of the district, present and voting upon the question at an 

91 



722 Teachers. 

annual or special meeting of the district, does not apply to union free 
school districts. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3357, 
June 4, 1884. 

Where there is a direct conflict of evidence upon the question of the contract, and it is 
evident that the minds of the trustee and teacher did not meet on the question, the 
custom prevaiUug in the district can be inquired into for the purpose of throwing 
light, if possible, upon the question. 

The contract between the appellant was entered into on the 30th day of 
August, 1884. It is agreed by the parties that the teacher was to enter 
upon his engagement on the following Wednesday, September 3. It fur- 
ther appears, without controversy, that the teacher was to continue in 
service four weeks, and if, at or before the expiration of that time, no dis- 
satisfaction was expressed by the trustee, the engagement was to further 
continue ; but at this point comes a direct conflict of evidence. The ap- 
pellant alleges that the contract was to be for a year, providing the pro- 
bationary period was satisfactory to the trustee ; the trustee, on the other 
hand, insists that the contract was only for the winter term, and that the 
employment of the teacher under the agreement might be terminated on 
the givin'g of two weeks' notice. 

In this case the burden of proof is on the appellant to show by a pre- 
ponderance of evidence that the contract entered into was such as he states 
it was in his appeal. 

The agreement was a verbal one, and there were no witnesses present at 
any of the conversations had between the parties until the time when the 
trustee notified the appellant that his services would not be required after 
the last Friday in March, 1885. 

The testimony of the witnesses is not in any way impeached, and I have 
only the additional testimony, as to the previous custom of the district in 
the employment of teachers, to guide me in reaching a conclusion in this 
case. 

It appears that a former teacher, whose evidence is introduced by the 
appellant, was employed as teacher of the school in district No. 3 for about 
three years, and that the contract of hiring provided that he was to teach 
only one month on probation, and if satisfaction was given he was to con- 
tinue for an indefinite time, either party having the option to close the 
contract by giving one month's notice. While this testimony would not 
be material in itself, yet, taken in connection with all the circumstances 
concerning the case before me, and the direct conflict of evidence between 
the teacher and the trustee, it would seem that their minds did not meet 
on the proposition that the services of the teacher were to continue for one 
year. The appeal is overruled. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superin- 
tendent. Decision No. 3471, January .26, 1886. 

A teacher's contract which stated that it was to continue as long as she "gave general 
satisfaction," can be terminated by the trustee at any time he, as the agent of the 
district, is dissatisfied with her teaching. 

It cannot be construed as roeaning giving satisfaction generally among the people of 
the district. 

The appeal is brought from the action of the trustee in discharging the 
teacher from her position as teacher of the district school. The appel- 
lant's statement of the contract is in substance that she was to receive $10 
per week for the winter term and $9 for the summer term, and her employ- 
ment was " to continue so long as she gave general satisfaction." On this 
point in the contract the trustee's statement differs from the teacher's. He 



Teachers. • 723 

alleges that the contract " was b}- the week to teacli said school * 

* * if she would teach a good school and keep said school in a 

manner satisfactory to him," 

The question to be passed upon in this case is whether the trustee, under 
the terms of the contract, had the legal right to discharge the teacher. The 
teacher says she was to continue so long as she gave "general satisfaction," 
and the trustee claims that she was to teach "a good school in a manner 
satisfactory to him." 

It has been the ruling of this department, as laid down in the case of 
E-ffie M. Fay v. 0. W. Harris^ trustee of school district No. 7, Portland, 
Chautauqua county, decided by Hon. Neil Gihnour, Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, March 5, 1879, that when it was stated in a teacher's 
contract that the contract shall continue so long as the teacher " gave sat- 
isfaction," it was a matter within the discretion of the trustee, and he could 
discharge her whenever he was dissatisfied with her teaching. 

The only difference between the case of Fay v. Harris and thi.s case, as 
stated by the appellant, is that in the former the language of the contract 
was ''gave satisfaction," and in the latter, "gave general satisfaction." 
This is no substantial difference. If the trustee is made the judge of the 
fact, as to whether the teacher is " giving satisfaction," not to himself 
alone, but to the district, he is for the same- reason the proper official to 
pass upon the question as to whether the teacher is giving " general satis- 
faction." The term " general satisfaction " cannot be construed into mean- 
ing giving satisfaction generally among the people of the district, or to a 
majority of the inhabitants of the district. Such a construction would 
take from the trustee, oftentimes, the power vested by law only in him, 
and would submit the question of the engagement, or continuance of the 
engagement, of a teacher to the voice or vote of the district, which would 
be contrary to the letter or spirit of the statute. Assuming the fact to be 
that the agreement between the teacher and the trustee was that she should 
be employed so long as she gave "general satisfaction," these words mean 
either something or nothing. If they are without force, the teacher's em- 
ployment must be considered as from week to week, and, therefore, ter- 
minable at the option of the trustee at the close of any week of service. 
If, on the other hand, they are to be considered as words of limitation, they 
must have in view the provision of the statute which makes the trustee the 
agent of the district in the expression of its will. And for this purpose the 
declaration of the trustee, that she does not give satisfaction, carries with 
it the conclusion that her employment did not continue to be satisfactory 
to the district. 

I find that under the terms of the contract as stated either by the appel- 
lant or the respondent, the action of the trustee must be sustained. Per 
James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3478, February 
13, 1886. 

Having hired out for a stated time, a person who is prevented by sickness from a full 

VDcrforraance on his part, may undoubtedly recover on a quantum mernit. 
hen the contract stated that the teacher should continue so longj as he kept a good 
school, on appeal from his discharge by the trustee on the ground that he did not 
keep a good school, the burden of proof is on the appellant to show that, notwith- 
standing the opinion of the trustee to the contrary, he did actually perform all his 
duty and keep a good school. 
The case first having been carried to the courts and judgment rendered therein "accord- 
ing to the justice of the case," this department should not sit as appellate judge to 
pass judgment on the validity and propriety of the decision of the court. 

This is a procedure by C. Willard Jaycox, formerly a school teacher in 
district No. 15, of the town of Westerlo, Albany county. New York, 



724 Teachers. 

appealing from tlie action of the sole trustee of said district, in refusing to 
pay to said Jaycox an amount claimed due him for wages as a teacher in 
said district. It appears from the evidence, that the appellant, by virtue 
of letters dated September, 1884, agreed with the respondent trustee to 
teach the school of the district for a term of " four or five months, providing 
that he kept a good school." Pursuant to said contract, he taught the 
school a period of twelve weeks, and was then discharged by the trustee, 
on the grounds that he did not comply with the terms of the contract, that 
he did not teach a good school, and because he was incompetent. * * * 

I have no doubt from a close examination of the evidence in this case 
that the contract was in expressed terms for so long a time, in all five 
months, as the appellant should teach a good school. The appeal is not 
brought to recover for services performed but to recover for services not 
performed, that is for a breach of contract. In this case, therefore, the 
appellant, before he can recover for the alleged breach of contract, must 
show affirmatively, that he has performed on his part, all of the require- 
ments of the agreement made with the trustee. He must also show that 
he taught and kept a good school, and that he did not in any particular, 
by his acts justify the action of the trustee in dismissing him. The proof 
shows that the appellant Jaycox, was sick a period of three weeks, and 
could not perform his part of the contract during that time. He could 
not, therefore, be said to have held himself in readiness to perform his part 
of the contract. Having hired out for a stated time, a person who is pre- 
vented by sickness from a full performance on his part, may undoubtedly 
recover on a quantum meruit^ that is for work actually performed. The 
appellant does not seek to recover on a quantum meruit for work performed, 
as it appears that he had been paid for this, but is seeking to recover for a 
breach of contract. But perhaps it is unnecessary to pursue this line of 
thought, as it would seem that the very terms of the contract itself left to 
the discretion of the trustee the right to discharge the teacher when it 
appeared to him that the teacher did not keep a good school, and if this 
discharge is to be set aside on appeal, the burden of proof is on the appel- 
lant to show that, notwithstanding the opinion of the trustee to the con- 
trary, he did actually perform all his duty and keep a good school. This 
he has not succeeded in establishing. I think the appeal must be over- 
ruled, however, on other grounds. An effort was made to collect the dam- 
ages claimed, before a justice of the peace, at a time when the appellant 
had a right to bring his appeal to this department. It appears that the 
justice rendered a judgment for the appellant, but upon appeal to the 
county court, the decision of the lower court was reversed, and there is 
nothing in the papers to show that this decision was not rendered " accord- 
ing to the justice of the case." The law itself makes it the duty of the 
appellate court to render judgment. according to the justice of the case 
without regard to the technical errors or defects which do not affect the 
merits. The judge seems to have given his opinion as required by law, 
this having been done, the department should not sit as appellate judge to 
pass judgment on the validity and propriety of the decisions of the Albany 
county court. 

The appeal overruled. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3489, March 30, 1886. 



Teachers. • 725 

An appointment by the board of a teacher to fill vacancy, without any term of appoint- 
ment being fixed by the contract or by the by-laws of the board, would be an ap- 
pointment during the pleasure of the board, and not for the same period of time that 
the person whose resignation created the vacancy was hii'ed for. 

The term of a teacher's employment is not fixed by law the same as the term of a 
public oflBcer, but is regulated and fixed in each particular case by the district trus- 
tees. 

The appeal is by Belle Blauvelt, from the action of the board of educa- 
tion in discharging her from her position as assistant teacher in the union 
school. 

It appears from the evidence, that on August 31, 1885, one Miss Post, 
who had been engaged as assistant teacher for one year from September 1, 
1885, tendered her resignation to the board which was duly accepted. On 
the 5th of September, 1885, the board had a meeting at which the follow- 
ing action was taken, as appears from the records of said meeting: " On 
motion, Miss Blauvelt was appointed on trial for thirty days assistant 
teacher to fill vacancy, at the rate of $40 per month." By virtue of this 
resolution the appellant commenced teaching on the 7th of September, 1885, 
and has ever since continued to fill the position of assistant teacher. On 
the 2d of March, 1886, the board, in accordance with a resolution adopted 
by them, notified the appellant that her services would not be required 
after the 31st of March, 1886. From this action of the board the appeal is 
taken. 

At the expiration of the thirty days during which the appellant was on 
trial, no action was taken by the board in reference to the appellant's 
engagement, and no new or further contract was made with her. The 
appellant claims that by reason of this failure of the board to dismiss her 
at the end of this trial period, and by permitting her to continue in her 
position, they thereby appointed her for the balance of the period for whicii 
Miss Post had been hired. The appellant seems to get this idea from the 
M^ords in the resolution appointing her " to fill vacancy,'' claiming that by 
Miss Post's resignation a vacancy was created in a position whose legal 
tenure would be one year, and an appointment to this place must neces- 
sarily be for that time. In this view of the action of the board, the appellant 
is wrong. An appointment by the board to fill a vacancy, without any 
term of appointment being fixed by the contract or by the by-laws of the 
board, would be an appointment during the pleasure of the board, and not 
for the same period of time that the person whose resignation created the 
vacancy was hired for. The term of a teacher's employment is not fixed by 
law, the same as the term of a public oflBcer; but is regulated and fixed in 
each particular case by the district trustees. In the case before me, no 
term of appointment was fixed other than for "thirty days on trial." The 
appellant not being removed at the expiration of this time, the most liberal 
construction that can be placed upon the contract is that it was from month 
to month. At the end of any month of service the board could discharge 
the teacher. Their action m giving her a month's notice removes any ques- 
tion as to the legality of their procedure. Action of the board sustained. 
Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3487, March 
29, 1886. 



726 Teachers. 

If a contract states that the teacher should conduct the school in a satisfactory manner 
and it was also stipulated that the term "satisfactory manner" meant " that any 
dissatisfaction which should be claimed an occasion or cause for a discharge, should 
be a just and reasonable one, such as would be approved by reasonable men," and the 
teacher is discharged upon the ground of dissatisfaction with him by the trustees and 
a large part of the district, such discharge must be sustained because it could not be 
made to appear that these people were all unreasonable in their dissatisfaction, or 
that they were incapable of sound judgment. 

The appeal is brought from the action of the trustee in discharging the 
appellant from a position as teacher of the district school. The appellant 
alleges that the engagement was for a period of forty weeks provided he 
conducted the school in a satisfactory manner, and that it was expressly- 
stipulated between the parties to the agreement that the term " satisfactory- 
manner " was understood to mean " that any dissatisfaction which should be 
claimed an occasion or cause for a discharge, should be a just and reason- 
able one, sucli as would be approved by reasonable men." He also alleges 
that in case of discharge, that it was agreed he should be given two weeks' 
notice of the intention to discharge him. The trustee agrees with the 
appellant as to the terms of the engagement, except that he alleges that 
the employment was to continue only in case the appellant should conduct 
the school in a manner satisfactory to the trustee, and denies that there 
was any stipulation or understanding otherwise than this ; and also denies 
that there was any agreement to give any previous notice of the termination 
of the employment. 

The only question in the case is as to whether the employment was to 
continue only so long as the school was conducted in a manner satisfactory 
to the trustee, or so long as it was conducted in a manner satisfactory to 
the other persons. A voluminous mass of altogether irrelevant matter, 
covering it must be assumed, about the entire gossip of the town of 
Westerlo, for the winter, is incorporated in the papers. The only material 
evidence bearing upon the issue in the case, aside from the allegations of 
the parties, is contained in the affidavit of George Milkins, in which he 
swears that the appellant "told me that Winston, the trustee, had a right 
to discharge him at any time, and he had a right to quit when he was a 
mind to, by giving the trustee a reasonable notice." This is offered in cor- 
roboration of the assertion of the trustee. 

Aside from this the trustee was charged with the responsibility of main- 
taining a good school and employing as he did, a teacher with whom he 
had not been previously acquainted, it would have been only natural that 
he should have made the agreement as he alleges that he did. Furthermore 
the papers show that many of the patrons of the school became dissatisfied 
with the teacher and withdrew their children in consequence. And even 
if we should assume the appellant's version of the terms of the agreement 
to be true, the trustee would then have to be sustained because it could not 
be made to appear that these people were all unreasonable in their dissatis- 
faction, or that they were incapable of sound judgment. It cannot be 
successfully contended that all the people in the district would be called 
upon to show dissatisfaction, before the trustee would have had the right 
to remove the teacher, even under an agreement such as that claimed to 
have been made by the appellant in the case. 

I am unable to find much, if any, testimony outside of the allegation of 
the respective parties, in relation to the question as to whether the agree- 
ment between them called for any previous notice of the termination of the 
employpaent. But in view of the fact that George Wilkins, one of the 
respondent's witnesses, swears that the appellant told him, " that the trustee 
had a right to discharge him at any time and he bad a right to quit when 



Teachers. . 727 

he h<ad a mind to, by giving the trustee a reasonable notice," and as 
ordinary prudence in making any such agreement would call for a reason- 
able notice of the termination of the employment, I hold that there should 
have been two weeks' notice of the contemplated discharge given to the 
appellant, and direct that the district shall pay him his wages for that 
length of time subsequent to the 13th day of January, 1886, the day upon 
which he was discharged. Action of the trustee sustained. Per A. S. 
Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3506, April 30, 1886. 

Supervisor has no power to appoint a member of a board of education ; it can only be 

done by the board itself. 
The hiring of a teacher must be done by the board at a regular meeting thereof and 

whea a quorum is present. 

Alice D. LaFarge claims that she was appointed a teacher by the board 
of education on the 30th day of August, 1886, the board, at the time of 
such employment, consisting, as she says, of four members, viz. : George 
S. Rice, Martin LaFarge, Thomas Birdsall and William L. Carle, there 
being one vacancy caused by the death of James S. See. On the 30th of 
August, 1886, she received a letter signed by George S. Rice, Martin La- 
Farge and Thomas Birdsall, notifying her of her employment for a term of 
ten months, commencing September 6, 1886, at $45 per month. When she 
undertook to commence the school she was forcibly prevented from doing 
so, and when her first month's pay was due she demanded the same and 
was refused. 

Of the three men who signed the letter to appellant, Mr. Rice claims that 
he did not sign it, but placed his name upon the margin, and that he was 
induced to do this by the misrepresentation of Birdsall and LaFarge. It 
is also insisted by the respondent that Birdsall was not a member of the 
board. It seems that a member of the board by the name of Babcock re- 
moved from the district and created a vacancy ; that LaFarge, as clerk, 
addressed a communication to Moses W. Taylor, supervisor of the town, 
asking him to appoint a person to fill the vacancy, and that Taylor assumed 
to appoint Birdsall. It is conceded that Taylor has no power to appoint a 
member of the board. That could only be done by the board itself. It is 
claimed, however, on behalf of the appellant, that the board approved of 
the appointment of Birdsall and recognized him as a trustee, and that the 
people of the district so recognized him, and that consequently he was 
such so far as Miss LaFarge is concerned. There are many troublesome 
and suspicious circumstances surrounding the claims of the appellant. 1st. 
The appointment of Birdsall by the supervisor was void. 3d. It is dis- 
puted that there was any pretense of a meeting of the board held at the 
time when it is claimed that the board approved of the appointment, except 
that a record of a meeting appears in the record-book, which record was 
made by the father of the appellant. 3d. Even if the record is true, the 
only members of the board present at the time were LaFarge and Carle. 
This did not make a quorum. The alleged meeting is claimed to have 
been held at Carle's house, but Carle says there was no meeting. He says 
LaFarge and Birdsall came to his house, but that there was no pretense of 
a meeting of the board there. Birdsall could not have made one of a 
quorum to approve of his own appointment. 4th. Formal action of the 
board at a meeting regularly convened was necessary to the employment of 
a teacher, and it seems lacking in this case. 5th. The girl's father was 
one of three who signed the letter, upon which she relies as the basis of 
her employment. He had a personal interest not identical with the interest 
of the board. Birdsall was another of the three, and it seems very doubt- 



"^28 Teachers. 

ful if he was a member at all. The third swears he was induced to put his 
name on the margin of the paper by misrepresentation. 6th. The letter 
bears date the day before the two new members were elected to the board. 
Appeal overruled. Per A. S. Drainer, Superintendent. Decision Ko. 3582, 
March 2G, 1887. 

DISMISSAL. 

Trustees cannot dismiss a teacner on the ground that some of the inhabitants are dis- 
satisfied with him, while they themselves are not dissatisfied. 

James M. Grooty was employed to teach school in district No. 2, New 
Baltimore, for five months, at $11 a month, on condition that if the trustees 
should find any fault with him at the end of a month, they were to notify 
him, pay him for the month's services and dismiss him. He taught school 
from the 9th of November to the 21st day of January, when the trustees 
dismissed him, on the ground of dissatisfaction on the part of some of the 
inhabitants, at the same time publicly stating that they had no cause of 
complaint. 

One month was ample time to discover faults of character, discipline, 
government and modes of teaching, and if the trustees did not, within that 
time, give Mr. G-rooty notice, they could not subsequently dismiss him and 
release themselves from their contract. A mere allegation that the inhab- 
itants were dissatisfied would be insufficient cause of dismissal at any time. 
They should be able to show who are dissatisfied and for what cause. 

The teacher did not undertake, expressly or by implication, to satisfy 
every person in the district, and it would have been absurd to require or 
expect it. The trustees were ordered to reinstate Mr. Grooty in his school, 
and, at the end of five months from November 19, to pay him his wages at 
$11 per month, without any deduction for the time between his dismissal 
and his reinstatement. Per Spencer, March 6, 1841. 

A teacher can only be employed by the trustees. Therefore, a vote taken at a district 
meeting to dismiss a teacher and to substitute another in her place is illegal and void. 

Samuel T. Peck and James Smith, two of the trustees of district No. 1, 
Livingston, hired Miss Susannah Smith to teach their winter school, to 
commence November 30, 1848. Mr. Lament, the other trustee, was con- 
sulted, but did not consent to the contract. 

Miss Smith commenced the school in the school-house of the district at 
the stipulated time. 

Mr. Lament, not being satisfied with the agreement of the other trustees, 
hired Miss Horford to teach a school in another room. 

At a special meeting held in the district January 20, 1849, for the pur- 
pose of voting a tax to repair the school-house, and for other purposes, a 
vote was taken and carried to substitute Miss Horford in the school-house 
as teacher in place of Miss Smith. 

From this proceeding the two trustees appeal. 

In employing teachers, the trustees should consult, as far as possible, the 
wishes of the inhabitants of the district. But when the trustees have con- 
tracted with a teacher, thereby binding themselves and the district, the 
inhabitants cannot free themselves from the obligations thus imposed by 
the official acts of the trustees. 

Teachers can be employed only by trustees. 

A contract made by two trustees, the third being consulted, is valid ; but 
one trustee can perform no official act without the concurrence of at least 
another and a consultation with both. 



Teachers. 729 

In this case Miss Smith was legally employed as the teacher for the dis- 
trict, and could not be dismissed except by the trustees. Therefore, the 
proceedings of the district meeting on the 30th of January, to dismiss Miss 
Smith and substitute Miss Horford as teacher, were illegal and void, and 
Miss Horford is not entitled to receive any of the public money or to con- 
tinue her instruction in the district school-house. Appeal sustained. Per 
Morgan, March 17, 1849. 

Where a teacher is engaged with the understanding that she may be discharged at the 
end of one month if her teaching is unsatisfactory, it will be implied that the engage- 
ment is for the ordinary term, and, if no dissatisfaction is expressed at the end of 
the month, she cannot be discharged subsequently to that time. 

Both parties concur in the statement that the positive engagement was 
for one month only, during which time the trustees were to determine 
whether to continue her or not. The appellant avers and the respondents 
deny an agreement to retain her three months longer if she gave satisfac- 
tion during the first month. No dissatisfaction was expressed, however, 
till some time after the expiration of the month, when the trustees dis- 
charged her. 

Held, that the fact of their reserving a month in which to observe the 
success of the teacher, implied the expectation, on the part of the trustees, 
of retaining her for the ordinary summer term if her teaching was satisfac- 
tory. Upon this expectation she would naturally rely in the absence of 
any notice to close school at the end of the first month. They did agree 
to determine upon her qualifications during the first month, and they could 
not, without an arrangement with her to that effect, prolong the period of 
their observations indefinitely, and discharge her at their discretion. A 
month is certainly long enough to test a teacher's ability, and the trustees 
were bound in good faith to give their decision at that time. 

In the present case the action of the trustees was wrong, and they are 
directed to reinstate the teacher until she shall have completed the ordin- 
ary summer term of four months. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, 
August 17, 1857. . , 

Discharge of a teacher before the expiration of his term — when justifiable. 

A teacher appeals from the action of the trustees in discharging him 
from school before the close of the term of his engagement. 

A contract with a teacher, without expressed conditions, is to be inter- 
preted by the conditions implied in the very nature of the contract, and the 
purposes for which it is entered into. Every such contract implies dis- 
tinctly that the teacher employed possesses the essentials of moral character, 
learning, ability and will. The license which Tie holds Jrom the ^^ro^per officer 
is jyrima facie emdence only^ that the applicant possesses these requisites^ but it 
is not conclusive ; the 'presumption raised T)y it may be rebutted by direct evi- 
dence^ tending to show that the holder of such license lacTcs any or all of these 
qualifications* The question now raised is upon the proceedings to be had 
in order legally to effect a dissolution of a contract made with a teacher 
found or believed to be destitute of any of the essential qualifications for 
his position. The manner of proceeding upon an application to the proper 
authority for an annulment of the license held by the teacher is set forth 
with sufficient clearness in another part of the Code of Public Instruction. 

* The sentence in italics is cited and its doctrine approved, as is that of the decision 
generally, by the Supreme Court in GiUis v. Space, 63 Barb. 177. The same does not 
apply to a State certificate. 

92 



730 Teachers. 

The annulment of the license dissolves all contracts entered into by virtue 
of its sanction. But can the fulfillment of a contract be avoided only in 
this way ? Until the license is revoked, are the trustees bound to retain a 
teacher obnoxious to the district through immorality, ignorance or inefii- 
ciency ? The affirmative of this is a too popular fallacy. The admission of 
it would be a subversion of the principles already enunciated as pertain- 
ing to the essential nature of the contract. It cannot be supposed that in 
case a charge of gross immorality, specifically urged, carrying with it a 
strong presumption of its truth, were brought against a teacher, the trus- 
tees must wait for the tedious delay of a formal hearing in the case before 
a commissioner, and abide the event, which may be determined through 
insufficiency of evidence, while the moral conviction of the truth of tSe 
charges preferred is still strong and abiding. The presence among pupils 
of a teacher against whom such suspicions rest, must of itself, from the sug- 
gestions to which it would give rise, promote conditions of mind opposed 
to the development of virtue and purity of heart. This consideration alone 
would justify the trustees in a summary dismissal of the teacher. This, to 
be sure, is an extreme case, but it is sufficient to illustrate and to establish 
the principle advanced, that the trustees may be justified in the discharge 
of a teacher before the close of the term specified in his contract. In 
determining what constitutes such justification, it is difficult, not to say 
impossible, to establish uniform rules. The decision as to the propriety of 
the act, and the power to perform it, rests with the trustees. For an abuse 
of their discretion, or an unwaiTantable exercise of their authority, they 
are, of course, responsible. On the complaint of the party sustaining what 
he considers a grievance or wrong, the issue becomes one of fact, and it 
devolves upon the trustees to show by evidence that the teacher lacked the 
character, the ability or the will, essential to a proper discharge of his 
duties, and that he failed thus to fulfill the obviously implied conditions of 
his contract. The mere fact of dissatisfaction on their part, or that of the 
inhabitants, is not sufficient to justify the discharge of a teacher employed 
for a definite period. 

The tribunal before whom the action is brought, as the court, a jury, or 
this department, are the constituted judges of fact, and will determine, 
from evidence presented, whether the incompetence of the teacher, as 
resulting from ignorance or indifference, is fully proved, and hence his dis- 
charge, upon the grounds of a violated contract, clearly justified. 

In the present case, the trustees offer evidence bearing upon the manage- 
ment and general deportment of the appellant in the school-room, and in 
his intercourse with the pupils, tending to show disregard of the proprieties 
and courtesies incident to his responsible position. Trifling and irrelevant 
conversation oft indulged and long continued with the pupils in school 
hours; prying and impertinent questions in regard to domestic affairs; low 
and at the least suggestively vulgar remarks to the older female pupils ; 
rude, boisterous and harsh language as a means of, or substitute for, dis- 
cipline, are alleged and proved by the testimony of his pupils with a cir- 
cumstantial minuteness tliat requires emphatic denial or plausible explana- 
tion to invalidate or palliate. The vague declaration concerning the 
colorable nature of the testimony, and the affidavits relative to the satisfac- 
tion uniformly attending his engagements as a teacher heretofore in the 
same vicinity, which are introduced by the appellant, are insufficient to 
rebut the presumption, raised by the evidence submitted by the trustees, 
that they were justified in their dismissal of the appellant. 

I must, therefore, hold that the trustees proceeded with full and sufficient 
justification, and decline to interfere with their action. Per H. H. Tan 
Dyck, Superintendent, April 13, 1858. 



Teachers. 731 

Dismissal of a teacher before the expiration of his term of engagement. 

On the appeal of J. A., a teacher, from the action of the trustees in dis- 
charging him before the expiration of the term for which he was engaged, 
it appears that Mr. A. was engaged to teach the school for four months, 
for the sum of $60, and that after teaching two months and nine days he 
was discharged. Also that he has been ready at all times to fulfill his con- 
tract, but has been prevented from so doing by the trustees. The trustees 
justify their action upon the ground of the incompetency of the appel- 
lant. 

The incompetency of the appellant I do not think so conclusively proved 
as to sustain the presumption of a non-fulfillment of contract by him, 
though from the testimony on both sides, I am disposed to rate him con- 
siderably below the grade of a first-class teacher. Still, the trustees can 
hardly expect to get all the manly and scholarly virtues for $15 por month. 
They paid him just average wages, and I should infer from the testimony 
that he taught just about an average school. 

I cannot, therefore, find sufficient justification for the discharge of the 
appellant, and must declare my conviction that he is entitled to the $60 
agreed to be paid. Per H. H, Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 13, 1860. 

A teacher who closes his school upon other than legally authorized days for closing, 
without the consent of the trustees, abandons his contract and is liable to be super- 
seded. 

This is an appeal of Y. H., a teacher, from the action of the sole trustee 
in discharging him from the school before the term of his contract had 
expired. 

On a careful examination of the statements I discover two facts, viz., that 
the appellant dismissed his school on Tuesday, January 24, 1860, for the 
rest of the week, without permission from the trustee, but rather in oppo- 
sition to his expressed wishes, and that on Thursday, January 26, the trus- 
tee discharged him from the remainder of his engagement. 

Among the clearly implied conditions of every contract to teach is this 
one, that the school shall be regularly taught from the beginning of the 
term until its close. The teacher cannot, therefore, close his school except 
upon the regularly appointed days, unless with the approval of the trustee. 
In doing so he renders himself liable to the charge of abandoning the con- 
tract, and the trustee has the legal right to regard the contract as con- 
cluded. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 21, 1860. 

A teacher who closes his school for any time other than the legal holidays or Satur- 
days allowed him, without the consent of the trustees abandons his contract and 
forfeits the balance of his engagement. 

On an appeal from the action of the trustees, in discharging a teacher 
before his term of service had expired, it appears that the appellant was 
hired to teach the school during the winter term of three and one-half 
months, and that he commenced his term November 17, and taught till 
December 24. He then closed his school for a vacation during the holidays, 
giving notice that school would commence again January 5. This vacation 
was not provided for in his contract with the trustees, nor were they con- 
sulted concerning it, or even notified by the teacher of his intention in 
regard to it. On returning to the district to resume his labors, he was 
informed by the trustees that his services were no longer required, and from 
this decision, he brings an appeal. 



"^32 Teachers. 

Tlie appellant, by his own showing, has abandoned his contract, and for- 
feited all rights under and by virtue of it, by closing his school without 
permission first obtained from the trustees. The teacher who closes his 
school for a single day not recognized as his by the statute or in his agree- 
ment, without the consent of the trustees, does so at his peril, for in such 
case the trustees may regard the contract as terminated, and employ another 
teacher. Appeal dismissed. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 27, 
1863. 

Difference of opinion between the teacher and the trustee concerning the proper disci- 
pline of the school does not justify the removal of the former before the expiration 
of his term. 

This is an appeal from the action of the sole trustee, in discharging the 
teacher before the expiration of his term of engagement. The justification 
set up by the trustee for the discharge of the teacher is that there was some 
difficulty in the school upon matters of discipline; that the trustee and the 
inhabitants desired the teacher to alter his rules of discipline, which he 
refused to do, and was consequently discharged. 

The justification is insufiicient, or rather what is alleged as justification is 
no justification at all. Even granting that the teacher was indiscreet and 
impolitic in his management, it does not afford justification for discharge. 
There has been no such departure from propriety as to constitute any viola- 
tion of the contract on his part, and so long as this was the case, the district 
was bound by the agreement. Appeal sustained. Per E. W. Keyes, 
Deputy Superintendent, April 28, 1863. 

A teacher who goes into school without being duly qualified according to law violates 
his contract, and the same is not renewed by his obtaining a certificate subsequently 
unless a new contract is made. 

This is an appeal from the action of the trustee in discharging a teacher 
before the expiration of his alleged term of engagement. 

The appellant's own admissions condemn him. He entered the school 
and taught nearly three weeks without any certificate. This was wholly 
unauthorized. He was liable to discharge at any moment of the time. He 
had violated his own contract. The trustee had no authority to authorize 
him to continue the school without a license. The original contract was 
annulled by the appellant when he went into the school without a license, 
and was not renewed by his obtaining a license subsequently. Per V. M. 
Rice, Superintendent, March 14, 1864. 

Dismissal of teacher for unjustifiable severity in punishing pupils sustained. 

On an appeal by a teacher, from the action of a trustee in discharging 
him from employment before the expiration of the term contracted for, the 
Superintendent says : From the testimony in the case, confirmed to some 
extent by the admissions of the appellant himself, it is apparent that he so 
conducted himself in the management of the school by inflicting unjustifia- 
bly severe corporal punishment upon the pupils for comparatively light 
offenses, as to fully justify the respondent in dismissing him from further 
employment. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 13, 1872. 

Failure of teacher to produce certificate when demanded by trustee justification of 

discharge. 

The school commissioner had made and sent to a teacher a certificate 
which by some mischance she never received. The trustee of the district 



Teachers. '^^S 

in -which she was teaching discharged her before the term of her engage- 
ment expired, upon the ground that she was an luiqualified teacher, she 
being unable to produce a certificate when demanded by him — the fact of 
its issue by the commissioner and detention or miscarriage being unknown 
at the time. Held, that a certificate is the evidence of legal qualification 
which the trustee for the protection of the district and himself may demand 
the production of. 

While it noio appears that the appellant was legally qualified, she could 
not at the time of her discharge produce to the trustee the evidence thereof 
which the law requires. Therefore, 1 must hold that the trustee was justi- 
fied, under the circumstances, in discharging her. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- 
intendent, May 22, 1876. 

Whea a teacher utterly fails as a disciplinarian, and does not possess the ability to detect 
and search out the beginnings of disorder, the board of education will be sustained in 
discharging him. 

It is the duty of a member of the board of education, upon hearing that a disturbance 
is threatened in the school of a serious nature, not only to warn the teacher and 
advise him to send for a constable, but to remain at the school and see that the peace 
is kept, and the order of the school and community maintained. 

The appellant entered upon the discharge of his duties as principal of 
the school at the time when he feared that his health would not permit him 
to endure the work. He was, at the time of his employment, wholly without 
experience as a teacher. The appellant commenced his term of service on 
the 31st day of August, 1885, for a trial term which would expire on the 
27th day of November of that year. On the 31st day of October he wrote 
a letter of resignation, stating that on account of his health he thought it 
his duty both to himself and to the district, to sever his connection with 
the school. This letter was placed in the hands of the president of the 
board, with the request that it be presented at the next meeting. The 
president, however, advised the withdrawal of the resignation, stating that 
the appellant was giving better satisfaction than had been expected, and 
advising him not to resign under the circumstances, but that if he still 
wished to resign he could return the letter before the meeting of the board 
that evening, November 2d. The letter was not returned, but at the 
meeting of the board, on the 2d of November, with but one dissenting 
voice, it was voted to retain him in his position for the remainder of the 
year. 

The appellant's second term commenced on the 30th day of November. 
It appears that he had trouble in disciplining the school and this trouble 
was of so grave a character that on the 7tli day of December the board unani- 
mously voted to sustain him in his position. On the 9th day of December, 
while engaged in teaching, he was set upon and forcibly removed from the 
school-room by several of the boys of his class. The leader of them was the 
son of a member of the board of education, and had been suspended for 
misconduct and was at school in defiance of the principal. At a meeting 
of the board, in the afternoon of the same day, the appellant was requested 
to resign. On his declining to do so, the school-room was closed against 
him. 

Due notice of that fact and that he stood ready to fulfill his contract was 
given to the board, and on the 14th of December the board voted to dis- 
charge him from his employment. On the 23d of December a tender was 
made to him of ten dollars and fifty cents in payment in full of the services 
rendered up to noon of December 9th, it being claimed that he abandoned 
his contract, whereas he was not discharged until the 14th day of Decem- 
ber following. He declined to receive the amount so tendered to him. 



734 Teacheks. 

The appellant further alleges that the boys were encouraged and abetted 
in their plot to put him out, by at least one of the members of the board of 
education, 

I find from the evidence that, after the appointment of the principal at 
a regular meeting of the board in November, during the first days of the 
winter term, serious disturbance and disorder in the grammar department 
was reported to various members ol the board. A committee of the board 
visited the school and found the class taught by the principal without 
discipline and in a condition where proper teaching was out of the question. 
It was suggested that the principal might be encouraged and the pupils 
brought into proper relations to their teacher by the passage of a resolution 
sustaining all teachers in disciplining the school, and the appellant in par- 
ticular. This resolution was passed, and was announced by the president 
of the board, the object being to encourage and support discipline. 

In all the evidence of this case I fail to see how the board could have 
taken other action that it did. The teacher seems to have utterly failed as a 
disciplinarian, and I am led to agree with the board that had he possessed 
the ability to detect and search out the beginnings of the disorder, and had 
he earnestly and wisely endeavored to check the disturbance in the begin- 
ning, he might have filled the position to his credit and to the satisfaction 
of the community. 

I am free to say that I cannot consider that member of the board of edu- 
cation blameless, who, having been advised of a conspiracy among the more 
turbulent spirits of the class in charge of the appellant forcibly to eject 
him from the room, considered his whole duty done when he informed the 
principal of the anticipated outrage and suggested to him to go for a con- 
stable. That member of the board, himself an officer of the peace, should 
have remained at the school to see that peace was kept and the order of the 
school and of the community be maintained. Had he done so, the neces- 
sity for this appeal might not have arisen. Nevertheless, I think from all 
the evidence in this case, the appellant showed himself at the time unable 
to perform the terms of his contract. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 3504, April 6, 1886. 

To remove a teacher for a refusal to obey the directions of the board of education, 
the board must act in the first instance, not the department. 

The appeal is brought by the board of education for the removal of a 
teacher in the employ of the board for the reason that he acts contrary to 
the directions of the board. 

Held, This is not a proceeding to revoke the teacher's license on the 
ground of immoral conduct. No allegation is made against the moral 
character of the teacher, nor against his mental capacity. The things com- 
IDlained of are, if true, indicative of insubordination on the part of the 
teacher toward the board, for which the board itself would have the right 
to discontinue his services. The teacher does not say whether they are true 
or not. He takes the position that it is for the board and not the depart- 
ment to remove him, in the first instance. In this he is right. If the pro- 
ceeding had been one for the revocation of his license to teach, the depart- 
ment would have had jurisdiction, but as it is, the board itself must act in 
the first instance. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3565, 
February 14, 1887. 



Teachers. • "^^^ 

A contract of employment between a trustee and teacher "for one day only and to 
close every night," is void as being in conflict with the spirit of the school laws and 
against sound public policy. 

The appeal is from the action of the trustee in discharging teachers. 
The main issue is as to the terms of the contract of employment. The 
appellants each swear that the employment was " for the term of one year 
or so long as said Phillips was trustee of said district." 

The respondent swears "that he informed said teachers when he em- 
ployed them that he hired them for one day only and that their time would 
close every night, but that if they gave satisfaction he would keep them as 
long as he remained trustee." 

But if I assume that the agreement was as the trustee alleges, which I 
am obliged to do because it is not clearly proved otherwise, I find myself 
unable to uphold such a contract because I think it was an unconscionable 
contract, without sanction of law or good usage and against sound policy. 
I am of the opinion that a contract of employment between a trustee and 
teacher " for one day only and to close every night" is void as being in 
conflict with the spirit of the school laws and against sound public policy. 
Teachers are compelled to have a license issued pursuant to law before they 
contract to teach. This license carries with it an assurance of qualifica- 
tions and fitness. The law provides for revoking any license where suffi- 
cient cause is shown for such a step. The revocation of a license works a 
dissolution of any contract which may have been based upon it. This is 
the ordinary course of procedure for getting rid of an unworthy or unfit 
teacher in the middle of a term of employment. Trustees may, undoubt- 
edly, at times summarily dismiss a teacher for a palpable breach of con- 
tract or gross and open immorality, but such action must be taken, if at 
all, upon the personal responsibility of the officer. But these are excep- 
tional cases, outside of the general rule. There can be no pretense that 
the case under consideration is one of that nature. Moreover trustees 
ought not to be permitted to absolve themselves from the responsibility of 
making investigations and of exercising proper precautionary care and 
good judgment when employing teachers, by reserving the right to dis- 
charge them at any moment. A duly licensed and employed teacher ought 
to have security of position for a reasonable length of time, which should 
be long enough to prove himself successful or to demonstrate his inability 
to do so. It is humiliating to self-respecting teachers to be at all times 
liable to discharge from employment because others may want their places 
or because of the antagonisms which a vigorous and wholesome perform- 
ance of their duties in the school-room, may engender. To adopt this doc- 
trine is only to drive the most self-respecting and the best qualified persons 
from teachers' work. This is unquestionably against wise policy. Fur- 
thermore, if the trustee could discontinue these teachers at any time, 
they could abandon their places at any time. But the school must con- 
tinue without interruption. Teachers must be under a legal and honorable 
obligation to so continue it. An agreement between trustee and teacher, 
which does not involve this is manifestly against the interests of the public 
school system. 

What is a reasonable length of time for which a trustee and teacher may 
properly enter into a contract of employment, depends upon the circum- 
stances and custom in each district and must be determined upon the fact 
of each case as it arises. It appears in the papers in this case that the 
appellants had taught one term of nine weeks and that they had commenced 
teaching another term when dismissed. I am, therefore, led to hold that 
their employment must have been for terms of at least that length of time 



736 Teachers. 

and that having taught one such term and entered upon another, they were 
entitled to employment for at least another term of the same length if they 
were ready and able to fairly discharge the duties of the places in which 
they were employed. 

It only remains to consider whether the trustee was justified in discharg- 
ing them in the middle of a term of employment. As already suggested 
there may be exceptional cases in which a trustee would be justified in 
summarily dismissing a teacher for gross immorality or for utter failure to 
fill the position properly resulting in a palpable breach of contract. In such 
a case he would act upon his own responsibility relying upon the clearness 
of the case and the exigency of the occasion for his justification. Was this 
such a case? I think not. 

The trustee alleges as the reason for discharging the appellants that their 
work was not satisfactory. He says they failed in discipline and did not 
produce desirable results. This is strenuously contradicted by a large num- 
ber of reputable patrons of the school. In any event, the trustee could 
hardly expect the highest professional talent for four dollars per week. 
The trustee also alleges certain improprieties between the appellants, such 
as being out together late at night and kissing each other in the presence 
of pupils in the school. Such allegations as these should not be set up 
unless capable of unquestioned proof. Character ought not to be attacked 
by any one, much less a public officer, wantonly or carelessly. There is no 
proof whatever to sustain these allegations so far as I can see. Making 
such allegations without following them with competent proof, ought to 
weigh against the party responsible for it. I am unable to sustain the 
respondent in dismissing the appellants in the summary manner he did. It 
is shown that they stood ready to continue their service and I am of the 
opinion that they have a legal claim against the district for nine weeks pay 
at the rate of four dollars per week. Appeal sustained. Per A. S. Draper, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 3603, July 20, 1887. 



Text-Books. 737 



TEXT-BOOKS. 

Acts of boards of education in changing or designating, fully discussed. 

The facts upon which this appeal arises are undisputed and are as fol- 
lows: Three text-books, entitled respectively, "Our -World," "Guyot's 
Grammar School Geography" and "Guyot's New Intermediate Geogra- 
phy " had been in use in the schools of the city of Binghamton for at least 
six years prior to the 18th day of October, 1886, within which time there 
had been no action of the board adopting the same as text-books in the 
schools of the city. Upon the 18th day of October, 1886, the board of 
education held a meeting, at which it was unanimously resolved that no 
change should be made in the geographies in use in the schools during the 
present school year. At the next meeting of the board, held on the 1st 
day of November, 1886, a motion or resolution was adopted, by a vote of 
seven to three, that the resolution of October 18th be reconsidered, pur- 
suant to a standing rule or by-law of the board allowing such reconsidera- 
tion at the same or next regular meeting. 

At a meeting held on the 6th of December following, the board, by a 
vote of seven to six, adopted the following resolution, viz. : 

" Kesolved, that the use of the primary geography entitled ' Our World,' 
be discontinued as a text-book in our school and that * Barnes' Elementary 
Geography' be adopted in its place, and that ' Barnes' Complete Geography' 
be adopted as a text-book in our schools, its use, however, to be postponed 
until the beginning of the next school year." 

At a meeting of the board held on the 3d of January, 1887, the follow- 
ing resolution was offered, viz. : 

"Resolved, that Guyot's geographies be discontinued as text-books in our 
common schools at the close of the present year." 

As objection was made to this resolution, its consideration was postponed 
until the next meeting, pursuant to the rules of the board, but at such 
meeting, held on the 17th day of January, the resolution was adopted by a 
vote of seven to five. It was admitted upon the argument of the case before 
me, that the term " present year" at the end of this resolution, meant the 
present " school year." 

It should be borne in mind that chapter 413 of the laws of 1887, entitled 
"An act to prevent frequent changes of text-books in schools " was not 
enacted for the benefit of book publishers, nor for the purpose of prevent- 
ing progress in schools. It is intended to prevent changes in text-books 
upon the same subject, oftener than once in five years, unless the sentiment 
in favor of such change should be so strong that a three-fourths vote 
of the board of education in cities, villages and union free school 
districts, or of the legal voters at the annual school meeting in the other 
districts of the State, should be cast in favor of the change. When a book 
has been adopted and designated, as provided in the act, it cannot be 
changed for the period of five years except by a three-fourths vote. After 
the expiration of such period, another book may be adopted in place of it 
by a majority vote of the board of education, or a two-thirds vote of the 
electors, as the case may be. 

It is conceded that Guyot's geographies had, at the time of the action of 
the board in question, been in use in the schools of Binghamton for more 
than five years. There had at no time been any formal action of the board 
designating them as text-books, under the provisions of chapter 413 of the 
laws of 1877, when the resolution of October 18th was adopted. That 
93 



738 Text-Books. 

resolution simply provided that no change should be made in the geogra- 
phies in use in the schools duriyig the p7'€sent school year. It is impossible 
to hold that tliis was an adoption or designation of Guyot's geographies as 
text-books under the provisions of the law to prevent frequent changes of 
text -books, and that, consequently, they could not be suspended for the 
period of live years, except by a three-fourths vote of the board. If it was, 
why should the board resolve to make no change during " the present 
school year." It w\as manifestly the expression of an intention not to 
supersede the book during the school year and nothing more. If the action 
of October 18th was not a designation of a text-book under the law, then 
there was certainly no statutory impediment to the consideration of that 
action within the time provided by the rules of the board. Moreover, the 
resolutions passed subsequently by the board, adopting Barnes' geographies, 
did not contravene or impinge upon the resolution of October 18th in the 
least. The last-named resolution only provided that no change should be 
made during the present school year; the resolutions adopting Barnes' 
geographies provides that their use should not be commenced until the 
beginning of the next school year. The resolution of January 17th, pro- 
viding that the use of Guyot's geographies should be discontinued after the 
present school year was only in completion of the purpose of the board. I 
do not see the materiality in any event. If the resolution adopting Barnes' 
geographies was lawful and if it was regularly adopted, then it very 
effectually discontinued Guyot's geographies when it went into operation. 

If the resolution of October 18th was not an adoption of Guyot's geog- 
raphies for the period of five years and, as already observed, it seems clear 
that it was not, then there would seem to be no reason why the board could 
not adopt another series of geographies at any time by a majority vote. 

But the board has provided that the Barnes' geographies should go into 
use at the beginning of the next school year, and the appellant says that, 
by reason of an intervening election or otherwise, there might be changes 
in the board before that time, and that the board as now constituted can- 
not legislate for a board which may be differently constituted when its 
action is to go into operation. It is not improper to say that I have con- 
sidered this question as more serious than any other which has been sug- 
gested in the case. But it is not well to anticipate difficulties. From the 
observations already made it seems clear to me that the board had the 
power, by a majority vote, to adopt Barnes' geographies, or any others, and 
to direct that their use should begin immediately. This being so, there 
would seem to be no good reason outside of the law, and I can see no pro- 
vision in the law to prevent them from directing that the use of the new 
books should commence at a fixed time in the future. Indeed, the fact 
they had once resolved that Guyot's geographies should not be displaced 
during the present school year, and that patrons of the schools had pur- 
chased accordingly, bound the board in honor, if not in law, not to put the 
new books in use prior to the beginning of the next school year. More- 
over, the beginning of a school year would seem to be the proper and 
appropriate time for taking such a step. Whether the board as now con- 
stituted, could change its mind or whether the board, after changes in its 
membership, could overthrow this action by less than a three-fourths vote 
prior to the time when the new books are to go into use or prior to the 
time when it had become necessary for patrons to supply their children 
with the books, are questions which it is not necessary to consider before 
such action should be taken. 

The appeal must be dismissed and it is so ordered. Per A. S. Draper, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 3583, April 4, 1887. 



Text-Books. 739 

Acts of boards of education in changing or designating text-books further discussed. 

Three text-books entitled respectively, ''Our World," "Guyot's Gram- 
mar School Geography" and " Guyot's Intermediate Geography" had 
been in use in the schools of the city of Biughamton for at least the 
period of six years, during which time there had been no action of 
the board of education of that city adopting and designating the same 
as text-books in said schools, when, upon the 18th day of October, 1886, 
said board unanimously resolved that there should be no change in 
geographies in use during the present school year. Upon the 6th day 
of December, 1886, the board, by a vote of seven to six, adopted the fol- 
lowing, viz. : 

^^ResoUed, That the use of the primary geography entitled " Our World," 
be discontinued as a text-book in our schools, and that Barnes' Elementary 
Geography be adopted in its place, and that Barnes' Complete Geography 
be adopted as a text-book in our schools, its use, however, to be postponed 
until the beginning of the next school year." 

On the 17th day of January, 1887, said board, by a vote of seven to five, 
adopted the following resolution : 

^^Hesohed, That Guyot's geographies be discontinued as text-books in our 
schools at the close of the present school year." 

Following this action by the board, Mr. Newton W. Edson appealed 
therefrom to this department, claiming that the action of October 18th 
was an adoption and designation of geographies within the meaning of 
chapter 413, of the Laws of 1877, and that, consequently, no change could 
be made within five years, except as provided in that act. Beyond this it 
was urged that the action of the board could not be upheld for the reason 
that it provided that the newly adopted books should go into use at a time 
in the future, before which time the board, by expiration of term or other- 
wise, might be differently constituted. The decision of that appeal was 
adverse to the position of the appellant. It was held that the action of 
October 18th was not an adoption and designation of a text-book within 
the meaning of the five year act, and that the board had a lawful right to 
adopt a book to go into use in future. The question as to whether, between 
the time of adoption and the time of going into use, the board could change 
its mind, or, being differently constituted, could reverse or change its action 
with less than a three-fourths vote, was expressly reserved until circum- 
stances should make its consideration necessary. That time has now 
arrived. 

On the 16th day of May, 1887, the board, by a vote of seven to six, 
adopted the following, viz. : 

^^Mesohed, That Guyot's Intermediate and Grammar School Geographies 
be and the same hereby are continued in use in our schools in the grades 
where they now are, and that no change of geographies be made. This to 
take effect immediately." 

On the 5th day of July, 1887, the board, by a vote of seven to five, 
adopted the following, viz. : 

^^Resolved, That Barnes' Complete Geography be and the same hereby is 
dropped from the list of text-books of the city of Binghamton." 



740 Text-Books. 

The appellant herein brings separate appeals from the action of the 
board in adopting these respective resolutions, which, for the sake of expe- 
dition, will be considered and determined together. 

Preliminarily, it is objected by the respondent that the appellant is not 
an " aggrieved " person within the meaning of the statute, and so not com- 
petent to bring the appeal. It appears that he is a resident and tax-payer 
of Binghamton, and has children who attend the schools of that city and 
who use the text-books involved in this controversy. The statute author- 
izes " any person conceiving himself aggrieved " to bring an appeal and it 
then directs the Superintendent to dismiss such appeals " when it shall 
appear that the appellant has no interest in the matter appealed from.'^ 
In view of these provisions, it seems to me that this objection of the 
respondent ought not to be sustained. 

A close reading of the several resolves of the board shows that the only 
book in controversy is "Barnes Complete Geography." The action of 
December sixth adopted "Barnes' Elementary Geography" in the place of 
Guyot's Primary Geography entitled, " Our World," and the book so 
adopted went iuto use immediately. No action since taken purports to 
overturn this. But that part of the resolution of December sixth adopting 
Barnes' Complete Geography is sought to be rescinded and nullified by the 
resolutions of May sixteenth and July fifth following. The appellant 
insists that this could only be done by a three-fourths vote. It was con- 
ceded upon the argument that there was no claim that patrons of the 
schools had, subsequent to the action of the board adopting "Barnes' 
Complete Geography " and before the action rescinding such adoption, pur- 
chased copies of that book. The most that was urged in this direction was 
that pupils passing from one grade to another would be required to change 
from one series of geographies to the other, at added expense to the parents, 
but, having in view the fact that the city superintendent has unrestricted 
authority under the by-laws of the board to arrange grades and to re-arrange 
them at any time, as well as to classify and promote pupils at will, and that 
it must be assumed that this authority would be so exercised as to adjust 
the proper grades of books adopted by the board to the grades of pupils, so 
as best to promote the interests of the schools without unnecessary expense 
to patrons, it seems to me that this fact lacks sufficient substance and is too 
remote to be adopted as the foundation upon which to rest a holding that 
the action of the board contravenes the provisions of the five-year act. The 
question is then squarely presented whether a board of education having 
adopted and designated a text-book to go into use at a fixed time in the 
future can, before that time arrives and before patrons have supplied them- 
selves with the book, and notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 413 of 
the Laws of 1877, rescind and overthrow- such action with less than a three- 
fourths vote? 

I have no doubt of the power of the board to adopt a text-book and pro- 
vide that its use shall comuience in futuro. In the nature of things, it must 
be so. But the board, as now constituted, cannot usurp the functions of 
the board, as it may be constituted, nine months hence in such a manner 
and with such effect as to cut off the succeeding members from the right to 
exercise their own prerogatives according to their own judgment. If the 
board could thus forestall action for a period of nine months, when within 
that time the term of one of the members was to expire and a single vote 
would reverse the action, as in the present case, it could likewise do it for 
thf ])f'riod of five years. There is no difference in principle. 

It is to be borne in mind that the purpose of the Legislature in enacting 
chapter 413 of the Laws of 1877, was to protect patrons from the expense 



Text-Books. ' 741 

consequent upon frequently superseding one text-book with another upon 
the same subject and of like grade. The gist and substance of the act is 
contained in tlie second section, where it provides that "When a text-book 
shall have been adopted for use * * * jt shall not be lawful to super- 
sede the text-book so adopted by any other book within a period of five 
years from the time of such adoption except upon a three-fourths vote of the 
board of education." The book here in controversy is not in use in the 
schools of Binghamton. It is, therefore, not superseded. No one has, by 
the action of the board, been obliged to buy it, and, so far as is known, 
no one has bought it. No one, therefore, is injured, and no one is in posi- 
tion to invoke the protection of this statute. Independent of this statute 
the board has unlimited power in the premises. The statute is prohibitive 
in its nature and must be construed strictly and so as to leave with the 
board all those prerogatives which the law has always conferred upon it and 
which are not specifically taken away by its provisions. Following this 
view, I arrive at the conclusion that the resolutions appealed from did not 
require a three-fourths vote in order to give them force and effect, provided 
the board was not inhibited by its own by-law from taking any action in 
the premises at that time. 

A rule of order of the respondent in force at the time of the adoption of 
the resolution, appealed from is as follows : 

*' Rule 21. When a question has been once put and decided it shall be in 
order for any member of the majority to move a reconsideration thereof at 
the same or at the next regular meeting." 

It is said by the counsel for the appellant that the board of education of 
the city of Binghamton is a corporate body of continuous life; that the 
members change but not the board ; that the board must act within its 
Tules; that the resolutions appealed from were in fact and effect, so far as 
Barnes' Complete Geography is concerned, a reconsideration of the action 
of December last, and that it was taken after the time had gone by when 
a reconsideration could be had under the rules of the board. 

This view impressed me with considerable force upon the argument, but 
;after full consideration, I am led to the following conclusions: 

The body which makes a rule is the best authority to construe it. It may 
be said that the action appealed from is not a reconsideration of the former 
action, or at least such a reconsideration as the rule refers to. Again, the 
rule could have been annulled by a majority vote of the board, the same 
vote which adopted the resolutions appealed from. Furthermore, as has 
already been said, the board cannot to-day take action which will prevent 
the board in the future from taking any lawful action which it may 
deem best. If the rule of order is in contravention of this, it cannot be 
upheld. 

It is perhaps well to add that I have given no thought to the question of 
the merits of the respective text-books involved, for the reason that I have 
considered that subject one which should properly be left to the judgment 
and discretion of the local school authorities. 

The appeals are dismissed. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision 
2^0. 3631, Auo-ust 16, 1887. 



742 Trustees. 

TKUSTEES. 

DUTIES. 

The trustees should call district meetings when requested to do so by a respectable 
number of inhabitants for a legitimate object. 

One of the trustees of district No. 19, partly in Leicester and partly in 
Perry, resigned his office, and subsequently united with fifteen others in a 
petition to the remaining trustees to call a special meeting to fill the 
vacancy, and to transact such other business as might be deemed necessary. 

The trustees declined to make the call, on the ground that they were ap- 
prehensive that the meeting, if called, might make such disposition of the 
public money as would interfere with previous arrangements and prove 
detrimental to the school then in operation. 

The filling of an existing vacancy was a proper and legal purpose, and 
the meeting, if called within thirty days after the happening of the vacancy, 
might have elected a person. Before an appeal could be decided, the time 
within which the inhabitants can be called together will have expired, and 
the vacancy must be filled by appointment. The trustees have no right to 
conjecture that a meeting will adopt measures to injure the school. The 
principle cannot be sanctioned for a moment that the trustees may refuse 
to call a meeting of the inhabitants, upon the ground that the latter may 
adopt measures at variance with the views of the former as to the interests 
and welfare of the district. The trustees are the representatives and serv- 
ants of the district, bound to carry out and obey the will of the inhabit- 
ants, when legally expressed, and not warranted in attempting, in any 
manner, to thwart their wishes. Per Spencer, December 23, 1840. 

A district meeting may prescribe the terms of a contract for building a school-house, 
and it is the duly of the trustees to give effect to the same. 

The trustees of district No. 13, in the town of Bethany, refused to pay 
Daniel R. Prindle the sum of $72.50 upon his contract for building a 
school-house : First, on the ground that they had not executed the contract; 
and, second, that the school-house was useless to the district, because the 
right of way to it, over intervening lands, could not be obtained. ' 

The district meeting which voted the tax. for building the school-house 
had prescribed the terms of the contract, and the same was drawn up at 
the time by one of the trustees, and signed by the contractor. The trus- 
tees were directed to superintend the erection of the house according to its 
terms, and to fulfill it on the part of the district. The builder fulfilled his 
part, and the trustees recognized the contract by supermtending and direct- 
ing the work. 

The trustees, as the agents and servants of the district, are the proper and 
indeed only persons to make and execute bargains and contracts on the 
part of the district. But the meeting was competent to specify the terms 
of a contract, and in this case did so, and one of the trustees drew it ac- 
cording to the terms prescribed. The contractor executed it on his part, 
and performed it. The trustees, by recognizing it and directing the work, 
were in fact parties to it, although they did not sign it. 

The remaining objection is entirely groundless. The contractor for 
building the school-house cannot be in any way responsible for a failure 
of title to the site, or a right of way to it. The question of title and right 
of way is between the district and the grantors or owners of the land. 



Trustees. • 743 

Having collected the tax of $72.50 levied to pay for the house, they are 
legally and equitably bound to pay over the proceeds to the contractor. Per 
Young, February 3, 1843. 

Trustees have the power to call special district meetings whenever they shall deem it 
necessary and proper, even though a meeting for the same purpose stands adjourned 
for a period more or less remote. 

This is an appeal taken by three taxable inhabitants of school district 
]^To. 11, in town of Skaneateles, Onondaga county, from the proceedings 
of the trustees of said district, in relation to a tax levied therein by the 
order of a special district meeting. The appellants state that, at a meeting 
held in said district, January 14, 1854, permission having been obtained 
from the town superintendent, a tax of $500 was voted for the purpose of 
building an addition to the school-house, which tax was duly collected ; 
that the work was let to two bidders, for $525, without consulting the dis- 
trict, or being authorized by a special meeting, thus exceeding their pow- 
ers; that, at the annual meeting, the district refused to vote a tax for the 
additional $25 ; that a special meeting was called for the purpose of voting 
upon such tax, and held on the 18th of Kovember^ 1854; w^hich meeting, 
without entertaining the proposition, resolved, by a vote of nineteen against 
ten, to adjourn twenty-five weeks; that, directly afterward, the trustees 
called another special meeting, of which they gave notice themselves (the 
clerk having refused) ; that said meeting w^as held on the 25th of iSTovem- 
ber, and by a vote of twenty-four against twenty-one levied the said tax of 
$25 ; that said meeting was held in the afternoon, contrary to the usual 
custom of the district, and at a time when a previous meeting, called to 
consider this very question, stood adjourned. 

There can be no doubt of the authority of the trustees of school districts 
to call special meetings whenever they shall deem it necessary and proper. 

The statute declares this right in express terms, without regard to the 
circumstance that a meeting is already called, or stands adjourned tor a 
period more or less remote. It is not difficult to imagine cases in which the 
interests of the district would sustain serious damage, if it was necessary to 
defer action till a period fixed by a previous meeting. Exigencies often 
arise, imperatively requiring that the inhabitants of a school district assem- 
ble within the shortest time uiacticable, and of these the trustees are to be 
the judges. 

The appeal is dismissed. Per V. M. Rice, January 22, 1855. 

The drawing of an order for public money is a ministerial act, which does not neces- 
sarily require the presence of the entire board of trustees. 

The drawing of an order is a ministerial act, which does not necessarily 
require the presence of the entire board of trustees. It is simply the exe- 
cution of a contract, which is obligatory upon all of them, if, as it is to be 
presumed, the contract was regularly made. Its validity is not questioned 
by the appellant. 

The respondents aver that Mr. Payne had refused to act with one of 
them, and present this as a reason for not consulting him upon drawing the 
order. 

This would not excuse the omission if the act was one which involved 
the exercise of judgment, and, therefore, required a meeting of the entire 
board. A trustee cannot be permitted to retain his office as a mere obstruc- 
tion to his colleagues. If he cannot act with his associates, he should 
resign ; and if, without resigning, he neglects to perform the duties of his 



744 Trustees. 

oflBce it is the duty of the town superintendent to prosecute him for the 
penalty imposed by the statute. But, until he has resigned or been super- 
seded, his colleagues should call upon him regularly to take part in their 
official action, to the end that when his neglect aud contumacy shall be 
established by reiterated refusals, an application may be made to the State 
Superintendent for his removal. Per V. M. Rice,"^ Superintendent, June 
26, 1855. 

It is the duty of the trustees to employ a competent teacher, aud have a school in their 

district at least six months (28 weeks) in a year. 
Trustees should not be teachers. 

The trustees of district No. 8, Preston, Chenango county, had for a long 
period neglected to employ a teacher, and no school had been kept in the 
district, except for a few days, by one of the trustees. They were requested, 
December 26, 1855, by all the taxable inhabitants of the district, to employ 
a teacher, but had neglected to do so. 

An appeal from their neglect was taken, and they failed to make a legal 
answer. 

It is a matter of course, under the circumstances, that the appeal shall be 
sustained, and the trustees required to proceed without delay to engage a 
teacher who shall be in possession of a proper certificate of qualification 
before commencing his labors. 

It is proper to remark that, while the employment of a trustee as teacher 
is nowhere prohibited, and his assumption of the task of instructing the 
school may, under some circumstances, be highly praiseworthy, yet the 
practice is to be discouraged. The fact that the teacher is one of the board 
that employs him and fixes his wages, necessarily gives room to a suspicion 
that he may have been able to make a contract more advantageous to him- 
self and less advantageous to the district, than if some third party had 
been employed. Those who represent the public should never put them- 
selves in a situation where their private interests may conflict with those of 
their constituents. 

Trustees will be directed to renew the warrant of a collector where they can show no 
good reason for refusing to do so. 

The refusal to renew the warrant is admitted and sundry reasons are 
given therefoi, none of which, however, in my judgment have any force 
whatever. The trustee of the district is hereby directed to renew the war- 
rant in question within five days after notice to him of this decision. Per 
A. B. Weaver, Superintendent,' July 11, 1870. 

For similar ruling in case of supervisor, see title " Supervisors. '^'' 

It is the duty of trustees to give effect to the proceedings of district meetings. 

The propriety of the selection of the site made by the district meeting is 
not a question for the determination of the trustees, nor is it one that can 
be considered on this appeal and from their refusal or neglect to obey the 
directions of the district'meeting concerning it. Trustees ordered to obey 
the directions of the school meeting in question by providing for a school- 
house fo. the district upon the new site selected by it. Per A. B. Weaver, 
Superintendent, September 30, 1871. 

Must submit account for building new school-house. 

The trustees of a school district must obey the instructions of the ahnual 
school meeting directing him to submit to a committee appointed at such 



Trusiees. • 745 

meeting, the bills, accounts and vouchers showing the expenditures and 
liabilities incurred in building a new school-house ; and to call a special 
meeting to act upon the report of such committee. Per Neil Gilmour, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 2959, April 2, 1880. 

Making repairs on the school-house is not a part of the trustee's duties, and adistrict 
meeting can audit a claim for such services when they were ordered by the district, 
and with the understanding that they would be charged for. 

The annual meeting elected Michael McCormick trustee. He was di- 
rected to make tlie necessary repairs upon the school-house, but no fixed 
sum was voted for the purpose. He proceeded to make the repairs, the 
cost of which amounted to $226.67. At two special meetings he submitted 
an account containing an item of $15 for his services and au item of $13 
for the services of his son. The meetings adopted a resolution accepting 
the report, but no authority was given by the meeting to raise the $227.67 
by tax. The trustee thereafter issued his tax-list for the collection of the 
amount. 

There is no doubt the services were rendered by the son, and the district 
meeting had before it an itemized report in which these services were 
charged for. With a full knowledge of the facts the meetings ratified the 
action of the trustee and allowed the claim of his son for services. 

The only question left to be decided is, may a trustee, under any circum- 
stances, be paid for services personally rendered to the district? It is in 
evidence that Mr. McCormick stated to the annual meeting that if he took 
charge of the repairs and worked himself he would charge for his labor as 
a workman. The services for which he has charged was work and labor in 
and about the school-house, in actually makmg the repairs, and not for any 
services as trustee of the district. On two occasions a district meeting, 
•with the facts brought to its attention, passed upon the charge of the 
trustee, and decided to audit and allow the amount. There is no proof 
that the charge is unreasonable, and I am of the opinion that this is a case 
in which the district was justified in allowing payment for the services of 
the trustee. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3337, 
April 9, 1887. 

A trustee cannot be paid costs and expenses in prosecuting a claim of his own against 

the district. 

No expenses or counsel fee incurred by a trustee in prosecuting a claim 
of his own against the district can be allowed such trustee, nor can a meet- 
ing legally and with effect vote to pay the same. Per Neil Gilmour, Su- 
perintendent. Decision No. 2915, December 16, 1879. 

A judgment against the district collected of the trustee must be included in the tax-list. 

When a sheriff collects a judgment against a school district of one of the 
trustees, the board of trustees must include the amount so paid in the tax- 
list and recompense such trustee. There is no power of law or justice 
which will force the trustee of a district to pay the legal obligations of his 
district, and then leave him to the mercy of a district meeting as to whether 
he shall be reimbursed. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3105, June 22, 1881. 

Power of the district meeting to audit accounts for costs,and expenses in suits against 
district officers. The meaning of the words in the statute, "after the final determi- 
nation of such suit or proceeding," discussed. 

The annual meeting voted a tax of $100.75, to pay one Asa E. Mead, a 
former trustee of the district, his costs and expenses in defending an action 
94 



746 Trustees. 

brought against him as trustee ; also a tax of about $30.25 to pay one Theo- 
dore II. Lewis his costs and expenses in defending an action brought against 
him as collector of the district. From this action of the meeting the ap- 
peal is brought. 

The appellant objects to the action of the meeting in auditing the two 
accounts, upon the ground that the proceedings had been defended by the 
district officers without the direction of the district meeting, and that such 
proceedings had not been finally determined at the time of the annual 
meeting. 

I find from the testimony in this appeal, that the history of the actions 
against the district officers to be briefly as follows : 

I. 

In the year 1883 the collector of the district levied upon personal prop- 
erty belonging to Stoughton S. Downing, but upon learning that his pro- 
ceedings were not regular, for the reason that he had not posted the notices 
required by law, he returned the property. That thereafter said Downing 
brought an action in justices' court against the collector for the detention 
of the property. At the joining of issue, the defendant made an offer of 
judgment of $3 and the costs up to that time. The action was tried and a 
judgment rendered against the defendant for $3.50 damages, and the costs 
against the plaintiff. The plaintiff took an appeal to the county court, 
where the judgment of costs against the plaintiff was modified. No ap- 
peal was taken from the judgment of the county court, and the time to 
bring an appeal had expired at the time of the annual meeting. 

II. 

After posting the notices required by law, the collector levied upon and 
sold a horse belonging to Stoughton S. Downing, by virtue of the tax-list 
and warrant issued by the trustee of the district. Thereafter, said Down- 
ing brought an action in justices' court against the trustee, Ira E, Mead, 
for the conversion of said horse, the ground of the action being that the 
trustee was a trespasser, for the reason that he had not followed the last 
tow^n assessment-roll in making out his tax-list. The defendant was suc- 
cessful in this action, and the plaintiff appealed the same to the county 
court, where a judgment was rendered against the defendant for $60 dam- 
ages. The clerk refused to tax plaintiff's costs against the defendant, and 
the court, on an appeal from such refusal, sustained the action of the clerk. 
In this action no appeal from the judgment of the county court had been 
brought at the time of the annual meeting. 

The two accounts for costs and expeiises in these actions were properly 
verified and submitted to the annual meeting, which meeting audited the 
same. But, after the annual meeting, and on or about the 8th day of Sep- 
tember, a notice of motion was served on the attorney for the defendants 
in both actions, for a restitution of costs in the first action and for a re- 
taxation of costs in the second action. The appellant claims that on ac- 
count of tliese motions the two proceedings against the district officers 
were not finally determined, and the meeting could not, therefore, vote a 
tax for the costs and expenses. I do not think the appellant is correct in 
this view of the case. The motions were not made until after the action of 
the annual meeting, and were then only upon the subject of costs. In the 
event of a decision more favorable to the plaintiff", it would not lessen the 
liability of the district for costs; therefore, the amount voted by the 



Trustees. ' 747 

annual meeting was not in excess of what the meeting should raise for this 
purpose. I am of opinion that the accounts for costs and expenses were, 
within the meaning of the statute, properly submitted to the annual meet- 
ing " after the final determi nation of such suit or proceeding." The action 
of the annual meeting sustained. Per James E, Morrison, Acting Superin- 
tendent. Decision No. 3476, February 6, 1886. 

Costs and expenses of trustee in defending an appeal to remove him from office. 
Costs and expenses of committee to defend interests of district before county judge. 

One Blemis brought an appeal to remove from the office of trustee, one 
Hallock. The appeal was dismissed. The trustee then presented to the 
district meeting a claim for costs, charges and expenses of $180 incurred 
by him in defending such appeal. The meeting refused to pay the claim 
and he appealed to the county judge to adjust the same. The district 
appointed a committee to protect its interests before the county judge. This 
committee employed two lawyers and incurred some expenses. The county 
judge adjusted the claim of Hallock the trustee at $120. Subsequently 
Blemis was elected trustee of the district and included in a tax-list the 
sum of $195 to cover the expenses of said committee. From this action 
the appeal is taken. 

Whether the committee appointed to represent the district had the right 
to employ counsel or not, is a matter not free from doubt, but as the trus- 
tee who was pressing the claim against the district was represented before 
the county judge by counsel, there would seem to be some reason in the 
district being so represented, and as counsel were, in fact, employed, and 
did appear and represent the district, and as the objections of the appel- 
lants here seem to be directed against amount of the claim for counsel fees, 
rather than against the right of the committee to employ counsel, I am not 
inclined to inquire into that question too closely. But in an}'' event, it is diffi- 
cult to justify the proceedings of the committee in employing two attorneys 
to represent it upon a very simple proceeding before the county judge, 
when the claim against the district was but for the sum of $180, and it is 
still more difficult to justify the claim which is represented for counsel fees 
in the sum of $160, for defending against a claim for $180. Furthermore, 
it is noticed that the committee have included in their personal bills, items 
for the use of their own conveyances in going to the county seat upon the 
several occasions when the matter was exjoected to be up for consideration. 
The statute only authorizes them to charge for expenses incurred in the 
performance of their duty, and provides only that such expenses shall be a 
charge upon the district. It is not possible to hold that they were sub- 
jected to expense in the use of their own conveyances. 

I have, therefore, concluded to sustain the appeal, unless the respondent 
shall, within fifteen days from the date hereof, withdraw the warrant and 
tax-list from the hands of the collector, and reduce the amount levied by 
said tax-list, by deducting therefrom all items charged by members of the 
committee for the use of their own conveyances and by reducing the 
amount claimed for the services of counsel to the sum of $75. The said 
trustee has my permission to withdraw said warrant and tax-list and correct 
the same as herein indicated. In case this is done, restitution must be 
made to such of the tax payers in the district as have paid the amount 
levied against them by the said tax list, or, at least, by restoring so much 
of the amounts so paid respectively, as will be in excess of the amount 
which they will be obliged to pay under the modified and corrected tax- 
list. In the meantime, the matter will be held in abeyance, and upon 
proof of such modification being made, the appeal will be dismissed. Per 
A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3558, January 38, 1887. 



^4:8 Trustees. 

POWERS GENERALLY 

Cannot borrow money on credit of the district. 

A school district canuot by vote authorize trustees to borrow money on 
its credit. If the trustees advance money to purchase a library, they may 
repay themselves out of money voted by tax for that purpose or received 
from the State, but they cannot charge interest. Per Spencer, March 29, 
1839. 

Trustees are not empowered to receive a note in payment of a tax imposed by them, 
and cannot maintain an action to enforce payment. 

The trustees of district No. 8, in the town of Mentz, took a note from S. 
P. Clark in payment of a tax assessed upon his farm. Upon appeal it ap- 
peared that Mr. Clark had been en-oneously taxed in district No. 8, while 
he was yet a resident of district No. 7, Held, that the note was void, and 
could not be collected, even if the tax had been legally assessed. Per 
Spencer, March 24, 1840. 

The acts of trustees, de facto holding office under color of an election, subsequently 
declared void and' set aside, are valid and binding upon their successors. 

Samuel S. Lord and John S. Panlow were elected trustees of district No. 
6, Lincklaen, at a meeting which was, on appeal, decided to be illegal, and 
the proceedings thereat void. 

Before the decision, however, the trustees had contracted to build a 
school-house, in accordance with the proceedings of the meeting at which 
they were elected, and had hired a teacher for the winter school, and 
agreed to pay him $24 of the public money, and had levied and partly col- 
lected a tax of $50 voted by said meeting toward building the school- 
house. 

Their successors refused to fulfill their contracts, and they appealed. 

Held, that, until the decision declaring void the proceedings of the meet- 
ing that elected them, they were to all intents and purposes the legal offi- 
cers of the district, so far as the public and third persons were concerned. 
They acted in their official and not in their individual capacity, for the dis- 
trict and not for themselves. The collection of the tax assessed by them 
could not be resisted; all their contracts made within their official jurisdic- 
tion were legal and binding. They Were competent to transact all the 
business of the district. Their successors, under the decision, succeeded, 
not merely to all their rights, but also to all their legal liabilities, and were 
bound to execute all their contracts entered into while acting under color 
of a legal election. Per Spencer, June 25, 1841. 

No power to adjudicate upon the legality of the election of a librarian. 

This was an appeal originally brought to the county superintendent of 
Saratoga from the refusal of the trustees to deliver over to the charge of 
the appellant the library of the district, he having been chosen unanimously 
as librarian at the annual meeting of the district on the first Monday in 
October last. In their answer to the appeal, the trustees place their refusal 
upon the ground that the appellant is a minor, and could not, therefore, 
execute a valid bond for the preservation and safe-keeping of the books 
belonging to the district library. The county superintendent very prop- 
erly overruled this defense, holding that the appellant, though ineligible, 
must be recognized as tlie librarian de facto of the district, so far as the 



Trustees. 749 

public and third persons are concerned, and that his right to tlie office 
could not be tried in this indirect way. No principle of law is better set- 
tled than that the actual incumbent of an ofSce, holding under color of a 
legal election or appointment, can be displaced only by a direct procedure 
on the part of some competent legal authority on information in the nature 
of a quo warranto or otherwise ; and that his acts, so far as the public are 
concerned, will be recognized as valid and legal to all intents and purposes 
while he continues to execute the office under claim of title. In this case, 
the appellant was unanimously elected librarian of the district, notwithstand- 
ing his admitted ineligibility, and it does not rest with the trustees to 
deprive him of the office in this indirect mode. They might have appealed 
from such election, placing their appeal expressly upon the ground of his 
ineligibility, and the county superintendent might have set aside the elec- 
tion and ordered a new meeting to fill the vacancy. But, not having 
resorted to this remedy, they cannot refuse to deliver over to him the 
library of the district on the ground of such ineligibility ; nor are they war- 
ranted in assuming that the property of the district will be unsafe in his 
hands, on the ground of his want of responsibility. They may remove him 
from office whenever he willfully disobeys their directions in any matter 
relative to the preservation of the books and appurtenances of the library,. 
or for any willful neglect of duty, etc., etc. But they cannot refuse to 
recognize him as the legally elected librarian of the district. 

They are, therefore, herel)y directed to deliver the library of the district 
into his hands, and the decision of the county superintendent is hereby 
affirmed. Per Young, January 29, 1845. 

Trustees of a school district have the sole power of making contracts relating to their 
districts, and of accepting the work performed under them. 

The trustees of district No. 7, De Peyster, St. Lawrence county, by 
authority from the district, contracted with a builder to construct a school- 
house, to be completed by tlie 1st of November, 1848. The house was not 
completed until about a month after the time specified, and was not such 
a one in every particular as was contemplated in the contract. 

After consultation the trustees accepted the building, thinking it better 
to do so than to subject themselves and the district to further trouble. 

The acceptance of the building is appealed from, on the ground that the 
taxable inhabitants of the district have been wronged. 

The trustees of a school district have the sole power of making contracts, 
relating to their district, and of accepting the work performed under them. 
And in the absence of fraud or bad faith, there appears to be no way of 
rendering them liable for their acts. 

In the present case there appears is be no evidence of bad faith or inten- 
tion to defraud the district. This department cannot, therefore, interfere. 
Per Morgan, January 27, 1849. 

The trustees of a district are the only legal authority by which the vote of a district 
can be carried into execution. 

At a special meeting held in district No. 2, Centreville, Albany county, 
November 4, 1848, it was voted to change the site of the school-house, by 
a majority of votes. The district being an altered one, this vote was suffi- 
cient. 

The site selected is situated at the extreme southern part of the district 
making the distance which children residing in the extreme northern part 
of the district would be compelled to travel about four miles. 



750 Trustees. 

Tlic inhabitants authorized Mr. Asa Robbins to superintend the removal 
of the house, without being associated with the trustees. 

The trustees forbade Mr. Robbins to move the house from the old site. 
He, however, disregarding their remonstrance, located it upon the new site. 

The trustees of a district are the only legal authority by which the votes 
of the district can be carried into execution. And although the inhabitants 
at a district meeting may direct that the trustees shall contract with a cer- 
tain person to perform certain work, and that such person shall be associ- 
ated with the trustees in such work, they cannot authorize such person to 
do any act, nor can the district contract with him, except through the 
trustees. 

The vote directing Mr. Robbins to superintend the removal of the school- 
house without the intervention of the trustees was, therefore, illegal, and 
Mr. Robbins became a trespasser after being forbidden by the trustees 
to move the school-house. Per Morgan, February 3, 1849. 

Trustees cannot retain moneys in their hands to compensate them for services which 

they may have rendered as trustees. 
The office is merely honorary. 

The trustees of school district No. 5 have retained in their hands differ- 
ent sums, amounting in the aggregate to sixteen dollars and fifty cents, as 
it is stated in the appeal, for their services in bringing teachers to the dis- 
trict, taking them to be examined and carrying them home. 

The only case in which a charge for expenses of transporting teachers 
could be sustained would be where it was part of the contract with the 
teacher that her expenses for traveling should be defrayed. In this case 
they would constitute, and should be charged against the teacher, as wages 
paid. The trustees are entitled to no remuneration from the district for 
their services in that capacity, the office being purely honorary. 

They can retain no money for themselves except when they might have 
paid it for similar services to third persons, and then only for purposes 
expressly enumerated in the statute ; carrying teachers to or from the place 
of their employment is not among those purposes. 

The appeal is, therefore, sustained, and the trustees above named are 
severally ordered to pay to the town superintendent, for the use of the dis- 
trict, the amount which appears by the account aforesaid to have been 
illegally expended and retained by them. Per V. M. Rice, February 19, 
1855. 

A trustee cannot be permitted to avail himself of his official position to adjust the 
amount of compensation for fuel furnished by him to the district. 

A trustee had furnished a certain amount of fuel for district purposes, in 
accordance with a resolution of the district. He afterward makes out a 
tax-list for his compensation, which he -calls upon his colleagues to sign, 
and which they refuse to do, alleging that the wood so furnished has never 
been measured, and that an exorbitant price is charged for it. 

Held, that it was proper that the fuel should be paid for by tax, and that 
the amount found due the trustees should thus be paid . But the trustee 
cannot avail himself of his position as trustee to adjust the amount of his 
compensation, or to exercise any influence in adjusting it by his own vote. 
This accords with the well-established doctrine that a person assuming to 
deal in behalf of the public and dealing with himself cannot be allowed to 
make any profit. Equity requires, therefore, that the price of the wood 
thus furnished by the trustee should be cut down to the lowest possible 
rate for which it might have been furnished. Per H. H. Van ])yck. Super- 
intendent, July 31, 1857. 



Trustees. 'J'51 

A meeting will not be ordered to enable the inbabitants to take action upon tbe ques- 
tion of admission to tlie school of non-resident pupils. 

This is an appeal from the refusal of trustees to call a special meeting at 
the request of a respectable number of the inhabitants. 

The object for which the said meeting was to be called was to consider 
tbe propriety of admitting pupils to the school from out of the district. 

This object is at no time within the power or discretion of the inhabitants 
to control; consequently, tliere exists no necessity for such meeting, and 
the trustees are justified in their refusal to call it. Per H. H. Yan Dyck, 
Superintendent, January 5, 1859. 

Trustees will not be required to let the building of a school-bouse to tbe lowest 
bidder, unless so instructed by a vote of the inhabitants. 

By a vote of the inhabitants at a meeting duly convened, the trustees 
were directed to build a new school-house. They accordingly gave notice 
that they would receive proposals for building a house of given dimensions. 
The appellant put in a bid at $340. Other bids were put in, among them 
one by Mr. Davis at $350, which w^as accepted by the trustees. The appel- 
lant asks that the award be set aside, it not being given to the lowest 
bidder. 

Had the district directed the trustees to let the contract for building the 
house to the lowest bidder, there would appear on the part of the trustees 
a departure from the authority with which they were vested, which would 
demand interference. But such is not the case, the trustees being left free 
to make such contract as they might deem most advantageous to the dis- 
trict. Nor did the notice which they gave place them under any obliga- 
tion to the appellant in consideration of his bid being lower than that of 
any other. They were left free to make the award as they should deem 
most advantageous. It devolves upon the appellant to show either a legal 
claim by virtue of the notice given, or that the district is likely to suffer 
injury from the action of the trustees. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superin- 
tendent, January 30, 1860. 

Cannot be interfered with by any building committee appointed by the district. 

The decisions of the courts and the department have been that no power 
is given to the inhabitants to invest a building committee with authority 
to contract for building a school-house or to do any other act binding upon 
the trustees, without their assent. (6 HowarcVs Pr. R, 437; Code Pub. Inst, 
[ed. 1868] 139.) 

The trustees are the authorized agents for carrying out the instructions 
of the district in respect to building, and in paying therefor, and they can- 
not be superseded by any other set of men appointed by the district. 

In this case, I am of opinion that the trustees had authority to go on and 
complete the school-house according to the plan adopted, and to levy taxes 
for the expense thereof without reference to any action on the part of the 
building committee [in assuming to audit the accounts pertaining to said 
building]. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 20, 1868. 

Trustee has no legal authority to close the school against a duly adjourned school 

meeting. 

Appeal from the action of the trustee of school district No. 7, town of 
Grove, in keeping the school-house locked against a duly adjourned school 
meeting. 



762 Trustees. 

The trustee attempts to justify this action upon the ground that there 
was no business to be transacted at the time, and that the previous meeting 
had been adjourned in bad faith. 

The trustee acted in violation of his duty. He had no legal right to close 
the school-house against a duly adjourned school meeting, nor was it for 
him to decide whether it was proper to convene the meeting or not. That 
was a question which rested exclusively with the voters. Per Neil Gilmour, 
Superintendent, May 13, 1875. 

TRUSTEES, POWERS OF. 

Trustees are not left entirely free to involve the district in expensive litigation and 
then saddle the costs on the district without the consent of the voteTs. 

The law gives the trustees sufficient powers so that they cannot be, by 
the district, hampered in or restrained from paying good and competent 
teachers and providing for the comfort of the scholars. This power is 
necessary in many cases for the uninterrupted and successful maintenance 
of a good school. But this being all that is absolutely necessary for such 
purpose, here the law stops. In all other matters the law clearly intends 
that the district will regulate its own expenditures. There is no official 
power in this State which can force a district to pay expenses exceeding 
$500, as in this case, which it never directed should be incurred. Trustees 
are not left entirely free to involve a district in expensive litigation and 
then saddle the cost thereof on the district without the consent of the voters, 
the amount which even a county judge can allow being comparatively tri- 
fling. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3050, January 32, 
1881. 

A trustee cannot fix the value of personal services rendered by him. 

The trustee included in the tax-list the sum of $124.91, his own estimate 
of tlie value of his personal services in the erection of a new school-house. 

Tiie trustee had no authority to fix the value of any personal services ren- 
dered by him in the building of the school-house, and to proceed to charge 
the district therewith. The issuing of the warrant and tax-list for a sum 
which included the amount of his estimate of his own services, instead of 
presenting his claim to a district meeting for audit and allowance, at such 
an amount as might be deemed just and equitable, was in violation of his 
duty and beyond his power as trustee. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3286, October 30, 1883. 

The superintendent has jurisdiction over all school districts in all matters pertaining 
to the common schools, unless such jurisdiction is taken away by a special act. 

When the law imposes a duty upon school trustees, it does not follow that they can 
employ some one to perform it for them. 

Special act construed. 

The employment of superintendent of building not authorized. The duty must be per- 
formed by board of education and the architect under the contract. 

Appeal can be brought when act complained of is continuing 

The appeal is brought from the action of the board of education of 
union free school district No, 1, town of Westchester, in adopting a 
resolution appointing one Thomas S. Ryan, with compensation at the rate 
of $4 per day "to superintend the work tliat is being done on the new' 
school building, and to look after the interests of the district in the matter." 

It appears that prior to the employment of Ryan, the board employed 
one John E. Kirby, as supervising architect, adopted plans submitted by 



Trustees. ' 'J'53 

him, and agreed to pay him for his services tlie sum of five per cent on the 
contract price of the building. The contracts between the board and 
other parties for the election of the bnihling make it under tlie direction 
of the said architect, and also tliat " slunild any dispute arise respecting 
the true 'construction or meaning of the drawings or specifications, the 
same shall be decided by the architect and his decision shall be final and 
conclusive." 

The jurisdiction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is denied by 
the board of education, for the reason that chapter 36, laws of 1886. pro- 
vided that the erection and furnishing of the building and all matters 
connected therewith should be solely under the control of the respondent. 
It is also objected tliat the appeal Avas not taken in time. 

Title XII, section 1, subdivision 7 of the Consolidated School Act of 
1864, provides that any person conceiving himself aggrieved in consequence 
of " any other official act or decision concerning any other matter under 
this act or any other act 'pertaining to common sdiooU " may appeal to the- 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. Ciiapter 36 of the Laws of 1886, 
w-hich applies only to the particular district here interested, certainly en- 
larges the powers of the board of education in said district for the purpose 
of enabling the board to issue bonds, raise money and erect a new school 
building, but it will not be contended that such chapter is not "An act 
pertaining to common schools." That chapter in all of its provisions, gives 
evidence of having beeii enacted for the purpose of enabling the district to- 
do something which it could not do under the general school law, and not 
for the purpose of otherwise taking the district out from under the operation 
of the statutes of general application. In the face of the explicit and com- 
prehensive provisions of the general laws conferring the right upon any 
aggrieved pcU'ty to appeal to this department from any act of school offi- 
cers, there must be something in the special act showing, with clearness 
and distinctness, the intention of the legislature to cut off that right as to 
this particular district, in at least this particular matter, or the views of 
the respondent cannot be adopted. I have examined the special act with 
much care. It expresses no such purpose, and in my judgment, it implies 
none. 

In the next place, the respondent sets up that the appeal should be bar- 
red out, because of the fact that it was not taken within thirty days of the 
occurrence of the act complained of. But the act complained of is a con- 
tinuing one. If it is without lawful authority, any tax-payer is entitled to 
complain each day of the continuing expense involved in the retention of 
the inspector or superintendent. 

AVhen the law imposes a duty upon school trustees, it does not follow 
that they can employ some one to perform it for them. They must perform 
it in person, unless some provision is either expressly made or necessarily 
implied for the employment of others to do it. There must either be 
express authority for the employment of agents or the work must be of 
such a nature as necessarily to imply that it is not to be done by the trus- 
tees, and then the money must be provided for paying others for their 
work. 

The act of the legislature having special reference to the construction of 
a new school building in the district under consideration {chap. 36, Laws 
(t/* 1886), charges the board with the supervision of the work and gives 
numerous directions in the premises. It does not provide for the employ- 
ment of an expert superintending builder. I have examined the act with 
care, and I can find no clause which reasonably implies the intention of the 
legislature to give such a power to the board. There is no reason which 

95 



754 Trustees. 

I am able to discern, for supposing that the legislature intended to absolve 
this board from personal attention to the matter. Trustees are, ordinarily, 
men of experience in such matters and entirely able to protect the district 
against fraud. This is a part of their general responsibility, and there is 
nothing in the special act clianging the rule, as to this particular case. 

But the board in this case had employed an architect previous to the 
appointment of Ryan, and had adopted his plans and specifications, and 
had made the usual agreement with him for an architect's supervision of 
the erection of the building. No objection is raised by the appellants to 
the employment of the architect and the size and cost of the new building, 
would seem to make such action necessary and proper. It had also entered 
into contracts with diilerent builders for the work to be done. The ground 
which the board advances as justification for the appointment of the in- 
spector is that it was necessary in order to secure the proper fulfillment of 
these builders' contracts. These contracts bind the contractors to "erect 
and finish the new building (describing it), agreeably to the plans and 
specifications made by John E. Kirby (the architect), signed by the said 
parties and hereto annexed, within the time aforesaid, in a good workman- 
like and substantial manner to the satisfaction and under the direction of the 
said architect^ They provide also that payments for the materials furnished 
and work performed, shall be made to the contractors only u[)on the certi- 
ficates of the architect, and further provide that if "any dispute arises 
respecting the true construction or meaning of the drawings or specifica- 
tions, the same shall be decided by the architect, and his decision shall be 
final and conclusive." 

In view of these agreements between the board and the builders, it is 
difficult to see any practical necessity for the appointment of an inspector, 
or what advantage he can be to the board. The contractors are not obliged 
to submit to his dictation. They fulfill their contracts when they satisfy 
the architect. The architect makes an affidavit in the matter and says that 
the inspector has reported to him matters in which the terms of the con- 
tract have been violated, and upon such complaint, he has caused the same 
to be remedied, and that by the inspector's assistance, he has been enabled 
to prevent frauds. But it is the duty of the architect to know all about 
these frauds himself and to protect every interest of the district, and for 
this, he is amply paid. If he requires assistance in the discharge of his 
agreements with the board, he should pay for it and not make it a charge 
upon the district. 

For these reasons I think the appellants are justified in their complaint. 
As there was delay in bringing the appeal, I do not think that the effect of 
my conclusions should be retroactive, so as to invalidate payments made to 
Ryan prior to the issuance of the injunction order granted by me upon the 
19th day of February, 1887. But that order must be made perpetual, and 
it is so ordered. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3576, 
March 19, 1887. 

POWERS CONCERNING TAXATION. 

Trustees have no lien on moneys belonging to the district for expenses incurred by 

them in its behalf. 
If they have been directed by the district to act they can indemnify themselves by 

levying a tax without a vote of the district for that purpose. 

Mr. Charles Kendall, a trustee of district No. 3, Bethany, Genesee county, 
had in his hands $18.18 belonging to said district. At a special meeting, 
held May 6, 1848, said sum was appropriated, by a vote of the district, for 
the purchase of a stove and other purposes. 



Trustees. 755 

Mr. Kendall claims that the district should pay him for the use of a stove 
bought by him and placed in the school-house without the authority of a 
vote of the district. The district refused to purchase the stove of Mr. 
Kendall, bought by him in good faith, and he retains in his hands $3 for 
the use thereof. The good or bad designs, either of Mr. Kendall or of the 
district, can in no wise affect the case so as to render the district liable for 
the stove. 

Mr. Kendall also claims that he should be allowed $3, which he alleges 
he paid for the district, in pursuance of a vote of the district. It is not 
stated when nor for what purpose the $3 were expended, nor are any dates 
given, except that the annual report of the trustees in 1847 acknowledged 
the $3 as a debt due Mr. Kendall from the district. But the district clerk 
certifies that the records of the district contain no mention of the said $3. 

Mr. Kendall fails to establish a good claim against the district for the 
$6. Per A. G. Johnson, Deputy Superintendent, August 5, 1848. 

When costs have been incurred against district officers in suits bj or against them in 
the discharge of their official duties, a majority of the voters of the district may- 
allow the amount, and the trustees may assess the same by tax. 

The inhabitants of district No. 4, on the 4th September last, audited the 
account of the trustees for costs and expenses incurred in certain suits com- 
menced by and against them and their predecessors in office and directed 
the amount so audited and allowed to be collected by a tax. The Super- 
intendent, on a careful examination of this case, is satisfied that the account 
was made out and presented in good faith, that the items were such as the 
district were fully competent to pass upon, and that the tax directed to be 
levied for their payment was equitable and just. (8 HoicarcVs Reports, 125.) 
Per Morgan, October, 1849. 

Where the action of trustees is appealed from on the grounds of illegality, the ille- 
gality must be proved as alleged. Until it is, the action of the trustees vvill be pre- 
sumed to have been legal. 

The appellant avers that the trustees followed the assessment-roll of 1856 
in making out the tax- list instead of the rolls of 1857. The point to be 
determined is, did the trustees follovv the last assessment-roll of the town? 
Upon this question the appellants produce no evidence. It devolves upon 
the appellants to show affirmatively that the assessment-rolls used by tlie 
trustees were not the last assessment-rolls of the town in which their dis- 
trict lies. Failing to do this, as they do, it will be presumed that the 
action of the trustees was regular and lega'. 

The appeal must, therefore, be dismissed upon the ground that the ap- 
pellants fail to make out a case of illegality against the trustees. Per H. 
H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, December 11, 1857. 

A general vote of a meeting in favor of a peaceful adjustment of protracted contro- 
versies and lawsuits does not confer upon the trustees power to levy a tax for the 
purpose of paying any and all claims that may have arisen in consequence of such 
controversies. 

On an appeal from a tax -list and warrant, made and issued by the trus- 
tees, it appears that the district has been engaged in controversies in the 
progress of which suits have been prosecuted by and against the trustees, 
costs and expenses incurred and taxes levied, payment of which had been 
refused. At a special meeting for the purpose of deliberating concerning 
the pending actions, controversies and suits, the sentiment and expressions 



75fi Trustees. 

of the meeting were imanimously in favor of a peaceful settlement of exist- 
ing controversies, and resolutions favorable to such settlement were adopted. 
The trustees have interpreted these resolutions as giving them absolute 
power to settle and adjust the pending controversies, withdraw and com- 
promise suits, adjust outstanding claims, and to levy a tax to pay all 
demands and expenses thus created and incurred. In the exercise of this 
authority they have levied the tax from which this appeal is brought. 

The fact is apparent and clear to my mind that the action of the meet- 
ing referred to did not invest the trustees with the exercise of the powers 
assumed. A general and indefinite vote, favorable to the peaceful solu- 
tion of difficulties, hardly justifies an indiscriminate settlement of suits and 
doubtful claims, and the levy of a tax of nearly $400 to complete the settle- 
ment. I must hold that the trustees have very greatly exceeded any au- 
thority that I can find conferred upon them. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting 
Superintendent, May 16, 1861. 

Trustees may employ a person to do the merely clerical work of computiug and writ- 
ing out the tax-list, they making the comparisons with the assessment-roll and fixing 
valuations of property not ou the roll. 

On an appeal from the acts of two trustees, in making out a tax-list, the 
only ground of complaint is that the trustees affixed their warrant to' a tax- 
list made out by a third party. 

If this charge were sustained in all particulars it would certainly invali- 
date the tax-list. But the statements of the trustees establish that the list 
was examined by them and found to be correct. This comparison of the 
list with the assessment-roll, and pronouncing it correct according thereto, 
is essentially the exercise of judi»ment which devolves upon the trustees. 
The writing it down is but a clerical act which they may employ any one 
to perform. 

The tax-list being, therefore, essentially the work of the trustees, as the 
result of their judgment on examination and comparison, I must hold it to 
be a legal instrument. Per H. II. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 31, 
1858. 

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE. 

The Superintendent has power to remove a trustee from office for corruption or inten- 
tional neglect of otiicial duties, or for willful disobedience of the orders o^ the 
department. 

On the 20th of December last, tlic trustees in district No. G, in the town 
of Somers, were directed and required by an order of this department, 
within ten days from the service upon them of such order, to execute a 
certain tax -list and warrant, made out by Jacob G. Purdy, one of the trus- 
tees, for the collection of the amount voted at a special meeting held in 
said district on the 27th of September last, for building a school-house and 
out-buildings, and fencing the site, deducting therefrom the sum of $8.50, 
the balance remaining in the hands of said trustees, on the sale of the 
house belonging to said district. 

A copy of this order was served upon the two trustees, who refused to 
sign the tax-list and warrant on the 25th of December. On the 2d day of 
January the trustees met by previous appointment. The tax-list was pro- 
duced, and the $8.50 above named deducted therefrom, when the two trus- 
tees for the first time interposed an objection that a certain piece of land 
was included in the tax-list which was not taxable in the district, and 
insi3ted upon its deduction, although no legal claim to that effect had been 



Trustees. 757 

made by the owner or occupant of the land within the time prescribed by 
law. On the ensuing day, the trustees had another meeting, but Carpenter 
and Ferris still declined, on various pretenses, signing the tax-list, and 
have, up to the present period, refused or neglected to carry into effect the 
order of the department. 

This refusal is sought to be justified by them upon several grounds, among 
•which the most important are that Purdy refused to make the necessary 
correction of the tax-list, and also to account to his colleagues for certain 
pecuniary transactions of the district. Neither of these excuses can be 
received. If there were any eiTor in the tax-list, as presented to them for 
signature, it was clearly within their power, as the majority of the trustees, 
to have made the requisite correction in the mode prescribed by law. 
Whatever may have been the conduct of Mr. Purdy, it constituted no suffi- 
cient grounds for a refusal on their part to comply with an express order of 
this department. They have manifested a determination to resist the 
explicit direction of the Superintendent in the premises, and to evade the 
performance of their duties as trustees. In pursuance, therefore, of the 
authority vested in me by chapter 382, section 15 of the laws of 1849, I do 
hereby remove the said Carpenter and Ferris from office as trustees of dis- 
trict No. 6 in the town of Somers. Per Morgan, January 28, 1851. 

The State Superintendent will, on proper application, remove a trustee for unwarrant- 
able neglect of official duty. 

Elisha Bedell, one of the trustees of school district No. 1 in tlie town of 
Hempstead, is charged with a willful disturbance and interruption of the 
school taught by Mary Augusta Brown, in said district. Mr. Van Cott, 
another of the trustees, is charged with a refusal to unite with one of his 
colleagues in prosecuting for such offense, in accordance with the statute. 

It is in evidence that Mr. Bedell went to the school-room, and in the 
presence of the scholars used angry and abusive language to the teacher, 
openly countermanded her orders in conducting the school, and caused the 
'school to be thrown into disorder, and that both teacher and pupils were 
much frightened by his language and threatening manner, and for some time 
after she was unable to proceed with the school. 

The evidence is confirmed by the report of a committee of ten appointed 
by the inhabitants of the district at the annual meeting, to visit and exam- 
ine the school, who, in concluding their statement, observe that they " were 
compelled to the opinion that Mr. Bedell has thereby disqualified himself 
for the office of trustee, and that it is evidently for the welfare of the school 
that he should forthwith resign his offi.ce." 

This array of evidence is met only by a general and unsatisfactory denial 
by Mr. Bedell. 

There can be no doubt, in the opinion of the Superintendent, from evi- 
dence, that Mr. Bedell has been guilty of a gross and unjustifiable violation 
of law and neglect of official duty. The same conduct in an individual not 
officially connected with the school would unquestionably have incurred the 
penalty prescribed by law; and it certainly does not mitigate the offense, 
nor change its nature, that it was committed by an officer specially charged 
with the preservation of quiet and order in the school, and with the pro- 
tection and guardianship of its interests. 

The act of 1845, to prevent disturbances in schools, above referred to, 
makes it the special duty of the trustees of any school district in which 
unj such offense shall be committed, to prosecute such offender, before any 
officer having cognizance of such offense. Mr. Van Cott, one of the two 
remaining trustees, having been called upon for the performance of thia 



"^^8 Trustees. 

duty, positively refused to comply with said request, and still refuses so to 
do. This is clearly au unwarrantable neglect of official duty, for which no 
defense is interposed; and the said Elisha Bedell and Nicholas Van Cott 
are hereby removed from office as trustees of said district. Per Morgan, 
July, 1851. 

The election of a trustee at an adjourned meeting valid. 

If a trustee renders his annual account to an adjourned annual meeting, he will not 
be removed because it is unsatisfactory. 

Mr. Isaac Tracy, one of the trustees of district No. 5, Allen, Allegany 
county, omitted to make his annual report to the annual meeting, October 
1, 1855, but claims that one was submitted and made by the clerk at an 
adjourned meeting, October 2. 

One of the trustees elected at the first meeting refused to serve, and at 
the adjourned meeting another was elected to fill the vacancy. 

Mr. Tracy will not be removed because his account was not satisfactory. 
He is liable to a suit hereafter for any money that can be shown by that 
account, or otherwise, to have come into his hands, and which he cannot 
prove to have been legally expended or paid to a colleague or successor 
authorized to receive it. If, on the other hand, he entirely failed to render 
any account, he is liable to a penalty of $25, in addition to a judgment 
for any moneys proved to be in his hands. 

The election of a trustee on the second day of October must be held to 
have been valid and regular. Admitting that the meeting the previous 
evening adjourned for the sole purpose of having the annual account of the 
trustees submitted, the adjourned meeting was nevertheless comjDetent to 
fill any vacancy which might then exist in district offices. Such a vacancy 
was created by the refusal of Mr. Lincoln to serve. Per E. P. Smith, 
Deputy Superintendent, May 31, 1856. 

A trustee will be removed from office where it appears that he persistently refuses to 
assist his associates in making out a tax-list ordered by a district meeting. 

On the petition of two of the trustees of a district for the removal of the 
third, on the ground of his refusal to unite with them in making out a tax- 
list and warrant as directed by a vote of the district, the defense of the 
third trustee is, that acting under legal advice and counsel, he has refused 
to act with the petitioners as trustee in making out the tax-list aforesaid, 
for the reason that all the proceedings of the meeting relative thereto were 
illegal and void. 

But it appears, on evidence that, on an appeal from the proceedings of 
such meeting, this department had declared the proceedings, including the 
vote to levy said tax, legal and valid. It further appears that, when the 
petitioners had made certain corrections in the tax-list suggested by this 
third trustee, he still refused to sign the tax-list as amended, and that he 
steadily refused to meet with the petitioners at any future time to make 
out a new tax-list, or have any thing to do with it. It is therefore plain, 
that his motives were to defeat and avoid the making out of the tax-list as 
voted by the district, and confirmed by this department. It is obviously 
the right and privilege of every man to take legal advice, as well in relation 
to public and official duties as to his private and personal affairs. But no 
man is suffered to interpose the plea of this piivilege as a protection from 
the consequences of error or wrong-doing in public or private concerns. 
When, therefore, under the advice of legal counsel, a school officer neglects 
or refuses to regard the direction of the district and the decisions of this 
department formally rendered and clearly announced, whereby the free action 



Trustees. 759 

of the other district officers is obstructed, dissension perpetuated, difficulties 
and embarrassments multiplied, and all educational interests sacrificed, it 
ceases to be a question of honesty of purpose on the part of the offender, 
and he must be visited with the severest penalty which such action incurs 
— removal from office. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 30, 
1858. 

A trustee will not be removed for refusing to concur with his associates in their policy 
in the management of district affairs, nor for supporting a private school. 

On a petition for the removal from office of one of tlie trustees of the dis- 
trict, on account of his refusal to concur with his associates in regard to 
certain measures of district policy, and also upon the ground of his having 
contributed to the support of a private school, it was held, that, although 
he may have been in error relative to the justice and legality of the policy, 
still his refusal to act with the other trustees, dictated by his convictions of 
right, is not such contumacy as demands punishment. It is impossible to 
control the opinions of men; we must be content to overrule them where 
they are wrong. In the present case, the majority of the trustees have the 
power to overrule the opinions of the other, and that is all that the case 
requires. 

Nor is the fact of his contributing to the support of a private school any 
just ground for removing him from the office of trustee. It is the privilege 
of every man to send his children and contribute to the support of such 
school as he regards best for his own and his children's interest. The fact 
of his being a trustee does not deprive him of any right in the premises. 
Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, June 28, 1858. 

What will justify the removal of trustees. 

Whenever this department finds, in the action of trustees, only a stub- 
born determination to follow out their own purposes, regardless of the legal 
or equitable rights of teachers, and of the wishes and interests of the inhab- 
itants of the district, whereby serious injury has been sustained, and must 
yet be sustained if their policy is pursued longer, it will immediately direct 
their removal from the office whose trust they have violated. Per H. H. 
Van Dyck, Superintendent, July 15, 1858. 

Petition for the removal of a trustee for not agreeing with his associates, and for 
using rude and uncourteous language toward them, denied. 

On the petition of two of the trustees asking for the removal from office 
of the third trustee, it appears that the third trustee refuses to co-operate 
with his associates in matters relating to the administration of school affairs, 
and that his language toward them is rude and uncourteous. 

Concerning the disagreement of Mr. Simpson with his associates, they 
are the majority and can control, and it was never intended that this 
department should have power to make men agree, nor to j)unish them for 
disagreeing. 

In regard to the incivility of the third trustee toward his associates, the 
district is supposed to know whether or not those whom they elect to office 
have sufficient culture and refinement, sufficient dignity and purity of 
character, properly to adorn the office to which they are elected; and if 
they see fit to elect one who is rude, vulgar and coarse in his language, 
this department, will not and cannot interfere. Per H. H. Van Dyck, 
Superintendent, March 3, 1859. 



760 Trustees^ 

Petition for the removal of a trustee for not agreeing with his associates, and for not 
being a suitable person for the oHice, denied. 

On the petition of certain of the inhabitants, asking for the removal irom 
office of one of the trustees, the petitioners allege that he is not a suitable 
person to hold the office, and also that he has displayed a factious opposition 
to the wishes of the district, and refuses to co-operate with his associates in 
carrying forward certain measures that a majority of the district wish to 
see enforced. 

In regard to the first allegation, it is sufficient to answer that the inhab- 
itants elected the trustee with a full knowledge of his character and respon- 
sibility, and of the powers and duties of the office. 

In regard to tlie second allegation, the trustee whose removal is requested 
is in the minorit}^ aud his associates can control the action of the board; 
hence no necessity for his removal appears. Per H. PI. Van Dyck, Super- 
intendent, March 21, 1859. 

A trustee will not be removed because he differs from his associates in opinion. 

This is a petition for the removal from office of one of the trustees of the 
district. 

The petition does not set forth such facts and circumstances as will jus- 
tify the department in taking the action sought. 

The facts proved, in the main, are a difference of opinion between the 
trustee whose removal is sought and his associates. However much the 
department might differ with the said trustee upon the points in contro- 
versy, it does not justify his removal on the ground of that difference of 
opinion. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 14, 1861. 

The Superintendent has no power to reinstate trustees whom he has once formally 

removed from office. 

Upon an application in due form and setting forth what appeared to be 
just and ample grounds, certain trustees were, by the Superintendent, 
formally removed from office. Application is now made for an opening of 
the case and for a hearing of the defense of the trustees who, by a misap- 
prehension of their own, failed to defend the application for their removal. 
The Superintendent says: "From what I have learned of the case since 
my decision (removing the trustees) was rendered, I should be inclined to 
grant the application (for a re-hearing) if I believed that I had the legal 
power to do so. But by my decision of January 6, these persons wore 
actually removed from office. Being so removed, I have no power to rein- 
state them. The law has conferred upon the Superintendent the power of 
removal, but not the power of ajjpointment. The matter has now passed 
beyond my jurisdiction." Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 24, 
1868. 

For willful violation of duty in refusing to accept the lowest bid of a responsible bidrler 
with responsible surety. 

A responsible man with a perfectly responsible surety offered to take the 
contract for repairing the school-house of a district for $101. Other respon- 
sible bids were offered under $175; one as low as $104. But the bid for 
$101 was the lowest. 

Tlie trustee refused to accept the surety, and let the contract to his 
nephew for $175. The Superintendent says: "In view of the facts, T am of 
the opinion that the trustee has been guilty of willful violation of duty. 
He should have used his best endeavors to protect the interests of his d"s- 



Trustees. 761 

trict. Instead of doing this, by his own admission, he refused to accept 
responsible surety for reasons purely frivolous. By this action, the district 
was put to an additional expense of nearly $75. When district officers ap- 
pear to liave forgotten or to have willfully disregarded their duties, the 
department is bound to interfere for the protection of the district. Order 
entered removing the said trustee from office." Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- 
tendent, August 3, 1S68. 

Under what circumstances removal will be refused. 

Removal of a trustee for willful neglect of duty refused, where it is shown 
that he has only been over-zealous in attempting to secure the triumph of 
the party in the district to which he was attached, in the matter of estab- 
lishing a school-house site. The trustee is, however, admonished that it 
is his duty not to head a faction or a party, but to ascertain the will of a 
majority of the legal voters of the district in rcs])ect to matters which they 
may lawfully determine, and to execute the same when so ascertained. 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 28, 1869. 

Removal for willful neglect of duty. 

The affidavits in this case show the following facts: That the trustee 
neglected to provide wood suitable for the use of the school during the 
late winter term; that he required those sending to school to furnish wood 
and to board the teacher contrary to the wishes of the inhabitants; that the 
wood furnished by him for the school was four feet in length, and tliat he 
neglected and utterly refused to make any provision for cutting it into suit- 
able lengths, whereby the opening of the school was frequently delayed 
until ten o'clock in the morning; that after the teacher was compelled to 
abandon the school on account of sickness, he refused to make any other 
arrangements for its continuance and the same remained closed during the 
rest of the winter, against the wishes and requests of many of the inhabit- 
ant=:; that he refuses to pay the teacher employed the previous summer, 
telling her she must look for her pay to the former trustee by whom she 
was hired, and the teacher threatens to sue the district for her wa^es 
whereby costs will be incurred for the district to pay. The Superintendent 
finds the charges sustained by the evidence and says: " They establish such 
willful neglect of duty on the part of said trustee as to justify his removal 
from office." Removed accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, 
May 20, 1869. 

Removal of trustee by Superintendent cannot be predicated upon moral grounds, but 
only upon willful violation or neglect of legal duty. 

Appeal asking for the removal of a trustee upon the alleged ground that 
he is an habitual drunkard. 

1 am far from desiring to excuse the degrading habit of intoxication in 
any one, and certainly not in an officer intrusted with the educational inter- 
ests of a school district. The fact may be that the testimovy has failed to 
show that the respondent is at this time an habitual drunkard, but its mani- 
fest tendency is to prove that he has, like many others who have reformed 
from the vice of drunkenness, relapsed into what it is to be hoped was but a 
temporary forcretfulness of his better resolutions. 

But the appellants have failed to make out any case for my action in the 
premises. They do not accuse the respondent of any violation or even neglect 
o' official duty. I have no censorship over his morals. If the voters of a 

96 



762 Trustees. 

district choose immoral persons for school officers, responsibility as to the 
damage of such action will remain with themselves as long as such officers 
are not guilty of any willful violation or neglect of legal duty in regard to 
their functions. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, November 26, 1869. 

For profane swearing. 

In similar case, asking for the removal of a trustee for using profane lan- 
guage in the school-house in the presence of some of the pupils, the Super- 
intendent sjiys : 

With every disposition to reprobate the use of profane language upon 
any occasion, and especially by a school officer in the presence of children 
attending school, I am aware of no provision of law under which I can take 
cognizance of the offense charged against the trustee. Per Neil Gilmour, 
Superintendent, May 13, 1875. 

Removal for calling a special meeting /br^^-iu'O days distant, under an order of the 
Superintendent, directing such call to be made on notice of five days. 

Upon an appeal to the Superintendent, the trustee was directed, within 
five days after notice thereof, to call a special school meeting and it was 
directed that " the notice for such meeting must be one of five days." 

It now appears that in professed obedience to the requirements of that 
order, the trustee issued a call for a special meeting of the district to be 
held on the 23d day of September following, or forty-two days after the 
issuing of such call. 

This was clearly a manifest and willful disobedience of the decision for 
which no satisfactory excuse has been, as none could well be, rendered. 
Trustee removed. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, September 16, 1871. 

Removal of trustee for refusing to obey order of the Superintendent. 

In a case similar to the above the trustee, instead of obeying the order of 
the Superintendent to carry out the directions of the district, directed the 
clerk of the district to call another meeting of the inhabitants in order ''to 
promote harmony. " Upon an appeal from such disregard of the instruc- 
tions of the department, the Superintendent says: "Under the circumstan- 
ces, I can come to no other conclusion than that the respondent has will- 
fully disobeyed the decision of the 2d of May last. I do, therefore, in 
discharge of my official duty, and by virtue of tlie power vested in me by 
section 18, title 1 of the General School Act, hereby remove the said 
Robert Campbell for his willful disobedience of the resolution of the dis- 
trict and of the decision (of this department) referred to, from the office of 
trustee, etc. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 26, 1872. 

For refusing to maintain a school. 

Where a trustee willfully and without reasonable cause refuses to main- 
tain a school in his district, he must be removed from office. Per Neil 
Gilmour, Superintendent Decision No. 2923, December 26, 1879. 

For refusing to repair school-house when directed so to do by a district meeting. 

When a trustee willfully and persistently refuses to perform his duty as 
trustee, particularly in the matter of repairing the school-house, taking no 
steps to repair such school-house for a long time after a district meeting 
had directed repairs to be made and voted a tax to pay for the same, he 
will be removed from office. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3087, April 11, 1881. 



Trustees. 763 

REPORT. 

What it must contain. 

In a trustee's annual report, the source of all money should be given and 
the amount of each payment should be stated together with the name of 
the person receiving it and the purpose for which it was paid. The report 
should also set forth where and with whom every part of any unexpended 
balance is deposited. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3080, April 11, 1881. 

The trustee's annual report must be submitted to the annual meeting in writing and 
must be signed by him. 

The appeal is taken from the alleged failure of the trustee to render to 
the annual meeting, and at a subsequent special meeting, "a just, full and 
true account in writing " as required by section 55, title 7 of the Code of 
Public Instruction, 

The trustee at the annual meeting, did read an account of the receipts 
and expenditures for the year, which account was copied item by item by 
the district clerk. But this is not a full compliance with the terms of the 
statute. A report should have been submitted by the trustee in writing 
and signed lyy Mm, ; it would then become the property of the district meet- 
ing, to be filed with the records of the district in the custody of the cierk. 

But in order tliat a fair, although tardy compliance with the provisions 
of section 55 may be secured, the trustee of said district is hereby ordered, 
within ten days after notice to him of the filing of the decision, to file with 
the district cleik, a just, full and true account in writing under his hand, 
of the moneys received and expended by him for the use of the district 
and the manner of their expenditures, and such other items as the statute 
requires him to report to the district at the annual meeting. Per James E. 
Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3497, April 3, 1886. 

SUNDRY. 

"When a trustee is unable to discharge his dutj as such trustee, bv reason of imprison- 
ment, the town superintendent (supervisor) may appoint his successor after the 
expiration of thirty days from the time of such imprisonment . 

The facts of this case appear to be as follows: 

Some three or four months previous to the annual meeting for the choice 
of district officers, one of the trustees for district No. 2, of the town of 
Evans, county of Erie, was arrested on execution, and committed to the 
jail limits of the county, where he has since been and still is confined. 

At the annual meeting of the district, a motion Avas made to elect a trus- 
tee in the place of the individual thus imprisoned, but the majority, think- 
ing there was no vacancy to be filled, refused to elect, and subsequently 
the town superintendent appointed Chauncey Stone a trustee, in the place 
of Enos Avery, the former incumbent. 

An appeal was taken to the county superintendent of Erie county, who 
reversed the action of the town superintendent, and annulled the appoint- 
ment. 

Section 71, of Common School Laws, published in 1844, authorizes the 
town superintendent to appoint any person residing in the district to supply 
any vacancy occasioned by the death of the incumbent, refusal to serve, 
removal out of the district or incapacity of any officer, when the vacancy 
shall not have been filled by a district meeting within one month after the 



'J'64 Trustees. 

same shall occur; and the only question now presented is, had either of 
these contingencies happened one month previous to the time the appoint- 
ment was made ^ 

It would not, I think, do to hold that no other than a legal incapacity 
should operate to create a vacancy, nor will it do to say that a refusal to 
serve may not be as strongly mferred from the acts of an incumbent as by 
a direct assertion that he will not discharge the duties of his office. 

Mr. Avery, no doubt, is an inhabitant of the district in every legal sense, 
yet in point of fact he is actually incapacitated from the discharge of his 
duties as trustee, by reason of his confinement upon the jail limits out of 
his town and out of the boundaries of his district. 

The decision of the county superintendent is therefore reversed, and that 
of the town superintendent affirmed. Per N. S. Benton, October 8, 1846. 

When a trustee is absent from a district, so as to be unable to act with bis associates, 
the town superintendent (supervisor), on the application of the other trustees, will 
appoint a successor. 

Some time in the month of September last, Mr. Gilbert, who had been 
elected a trustee of district No. 9. visited the western part of the State in 
company with his wife, whose parents reside there, for the benefit of her 
health. Leaving her, he returned, harvested his crops, and early in October 
again left, with avowed intention of remaining until the ensuing spring. 
The other two trustees being unable to agree in the management of the 
affairs of the district, and the employment of a teacher for the winter term, 
applied to the town superintendent to fill the vacancy which they supposed 
to exist in the district, in order to enable them to organize the winter 
school. 

For all practical purposes, it is evident that a proper case for the action 
of the town superintendent was presented; Mr. Gilbert, indeed, may not 
have lost his legal right as a resident of the district, but he had, at all 
events, ceased to be an inhabitant, and had expressly avowed his intention 
not to return to the di-strict until the ensuing spring. 

The department is disposed to coincide with the county superintendent 
in the opinion that an actual vacancy existed, created, if not by " removal 
from the district." in the legal acceptation of the term, by a virtual " refusal 
to serve," or incapacity to act, and that the interposition of the town super- 
intendent by the appointment, of a trustee in his place was legal. Per S. 
Young, December 26, 1846. 

When a town superintendent (supervisor) connives with a trustee to procure his resig- 
nation, and conceals it from the district, so that the inhabitants cannot elect a suc- 
cessor within thirty days after the resignation, and the town superintendent then 
makes the appointment, the department will set the appointment aside and order a 
new election. 

Mr. Johnson, a trustee in district No. 4, Florence, proffered his resigna- 
tion of office to the superintendent, which was accepted. This was done 
secretly and obviously with the intention that the district should be unac- 
quainted with it until after the expiration of thirty days, when the town 
superintendent could appomt a successor. It is stated that the town super- 
intendent gave one of the trustees notice of the resignation, but it is clearly 
shown, and it is not denied by the town superintendent, that this was done 
with a view of seeming to fulfill rather than to carry out the meaning of 
the law, and allow the district to elect a successor, since this trustee was 
very cautious about letting any one know it. 



Trustees. 765 

The district not being permitted to choose the trustee, the town superin- 
tendent made the appointment the day before the expiration of the thirty 
days. This department cannot suffer a district to be imposed upon or 
deprived of any privileges by the management of officers or the intrigue of 
individuals. It is, therefore, ordered that the appointment of trustee made 
by the town superintendent of Florence, to supply the vacancy occasioned 
by the resignation of Mr. Johnson, as trustee of district No. 4 in said town, 
be set aside, and that the trustees of said district call a special meeting of 
the inhabitants to fill the vacancy. Per Morgan, February, 1849. 

Trustee cannot hire himself to teach the district school. 

Appeal from the action of a sole trustee in teaching the district school 
himself, in opposition to the wishes of a large number of the inhabitants. 

Apart from the manifest impropriety of a trustee undertaking to perform 
a service for the district where the compensation therefor is to be fixed by 
himself, there is such an evident inconsistency in his " contracting with 
and employing '' himself in any capacity whatever, that no argument is 
needed to show that it could not have been the intention of the law that he 
should do so. 

If the teacher shall continue to teach the school after notice of this de- 
cision, he will render himself liable to removal from office. Per A. B. 
Weaver, Superintendent, March 11, 1871. 

Not required to take oath of office. 

School trustees and collectors of school districts are not required by law 
to take a prescribed oath of office before entering upon their duties. Per 
W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3325, March 22, 1884. 

Vote of thanks to trustees. 

Appeal from the adoption of a resolution thanking trustee for his servi- 
ces. Trustees are public servants. If they perform their duties in such a 
manner that the district desires to express its appreciation, I know of no 
law in this State that will prohibit it from so doing. Per W. B. Euggles, 
Superintendent. Decision No. 3415, April 13, 1885. 

A person cannot be challenged at a district meeting as to his right to hold office of 
trustee, and be required to be sworn as to his qualifications. 

The appellant claimed to be elected trustee at the annual school meeting. 
On the first ballot he received a majority of all the votes cast. Subsequently 
some electors challenged the right of appellant to hold the office of trustee. 
The chairman of th'e meeting thereupon requested the appellant to be 
sworn as to his qualifications to hold said office, but the appellant declined 
to be sworn or make any statement at that time. The chairman thereupon 
declared him ineligible to hold the office and directed the meeting to pro- 
ceed to elect a trustee. A ballot was thereupon taken and another person 
declared elected. 

Held, There is no provision of law which authorizes a challenge of a per- 
son, except where he attempts to vote. The challenge, if any, was made 
as to his qualifications to hold the office of trustee and then after his elec- 
tion as trustee. I am of the opinion that the chairman of the meeting did 
not possess the right of inquiring into the qualifications of the appellant to 
hold the office of trustee in this manner. Per A. S. Draper, Superintend- 
ent. Decision No. 3578, March 25, 1887. 



766 Union Free School Districts. 

vacating office. 

A trustee, in order to vacate his office by failing to attend three successive meetings of 
the trustees, must have notice of such meeting. 

By an agreement between the three trustees the regular meetings of the 
trustees were to be held on the last Tuesday evening of each month. It is 
alleged by the tveo trustees, that the trustee Burke was present at the meet- 
ing held the month following such agreement, and that since that meeting 
he has neglected and failed to attend any of the regular meetings of the 
board of trustees of the district and has rendered no good and valid excuse 
for such neglect and failure to the other trustees ; nor has the said Burke 
notified the other trustees to be present v^ith him, at any other time, at a 
special meeting of the board of trustees. It is further urged that Burke 
declared in the presence of one of the other trustees that, "he would never 
set in the board with that Weber again ;" but it does not appear that Burke 
publicly declared that he would not accept or serve in the office of trustee. 
Since the 31st of January, last, up to the 16th day of July, Burke did not 
attend any of the regular meetings of the board, but it appears that no 
notice was at any time, from and after the 31st of January, 1884, given to 
him of any meeting of the board. I am of the opinion that this notice is 
required for all meetings of the trustees, whether regular, or those specially 
called. Therefore the claim that Burke had vacated his office by neglect- 
ing to attend three successive meetings of the board, cannot be sustained. 
Per W. B. Buggies, Superintendent. Decision No. 3381, November 18, 
1884. 



UNION FKEE SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

Power to fill vacancies. 

A member of a board of education elected to and accepting the office of 
supervisor vacates his office as member of such board. The remaining 
members of the board have power to fill the vacancy until the next annual 
meeting. 

Until such appointment is made the remaining members of the board have 
full powder to act on all matters, and their contract with teachers for any 
term whatsoever are valid. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, 
March 9, 1865. 

Power of board to appoint member thereof fully discussed. 

The vote by which the appellant claims to have been appointed a mem- 
ber of the board of education, was less than a majority of the board, though 
it was a majority of the members present, a quorum being in attendance. 

Was if competent for a bare majority of a quorum present to make a 
valid appointment? 

The special statute under which this school district was organized, pro- 
vides that said district ''shall under the direction of the board of educsi- 
tion, which board shall consist of four members, three or more of whom 
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business." 



Union Free School Districts. 767 

At common law the rule seems to have been well settled, that in select 
governing bodies of a definite number, invested with functions of a public 
nature, a majority of a quorum, though less than a majority of the whole 
body, may legally act. 

Mr. Dane thus illustrates the mle: **If the body consists of twelve com- 
mon councilmen, seven is the least number that can constitute a valid meet- 
ing, though four of the seven may act." 5 Dane Abr. 150. The rule is further 
illustrated in Dillon on Municipal Corporations (§ 379, 3d ed.), as follows: 
"So if a board of village trustees consists of five meTribers, and all, or four, 
are present,, two can do no valid act," if three only were present they would 
constitute a quorum, then the votes of two, being a majority of the quorum, 
would be valid ; certainly so when the three are all competent to act." This 
rule of the common law has been made the statutory rule in this State in 
reference to corporations. (2 Revi. Stat., 1531, § 6, 7th ed.) I am inclined 
to think however, that this statute although its words are general, applies 
only to private corporations. On the other hand, we have a general statute 
relating to the exercise of powers confided by law to three or more persons, 
or officers which requires the concurrence of a majority of the whole num- 
ber in the valid exercise of such powers. (1 Bev. Stat., 2458, § 27.) It 
might be urged with some force that the last statute governs the case in 
hand, but for the fact that, chapter 81 of the laws of 1848, in respect to 
this particular board of education, expressly makes three members a quorum. 
In the use of this word, I think the legislature intended to invest in three 
members, present at a duly convened meeting of the board, the ordinary 
common-law powers of a quorum, especially in the absence of any instructive 
words. 

The Constitution of this State, article 3 section 10, in defining the powers 
of the legislature, making similar use of the word, provides that "a major- 
ity of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business. Under this 
clause it is competent for either house to do any business by a bare majority 
of a quorum, except in particular cases where a larger vote is expressly 
required by restrictive words elsewhere in the Constitution." {Cooley onCon- 
stitutional Limitations, 141.) It follows that the vote for the appellant 
was sufiicient to constitute a valid appointment. In this view of the case 
it is not necessary to pass upon the question, whether under the circum- 
stances, Mr. Marvel, the non-voting member of the quorum, by reason of 
his silence, is to be deemed to have assented to, and as a matter of law 
voted for the appointment of the appellant. 

The statute confers upon the board, power to fill any vacancy which may 
happen in said board by reason of the death, removal or refusal to serve of 
any member or ofl3cer of said board. It provides for no ccmiraission, oath, 
bond or other formality, subsequent to the vote and the official announce- 
ment of the result by the presiding oflficer, in order to perfect the appoint- 
ment and invest the appointee with the office. The appointment was com- 
plete when the vote was taken and officially announced by the presiding 
officer. The entry in the minutes is but evidence of the exercise of the 
power. 

Was it competent for the board to subsequently reconsider this action 
and make a valid appointment of another person, Mr. Murray not having 
been removed nor in any way vacated the office? I think such action was 
beyond the power conferred upon the board. When the statutory authority 
was once exercised, the power of the board in the matter was exhausted. 
The general rule of law applicable to the case, is concisely stated by Rey- 
nolds C, in People, ex rel. Hotchhiss, v. Sui^ervisors, 65 N. Y. 227. "The 
cases are very numerous and the principle perfectly well-stated that when 



768 Union Free School Districts. 

power to do a certain act is conferred upon a public officer, or board of 
officers and when action has once been had under the power it is final and 
may not be repeated, reversed or annulled by the same officer or body." 

The People, eoi rel. Mosher^ v, Stowell, 9 Abb. N. C, is a case in point in 
affirmance of this rule. The common council of Elmira appointed Mosher 
as cliamberlain. Subsequently a resolution was adopted by the council 
purporting to rescind the appointment and to appoint Stowell. The court 
held Mosher entitled to the office. The coiu% Smith, J., says: "When 
the common council adopted the resolution appointing the relator, its action 
in respect to the choice of chamberlain was complete. It had no authority 
to rescind such action, the appointment being for a definite term, especially 
after the relator had signified his acceptance of the office by taking and 
filing the oath." To the same etfect is 8a?ik v. Philadelphia^ 8 Phila. 117. 
Appellant declared legally appointed a member of the board. Per W. B. 
Kug^les, Superintendent. Decision No. 3314, March 3, 1884. 

REMOVAL OP MEMBER. 

A "member of a board of education cannot be removed by tbe board upon charges 
affecting his acts as clerk and not as a member of the board. 

The appellant was elected a member of the board in August, 1884, for 
the term of three years. On the 28th or 29th of September, 1886, a paper 
signed by the other members of the board, making charges against appel- 
lant for alleged official misconduct, was left at his house during his absence 
from home. The charges were : (a) that he had refused to permit one of 
the other members of the board to take the book containing the records of 
the board; (b) that he had refused to bring or send the book of records to 
a trustees' meeting held at the school-house on the 20th day of September, 
1886; (c) for refusing to bring or send the book of records to a special 
meeting of the inhabitants of the district on the 27th day of September, 
1886. This paper required appellant to answer these charges before the 
board at a meeting to be held October 9, 1886. At that time appellant 
appeared and presented his answer to the charges, and, claiming that he 
had only reached home two or three days before, asked for a week's delay 
in the determination of the matter. He then withdrew and the board 
took aetion removing him from membership. 

I do not think this action can be sustained. The charges agamst him 
were not of a serious character. At the most they only affected his acts as 
<?lerk and not as a member of the board. He had been elected as a trustee 
by the ]yeople. He could not be removed except for cause affecting his 
character or his administration of the office of trustee. The retention of a 
book of records, which had come into his hands as clerk, was not such a 
cause. Then, too, his answer to the charges seems to me very reasonable 
and effectual. Beyond this there are some evident irregularities in the 
proceedings of the board which could not be overlooked if they were to 
become material to the determination of the appeal. Taking all these 
things iiito consideration, I am obliged to sustain the appeal. Per A. S. 
Dmper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3581, March 26, 1887. 

Are successors of former trustees. 

The trustees of a union free school district are the legal successors of 
the trustees of the several districts consolidated, and, of course, are entitled 
to receive the several moneys apportioned on account of those districts. 
Per E. W, Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, April 10, 1865. 



Union Free School Districts. 769 

Must make reports to school commissioners. 

The board of education of a union free school must make to the school 
commissioner the same kind of a report as is required of trustees. Per S. 
D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, October 9, 1865. 

Treasurer and collector of union free school district cannot be a member of board of 

education. 

It is not legal for the board of education to appoint a member thereof 
treasurer of the board. The treasurer of the board and collector must each 
execute and deliver to the board a bond conditioned for the faithful dis- 
charge of the duties of his oflSce. The law contemplates a treasurer and 
collector separate and distinct from the board. It might become necessary 
for the board to sue the treasurer or collector. He, being a member of the 
board, could not unite with them in suing himself. Per 8. D. Barr, Deputy 
Superintendent, October 13, 1865. 

Board of education of a union free school district cannot appoint as treasurer or col- 
lector a person who is not a taxable inhabitant of the district; but if the one ap- 
pointed collector possesses personal property valued at $50, exclusive of such as is 
by law exempt from levy and sale on execution, he is a taxable inhabitant. 

It is not in the power of the board of education of a union free school 
district to appoint as treasurer or collector a person who is not a taxable 
inhabitant of the district; but if the person appointed collector possesses 
personal property of the value of $50, exclusive of such as is by law exempt 
from levy and sale on execution, he is a taxable inhabitant within the 
meaning of the act. It is not conclusive evidence that he is not a taxable 
inhabitant because his name does not appear on the assessment-roll of the 
town. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, November 20, 1865. 



The trustees of a union free school district elected at the first meeting enter upon their 
office forthwith, and hold office until one, two or three years from the second Tues- 
day of October coincident with or following their election. 

The trustees of union free school districts may and should enter upon 
their duties immediately after their election, and they hold their office 
until one, two and three years " from the second Tuesday of October, coin- 
cident with or following their election." Among other things, it is the 
purpose of section five to make provision : First, for the term of office of 
trustees elected in and for union free school districts, at the annual meet- 
ing on the second Tuesday of October. Those elected at such time hold 
their office by virtue of their election. Second, for the term of office of 
those who shall be elected when the district shall be formed prior to the 
second Tuesday of October, the time of holding the annual meeting. 
These hold their office by virtue of their election until the second Tuesday in 
the next following October, and one, two and three years thereafter, accord- 
ing to the class to which by the action of the meeting they may have been 
assigned. You will not fail to perceive that, after the first organization of 
union free school districts, other than those whose limits correspond with 
those of any city or incorporated village, the term of office of trustees 
expires on the day of the annual meeting, and that, after the first annual 
meeting, no class hold office by virtue of their election for more than one, 
two or three years. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, December 21, 1865. 

97 



770 Union Free School Districts. 

Powers of board over pupils and studies. 

A pupil may be expelled from the school by order of tlie board of edu- 
cation for immoral couduct or persistent disobedience. 

The board has the right to prescribe the course of study and the text- 
books. 

Tlie board has the further i-ight to require regular and prompt attend- 
ance on the part of the pupils. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 
22, 1866. 

Board of education of union free school districts can at any time appoint a new treas- 
urer or collector. 

By examining section 7 of the Union Free School Law of 1864 you will 
find that the treasurer and collector of union free school districts hold their 
offices during the pleasure of the board of education. Hence, the board 
can at any time appoint a new treasurer or collector. In case of an ap- 
pointment the board should, by resolution, direct the clerk to give the for- 
mer incumbent notice that a person has been appointed to succeed him in 
the office, and require him to turn over to his successor all papers, funds 
and other matters connected with the office. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Su- 
perintendent, May 11, 1866. {Letters, wl 5, p. 380.) 

A union free school district which has once determined upon the number 
of trustees constituting the board of education has no power to increase or 
diminish the number. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, November 
24, 1866. 

The voters in vinion free school districts have no power to fill vacancies that may occur 
in the board of education. That power is conferred upon the remaining members of 
the board. 

A vacancy having occurred in the board of education of union free school 
district No. 13, town of Islip, by the removal of one of the members from 
the district, a special meeting held thereafter assumed the right to fill the 
same by an election. 

The action of the meeting in question was, and is hereby declared null 
and void, and the remaining men>bers of the board of education for that 
district should themselves proceed, as provided by law, 9th clause of 
section 13, title 9, of the General School Act, to fill the vacancy in the 
ofiBce of trustee caused by the removal of one of their number from the 
district, Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, October 23, 1868. 

The provisions of subdivision 10, of section 10, of title 9, General School Act, relating 
to the removal of members of a board of education for official misconduct, are nol 
in conflict with the provisions of section 26, relating to the same. The jurisdiction 
of the board and of the Superintendent is concurrent. 

On an appeal from a member of the board of education who had been 
expelled from the board by the action of his associates for alleged official 
misconduct, the appellant took exception to the action of the board upon 
the ground that, under the provisions of the law applicable to such dis- 
tricts, an academy had been adopted as an academical department of said 
school and that thereafter the said " board had no authority to entertain 
charges and try its members for official misconduct, such power being 
vested in the Superintendent of Public Instruction." Sections 25 and 26, 
of title 9, of the General School Act, are cited in support of this position. 

The position is entirely untenable and derives no support from the sec- 
tions cited. The powers given to the Superintendent, in section 26, are in 



Union Free School Districts. Til 

no wise dependent upon the establisliment of an academical department, 
nor are they in conflict with tlie authorit}^ given to a board of education by 
subdivision 10 of section 10 of tlie same title, " To remove any member of 
their board for official misconduct.' Tlie action of the board is dis- 
approved upon other grounds involving the merits of the proceeding. 
Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 10, 1871. 

Board ot education in a union free school district have no power to appoint a treas- 
urer from their ovvu number. 

The appointment, by a board of education, of one of their own number 
to the office of treasurer is an unauthorized act, and it can derive no legal 
sanction from any length of time during which such an abuse of authority 
had been perpetrated ; there is the same inconsistency in a trustee of a 
union school district holding tlie office of treasurer that there is in the trus- 
tee of a common school district holding that of district collector, and that 
is expressly prohibited by statute. 

The impropriety of such a course is manifest from the relations of the 
treasurer to the board. The abuse of his position that might be perpetrated 
by a person obtaining the office of a member of a board of education in 
order by his own vote or influence in the board to facilitate his appoint- 
ment to that of treasurer is too obvious to admit of such an appointment in 
the absence of express authority to make it. But there is no such authority 
and the attempt to exercise it is in direct conflict with the spirit and evi- 
dent intent of the law. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, February 17, 
1873. 

ACADEMICAL DEPARTMENT. 

Boards of education cannot abolish an academical department of a union free school 
district, while the district remains in existence. 

The board cannot rent the school buildings for any purpose whatever which will inter- 
fere with the ordinary workings of the public schools. 

Union free school district No. 1, Wilson, Niagara county, was establislied, 
and the Wilson Collegiate Institute was by resolution adopted as the 
academical department of said district. 

This appeal is brought from the action of the board of education in 
abolishing the academical department of the district and in renting the 
school building, or part thereof, to one S. J. Pardee for the purpose of con- 
ducting a private school therein. 

It is clearly the duty of the board of education of said district to main- 
tain such union free school and academical department therein until the 
same shall have been dissolved under the provisions of chapter 210, laws 
of 1880. Trustees of a school district have no right to allow the building 
to be used for any purpose whatever which will interfere with the ordinary 
workings of the public schools. The inhabitants of a district are entitled 
to all the benefits of free education as contemplated by the law. 

Board directed to comply with the law^ and maintain a school. Per 
Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3068, February 21, 1881. 

COSTS AND EXPENSES. 

Expenses of a member of the board of education in defending action brought against 

him. 

This appeal is brought from the action of the annual meeting in ordering 
payment of the sum of $235 to one of the trustees for the legal expenses 
incuiTcd by him in defending certain actions brought against him. 



772 Union Free School Districts. 

From November 28, 1882, until June 30, 1883, Sandford S. Gowdey was 
emploj^ed as principal teacher in the school in that district. The board of 
education in May, 1883, assumed to discharge Gowdey from the duties of 
his office, the discharge to take effect on the 30th of June, 1883. In July, 
1883, Gowdey claimed that he had not been legally discharged, and appeared 
at the school-house of the district and interfered with a teacher, employed 
by the board of education in the discharge of her duties, and oi-dered her 
and the trustees to vacate the school at once. Gowdey insisted upon his 
right of possession of the school-house as teacher for several days thereafter. 
Finall}- the board held a special meeting to consider what action should be 
taken in the premises to stop the intrusion of Gowdey, and at the meeting 
a resolution was unanimously adopted directing George W. Payne, the 
president of the board, to employ counsel to "defend'' the board in the 
matter of the dispute between said board and Gowdey. Payne was ad- 
vised by counsel to make complaint to a justice of the peace and have said 
Gowdey arrested forthwith. On the 8th of September Payne reported to 
the board the retaining of Benjamin W, Downing as counsel and the advice 
given by him, and the board then and there adopted a resolution, instruct- 
ing Payne to cause the arrest of said Gowdey. Acting under this instruc- 
tion, Payne made a complaint against Gowdey to Justice Van Nostrand, of 
Flushing, who issued a wau-ant for his aiTest. The case coming on for 
trial, counsel deeming the warrant irregular withdrew it, and immediately 
procured another from the justice. The prisoner was immediately re-ar- 
rested and thereupon tried and acquitted. After his acquittal, Gowdey 
brought two suits against Payne in the Supreme Court in Queens county, 
one for false imprisonment and one for malicious prosecution, laying his 
damages at $10,000 in each suit. These suits were tried at the January cir- 
cuit following. The plaintiff was nonsuited in both cases. The first case 
was dismissed on the ground that the warrant was a good one, and in the 
second case (the action for malicious prosecution), on the ground that upon 
his own testimony, there was probable cause for the arrest of the plaintiff 
by the trustee, for disturbing the school. Following this a suit was brought 
by Payne's counsel in these cases, in a justices' court, against the board of 
education, some time in June or July, 1884. In this suit the complaint 
charged that the plaintiff and B. W. Downing, rendered certain services 
for said board, at its request, and that the reasonable value of such services 
was $200. The answer of the defendant denied that the services were ren- 
dered at the request of the defendant, or for its benefit. The judgment for 
the defendant in this case seems to have been based upon the ground, that 
the plaintiff never had any privity with the defendant, and that he failed 
to show that he legally derived his claim through any person who was in 
privity with such defendant. The counsel. Drew and Downing, thereupon 
demanded payment for these services from the trustee Payne, who at the 
annual meeting presented an account in writing of the costs, charges and 
expenses paid by him, with the items thereof, verified by his oath or 
affirmation, and asked the adoption of the resolution by the meeting, that 
the same might be assessed upon the taxable property of the district, and 
when collected to be paid over to said Payne. 

There are two questions worthy of consideration in this case. 

First. Was the determination of the case of Drew against the board of 
education of such a character as to constitute res ncljudiadi? 

Secondly. Was Payne a district officer within the meaning of sections 7 
and 8, title 13, of the Code of Public Instruction ? 

A party setting up an estoppel by reason of a former adjudication, must 
by competent evidence prove affirmatively that the issues on the former ad- 



Union FiiEE School Distkicts. 773 

iudication were the same, and between the same parties or their privies. 
Now, it appears that the action of Drew against the board of education pro- 
ceeded upon the theory that he and his partner, Downing, were employed 
by the board. The judgment of dismissal in this case was based upon the 
ground that they were not so employed, and this was undoubtedly correct. 
Downing and Drew were employed by direction of the board of education 
in a criminal action against Growdey, out of which grew the suits for false 
imprisonment and malicious prosecution brought by Gowdey against Payne. 
who had, in the criminal action, made the complaint under the direction of 
the board. It cannot be held that the judgment of dismissal, in the action 
of Drew against the board of education, could in any way estop a district 
meeting from legally adopting the resolution from which this appeal is 
taken, if Payne was a district officer, within the meaning of sections 7 and 
8, title 13 of the Code of Public Instruction. This leads to the second 
question. 

Was Payne a district officer within the meaning of sections 7 and 8, title 
XIII of the Code of Public Instruction? 

While the board of education is a corporation, and the individuality of 
its members is lost sight of in the action of the board, yet each member of 
the board must be regarded as a school officer; especially so, where the 
board delegates to, or charges a member with certain definite duties. Such 
was the case in the proceeding w^hich led to the resolution of the annual 
meeting and to this appeal. The board of education vexed and annoyed 
by the action of Gowdey, whom they had assumed to discharge from his 
position as teacher by a formal resolution, directed the president to take 
legal advice as to the best means to defend the board under the circum- 
stances. Payne did as he was directed, and reported back to the board 
the advice he received, and was in terms empowered and directed to cause 
the arrest of Gowdey for disturbing the school. All these proceedings 
were taken in good faith ; Gowdey was arrested, tried and acquitted. Up 
to this point the board of education was directly responsible for the action 
of its agent, and had suit been brought by counsel against the board for 
services in tliis criminal proceeding, and for the advice given to Payne, 
acting as its agent and president, there can be no doubt that recovery would 
have been had. But now, Gowdey commenced his two actions in the 
supreme court against Payne. There is no doubt, from the evidence, that 
in the trial of these two cases it was shown that Payne's action in the arrest 
of Gowdey was taken as trustee ; and in these cases he was forced to defend 
the suits brought against him for his action as trustee. So. that from the 
beginning to the end of the controversy, Payne acted in his capacity as a 
district officer. I think there can be no doubt these actions involved the 
rights and interests of the district, and that it was within the province of 
the district to provide for the payment of the reasonable costs, charges and 
expenses of the district officers. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3399, March 12, 1885. 

Trustees have the legal right to employ an architect to draw plans and specifications 
when necessary. 

The district meeting has the power to vote a tax to pay architect. 

The district meeting can increase an amount previously voted to build a new school- 
house. 

When interest is due on the purchase price of a lot for school-house site, the district 
meeting has power to vote a tax for the same. 

One objection raised in this appeal is to the action of the annual meeting 
in voting a tax of |400 for the ser\'ices of an architect. 

It appears that previous to the annual meeting of 1885, the district had 



774 Union Fkee School Districts. 

regularly directed the erection of a new school-house and the purchase of a 
site therefor. The sum of $12,000 was voted for the erection of such build- 
ing, and the trustees directed to issue bonds therefor. The board of 
education employed an architect to draw plans and specifications for the 
new building and expended other smaller items in the work preparatory to 
the erection thereof. The appellant does not object to the legality of these 
charges, but says that "at a special meeting of said district, held on the 
2d of May, 1885, it was voted and intended that the said proposed school- 
house was to be paid for by the sale of bonds of the district to the amount 
of $12,000, tiie proceeds of which with the sale of the old school-house and 
site should pay the entire expense of said new proposed school-house, and 
an annual meeting cannot now add to the cost and burden of such new 
school-iiouse by their resolution and tax levy." This objection is without 
force, as the employment of the architect by the board was not only legal 
but may have been necessary, and the annual meeting could legally vote a 
tax for the same; and it is not in the power of a district meeting to 
vote a certain amount to build a new school-house, and then prohibit any 
future meeting from increasing such estimate or amount. 

Another objection is to the action of the meeting in voting a tax to pay 
interest. It appears that the district had purchased a new site of one 
Philip Van Horn; that said Van Horn had a valid and legal claim against 
the district for $3,000, the purchase price of this site. The bonds issued by 
the district to pay for such site have been declared void for the reason that 
they were unauthorized by the statute which gives authority to issue bonds 
only for the erection of a new school-house. The interest becoming due 
on said purchase price by virtue of the contract by which the said Van 
Horn sold the said lot to the district, the board included the amount of 
this interest in their estimate and it was voted by the annual meeting. In. 
view of all the circumstances involved in the contract with Van Horn, I am 
of the opinion that he has a valid claim against the district for the interest 
on the purchase price of said site. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Super- 
intendent. Decision No. 3467, January 15, 1886. 

Note.— By the amendment to section 10, title 9, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, union 
free school districts can vote a tax to be raised in installments and issue bonds to 
secure the payment of such installments for the purchase of a school-house site.— J. 
E. K. 

RULES OF BOARD OP EDUCATION RELATING TO THE CONTRACT WITH 

TEACHERS. 

The rules of a board of education in relation to hiring teachers must be considered to- 
gether, and not one to the exclusion of the other. 

A teacher seeking to avail himself of one rule of the board, is equally bound by all 
existing rules; one, and a very important one, being that all teachers are expected 
to attend the monthly teachers' meeting. 

Mr. Andrews was employed as teacher of music in the schools at 
Yonkers, from the 1st of September, 1881, until August, 1885. On the 
11th day of August, the following resolution was adopted by the board: 

'' Renohed, That the employment of a professional music teacher will 
hereafter be dispensed with, and that the committee on teachers and 
instruction be directed to prepare and submit to this board for its approval, 
at the next regular meeting, a course of study in music, and a schedule of 
the time to be devoted to this branch of education, in all the schools under 
the tuition of the principals and school teachers." 

When the appellant first entered upon his duties as teacher in Yonkers^ 



Union Yrek School Districts. "^"^^ 

the following rule seems to have been adopted but did not go into opera- 
tion until October of that year, to-wit: '' The teacher's employment shall 
be by the school year, and the board of education shall, in case they do 
not require any further service of a teacher after the end of any school 
year, notify such teacher in writing,- on or before the first day of August, 
in that year, that his or her services will not be required for the next 
school year.'' On the 14th of April, 1885, this rule was revised so as to 
provide that in case the board of education shall require the furtiier services 
of a teacher, after the end of any school year, the teacher shall be notified 
in writing on or before the third day of July in that year, that his or her 
services will be required for the next school year, and such re-employment 
sliall be binding for the year, upon the teacher giving notice, in writing, 
of his assent thereto to the board, on or before the first day of August. 

Rule 24 of the board requires that, "Each teacher and janitor shall be 
furnished witli a copy of these rules." 

It is contended by the appellant that no notice of the amended rule was 
given him at any time prior to the letter of the secretary of the board, 
dated August the 11th, and that, therefore, the appellant had the right to 
assume that his services were to be continued for another school year, as 
provided in " old rule 4." 

This objection, however, is fairly met by the respondents, who show that 
rule 12, subdivision 8, "Old Rules," which appears as rule 13, sub- 
division 8, of the revised rules, provides that, "Teachers' meetings are to 
be held in each month, at whicli meeting the teachers, by virtue of said 
rule, are expected to attend, and absence from these meetings shall be 
regarded as absence from school sessions. Rule 15, subdivision 11, form- 
erly known as rule 14, subdivision 11, provides that all teachers shall be 
required to attend monthly teachers' meetings, and no excuse will be 
accepted for non-attendance at a teachers' meeting which would not be a 
valid excuse for absence from the day school. 

It is evidence that at a regular teachers' meeting, held on the 18th day 
of April, 1885, in compliance with subdivision 10, rule 13, formerly known 
as rule 12, subdivision 10, which provides that he shall enforce the rules of 
the board, and also by expressed directions of the committee on teachers 
and instruction of said board, the superintendent of the schools of Yonkers, 
Charles E. Gorton, read the revised rule to the teachers at said meeting, 
known as rule No. 6, which provides that no notice will be given to 
teachers in case their services will not be required. The superintendent 
not only read said rule to the teachers at said meeting, but fully and in 
detail explained its meaning. If the appellant had been present at the 
meeting, as it seems was his duty, he would have received notice of the 
revised rule ; and it appears to have been a neglect ot duty on his part in 
not attending the teachers' meeting which caused his failure to be advised 
of the change of rule, if he was not otherwise so advised. 

All these rules and regulations must be considered, and not one to the 
exclusion of others. These rules, rule 4 in the first instance and rule 6 
which takes its place, were clearly rules and regulations of the board, the 
latter as much so as the former, and rule 6 was in operation in April, 1885, 
four months before the teacher's term of service had expired. The appel- 
lant seeking to avail himself of one rule of the board, is equally bound by 
all existing rules; one and a very important one, being that all teachers are 
expected to attend the monthly teachers' meeting. 

Considering all the circumstances of the case, and the application of the 
several rules referred to, the appeal must be overruled and the action 
appealed from sustained. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. 
Decision No. 3483, March 19, 1886. 



776 Union J^'ree ^School Districts. 

CONTINGENT EXPENSES OF BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

Ordinary contingent expenses, within the meaning of title IX of the Code of Public 
Instruction, are those which are to be incurred for replacing some part of the school 
district property which has been worn out or destroyed, btit cannot be made to in- 
clude material additions to school-houses or new systems either of heating or ven- 
tilation. 

The limits of union free school district No. 29, town of Onondaga, cor- 
respond with the corporate limits of the village of Danforth. 

In the annual report of the board of trustees of the village of Danforth, 
an estimate of the board of education submitted to said village board: 

"For finishing the building, upper stories and upper blinds, $550. For 
heating apparatus and also a suitable system of ventilation, after plans 
similar to those of Seymour school building, $1,000." 

These items were not allowed by the village trustees, on the ground that 
neither of said expenditures is within the power of the board of education 
to make, unless a tax therefor shall have first been voted by the tax payers 
of said village, in the manner provided by law for raising taxes to defray 
what are termed in the statute extraordinary expenditures. 

I am asked to decide whether the items referred to, or either of them, 
are ordinary contingent expenses. Ordinary contingent expenses, within 
the meaning of title IX of the Code of Public Instruction, are those which 
are to be incurred for replacing some part of the school district property 
which has been worn out or destroyed, but they cannot be made to include 
material additions to school-houses or new systems either of heating or 
ventilation. 

In this view of the case, I do not think the item for finishing the build- 
ing of the upper stories can be regarded as an ordinary contingent expen- 
diture, nor the item " for heating apparatus and suitable system of venti- 
lation, after plans similar to those of the Seymour school building." On the 
other hand, if the second floor is now occupied for school purposes, I think 
that portion of the first item objected to by the village trustees, " for in- 
side blinds entire second floor," being a necessary, or at least advisable, 
substitute for shades or outside blinds, may be regarded as ordinary con- 
tingent expense, so that the trustee should allow the $100 asked for this 
])urpose. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. , Decision No. 
8505, April 6, 1886. 

CLERK. 

A " union free school district" is not entitled to elect a district clerk in 
addition to the board of education. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintend- 
ent, September 27, 1865. 

In union free school districts the clerk of the board is the district clerk, 
and as such is the proper person to give notice of special meetings of the 
voters. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, May 11, 1866. 



FORMATION OF. 

Duty of trustees to call meeting for. 

Trustees have no right to refuse to call a special meeting for the purpose 
of considering the question of organizing a union free school, when re- 
quested by fifteen legal voters of the district to call such meeting. Per V. 
M. Ride, Superintendent, March 21, 1866. 



Union Free School jJistkicts. '^--j'^ 

The notice of a meeting to form a union free school district must state the qualificu- 

tious of voters as required by law. 
The trustees of a union free school district must be elected by ballot. 

It appears that the meeting decided to organize a union free school, and 
that the voters proceeded to elect Wm. P. Delamater, James H. Blmen- 
dorf and James Robison as trustees of said union free school district, but 
that they did not elect said trustees by ballot. The appellants ask to have 
the proceedings of said meeting declared void and set aside on the follow- 
ing grounds: First, because the notices were not made in accordance with 
law, the qualifications of voters not being therein stated, as required by 
section 1 of title IX of the General School Act of 1864. Second, because the 
trustees were not elected by ballot, as required by section 5 of the same 
title and act. These points are well taken by the appellants, and are suf- 
ficient to sustain the appeal. Much as the Superintendent desires to en- 
courage the formation of union free schools, anxious as he is to sustain 
trustees and inhabitants in such efforts, he cannot go outside of the law to 
organize them. The provisions of law in regard to the organization of such 
schools are plain and easily understood, and unless they are observed by 
trustees and inhabitants those individuals will have had their labor in vain. 
The proceedings of said special meeting are hereby declared void. Noth- 
ing contained in this decision should be construed as preventing or pro- 
hibiting the trustees of said district from calling another special meeting 
of the inhabitants of the said district, at any time, for the purpose of deter- 
mining whether a union free school shall be established therein. Per V. 
M. Rice, Superintendent, May 21, 1866. 

The notice of a meeting to organize a union free school need not recite the names of 

the petitioners. 
If the notice contain irrelevant matter it will be regarded as surplusage. 

A special meeting was held, pursuant to notice, on the 13th of July, 1867, 
for the purpose of determining whether a union free school with an aca- 
demic department should be organized therein, which question was decided 
in the affirmative by the requisite majority. 

The appellants object to said proceedings, and ask to have them set aside 
for the following reasons : 

1. Because the names of the persons signing the original call are not 
affixe<l to the trustees' notice. 

2. Because the notice includes, as part of the object of the meeting, the 
establishment of an academical department. 

3. On account of the alleged refusal of the chairman of said meeting to 
entertain certain motions offered by the minority. 

4. On account of the reception of the vote of one Charles Riely, who, it 
is alleged, is not a legal voter. 

In answer to the first charge made by the appellants, it is sufficient to 
say that the law docs not require trustees, in their notice of a meeting to 
decide whether a union free school shall be organized, to recite the names 
of the signers of the original call. {See section 1, title IX, General School Act.) 

The insertion in the notice of the words ''with the academical depart- 
ment attached " is simply surplusage. That was a matter over which the 
meeting could obtain no jurisdiction, whatever was stated in the notice. 
Such a department may be organized in a union free school district when- 
ever in the opinion of the board of education, it shall be necessary. The 
action of said meeting upon this subject can be of no binding force upon 
the board of education, nor does such action invalidate the other proceed- 
ings of the meeting. 

98 



778 Union Free School Districts. 

The testimony submitted in support of the third charge does not show 
that the chairman exceeded his powers, or abused the discretion ordinarily 
reposed in a presiding officer, in any material point. The appellants com- 
plain that, after a vote had been taken upon the question of holding open 
the polls for fifteen minutes, and a division of the house called for, the 
chairman refused to order such division. It appears, however, that such 
division was not called for until the motion had been declared carried, and 
that thus, according to parliamentary usage, the chairman was right in. 
refusing to order the division. So, too, complaint is made that Votes 
were received after the polls were closed, or, rather, after the lists had been 
twice called over. But these votes having been received before the result 
was announced, the appellants cannot complain that they were illegally 
received. 

In regard to Charles Riely, the appellants claim that he was disqualified 
from voting because, during the late war, he shirked the draft by abscond- 
ing to Canada. Such conduct ought, in the opinion of the Superintendent, 
to disqualify a man from exercising any of the privileges of citizenship, 
but I am not aware of any statute in force in this State by which either 
deserters, shirks or rebels are disfranchised. It further appears that after 
Riely was challenged, his vote was not accepted until he had made the 
declaration required by law. The proceedings of said meeting seem to have 
been conducted with as much regularity and order as is usual in meetings 
of that character, and I must decline to interfere for the purpose of setting 
them aside. The appeal is hereby dismissed. Per V. M. Rice, Superin- 
tendent, September 7, 1867. 

Where no attempt 7S made to serve the notice required by section 2, title IX of the Gen- 
eral School Act, for the purpose of a meeting to form a union free school, the pro- 
ceedings will be set aside. 

In the matter of an appeal from a meeting at which it was voted to organ- 
ize a union free school, it appears that notices of such meeting were posted 
in five public places within the district, and were published in a newspaper 
published in the village, for the usual length of time; but the voters were 
not personally notified of the meeting as required by section 2, title IX of the 
General School Act. Other irregularities in the conduct of the meeting, 
are noted, but held not to be fatal. 

Had an attempt been made to serve the notices required, the accidental 
omission of some might be overlooked, but no such attempt having been 
made, the entire provision of lav; having been ignored, I do not see how I 
can do otherwise than sustain the appeal. No one will presume that an 
assemblage of voters, however numerous, would have power, without some 
previous notice, to go on and organize a union free school. Proceedings 
declared void. Per A. B. "Weaver, Superintendent, July 17, 1868. 

Proceedings for the organization of a union free school district will not be set aside 
solely on the ground that the notices for such meeting were not served by a taxable 
inhabitant. 

The appeal is brought from the action of a special meeting organizing a 
union free school district. The objection raised, is that the notice of said 
meeting was served by a person not a taxable inhabitant. 

Held, that the proceedings appealed from will not be set aside because of 
a mere technical irregularity at one point where no bad faith was shown, 
and which resulted in injury to no one. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. 
Decision No. 2824, February 24, 1879. 



Union Free School Districts. 779 

Departmeut cannot order that a union free school district be formed. It is a matter 
entirely within the power of the inhabitants of the territory of the proposed district. 
The department will, however, order a new meeting when it appears that the voters 
were prevented from expressing their honest convictions upon (he question. 

A special meeting was held in districts Nos. 2, 8, 19 and 20, of the town 
of Queensbury, Warren county, to organize a union free scliool district. 
The meeting refused to form such district, and the appeal is brought from 
the action of the meeting. 

I am asked to order another meeting to be held to pass upon the ques- 
tion of organizing a union free school district out of and for said several 
school districts. As Superintendent of Public Instruction, I not only have 
the power, but it is my duty to order a new meeting, if it be shown that 
the voters at said meeting were prevented from expressing their honest con- 
victions upon the question at issue. The purpose of the law is to give every 
legal voter a full, fair and free opportunity to cast his ballot for or against 
the proposition. The law leaves the formation of a union free school dis- 
trict entirely to the inhabitants of the territory proposed to be included in 
such district, and it is not within the jurisdiction of this department to 
direct tliat such district shall be formed. It is, however, the duty of this 
department to see that any meeting for such a purpose, is so held and con- 
ducted that the question proposed, shall be fairly disposed of. 

Held^ that the meeting was conducted in so boisterous a manner and 
amid such great confusion, that a full, free and fair vote of the voters at- 
tending could not be had, and the meeting, therefore, null and void. A 
new meeting ordered. Per Neil Gilmoiu, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3106, July 23, 1881. 

Formation of union free school district; regularity of notice; manner of taking the vote 
for the formation and election of trustees. 

The appeal is from the action of a special meeting forming a union free 
school district, on the grounds of irregularity of notice, improperly taking 
the vote upon the question, and that such district is against the interests of 
the people, and will not be advantageous to the schools. 

The formation of a union free school district is a statutory proceeding 
purely, and if the local authorities comply with the provisions of title 9 of 
the Code of Public Instruction, the statute itself creates the union free 
school district, ipsofacto^ so that no discretion rests with the State Superin- 
tendent to determine the expediency or the advisability of the action taken. 

As to the first objection, I find from the evidence that school districts 
Nos. 1 and 5 correspond in part with the incorporated village of Cleveland 
in which is published a weekly newspaper; that a notice as required by sec- 
tion 2, title 9 of the General School Act was published in said newspaper 
called the Lakeside Presa, regular in form, containing the request of fifteen 
legal voters from each of said districts, calling a meeting, to be held May 
18, 1885, "for the purpose of determining whether said districts" should 
"be consolidated by the establishment of a union free school therein." 
This notice was published three weeks successively, once in each week, 
commencing the 25th day of April and ending the 16th day of May. There 
is no other newspaper published in said village. I find, also, that five copies 
of the notice as published were posted in various conspicuous places in each 
of the districts affected, at least twenty days before the day for which the 
meeting was called. This was sufficient notice under the statute. 

The appellants deem that voting by ballot on the question of the forma- 
tion of the union school district is required to give validity to the proceed- 
ings. I see no force in this objection. The statute does not, either ex- 



780 Union Free School Districts. 

pressly or by any form of implication, suggest that the vote should be so 
taken, and I see no reason to question the propriety of ascertaining the will 
of a majority by taking and recording the ayes and noes, as was done in 
this case. After the determination to form a union free school district has 
been reached, the law provides that the members of the board of education 
shall be chosen by baUot, and this seems to have been done by the electors 
at the meeting in question. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision 
No. 3433, April 22, 1885. 

POWER OF SCHOOL COMMISSIONER TO ALTER. 

School commissioners have the power to alter the boundaries of union free school 

districts. 
It is the policy of the State to encourage the formation of districts, so far as may be, 

within the limits of a single town. 

This is an appeal from an order of Lewis S. N. Miller, school commis- 
sioner of the second district of Rensselaer county, made upon the 11th day 
of January, 1886, whereby a portion of Union Free School District, No. G.' 
of the town of North Greenbush, was set oil from said district No. 6 and 
attached to district No. 2 (which is a common school district) of the town of 
Greenbush, and also from an order of the said school commissioner and the 
supervisor and town clerk of the town of Greenbush, made upon the 30th 
day of January, 1886, to the same effect as the first mentioned order. 

There are two distinct questions in this case : 

First, whether a school commissioner has the power to divide or change 
the boundaries of a union free school district, and. 

Second, if he has the power, whether it was properly and judiciously 
exercised in this case, so as to promote the best interests of education in 
the locality affected. 

The power of a school commissioner to alter a union free school district 
is earnestly contested by the appellants. It is ably urged upon the argu- 
ment that by enacting the legislation providing for the formation and 
organization of union free schools, and for the government thereof, and 
particularly the enactment of chapter 210 of the laws of 1880, providing 
for the dissolution of union free school districts, the legislature showed its 
intention to leave it altogether to the residents of the district to determine 
whether or not they would have a union free school district, and also to 
deprive school commissioners from exercising over these districts the powers 
which they possess in relation to common school districts. The question 
is an important one. Although I find cases where the department has sus- 
tained commissioners in making orders affecting the boundaries of union 
free school districts, and one case, at least, where the department has 
overruled a commissioner in refusing to. make such an order and directed 
him to make it; I do not find that the power of a commissioner to make the 
order has been raised before the department, or that it has ever assumed to 
determine that question. 

It has been the policy of the State, from its earliest history, to confer 
upon the school authorities the power to divide the territory of the State 
into districts of such convenient size as would enable the inhabitants of 
each district to manage their affairs in their own way, subject to the gen- 
eral oversight and supervision of the State department, and also to alter 
and modify districts at pleasure according to the development of the terri- 
tory or changes in population. By section 1 of title 6 of chapter 555 of 
the laws of 1864, the duty of making such divisions and alterations is 
imposed upon the school commissioners in their respective commissioner 



Union Free School Districts. 781 

districts. The statutes providing for the changing of common school dis- 
tricts into union free school districts, leave it to the inhabitants of any 
district so laid out, or of adjoining districts co-operating together, to 
determine whether or not they will establish a union free school and become 
a union free school district, and upon their determining to do so, they are 
invested with certain enlarged powers and privileges. 

The purpose of this is obvious. The union free school system contem- 
plates and provides for a school of high grade with an academic depart- 
nient. The management of such a school requires a system more complex 
than that of a common school district. The people who desire, and set up, 
such a school are ordinarily the people to be safely intrusted with the com- 
plex machinery requisite to the management thereof. It evidently was the 
intention of the legislature to enable the inhabitants of any locality to 
establish schools of a grade and character suited to their circumstances and 
wants, and to invest such inhabitants with the powers necessary to the 
government of such schools, but the statutes which do this contain no sug- 
gestion of an intention to modify the general and long-settled regulations 
for the division of all the territory of the State into districts of such size 
and form as the authorities charged with the general supervision of educa- 
tion should deem best adapted to promote the interests of the same. 

The act providing for the dissolution of union free school districts is 
urged by the appellants as a legislative construction of the statutes pro- 
viding for the formation of such districts. 

It is said that if school commissioners possess the power to change the 
boundaries of union free school districts, then there was no legislative act 
necessary to enable them to dissolve such districts. 

I do not think so. The power to regulate the shape and size of a dis- 
trict is distinct from the power to determine the grade of the schools and 
the system of government within the district. 

The first power is with the commissioner; the last with the inhabitants 
of the district. Of course, both must act pursuant to the law. The act 
for the dissolution of union free school districts is only to enable them to 
change back from a union free school, and its system of government, to a 
common school district and its way of doing business. It does not touch 
the subject of boundaries. It was an essential element in the general plan 
to enable any district to have the kind of school government it wants. 
Without it, the people who had voluntarily determined to organize a union 
free school would be unable to get rid of such a system even after they had 
demonstrated by experiment that they could not successfully maintain it. 
To obviate this difficulty, and to make the plan complete, chapter 210 of 
the laws of 1880 was enacted. 

To hold that school commissioners have not the power to divide or add 
to a union free school district, would be to change the entire policy of the 
State from its earliest history, in reference to the school district system. 
It is not conceivable that the legislature would have expressed its intention 
to do this by the use of any equivocal language, or that it would have left 
the authority for so important and far-reaching a step to rest only upon 
inference or implication. I am, therefore, constrained to hold that the 
commissioner making the order appealed from in this case, had the power 
to make it. 

This precise question has been before the courts in this State. In the 
case of the Peoyle^ etc., ex rel. The Board of Education of Union Free School 
District No. 2, Toion of Onondaga, v. James W. Hooper, School Commissioner^ 
etc., one of the ablest of our general terms, in a well-considered opinion 
delivered by the presiding judge, held that a school commissioner possessed 
the power to divide a union free school district. 



782 Union Free School Districts. 

Having arrived at the conclusion that the commissioner had the power to 
make the order which he did, and knowing of no objection being raised as 
to the regularity of the proceedings, the only question remains as to 
whether the commissioner acted with sound discretion and for the educa- 
tional interests of the territory affected. It is to be presumed that he did so 
act, in the absence of proof otherwise. There is no such proof. On the 
contrary, a careful examination of the papers and exhibits submitted, makes 
me of the opinion tliat the educational interests of the districts affected 
will be the best subserved by upholding the order of the commissioner for 
the following considerations: 

First. The district affected lies wholly in the town of Greenbush. Here- 
tofore it has been connected with a district the balance of which lies 
wholly in the town of North Greeubush. The order of the commissioner 
attaches this portion to a district lying wholly in the town of Greenbush. 
The best results have not been attained in districts lying in different towns, 
and it has always been the policy of the State to encourage the formation 
of districts so far as may be within the limits of a single town. A marked 
illustration of the unwisdom, and indeed of frequent injustice of disre- 
garding town lines in the formation of school districts, is found in the 
present case. The assessed valuation of real estate in the towm of Green- 
bush is shown to be at full value, while in ISTorth Greenbush such valuation 
is only forty-eight per cent of the real value. The result of this is that the 
people in the territory now set off have been taxed for the support of the 
schools more than twice as much as their neighbors in the same school 
district. 

Second. The school-house in the district to which the territory has been 
annexed is nearer and more conveniently located to the inhabitants of the 
district than is the school-house in the district from which it is set off. 

Third. The evidence shows that the people in the district affected desire 
to be set off as ordered, and it is the duty of the school authorities to 
respect such desire so far as reasonably practicable. The order ajDpealed 
from affirmed. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Appeal No. 3526, Sep- 
tember 3, 1886. 

POWERS. 

A viva voce vote to raise a tax for building in a union free school district is legal and 
binding upon inhabitants. Union free school districts may raise any necessary 
sum for buildmg without consent of supervisors. New building must be erected 
upon site now owned and occupied by district, unless inhabitants direct otherwise. 
Board must not sell or tear down old house without consent of inhabitants, nor 
must they fence school lot, or supply house with school furniture, without direc- 
tions from inhabitants. 

By virtue of section 10 of the Free School Act, your district had power 
to vote such sum as the inhabitants deemed necessary for the purpose of 
building a new school-house, and the same section gives the inhabitants 
power to direct that the tax voted by them shall be raised by installments 
without restricting them, as in the case of districts under the general act, 
to a vote "to be ascertaified by taking and recording the ayes and noes.'' 
The Superintendent is of the opinion, therefore, that a viw. voce vote to 
raise a tax for building in a union free school district is legal and binding 
upon the inhabitants. 

2. Union free school districts have power to raise any sum which the 
inhabitants may deem necessary for building purposes, without obtaining 
the consent of the school commissioner in whose district they are situated. 

3. A taxable inhabitant is one who is liable to be assessed, whether he 
is actuallv taxed or not. 



Union Fkee School Dl^^KICTS. 783 

4. Unless otherwise specially directed by the inhabitants the board of 
education must cause the new building to be erected on the site now owned 
and occupied by the district. 

5. Tlie board have no right to sell or tear down the old school-house, 
unless so specially directed by the inhabitants. 

6. Where the inhabitants have conferred upon the board the simple 
power to build a new house for the district, the Superintendent is of the 
opinion that the board cannot safely proceed to fence the school lot, or 
supply the house with ordinary school furniture, without further action on 
the part of the inhabitants. They may seat the house or furnish teachers' 
desks, etc., because these articles are fixtures, and form properly a part of 
the house ; but more than this the Superintendent would not advise them 
to do unless authorized by the inhabitants. Per V. M. Rice, Superintend- 
ent, October 24, 1864. 

Board of education of union free school districts have no power to levy a tax for 
payment of teachers' wages, without vote of district authorizing it, except an 
estimate of needful amount for this purpose has been presented by the board at 
some annual or special meeting, and inhabitants neglected or refused to vote said 
tax. 

The " board of education " of a union free school district have no power 
to levy a tax for the payment of teachers' wages without a vote of the dis- 
trict authorizing it, except where an estimate of the amount necessary for 
this purpose has been presented by the board to some annual or special 
meeting and the inhabitants have refused or neglected to vote said tax. 
{See sections 15, 16 and 17, title 9, chapter 555, Laics of 1864.) Per S. D. 
Barr, Deputy Superintendent, November 18, 1865. 

Union free school districts not limited to the amount they can raise for the building 
of school-houses, nor need they obtain consent of supervisor where more than $1,000 
is to be raised for that purpose. 

Union free school districts are not limited as to the amount they can 
raise for the purpose of building school-houses, nor is it necessary to 
obtain the consent of the school commissioner where an amount exceeding 
$1,000 is to be raised. Section 18 of title 7 states the general rule only, 
and is therefore limited by section 10 of title 9, which gives a special rule 
for certain specified districts. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, October 
3, 1866. 

No power to vote a tax for alleged services in affecting legislation in reference to the 

district. 

This is an appeal from the action of a school district meeting in union 
free school district No. 3, in the town of East Chester, county of West- 
chester, in voting to impose a tax of $1,290 upon said district, for the 
alleged purpose of paying the expense of lobbying against or opposing and 
procuring the defeat of a bill introduced in the legislature of this State 
during the session of 1868, to consolidate said district with certain other 
districts in said town. 

After careful examination and consideration, I have failed to find any 
authority or good reason to sustain the action of a school district meeting 
in voting a tax for the purpose of paying counsel to advocate or oppose a 
bill pending before the legislature. Collection of the said tax perpetually 
enjoined. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 21, 1868. 



7g4 Union I^'kle School Districts. 

There is no provision of law which deprives the voters in union free school districts of 
the right of choosing their own chairman, to preside at school meetings. Assump- 
tion by president of board of education of right to preside, not sustained. 

At the annual district meeting in union free school district No. 1, the 
president of the board of education in said district, claimed and exercised 
the right to preside. The voters present, at the same time claimed and 
exercised the riglit to appoint a chairman for that purpose. Much con-" 
fusion in the proceedings and much uncertainty as to the results, were the 
necessary consequence. The Superintendent, concerning the rights of the 
parties respectively, says: "There can be no doubt of the right of the 
voters at district meetings, to choose their own presiding officer. If a 
different rule could prevail in union free school districts, it must be in 
pursuance of some special provision of law. The respondents do not cite, 
nor am I aware of the existence of any such provision." ' 

The facts set forth, held to be a sufficient ground for setting aside the 
proceedings of the meeting. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 
12, 1869. 

THE UNIFORM BALLOT ACT. 

If the uniform ballot act does apply to school districts, and if the law had required 
that the vote in the present case should have been taken by ballot, and if said law as 
to uniformity of ballots had not been observed, the result would not, on that account, 
have been rendered void. 

Any person who knowingly or willfully violates, or attempts to violate, the statute re- 
lating to the uniformity of ballots, would be subject to a fine or imprisonment, but 
there is nothing in the law which would have set aside the results of an election held 
in violation of its provisions. 

This district, No. 3, town of Flushing, is operated under a special act. 
A special district meeting was called and held, at which it was voted to 
appropriate the sum of $7,500 for the enlargement of the school building. 

One of the appellants' objections to the regularity of this meeting, or its 
proceedings, is to the ballot, on the ground that the provisions of chapter 
867 of the laws of 1880, commonly known as the " Uniform Ballot Act,'* 
were not observed. The first section of this act is as follows: 

" Section 1. At all elections hereafter held within the limits of this 
State, for the purpose of enabling electors to choose by ballot any officer 
or officers under the laws of this State, or of the United States, or to pass 
upon any amendments, law or public act or proposition submitted to the 
electors to vote by ballot under any law, each and all ballots used at any 
such election shall be upon jDlain, white printing paper, and without any 
impression, device, mark or other peculiarity whatsoever upon or about 
them to distinguish one ballot from another in appearance, except the 
names of the several candidates, and they shall be printed in plain black 
ink." - 

It is conceded by the respondents that the ballots used were not in com- 
pliance with the provisions of this act. They varied in color, in size ; they 
were without the prescribed captions and they were not printed in the pre- 
scribed size of type. 

Whether or not it was tlie intention of the legislature that the provisions 
of the uniform ballot act should apply at elections held at school meetings, 
is a question which is by no means free from doubt. It is not necessary to 
determine that question, however, in order to dispose of the present case. 
Section 1 of the Uniform Ballot Act, above set forth, limits the operation 
of that act to cases where an officer is to be elected or an act or a propo- 
sition to be determined is "submitted to the electors to vote by ballot 
under any law.'''' There is nothing in the provisions of the statutes gov- 



Vacancy. 785 

erning tliis meeting which requires that the question at issue should be 
determined by ballot. It was only required by the board of education that 
they " shall submit the same to the electors of said district at an annual or 
at a special meeting to be called for that purpose." It is true that section 
3 of the special act, as amended, does provide that " all elections shall be 
by ballot," but this unquestionably refers to elections for members of the 
board of education, and I can see no requirement of the statute which 
necessitated the taking of the vote in this instance by ballot, however 
proper and perhaps desirable that it should be done in that way. Further- 
more, if the Uniform Ballot Act does apply to school districts, and if the 
law had required that the vote in the present case should have been taken 
by ballot, and if said law as to uniformity of ballots had not been observed 
the result would not on that account have been rendered void. Any per- 
son who knowingly or willfully violates, or attempts to violate, the statute 
relating to the uniformity of ballots would be subject to a fine or imprison- 
ment, but there is nothing in the law which would have set aside the re- 
sults of an election held in violation of its provisions. 

The objection that the result of the balloting was not announced by the 
inspectors, but rather by the president of the board of education, has no 
force. They canvassed the vote and made and signed a certificate of the 
result and passed it to the president of the board, who announced the re- 
sult in their presence and at the proper time, and the act must be deemed 
to have been their own act. 

The fifth objection, that the question is not within the jurisdiction of the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, cannot be sustained. It was un- 
doubtedly the intention of the legislature to permit this district to operate 
its schools upon a system peculiarly its own ; but to concede that it was 
thereby removed from the supervision of the State authorities would be 
destructive of the educational system of the State. The action appealed 
from affirmed. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Appeal No. 3513, 
August 4, 1886. 



YAGAKCY. 



Acceptance of incompatible office. 

A person elected at the same time clerk and trustee, and accepting the 
office of trustee, vacates the clerkship, and a new clerk must be elected or 
appointed in his place. Per Spencer, Superintendent, May 22, 1839. 

District officers cease to be such when set off from an old district to a new one. 

If a new district (15) was erected out of No. 2, and No. 2 was not de- 
clared a new district, it is in law the same district, although its territory 
may be diminished ; and the trustees and officers in office at the time of the 
division, and residing at No. 2, will continue such during the year for 
which they were elected. But such of them as reside in district No. 15 and 
do not change their residence to No. 2 cease to be officers of No. 2, by vir- 
tue of the provision of the statute which declares, in reference to a local 
officer, that a vacancy is created by an incumbent ceasing to be an inhabitant 
of the district for which he was appointed. Per Spencer, Superintendent, 
May 15, 1839. 

99 



786 Vacancy. 

A trustee cannot be librarian. 

A librarian is subject to the direction of the trustees and responsible to 
them. There is an incongruity in a man being subject and responsible to 
himself. There is the same incompatibility between the offices of librarian 
and trustee as collector and trustee. Per Spencer, Superintendent, Novem- 
ber 25, 1839. 

Where a town superintendent (supervisor) decides that a vacancy exists in the office 
of trustee, he should wait one month after announcing his decision before assuming 
to fill the vacancy. 

This is an appeal from a decision and order of the town superintendent 
of Beekmantown, on the 22d day of November last, deciding that there 
were two vacancies in the office of trustee in said district, and appointing 
two persons to fill such vacancies. 

From a careful examination of the papers, I am satisfied that the towiL 
superintendent was correct in deciding that the vacancies existed ; but the 
district being one lying partly in tw^o different towns, it required the action 
of the towm superintendents of both towns to fill the vacancies by appoint- 
ment. (By section 30, article 7, chapter 555, Law's of 1864, the vacancy 
may be filled by the supervisor of the town in which the school- house is 
situated.) The appointments which were made were therefore void, 
although the town superintendent, in proceeding to fill the vacancies, may 
have acted in perfect good faith. 

But, even if he had the right to fill the vacancy, I am of opinion that he 
should have waited one month after announcing his decision that the office 
was vacant, in order that the inhabitants might have an opportunity to 
supply the vacancies if they desired to do so. 

Therefore, it is hereby declared that the appointments so as'~ aforesaid 
made were and are irregular and void, and the clerk of said district is 
hereby ordered, within ten days after he receives this order, to call a special 
meeting for the purpose of filling the vacancies which exist in the office of 
trustee in said district. Per H. S. Randall, Superintendent, March 26, 1852. 

The refusal of a district collector to serve vacates his office. 

In case of a refusal to serve, on the part of the collector, a vacancy is 
created in the office by that act, which may be filled by appointment by 
the trustees. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, April 10, 1854. 



Where a collector cannot perform his duties from sickness or otherwise, trustees must 

appoint. 

When a district collector is unable from illness or other cause to perform 
his duties, the trustees must appoint another in his place, who will be 
entitled to hold the office for the remainder of the school year. Per H. S. 
Randall, Deputy Superintendent, April 19, 1854. 

An incapacity existing at the time of the election of trustees, which the voters have 
disregarded, must be judicially declared by this department, before a vacancy is 
created that will authorize a new election. 

Where one of the trustees elected at a district meeting was an alien by 
birth, and had never filed in the office of the secretary of State an affidavit 
of having taken the incipient steps to be naturalized, necessary to enable 
him to hold real estate, it was held that he was not entitled to vote at a 
school district meeting, and that, upon the general principle that no person 



Yacancy. 787 

is qualified to hold an office Avho is not himself entitled to vote, his election 
as trustee was void. But the proceedings of a subsequent special meeting* 
of the district, assuming to decide that he was ineligible, displacing him, 
and electing another person in his place, were totally unauthorized, and 
such election was illegal and void. A district meeting can only elect in 
case of a vacancy caused by death, removal, or incapacity occurring after 
the election of the officer. An incapacity existing at the time of the elec- 
tion, and whicli the voters chose to disregard, must be judicially declared 
by tliis department or some other legal tribunal, upon direct proceedings 
for that purpose, before a vacancy can be created authorizing a new elec- 
tion. Per E. P. Smith; Deputy Superintendent, June 23, 1857. 

A legal appointment by the supervisor, of a trustee to fill a vacancy, cannot be set 
aside by this department, nor be superseded by an election. 

On an appeal from the action of the supervisor, in appointing a person to 
fill a vacancy in the office of trustee, the facts are as follows : A vacancy 
had occurred in the office of trustee, and a special meeting was called, after 
some delay, for the purpose of filling it. Meantime, however, the super- 
visor had appointed a person to fill the vacancy, and an appeal from his 
action is thereupon brought to this department. 

This proceeding on the part of the supervisor was strictly legal, and, in 
the absence of all evidence showing fraud or collusion, it cannot be set 
aside. The request that this department direct the calling of a new meet- 
ing, for the purpose of electing a trustee, cannot be granted. The person 
appointed by the supervisor to fill the vacancy, holding his office by legal 
and valid appointment, cannot be superseded by the action of a district 
meeting. Per B. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 6, 1859. 

Collector vacates bis office whenever, by leaving the district, he cannot perform col- 
lector's duties. 

The collector vacates his office whenever, by leaving the district, he is 
unable to discharge the duties of collector. You may, under the circum- 
stances, regard the office as vacant, and appoint another; it is not neces- 
sary in order to create a vacancy, that the absence should be permanent. 

If it obstructs the business of the office, it is enough. Per E. W. Keyes, 
Deputy Suerintendent, January 26, 1865. 

Appointment of trustee by supervisor to fill vacancy is not for the balance of unex- 
pired term, but only till next annual meeting. 

An appointment of trustee by the supervisor, to fill vacancy, is not for 
the balance of the unexpired term, but only till the next annual meeting. 
If the vacancy is filled by a district meeting, the rule is different. A resi- 
dent of the district, and legal voter at town meetings, may or may not be 
qualified to vote at school meetings. The qualifications of voters at school 
meetings are very clearly set forth in section 12, title 7, chapter 555, laws 
of 1864. ?er V. M. Rice, Superintendent, October 15, 1866. 



A trustee vacates his office by going into another State and teaching a term of school. 

It is established by the evidence that soon after his election as trustee, 
the respondent left the district, went to a western State, and there engaged 
in the business of teaching school in which he continued for several 
months, and that having returned to the district, he has again assumed to 



"^^8 Voters. 

act as trustee thereof. This, however, lie cannot lawfully do, although he 
may not have lost his legal rights as a resident of the district, he at all 
events ceased for a considerable time to be an inhabitant thereof. And, as 
Jiis absence necessarily incapacitated him from performing the duties of 
the office of trustee, he thereby vacated the same. The respondent is 
tlierefore adjudged to have ceased to be trustee of the district from the time 
when he left it in the latter part of October last. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- 
intendent, June 30, 1874. 



VOTERS. 



An alien who is a legal voter may hold office in a school district. 

Mr. George Oliver, an alien, who was entitled to hold real estate, having 
taken the necessary legal steps for that purpose, was elected trustee of 
school district No. 1, Bombay, on the 4th day of October, 1842. 

The Superintendent is unable to see any good cause why any inhabitant 
of a school district, legally authorized to vote therein, should not be 
admitted to a free particij^ation in the offices of the district, or rather why 
he should claim an exemption from the burdens which the law devolves 
upon the other inhabitants of the district in supervising its affairs from 
year to year. There is, in reality, very little analogy in cases of this descrip- 
tion, to those against which our laws in reference to aliens were intended 
to provide. I am, therefore, disposed to hold any and every legal voter in 
a school district eligible as an officer therein. Per Young, November 18, 
1843. 

Proceedings carried by illegal votes will be set aside on appeal. 

Neither the Department of Public Instruction nor the moderator of a 
school district meeting has any right, under the statute, to prohibit any 
niale person, who makes the declaration required by law, from voting; but 
it will be the duty of this department to correct and set aside all proceed- 
ings consummated or carried by votes clearly illegal, the result depending 
upon them. It is the duty of the person acting as chairman or moderator 
of a district meeting to permit any person challenged to make the declara- 
tion required by statute, and any refusal to perform this duty will be good 
ground for setting aside the proceedings of u school district meeting. Per 
N. S. Benton, July 12, 1847. 

A chairman of a school district meeting is entitled to a vote upon all questions involv- 
ing the levying of a tax, or otherwise. 

This is an appeal from the proceedings of the annual meeting held in said 
district on the 5th day of April last, in voting a tax of $400 for the purpose 
of building a school-house therein. It appears by the papers in the case 
that the resolution by which the tax was authorized was passed by a vote 
of six to five against the same. The appellant claims that the resolution 
was illegally passed, because, 

1. The clerk of the meeting refused to call the name of the chairman, 
denying his right to vote ; 

2. That had the chairman been allowed to vote, he would have voted 
against said resolution ; and 

3. That one of the votes in favor of said resolution was given by a person 
who was not a legal voter in said district. 



Voters. T89 

In their answer to the appeal, the trustees concede that the chairman was 
not permitted to vote upon said resolution, but they deny that he was law- 
fully entitled to vote thereon, on the ground that he was chairman of the 
meeting and only entitled to a casting vote. 

The trustees having made this concession have clearly shown that the 
proceedings of the meeting were not legally conducted, inasmuch as a 
legal vote was rejected, which, if received, might have affected the result 
of the vote upon the resolution. The chairman was equally entitled to vote 
upon the question of raising a tax with the other tax payers and voters of 
the district, and the meeting had no right to deprive him of his privileges 
or others of the benefits which they might have received had his vote been 
counted. 

It is therefore ordered that the proceedings of the meeting aforesaid, so 
far as the same relate to the resolution authoring a tax of |400 for the pur- 
pose of building a school-house, be and the same are hereby set aside. Per 
H. S. Randall, Superintendent, June 35, 1853. 

An alien, though he has taken the incipient measures to be naturalized, is not qualified 
to vote at a school district meeting in the district where he resides, unless an affida- 
vit of that fact be filed and recorded in the office of the secretary of State. 

This is an appeal taken by five of the inhabitants from the proceedings 
of a special school district meeting, holden in district No. 6, in the town of 
Montague, Lewis county, in the early part of October, 1854. 

The appellants aver that persons not duly qualified to vote did vote at 
said meeting, and that their votes affected the result. It seems that the 
only material vote of the meeting was carried by two majority, whereas the 
right of three persons to vote, who voted with the majority, was doubt- 
ful. One of them was a man working for a resident of the district, but 
whether he was of legal age and possessed the other requisite qualifications 
is by no means certain. 

The other two persons, Messrs. Fuller and Boycl, are aliens, and only 
during the week that the meeting of May, 1854, stood adjourned to, did 
they file their intentions of becoming citizens. An alien, though he has 
taken the incipient measures to obtain naturalization, cannot hold real 
property or be a qualified voter at a school district meeting in the district 
where he resides. 

He is required to make a deposition or affirmation in writing, before aa 
officer authorized to take the proofs of deeds to be recorded, that he is a 
resident of, and intends always to reside in the United States, and to be- 
come a citizen thereof as soon as he can be naturalized, and that he has 
taken such incipient measures as the laws of the United States require to 
enable him to obtain naturalization, which shall be certified by such officer, 
and be filed and recorded by the secretary of State in a book to be kept by 
him for that purpose, and such certificate, or a certified copy of it, shall be 
evidence of the facts therein contained. 

As Messrs. Fuller and Box^d did not comply with the requirements of the 
statute, and therefore could not become owners of taxable property, the 
conclusion becomes a necessary sequence that the vote was void. Per V. 
M. nice, Superintendent, October 30, 1854. 

The law does not declare the quantity of real estate necessary to entitle a man to vote 

cit district meetings. 

The law gives no limit to the value of the real eatate which the resident 
of a school district must hold in order to entitle him to vote at district 
meetings. He may lease but a mere shanty, and pay the rent in money, 



790 Voters. 

work, taxes or improvements, still he is a voter, even thougli he may have 
been exempted from the payment of teachers' wages on account of indi- 
gence. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 30, 1855. 

The right to vote at a school district meeting does not depend upon the fact that the 
person offering to vote has been actually taxed, but rather upon his liability to 
taxation. 

A motion to reconsider a vote of a district meeting may be made by a person voting 
with the minority, unless the meeting have a different rule. 

Tlie objections of the applicants are that two persons voted at the dis- 
trict meeting, for the change of site, who are not enrolled upon the tax- 
list as taxable inhabitants; that, by the list referred to, there are twenty- 
six taxable inhabitants; that only twelve "taxable inhabitants " voted in 
favor and twelve against the resolution changing the site ; that the motion 
to reconsider a former resolution adopted at a previous meeting, in regard 
to the site, was made by a person who, at such previous meeting, voted 
against the resolution of which he moved a reconsideration. 

The rule of legislative proceedings, which requires a motion for recon- 
sideration to be made by one who voted with the prevailing party, is not 
binding upon the district meetings, unless expressly adopted by them. 
There is. therefore, no force in the objection based upon a departure from 
this rule, as it does not appear to have been acted upon by the inhabitants of 
district No. 14. 

The respondents allege that fourteen persons voted for the change of site. 
This is not inconsistent with the allegation of the appellants, for they acknowl- 
edge the twelve " taxable inhabitants" thus voted, and they aver that two 
persons whom they deny to be legal voters also voted for the resolution. It 
was then properly passed, provided the two persons named had a right to 
vote. Their title is impeached on the naked ground that they are not enu- 
merated on the tax-list. This evidence is not sufficient to bar their right to 
vote, which depends not on the fact that they are actually taxed, but upon 
their liability to taxation. It devolves upon the appellants to disclose 
affirmatively such grounds of objection to one who has been admitted to 
vote, as, if taken for true, in the very words stated, will repel every pre- 
sumption by which his claim might be sustained, by showing the absence 
of some essential qualifications. This the appellants have failed to do. and 
the objection must be disregarded and the appeal dismissed. Per E. P. 
Smith, Deputy Superintendent, September 15, 1855. 

Qualifications necessary to entitle aliens to vote at district meetings. 

On an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting, it appears that 
the meeting had voted, by a clear majority, to enlarge the site and build a 
new school-house. It is claimed by the appellants that the meeting was 
controlled by illegal votes. 

It is insufficient proof of their right to vote at district meetings that cer- 
tain persons have declared their intention of becoming citizens, and for- 
warded their declaration to the secretary of State, by mail, in time as they 
say, to have reached him before the meeting was held at which they voted. 
Such persons must clearly prove the actual filing of their declaration of 
intention before they can be regarded as legal voters at such election. Per 
E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 2, 1859. 

In electing trustees, the form of the ballot is not material, if it unmistakably express 

the voter's preference. 

The statute requires, when trustees are elected at the annual meeting. 



Voters. '^^^ 

that " the voters shall designate by tlieir votes for which term each of tlie 
trustees is elected." The language by which such designation shall be 
shown is left to the voter's selection. Where two trustees are to be elected 
for different terms, tlie words on the ballot '' long term '' and " short term " 
sufficiently indicate the intention of the voters. But it cannot be said tliat 
this form of ballot is the only legal form. Any form that suflBciently desig- 
nates the voter's intention must be held good under the statute. 

The principle governing is that a simple informality, or an immaterial 
omission, shall not deprive a lawful voter of his voice in the election. Per 
V. M. Eice, Superintendent, May 8, 1862. 

What hiring of real property is essential to constitute voter. 

The fact.that a man hires a house by the month or by the week, and pays 
the rent by his labor, and not in cash, does not change or take away his 
right to vote at school meetings. The rent of the house forms a part of the 
consideration paid for his labor. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, 
October 38, 1865. 

Chairman of the board of education may vote. 

The chairman of a board of education has a right to vote on all questions 
acted upon by the board, the same as any other member. Per V. M. Rice, 
Superintendent. 

Not eligible by virtue of real property owned by a wife. 

A person does not become eligible as a voter in a school district by rea- 
son of the ownership in the district of real estate by his wife, which is 
managed and controlled by her alone. Per A. B. "Weaver, Superintendent, 
August 10, 1871. 

Same. 

To the same effect in similar case where it was shown that the person 
claiming the right to vote, paid the taxes upon his wife's property, and that 
he also had paid the consideration money for the premises so owned by her. 

These facts could not outweigh the fact that he did not oivn nor hire 
real estate within the district. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 
11, 1873. 

Constitutionality of the act conferring upon women the right to vote at school meetings. 

A more serious question is raised by the last ground of appeal, namely, 
as to the constitutionality of the statute conferring upon women the right 
to vote at school meetings. I am not aware that this question has been 
judicially passed upon by any of our courts; and I do not find that it has 
ever been brought in issue or decided on an appeal to the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction. 

It is squarely in issue upon this appeal, and the result of the appeal must 
depend upon the decision of this point, inasmuch as, if all the 262 votes 
cast by women are rejected from the count, the majority for the resolutions 
would be changed into a minority. Bearing in mind that the power of the 
legislature in the enactment of laws is supreme, except as it is restricted 
by constitutional limitations, let us look briefly into the alleged conflict 
between the acts of the legislature and the organic law. 

Article 2, section 1 of the State Constitution, so far as it affects the ques- 
tion, provides as follows: 



792 Voters. 

"Every male citizen of the age of twenty-one years "who shall have been 
a citizen for ten days and an inhabitant of this State one year next preced- 
ing an election, and for the last four months a resident of the county, and 
for the last thirty days a resident of the election district in which he may 
offer his vote, shall be entitled to vote at such election in the election dis- 
trict of which he shall, at the time, be a resident, and not elsewhere, for 
all officers that now are or hereafter may be elective by the people, and 
upon all questions which maybe submitted to the vote of the people." The 
courts have uniformly held that this article and similar articles in the Con- 
stitutions of other States are to be taken as definitions of the qualifications 
of electors and limit the elective franchise to persons having the specified 
qualifications. {People v. Susan B. Anthony^ 11 Blatch. 200; 9 Phil. (Pa.) 
241 ; 53 Missouri, 58.) 

The act of the legislature, chapter 9, laws of 1880, entitled ''An act to 
declare women eligible as school trustees," provides as follows: 

"No person shall be deemed to be ineligible to serve as any school officer, 
or to vote at any school meeting, by reason of sex, who has the other qual- 
ifications now required by law,'' 

In 1881 another statute was passed on the same subject, chapter 492 of 
the laws of that year. This was in the shape of an amendment to section 
12, article 1, title"? of the Consolidated School Law of 1864. This article 
1 is entitled "of school districts and neighborhood meetings, the voters 
and their powers generally," and section 12 of said article, as amended in. 
1881, was made to read as follows: 

"Every person of full age residing in any neighborhood or school dis- 
trict and entitled to hold lands in this State, who owns or hires real prop- 
erty in such neighborhood, or school district liable to taxation for school 
purposes, and every resident of such neighborhood or district who is a 
citizen of the United States, above the age of twenty-one years, and who 
has permanently residing with him or her a child or children of school age, 
some one or more of whom shall have attended the district school for a 
period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding, and every such 
resident and citizen as aforesaid, who owns any personal property assessed 
on the last preceding assessment-roll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in 
value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution, and no other, shall 
be entitled to vote at any school meeting held in such neighborhood or 
school district." 

The material changes thus made consist in dropping out from the section 
the word "male," which before preceded the word "person," and also 
omitting a clause requiring the voter to be entitled to vote at town meet- 
ings of the town in which the district is situated. 

With the exception of these changes and the substitution, some years 
ago, of the clause relating to the attendance at the district school of a child 
or children for eight weeks in place of a claQse requiring the payment of a 
rate bill, the above statutory provisions, as to qualifications of voters at 
school meetings, have been in operation ever since the adoption of the 
Constitution of 1846. And the constitutional provisions, cited above, have 
been substantially as they are'now, during the same period, except that in 
the year 1874 the words " and upon all questions which may be submitted 
to the vote of the people" were inserted by amendment. 

It will be observed by com])aring the statutory requirments as to quali- 
fications of voters at school meetings with the constitutional definition of 
the qualifications of electors, that they differ materially in several important 
particulars, aside from the matter of sex. 

For instance, the Constitution requires of the electors citizenship for ten 



Voters. 793 

days, inhabitancy in the State one year, residence in the county four months 
and in the election district thirty days. None of these conditions are 
essential under the statute. Under its provisions, in one of the contingen- 
cies specified, a person may be a voter at school meetings without citizen- 
ship, and without inhabitancy or residence other than at the time of 
voting. 

In certain contingencies named the statute imposes a property qualifica- 
tion which the Constitution does not. In another it formerly required pay- 
ment of a rate bill, and now certain attendance at school, as to which the 
Constitution is silent. If the statute is unconstitutional for the reason that 
it conflicts with that instrument in respect to the qualifications as to sex, 
by the same argument it has been unconstitutional for the last thirty-seven 
years, by reason of the conflict with the Constitution in the several other 
particulars above referred to. And, in fact, there has been no time since 
the adoption of the first Constitution, in the year 1777, when the statutory 
provision prescribing the qualifications of voters at school meetings did 
not differ materially from the provisions of the existing Constitution pre- 
scribing the qualifications of voters at elections. 

Of course this line of argument is by no means conclusive, but it is a 
circumstance of some weight, in the consideration of the question in hand, 
that while for more than half a century, at least, the State has been divided 
into school districts numbering from seven to twelve thousand, with usually 
one annual and several school meetings in each district each year, at which 
the voting for school officers and upon measures involving local taxation as 
well as upon a great variety of other measures of interest to the district 
inhabitants, has been proceeding under the regulation as to qualifications 
of voters prescribed by those school statutes, and while the multitude of 
school district dissensions arising out of the proceedings of such meetings 
have resulted in numerous litigations in which the courts have often been 
called upon to interpret these statutes, yet no case appears upon the records 
of the courts upon which the question of the unconstitutionality of these 
statutory provisions by reason of these divergences from the constitutional 
provisions has been distinctly raised and judicially decided. 

It is regarded as appropriate and as a matter entitled to careful con- 
sideration, in construing the words of the Constitution, to look back at the 
situation of the country and its existing institutions and systems at the 
time and anterior to the time of its adoption. (Patterns Dicarris, 657.) 

At the time of the adoption of the Constitution of 1846, and for years 
anterior thereto, there had been in existence in the State, a general com- 
mon school system, under which the State was divided into thousands of 
school districts, each of which had various well-defined powers exercised 
through the medium of district school meetings, and needful for the 
proper care and maintenance of the local schools and for the harmonious 
working of the system. 

The qualifications of voters prescribed -by the statute were such as were 
considered best adapted for the peculiar character and needs of the system, 
and as before stated, varied essentially from the qualifications prescriljed by 
the existing Constitution, for electors at ordinary elections. 

At the same time, another system was and long had been in existence — 
the system of popular elections. Under this system and as an essential 
part of its machinery, the State had been divided into many thousands of 
election districts, at which the popular will was exercised, through the 
elective franchise, in the maintenance of civil government. The qualifica- 
tions of electors were here also such as were deemed best adapted to the 
character, necessities and successful operation of the particular system. 

100 



'''^^ Voters. 

These two systems with their dissimilar provisions as to the qualifications 
of voters, had for years been moving along together, pari passu, without 
jar or discord. 

Referring again to the section of the Constitution in question, we find 
that the male citizen, having the other specified qualifications, and having 
been " for the last thirty days a resident of the election district in M-hich he 
may oflEer his vote, shall be entitled to vote at such election in the election 
district of which he shall at the time be a resident, and not elsewhere.'" 

The foregoing considerations induce me to the conclusion that the 
framers of the Constitution in the use here made of the words "election 
district," intended to refer solely to the election districts which had long- 
been established throughout the State, under that designation, as an in- 
tegral part of the machinery of popular elections, and that it has no refer- 
ence or application to the established method of choosing school district 
oflScers or of voting upon other matters at school district meetings. 

The objection to the constitutionality of the statutes, under the provis- 
ions of which women voted at the school meeting in question, must, there- 
fore, be overruled. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 
3300, December 11, 1883. 

See, also, Election of Officers. 



PART V. 



SPECIAL LOCAL ACTS. 

ALBANY. 

[Chap. 444, Laws of 1866, as amended.\ 

Section 1. John 0. Cole, George W. Carpenter, Michael Delehanty, Charles P. Easton, Paul F. 
Cooper, John G. Treadwell, Charles Van Benthuysen, Stewart McKissick, James L. Babcock, Brad- 
ford R. Wood, Jacob S. Mosher and William C. McHarg, shall constitute a body to be designated and 
known us "The board of public instruction of the city of Albany." The members of said board shall 
bo classified in the manner and shall hold their office for the terms, respectively, as hereinafter pro- 
vided. 

§ 2. The said members of the board of public instruction are hereby divided into three classes, 
of four members each, as follows: John 0. Cole, George W. Carpenter, Michael Delehanty 
and Charles P. Easton shall compose the first class, and shall hold their office for the term of three 
years; Paul F. Cooper, John G. Treadwell, Charles Van Benthuysen and Stewart McKissick shall com- 
pose the second class, and shall hold their office for the term of two years; and James L. Babcock, 
ilradford R. Wood, Jacob S. Mosher and William C. McHarg shall compose the third class, and shall 
hold their office for the term of one year. The several terms of office of the members aforesaid shall 
commence on the first day of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and they shall con- 
tiinie to hold their office until their successors shall be elected as hereinafter provided. 

I 3. The members of the said board shall hold their first meeting on the first day of June, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-six, at four o'clock in the afternoon of that day, or as soon thereafter as may be. 
for the purpose of organization. They shall thereupon appoint one of their number president, who 
shall exercise all the powers usually incident to such office. They shall also appoint a suitable person 
other than a member of their body, superintendent of schools of the city of Al bany, who shall, by virtue 
of his office, act as secretary of the board, and shall exercise all such powers and shall discharge all 
such other duties as the board shall, from time to time direct, and shall be allowed such compensation 
for his services as the said board may at any time determine, not, however, to exceed in rate the sum 
of three thousand dollars, per annum. The said board shall also appoint a suitable person, other than 
a member of their bodv, as clei'k, who shall act as assistant secretary and shall perform clerical ser- 
vices in the office and under the direction of the superintendent of schools, and shall exercise such 
powers and shall discharge all such other duties as the board shall from time to time direct, and shall 
be allowed such compensation for his services as the said board may at any time determine, not, how- 
ever, to exceed in rate the sum of seven hundred and twenty dollars, per annum. The said board shall 
also appoint a suitable person, other than a member of their body, superintendent of buildings and 
repairs, who shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as the said board shall from time to 
time direct; the said superintendent of buildings and repairs shall be allowed such compensation for 
his services as the said board may ati any time determine; not, however, to exceed in rate the sum 
of one thousand five hundred dollars per annum. {As amended by Laws of 1S67, chap. 11, and by 
Laws of 1880, chap. 120, and Laivs o/1887, chap. 48.) 

5 4. Four members of said board shall be chosen by ballot at the annual election to be held in said 
city, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, for the election of charter and ward 
officers, and also at each and every succeeding annual election thereafter, by the electors thereof who 
shall be at the time of the election residents of that part of the city which lies east of the line of 
Perry street. The clerk of the common council of said city shall cause the necessary ballot boxes to 
be provided at the expense of the city, for the use of the inspectors of election of the several election 
districts of the city which lie wholly or partly east of said Perry street, in holding said election. All 
qualified voters at such election for city officers, who shall at the time reside in the election district in 
which they shall severally offer to vote, and east of said Perry street, shall be entitled to vote for two 
persons for the office of member of the board of public instruction, each of whom shall be at the time 
an elector and resident of that part of the city for which the officers are to be chosen. The ballot 
shall contain, written or printed, the names of the persons voted for, not exceeding two in number, 
with a proper designation, and shall be so folded as to conceal its contents, and to be indorsed " pubUc 
schools." The ballot, on being received by the inspectors, shall be deposited bv them in the bOx 
provided for that purpose. The election in all other respects shall be conducted "in accordance with 
the provisions of the several existing laws relating to the election of civil officers by the people, so far 
as the same are applicable, and any person who may offer to vote at the election of the officers provided 
to be chosen by this act, may be challenged as to his qualifications as an elector as in other cases, and 
shall be subject to the like penalties for false swearing and improper voting as are now provided by 
law relating to elections, for like offenses. The several boards of inspectors of elections, after can- 
vassing and estimating the number of votes received by them tor each candidate for said office, shall 
certify the result to the common council of the city, who shall, at the time they take action upon the 
returns of the said inspectors of election relative to the other officers chosen at said election, deter- 
mine the final result; and the four persons who shall appear from the returns made by said inspectors 
to have received the greatest number of votes for the office, shall be declared by that body to be duly 
elected, and shall each hold his office tor the term of »three years from and after the first day ot June 
nextjfollowing the election, and until his successor shall be elected. If, however, upon the exam- 
ination of said returns it be found and determined by the common council that no four of the persons 



796 ALBAiiTY.'' 

voted forTfor the said oflace7liave received the greatest number of VoteSi by reason of two or more 
of the candidates receiving an equal number of votes, then it shall be deemed a failure to elect any 
one of them, and the incumbents, whose term of office would have expired on the first day of June 
next following, shall continue in office for one more year and until their buccessors shall be elected- 
and the electors who shall be entitled to vote at the next annual election for members of the board 
shall be allowed to vote for four persons, two of Avhom shall be designated in the ballot for the short 
term, and the four persons thus designated who shall have received the greatest number of votes for 
the said office, shall be deemed elected in the place of the four members holding over, and shall hold 
their office for the remainder of the term and until their successors shall be elected. 

§ 5. Any member of said board of public instruction may be removed from office for cause, by the 
affirmative votes of at least eight members of their body, provided, always, that such member shall 
be served with a copy of the charges preferred against him and notice of trial, not less than twenty 
days previous to the day fixed for the hearing of the matter, by leaving such copy and notice at his 
residence in the city, or by sending the same to his address by mail; the accused member, on his 
appearing before the board for trial, shall have the usual privileges in similar cases extended to him 
in his defense. 

5 6. The said board shall have power to fill all vacancies in the office of member of their bodv that 
may occur from any cause, by the appointment of any person eligible to said office ; such appointment 
shall be made by ballot, and shall require not less than eight votes for that purpose; the person so 
appointed shall hold his office until a successor shall be chosen at the next annual election for charter 
and ward officers. At said election the electors who shall at the time reside within the limits pre- 
scribed in section four of this act, shall be entitled to vote for a person to fill such vacancj% and shall 
place in the ballot which contains the names of the two persons voted for as members of the board 
then to be chosen, for the full term, and so designated ; the name of the person to be chosen for the 
shprt term shall also be properly designated, and the person receiving the greatest number of votes at 
said election for the short term, and shall be declared elected in the place of the person appointed, as 
aforesaid, to fill the vacancy. 

1 7. On and after the first day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, the 
said board of public instruction shall have the control and management of the sevei-al public schools 
in the said city of Albany, east of the line of Perry street, and shall possess and exercise all the powers 
now conferred by law upon the present board of education of said city. The said board of public 
instruction shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to fix and determine the different grades of 
study which shall be taught in the various departments of the several schools under their charge, and 
to change the same from time to time as they shall deem best to advance the interest of the schools; 
and also to adopt such rules and regulations for the administration and government of the schools and 
for the admission of pupils to the various departments therein as they shall determine, with-authority 
at any time to alter and amend the same. 

? 8. The said board of instruction shall have power to examine all applicants for the appointment bv 
them as teachers in any of the schools under their charge; and no person shall be appointed and 
employed as a teacher in either of said schools (except in cases of emergency, when a teacher mav be 
temporarily employed), unless the board shall, after such examination, consider him or her well quali- 
fied to discharge the duties of the office, and shall give to him or her a certificate to that effect, which 
certificate shall be sigtied on behalf of the board by the president and secretary thereof. 

§9. For the purpose of carrying out the provision of the last preceding section of this act, the board 
may appoint a committee from their body at any time, to examine applicants for appointment as 
teachers, and the result of such examination shall be reported by the committee to the board for final 
action. 

§ 10. The said board shall have power at all times to fix the term for which any teacher shall be 
appointed ; to determine the kind of class books which are to be used in the several schools ; the books 
thus adopted shall be uniform throughout all the schools as near as may be, and they may at any time 
adopt other books in the place thereof; to supply the requisite class books and stationery for the use 
of indigent pupils; to provide the several schools under their charge with the necessary school appa- 
ratus, maps and music books, the expense thereof to be defrayed out of the school moneys of the city ; 
and generally to possess all the powers, to discharge all the duties, and be subject to all the obligations 
heretofore conferred and imposed upon the several school officers of the city by the several laws now 
in force, relative to the public schools of said city. 

2 11. Seven members of said board shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
business, and a majority of the members present at any meeting shall be suftlcient to carry any 
measure, or to decide any question before their body for their action, except as is otherwise provided 
in the fifth and sixth sections of this act, and in case of appointment or dismissal of any teacher or 
officer of the board, when it shall require, in each case, the affirmative vote of at least seven members 
thereof. 

2 12. The tuition of the pupils of the several schools under the charge of the board, shall be free to 
all persons who are residents of said city and entitled to attend the same. 

§ 13. The chamberlain of the city of Albany shall continue, as heretofore, to hold and receive all the 
school moneys of the city which now are or may hereafter come into his hands, and shall pay out the 
same on the orders of the board, and he shall, as heretofore, keep an account in the books of his oftice, 
with said board. All orders of the said board on the chamberlain for the payment of money shall 
specify the object for which the pa3mient is to be made, and shall be signed by the president, and 
countersigned by the secretary thereof, or bv such other officers or members thereof as shall be directed 
bv said board to sign or countersign the same; but no appropriation of money shall be made by the 
said board, nor any resolution adopted involving an appropriation or expenditure of money, for any 
purpose, unless by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to the said board, to be taken l)y 
yeas and nays, which vote shall be entered on their minutes. (As amended by Laws of 1875, chap. 
345, ^1, and by Laws of \88\, chap. 699.) . , ,. 

Laws 187.^, chap. 345, ? 2- All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the act are hereby repealed. 

J 14. All the office furniture, text-books, stationery and school apparatus, as well as all other school 
property of the citv which may be in the possession and under the control and management of 
the present board of education on the first day of June next, shall, on and after that day be regarded 
as in the possession, control and management of the said board of public instruction. 

§ 15 The said board of public instruction shall report to the common council of the city, annually, 
and oftener if required bv that body, the general conditions of the schools under their charge, and 
shall also on or before the first day of November in each year, certify to the said common council, by 
a majority of their whole number, the amount of money which will be required for school purposes 
the ensuing year, in addition to the public money, specifying the .several purposes for which the same 
will be required and the amount for each ; and the board of supervisors of the county of Albany shall, 
upon the requisition of the common council of said citv, levy and collect the said amount upon the 
taxable property of said citv, in the same manner as other taxes are levied and collected therein. 



Albany. 797 

§ 16. No member of said board of public instruction shall receive any pecuniary compensation for his 
services as such member; nor shall any member thereof be directly or indirectly interested in any 
contract entered into by the board, nor shall he be paid for any work done, nor for materials or supplies 
of any kind furnished for the use of the schools or of the board; and any member who shall violate 
either of the provisions in this section contained, shall forfeit a penal sum equal to three times the 
amount received by such member, to be recovered with costs of sixit, to be brought in the name of the 
chamberlain of the city of Albany, whose duty it shall be to prosecute the action for its recovery with- 
out delay, in any court having jurisdiction in the premises, and the amount recovered by him in such 
suit, after paying the necessary expenses of the prosecution and collection thereof, shall be for the 
benefit of the public schools of said city, and the same shall be credited by him to the said board of 
public instruction in their account with the city on the books of his ofiice. 

§ 17. If any person, being at the time a member of the said board of public instruction, shall accept 
the office of either mayor, recorder or alderman of said city, his ofhce a? such member shall thereupon 
become vacant ; the vacancy thus created shall be filled by appointment and election, in the manner 
provided in the sixth section of this act. 

§ IS. The fourth and fifth sections of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight of the Laws of eighteen 
hundred and forty-four, and the second, third, fifth and sixth sections of chapter five hundred and six- 
teen of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-five, together with all other acts and parts of acts relat- 
ing to the district or public schools of the city of Albany, inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed, 
except the act entitled *'An act in relation to common schools in the city of Albany, west ot Perry 
street," passed July eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, which act is hereby continued in its 
original lorce and effect. 

§ 19. Nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to prohibit the board from causing vocal 
music to be taught in the schools, under the charge of one or more competent instructors, to be 
appointed by the board for that purpose. 

[ diap. 703, Laws o/ 1 869. ] 
An Act to enable the Board of Public Instruction in the city of Albany to obtain sites for school-houses. 

Passed May 7, 1869; three-fifths being present. 

Section 1. Whenever the board of public instruction in the city of Albany shall have selected any 
lot or lots in said city, for the purpose of erecting a school-house thereon, and shall be unable to 
agree for the purchase of the same, said board shall have the right to acquire title to the same in the 
manner and by the special proceedings prescribed in this act. 

§ 2. I'or the purpose of acquiring such title, said board may present a petition praying for the 
appointment of commissioners of appraisal to the supreme court, at any general or special term in the 
third district. Such petition shall be signed and verified according to the rules and practice of the 
court by the president or any member of said board. It must contain a description of the real estate 
which the board seeks to acquire, and must in effect state the purposes for which such real estate is 
needed; that the same is necessary for the purpose of building a school-house thereon; that the board 
has not been able to acquire the title thereto, and the reason of such inability, and also the names and 
residence of the parties, so far as the same can, by reasonable diligence, be ascertained, who own or have 
a claim to own, or have estates or interests in said real estate; and if any such persons or infants, their 
ages as near as may be, must be stated, and if any such persons are idiots, or of unsound mind, or are 
unknown, that fact must be stated, to either with such other allegations and statements of liens or 
incumbrances on said real estate as the board may see fit to make. 

53. A copy of such petition, with proof of service of a copy thereof, and of a notice of the time and 
place of presenting the same, must be served in the manner and on the persons, and for the time 
required by the fourteenth section of the act entitled "An act to authorize the formation of railroad 
companies, and to regulate the same," passed April two, eighteen hundred and fifty, and any amend- 
ments thereto; and thereupon said petition may be presented to said supreme court, and such pro- 
ceedings may be had thereon as by the said act and amendments thereto are, or may be, authorized 
in the case of railroad companies desiring to acquire the title to land. 

§ 4. On the payment or deposit by said board of the sums to be paid as compensation for said real 
estate, and for the costs, expenses and counsel fees as may be directed by the order ot the said court, 
made according to the requirements of said act and the amendments thereto, the title to said real 
estate shall vest in the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the citv of Albany. And said board of 
public instruction shall be entitled to enter upon and take possession of said land, and to use the same 
for school purposes. And all persons who have been made parties to the proceedings shall be divested 
of all right, estate and interest in said land forever. All real estate so acquired under and in pursu- 
ance ot the provisions of this act shall be deemed to be acquired for public use. 

2 5. All of the provisions of the aforesaid act and of the amendments thereto relating to the proceed- 
ings which may be taken by railroad companies to acquire title to real estate shall apply, so far as the 
same are applicable, to the proceedings authorized by this act. 

[Chap. 500, Laws of 1870.] 
An Act extending the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Instruction of the city of Albany. 

Passed April 28, 1870; three-fifths being present. 

Section 1. All that portion of the towns of Bethlehem and Watervliet now embraced within the cor- 
porate limits of the city of Albany, and also that portion of the city lying west of Perry street, shall, 
for school purposes, from and after the passage of this act, be under "the control, supervision and direc- 
tion of the board of public instruction, of the city of Albany, who shall possess aud exercise therein all 
the powers now conferred by chapter four hundred and forty-four of the Laws of eighteen hundred and 
sixty-six. 

§ 2. It shall be the duty of every person having in his possession, or under his control, any moneys 
raised for school purposes, in that portion of the town or city above described, to pay over the same, 
within thirty days, to the chamberlain of the city of Albanv, for the use of the board of public instruc- 
tion, and the residue of the school property in that portio'n of the towns and city aforesaid shall be 
transferred to and become vested in the corporation of the city of Albany. 

? 3. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act, so far as they relate to the 
public schools within the present corporate limits of the city of Albany, are hereby repealed. 



798 Albany. 

IChap. 11, Laws o/]872.] 

An Act In relation to filling vacancies in the Board of Public Instruction of the city of Albany.* 

Passed Februarj' 2, 1872; three-fifths being present. 

Section 1. The board of public instruction of the city of Albany shall have power to fill all vacancies 
in the office of member of their body, that may occur from any cause, by the appointment of any 
person eligible to said office ; such appointment shall be made by ballot, and shall require not less than 
eight votes for that purpose ; the person so appointed shall hold his office until a successor shall be 
chosen, which shall be done at the next ensuing annual election for charter and ward officers. 
At said election each successor shall be elected by the electors qualilled by law, who shall place on the 
ballot, which contains the names of persons voted for as members of the board then to be chosen for 
the full term, and so designated, the name of the person to be chosen for the short term, also properly 
designated ; and the person receiving the greatest number of votes at said election, for the short term, 
shall be declared elected in the place of the person appointed, as aforesaid, to fill the vacancy. 

[amp. .312, Lavjs of 1873.] 

An Act in relation to the Free Academy in the city of Albany, 

Passed April 26, 1873 ; three-fifths being present. 

Section 1. The Free Academy, established by the board of public instruction of the city of Albany, 
nnder the provisions of chapter four hundred and forty-four of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
sixty-six. shall hereafter be subject to the visitation and control of the Eegents of the Universitv the 
same as the academic department of union free schools, as provided by section twenty -three of title 
nine, chapter three hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four ; and said 
Free Academy shall hereafter share in the annual distribution of the literature fund, and of all other 
moneys divided by the Eegents of the University, In the same manner and to the same extent as other 
academies and the academic departments of union free schools. 

[CJiap. 14, Laivs of 1875.] 

An Act to authorize the city of Albany to issue its bonds to procure means to pay in part for the 
erection of an edifice for a public hign school. 

Passed February 13, 1875 ; three-fifths being present. 

Section 1. The city of Albany is hereby authorized to issue its bonds to the amount of one hundred 
thousand dollars, to pay in part the expenses incurred and to be incurred in the erection and comple- 
tion of an edifice for a public high school in said city ; the said bonds to be of the denomination of one 
thousand dollars each, bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent per annum, payable semi-annually 
in the city of New York, with coupons attached for the payment thereof; ten thousand dollars of the 
principal to be reimbursable at the same place at the expiration of one year from the date of said bonds, 
and the like amount in each year thereafter, until the whole amount herein authorized and issued shall 
be paid as hereinafter provided. 

i 2. The chamberlain of the city shall, on the requisition of the board of public instruction of said 
city, cause from time to time to be prepared bonds of the city of Albany to the amount, when payable, 
and ot the denomination specified in the foregoing section, and when so prepared, his honor the mayor 
of said city shall sign the same, and affix thereto the corporate seal, and they shall also be counter- 
signed by the chamberlain ; the said bonds when prepared, signed and countersigned as aforesaid, shall 
be sold by the chamberlain at public auction to the highest bidder, but at a rate not less than par, ten 
days previous notice having been given in the three designated city papers, of the time and place of 
sale, and the proceeds, less the incidental charges, shall be used for the purposes specified in the first 
section of this act. 

2 3. There shall be raised annually by tax, in such manner as other city taxes are levied and col- 
lected, ten thousand dollars, or such proportion of said sum as will be required to redeem the bonds 
maturing the next ensuing year, issued under the authority conferred by this act ; and it shall be the 
duty of the chamberlain to certify annually to the board of supervisors of the county of Albany, the 
amount required for that purpose, and also the additional sum required to meet the interest for the 
ensuing year, on the then outstanding bonds; and the two amounts thus stated shall be levied and col- 
lected as other city taxes are levied and collected. 

IChap. 118, Laivs of 1880.] 

An Act in relation to the sale and the proceeds of sale of certain school property in the city of Albany. 

Passed April 12, 1880 ; three-fifths being present. 

Section 1 . Whenever, In the opinion of the board of public instruction of the city of Albany, any 
school building in said city shall become unfit or inappropriate for school purposes, and it shall be 
deemed impracticable or not to the best advantage of said city to alter or repair said building, or to 
erect a new building upon the site occupied by said building, and when it shall be thought best by the 
said board of public instruction to sell the said property, and use the avails thereof in the purchase of 
a new site and erection of a new building thereon, the said board of public instruction shall, by resolu- 
tion, certify such facts, together with the manner in which it desires such property to be sold, and if 
at private sale, then to whom and lor what consideration, and if at public auction, the time and place 
of such auction, to the common council of said city of Albany ; and the said common council shall 
immediately take action thereupon, and if it approve the said resolution, shall transmit the same to 
the mayor of the said city, and the said mayor shall have the same right to object to said resolution as 
to any other act of the common council of said city. In case of an objection being made by the said 

* The amended charter of the city of Albanv. passed March 16, 1870, and further amended April 15, 
1871, classified the members of the board of public instruction as officers of the city (section 1 of title 
5) ; and also gave the mayor power to fill all vacancies, with the concurrence of the common council 
(section 6 of title 4). The foregoing law of 1872 was passed to restore to the board the power to fill all 
vacancies that may occur in the office of member of this body, as authorized in the original law of 1866, 
chapter 444, section 6. 



Albany. 799 

mayor to such resolution, he shall, within ten days after its receipt by him, return the said resolution, 
together with his objections thereto, in writing, to the clerk of the said common council, and the said 
common council shall, at its next meeting thereafter, cause the said objections of the mayor to be 
. entered in full upon its Journal, and shall, as soon as may be practicable thereafter, again proceed to 
vote upon said resolution. If the mayor shall approve such resolution, or if he shall fail to return the 
same to the said common council within ten days after the receipt thereof by him, or if, after the 
objections of the mayor are communicated to said common council, two-thirds of the members thereof 
shall vote in favor of such resolution, notwithstanding the objections of the maj'or, then, in either 
case, the said property shall be sold by or under the direction of the said board of public instruction, 
and m accordance with the provisions of said resolution ; and upon the payment of the purchase- 
money for said property to the chamberlain of the city of Albany, the mayor of said city shall duly 
execute, acknowledge and deliver to the purchaser of said property a good and sufficient conveyance 
of the same. 

2. The chamberlain of said city shall place such money as shall be received from the sale of such 
property to the credit of the board of public instruction of the city of Albany, and the said board shall 
use the same for the purchase of such sites and the erection of such buildings as it shall deem proper 
and necessary for school purposes in said city. Whenever the said board shall purchase any real 
estate for such purposes, it shall take the conveyance thereof to and in the name of the city of Albany, 
and the title thereto shall be vested in the said city. 

\Chap. 48, Laws of 1887.1 

An Act to amend chapter one hundred and twenty of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eightj', 
entitled, " An act to amend chapter eleven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, entitled 
* An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to create a Board of Public Instruction in the city of Albany, 
to establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools 
in the said city,' " and to provide for the payment of ihe salaries of the clerk and superintendent of 
buildings and repairs. 

Passed March 1, 1887; three-fifths being present. 
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. Section one of chapter one hundred and twenty of the Laws of eighteen hundred and 
eighty, entitled " An act to amend chapter eleven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, 
entitled ' An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to create a board of public instruction in the city of 
Albany, to establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district 
schools in said city, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 

g 1. The members of the said board shall hold their first meeting on the first day of June, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-six, at four o'clock in the afternoon of that day, or as soon thereafter as may be, 
for the purpose of organization. They shall thereupon appoint one of their number president, who 
shall exercise all the powers usually incident to such office. They shall also appoint a suitable person, 
other than a member of their body, superintendent of schools of the city of Albany, who shall, by vir- 
tue of his office, act as secretary of the board, and shall exercise all such powers and shall discharge 
all such other duties as the board shall, from time to time, direct and shall be allowed such compen- 
sation for his services as the said board may at any time determine, not, however, to exceed in rate the 
sum of three thousand dollars per annum. The said board shall also appoint a suitable person, other 
than a member of their body, as clerk who shall act as assistant secretary and shall perform clerical ser- 
vices in the office and under the direction of the superintendent of schools, and shall exercise such 
powers and shall discharge all such other duties as the board shall from time to time direct, and shall 
be allowed such compensation for his services as the said board may at any time determine, not, how- 
ever, to exceed in rate the sum of seven hundred and twenty dollars per annum. The said board shall 
also appoint a suitable person, other than a member of their body, superintendent of buildings and 
repairs, who shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as the said board shall from time to 
time direct ; the said superintendent of buildings and repairs shall be allowed such compensation for his 
services as the said board may at any time determine, not, however, to exceed in rate the sum of one 
thousand five hundred dollars per annum. 

§ 2. It shall be the duty of the chamberlain of the city of Albany to pay out of any unappropriated 
moneys in his hand, the tsalaries fixed in accordance with the foregoing section by the said board as 
compensation to the said clerk and the said superintendent of buildings and repairs during the year 
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven ; for the payment of which orders shall be made and presented to 
him in due form of law by or on behalf of said board of public instruction, and in case there shall be 
in his hands no unappropriated moneys applicable to the payment of any such order or orders, then in 
that case the said chamberlain shall indorse upon said order or orders a statement that the sum therein 
mentioned is justly due to the payee therein named from the citv of Albany, and that the same will be 
paid, with interest thereon, from the date of such indorsement, at the rate of five per centum per 
annum, on the second Tuesday of February, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight. 

§ 3. The said board of public instruction of the city of Albany is hereby directed in certifying to the 
common council of the city of Albany the amount of money which would be required for -chool pur- 
poses for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, to insert in said certification a sum equal to the 
amount of and estimated interest upon any orders paid by the said chamberlain so as aforesaid indorsed 
or to be indorsed by the said chamberlain, and such sums shall be raised by tax and the chamberlain 
shall reimburse any funds from which money may have been advanced under the provisions of section 
two and shall therefrom pay all orders, if any, so as aforesaid indorsed by him. 

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

** » * * » « » ♦ 

[Provisions of the charter of the city of Albany relating to or affecting the board of public Instruction 
and the schools of the city. ] 



80(K Albany. 

IChap. 298, Laws of 1883.] 
An Act to provide for the e:overnraent of the "City of Albany." 

Passed April 23. 1883; three-fifths being present. 

* « * ♦ * * ..* . 

TITLE ni.— THE LEGISLATIVE POWER. 

«*♦««*», :^ 

2 11. The mayor may object to one or more and to each one of the items of the annual bndget to be 
prepared, as hereafter provided for. or may reduce the amount thereof, while approving of the other 
portions of the budget. In such case he shall append to the resolution of the common council at the 
time ot his signing it, a statement of items to which he objects, or which he reduces in amount and 
any item so objected to shall not take eti'ect, or if reduced, it shall take effect only to the amount to 
which it is reduced, unless approved by a three-fourth vote as hereinafter provided'. The mavor shall 
transmit to the common council a copy of such statement, and each item objected to or reduced shall 
be separately considered. If, on such reconsideration, one or more of such items be approved bv three- 
fourths of all the members elected to such common council, the same shall be part of the annual budget 
notwithstanding the objections of the ma.vor. This section shall apply to the appropriation for each 
of the city boards and commissions and for all other purposes, except that if anv item of appropriation 
for the board of public instruction or the police board shall be objected to or be reduced by the mavor 
he shall forthwith notify the secretary of the board thereof The said board shall thereupon meet'and 
cause the communication from the mayor to be entered in full upon its Journal. If three-quarters of 
all the members of the said board shall then vote in favor of the original item so objected to or reduced 
and the board shall notily the mayor and common council of such vote, such original item shall be 
included in the annual tax budget, notwithstanding the objection of the mayor. 

§ 26. The common council of said city shall have the power to pass such ordinancesas it may deem 
proper and necessary for the protection of the several school lots under the control of the board of pub- 
lic instruction of said city, and to prevent trespassing thereon, and to impose proper penalties for the 
violation thereof. 



RESTRICTIONS UPOX THE POWERS HEREIN GIVEN, 

§ 28. No member of the common council or city officer shall be interested in any contract in which 
the city is a party, directly or indirectly, either as principal or suretv in such contract, nor shall anv 
member of the common council, city officer or member of any city board or commission, or salaried 
employee thereof, or his partner, or any agent, servant or employee of such member, officer or com- 
missioner, or of the firm of which he is a partner, or of his partner, purchase from, or sell to the city, 
or any officer thereof, any real or personal property, for the use of the citv or the alms-house therein, 
or any board or officer thereof as such, or be interested, directly or indirectly, in anv contract with the 
city or in any sale to or from said city, or to its officers, and no member of the common council shall 
hold any office in the gift of the mayor or the common council. The above provision shall apply to the 
mayor, and all other officers and clerks of said city, and of any board or commission thereof elected or 
appointed. But nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent any officer of said city 
from holding the office of commissioner of deeds, but no officer, commissioner or employee of the city 
shall be eligible to or hold theofflce or position of Inspector of elections or poll clerk. 

* * * * * * *'^* « 

§ 31. Whenever any property, the title to which is vested in the city or the title to which is held for 
any municipal purpose, by any board, officer or commission fronts upon any street, avenue or public 
place, the mayor may sign for the same on behalf of the city whenever duly authorized so to do by 
resolution of the common council. 

§ 35. No member or committee of the common council shall have power to employ any person, incur 
any expense or purchase any materials for or on behalf of the city or any of its officers, boards or com- 
missions with respect to any building, street or place, the care, charge or superintendence of which is 
by law given to any city officer or other person, but in such case the resolittion, law or ordinance of the 
common council authorizing the work, purchase or employment shall direct that it be done by and 
under the direction of the officer or person having such care, charge or superintendence ; and no bill or 
claim for such work shall be audited or paid unless such officer or person shall first certify, in writing, 
that the work has been properly done and the materials of the quality and kind and in the quantity 'in 
such bill or claim mentioned have been duly furnished, and that the price charged is proper. 

§ 37. It shall be unlawful for the common council, or for any officer, commission, board or department 
of the city of Albany to contract any debt or loan the credit of the city unless specially authorized so 
to do by act of the legislature, or to incur any expense for any purpose after the amount appropriated 
therefor has been exhausted, and it shall be unlawful to raise by tax any money to pay any debt or 
expense so incurred, and the members of the common council or of any commission, board or department 
knowingly and willfully voting for, and any officer knowingly and willfully incurring the same, shall be 
personally liable therefor ; provided, however, that in case of" extraordinary casualty or fire, or any other 
unforeseen and extraordinary emergency,the common council may.on the written recommendation of the 
mayor, statingfuUy the groundsthereofand the amount required, and in detail the manner in which the 
appropriation for the year has been^expended, by a three-fourths vote of all the members elected thereto, 
authorize the expenditure of any amount by an officer, comniission.board or department of the city which 
shall be absolutely essential to the performance of the duties imposed by law upon such officer, commis- 
sion , board or department. Such vote shall not be taken until the aforesaid recommendation of the mayor 
shall have been once published in the corporation newspapers. Any expenses incurred in pursuance 
of such resolution shall, if there be no funds applicable thereto, be included in a certificate of indebt- 
edness, to be subscribed by the finance board hereinafter named, or a majority of its members, which 
certificate shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent per annum, be made payable on the 
second Tuesday of February of the year following its issue, and be negotiated by the board of finance 
after five days" notice published in the city papers for bids therefor. The amount therefor with interest 
shall be included in the next city tax budget and be raised by tax. For emergencies of the nature 
above stated, the fire commissioners, bv a unanimous vote, approved by the mayor, may issue a certi- 
ficate of indebtedness, which shall be provided for in the next budget in the manner above stated. 



Albany. 801 

§3.8. All appropriations hereafter made in or by the city tax budget for municipal expenses shall 
provide for tlie necessary expenses and disbursements of the officer, board, commission or department 
lor which they are made, up to and includins the thirty-first day of December ot the year next follow- 
ing the year in which the appropriation is made, and the expenditure of the money appropriated shall 
be so regulated by the officer, board, commission or department having the control thereof and it 
shall cover all expenses incurred up to that time. 

g 39. All contracts made by the board, commission, department, officer or agent of the city involving 
an expenditure of more than two hundred and fifty dollars, when the amount thereof is not directed 
to be paid by assessment upon property benefited, shall have Indorsed thereon a certificate of the 
chamberlain of the city or the disbursing officer of such board, commission or department to the effect 
that there is in his hands or has been appropriated a sum over and above the amount of all certificates 
previously given applicable to and sufficient to pay the amount in said contract provided to be paid. 
and said contract shall not take effect until so indorsed, and it shall be the duty of the chamberlain 
or other disbursing officer to give such certificate whenever there is in his hands or has been appropri- 
ated a sum applicable to and sufficient to pay the amount in said contract p-ovided to be paid. And 
all persons furnishing supplies or doing work for the city in an amount less than two hundred and 
fifty dollars may demand of the chamberlain or other disbursing officer (if the appropriation out of 
which such claim should be paid is sufficient to pay the same in addition to all other claims for which 
like certificates have been given, and the amount provided to be paid by all contracts on which like 
certificates have been Indorsed) a certificate to that effect, and the chamberlain or other disbursing 
officer shall reserve from such appropriation a sum sufficient to pay all contracts and claims so certi- 
fied by him. 

ANNUAL TAX BUKGET. 

§ 40. The common council of the city of Albany shall certify in the month of November in each year 
to the board of supervisors of the county of Albany the amount required to be raised for all the 
expenses of the city and of its several officers, boards, commissions and departments and each of them 
for the ensuing year, specifying in writing the several purposes for which the money is to be used, and 
:t shall be the duty of said board of supervisors, when served with a certified copy of the resolution of 
said common council passed pursuant to the provisions of the charter of the city of Albany, and 
d.rectiug the Imposition and collection of such amount, to cause such amount to be levied, laid, as- 
sessed and raised upon and ^om the taxable property of said city in the manner prescribed by law. 

ORDINANCES. 

§ 41. The common council is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt ordinances prescribing ad- 
ditional duties and conferring additional powers (not inconsistent with existing laws) upon the sev- 
eral city officers, boards and commissions thereof, and requiring security to be given by any officer or 
clerk for the due pei-formance ot the duties of his office. -,^ 

AUDIT OF CLAIMS. 

? 47. Each account must state when and where the work was performed or the materials were fur- 
nished, and under what contract or under what authority it was performed or the materials were fur- 
nished, and must state, with reasonable detail, the character and amount of the work done and ma- 
terials furnished. The account must contain the names of each person interested in the same, or who 
makes any claim to any share or portion of the sum to be paid. 

g 48. Each account against the city of Albany or any of its boards, departments or commissions, 
■whether for twenty-five dollars or less, must be verified by the party or one, at least, of the parties in 
whose name the same is presented, if there be more than one, and must be to the effect that the same 
is presented in the name or names of the real party or parties in interest, and that the contract was 
not made, or the work performed, or materials furnished in the name of one person for the benefit of 
another; and that no city officer, or member ot any board or commission of the city, or salaried em- 
ployees thereof, or the partner or any agent, servant or employee of such member, officer or commis- 
sioner, or of the firm of which he is a partner, or of his partner is or has been directly or indirectly in- 
terested therein, either in the doing of the work or the furnishing of the materials, or has been paid or 
promised any thing for the letting of the contract. That the work as charged for was actually done, 
and the materials specified actually furnished and used at the times and places mentioned, and are of 
the value charged, or are at the prices specified in the contract. That no bill has been presented or 
claim made theretofore for the payment for such work, or materials, or for any part or item of such work, 
or materials, except as therein stated, and if such bill has been theretofore presented, or snch claim 
has been theretofore made for the whole or any part thereof, it shall be stated to whom, or what 
board, body or commission it was presented, or made, the time, or times, thereof, and the action of 
such person, board, body or commission thereon, and when such action was taken. 

2 49. The clerk of the common council shall prepare a blank form of verification In accordance with 
the provisions of the last section, to be approved by the corporation counsel, and it shall be printed 
and furnished by said clerk gratuitously to all persons demanding the same, and who have a claim or 
demand of the aforesaid character to present to the board, or the chamberlain or other officer, and no 
account, whether for twenty-five dollars or under, shall be presented to the chamberlain, or any board 
or commission, or the common council, or received or paid, or ordered paid, or acted upon, audited or 
allowed by him or it, unless the verification is in the form prepared by the said clerk. And in no case 
shall the account be paid until three days after the meeting of the common council at which pavment 
was ordered by it, or the audit by the chamberlain; and such account shall not be paid bv the cham- 
berlain at all, unless the form and verification complies with the provisions of this act. When paid, 
the original account or bill having the verification attached shall be receipted by the partv receiving 
the money, or his duly authorized agent, and filed with the chamberlain or other proper officer, and is 
hereby declared to be a public record in his office. All claims and demands presented, includinz veri- 
fication, which shall not be allowed or paid, shall be delivered to and filed with the proper indorsement 
of the name, date and amount, by the chamberlain or other proper officer in his office, and shall be 
public records. 

g .50. None of the provisions of sections forty-six, fortv-seven, fortv-eisht and forty-nine of this title 
of this act shall be hebl to affect the salaries of officers paid bv tlie citv; or the mode or manner in 
which payment thereof is made, or the wages of the citv laborers, nor the disbursements made by the 
corporation counsel in the conduct of the cases brought or defended by or for the citv, nor the pay- 
ment of judgments obtained against the city; nor shall the provisions of this act affect anv contract 
now existing. And none of the provisions of said sections shall apply to the emplovment of counsel 
to aid the corporation counsel in any legal matters in which the city is interested when such employ- 
ment is by authority of the mayor. 

* * » • * • « • « 

101 



802 Albany. 



TITLE IV. — THE EXECOTIVE POWER. 

• « * « « • •• • 

J 9. It shall be the duty of the mayor : 

2 4. To be vigilant and active in causing the ordinances of the city and laws of the State to be exe- 
cuted and enforced, and the affairs of the city to be well and economically administered, money due it 
to be collected, and contracts made with it enforced, and for such purpose he shall have power 
to call together for consultation and co-operation all other city offlcers, boards and commissions, and 
it shall be his duty to compel the performance of the duties of their respective offices by them, and In 
case of non-performance, to suspend them from office. 

§ 14. The mayor shall fill by appointment, until the next charter election, any vacancy which may 
occur by reason of the death, removal or resignation of any elective city officer, except a member of 
the common council and its clerk, and except a member of the board of public instruction, and in 
case of the death, removal or resignation of any officer to whose office the mayor has the power of ap- 
pointment or nomination, vacancies shall be tilled in the manuer prescribed for the original appoint- 
ment, except as to the commissioners of Washington park, a vacancy in which board shall be filled 
as already provided for, 

§ 15. The mayorshall have power at all times to examine the books, vouchers and papers of any de- 
partment, officer or employee of said city, or of any officers paid wages or salaries by its chamberlain, 
and ot the excise commissioners, and to summon and examine, under oath, any person in connection 
therewith. 

1 16. He shall also have power, if he deem it necessary, to employ once in each year, but not for a 
longer period than two months, an expert to examine the books, vouchers and papers of any depart- 
ment, officer or employee charged with the receipt and disbursement of public moneys. 

« • • ♦ #« « • • 

TITLE v.— CORPORATION COUNSEL, 

* « * * * * ** » 

§4. He shall be and act as the legal adviser of "the common council and of the several officers, 
boards and commissions of the city, and such ofiScers, boards and commissions shall not employ other 
counsel. 

§ 5. He shall appear for and protect the rights and interest of the city in all actions, suits and pro- 
ceedings brought by and against it or any city officer, board or commission of the city in his or its offi- 
cial capacity. But it shall not be his duty to appear for or defend the actions of a city officer when 
s-uch act was by law performed for and in the interests of the county. 

§ 6. No written contract providing for the payment of two hundred and fifty dollars or more entered 
into by the city or any of its officers, boards or commissions shall be acted under until there shall be 
indorsed thereon, by the corporation counsel or his assistant, a certificate to the effect that the city 
officer, board or commission which has executed the same on behalf of the city had authority and 
power to make such contract, and that such contract is in proper form and properly executed, and no 
bond (except those provided for in section ten of title eighteen of this act) shall be accepted on behalf 
of the city by any officer, board or commission thereof until it shall Lave had indorsed thereon a certi- 
ficate, signed by the corporation counsel, or his assistant, to the effect that such bond is proper in its 
provisions and properly executed, and that it appears on the face thereof that the sureties, if any, 
required by law have properly justified and executed the same. The corporation counsel shall draw 
all the deeds and leases to be made by the city, and whenever requested by the mayor or directed by 
resolution or ordinance of the common council, he shall prepare and draw up any contract or other 
paper thereby required. 

§ 7. He shall conduct all proceedings taken by the city, or any officer, board or commission thereof, 
for the acquiring of land by the exercise of the right of eminent domain, and for the opening, widen- 
ing or altering of any street, avenue or lane in said citv, or for any other purpose. 

********* 

TITLE VI.— CHAMBERLAIN. 

• ***»*•»** 

§ 2. He shall receive and disburse all moneys raised by tax in the city. Including the money raised 
by county tax for the maintenance of the alms-house therein. 

510- The chamberlain shall pay all accounts, claims, debts and demands in which the city of Albany 
is concerned. Such claims as are audited by the common council shall be paid upon the presentation 
of the original itemized voucher of the claim, debt or demand, certified to by the clerk of the common 
council that the same has been audited and allowed by the common council, and approved by the 
mayor. And it shall not be lawful for the chamberlain to pay any claim, debt or demand unless so 
certified to, except where by express provision of law the chamberlain Is directed to pay such claims, 
debts or demands on the warrant of some city officer, board or commission, and except claims duly 
audited and payable out of the alms-house apJDropriatiori ; and excepting the customary disbursements 
of the board of finance, which may be paid without such voucher, but which shall be charged and 
included in a schedule to be presented to the common council, at its regular monthly meeting. 

§11. All claims exceeding twenty-five dollars shall be paid by checks on the bank in which the 
moneys of the city shall be deposited. Such checks must be signed by the chamberlain and counter- 
signed by the receiver of taxes. 

§ 12. It shall be the duty of the chamberlain to report to the common council, once in each month, 
the amount of moneys received by him during the preceding month, and from what sources received 
and the amount expended for each of the departments, boards or commissions, which report shall be 
printed in the journal of that body. He shall keep just and true accounts and books of all affairs 
thereof, and shall furnish statements of its affairs, in addition to his monthly reports, whenever 
required by the mayor, common council or board of finance. 

§ 13. It shall be the duty of the chamberlain to report to the common council at its first regular meet- 
ing in November in each year, the amount received by him for and on account of each of the several 
city officers, commissions, board, and departments of the city, including the alms-house, and the 
sources from which the several amounts were received. He shall also state under oath the expendi- 
tures made by him for the several purposes of such officer, commission, board and department as much 
in detail as practicable, and also the balance appearing by his books to the credit of each. It shall be 
the duty of each commission, board, department and olHcer authorized to contract for the doing of any 



Albany. 803 

work or the furnishing of any materials or to incur any liahiHty therefor, which is to be paid for out of 
any funds in the hands of the chamberlain, to furnish to said chamberlain on the thirty-first d.iy of 
October in each year a detailed statement, duly veritied, showing what claims or demands, except for 
salaries, wages and rent, have risen or been incurred by or under their or his order or direction resi)ect- 
ively up to that date, which have not been paid by the chamberUnn, and the chamberlain shall make 
an abstract of such reports and include such abstract in his report to the common council. 

2 16. The moneys collected by tax or otherwise, for the expenses of the city government, or for any 
specific purpose or object whatever, shall be applied by the chamberlain to the payment of. such 
expenses and for such purpose or object and to no other. And it shall not be lawlul for the chamber- 
lain to apply any money collected or appropriated for one purpose to any other purpose; nor shall n be 
lawful for the common council to direct or order him to do so. In case any moneys have been or may 
hereafter be raised by tax or otherwise by the corporate authority of the city for anv specific purpose 
or object, and that purpose or object shall have been fully completed and accomplished, and there shall 
remain in the custody of the chamberlain of the city any unexpended balances of the moneys raised as 
aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the chamberlain and he is hereby required to pay over any such bal- 
ance or balances on the first day of .January in each year to the trustees of the geiieral debt sinking 
fund of said city, and the same shall be by them applied and used in the same manner as other moneys 
received by them are used and applied in the payment of the bonded debt of the city, according to the 
provisions of section three of title eight of this act. 

********* 

TITLE Till.— BOARD OF FIXAyCE. 

21. The common council shall, at its first meeting in January, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, 
and every third year thereafter, appoint a citizen of said city, other than a city officer, who with the 
mayor and charriberlain of said city shall constitute the board of trustees of the sinking fund of the 
city of Albany, who shall be a body corporate and who together with the president of the common 
council and one alderman, to be designated by the common council, shall constitute the finance board 
of the city. 

2 6. Said board shall annually prepare a city tax budget which shall include all sums which shall be 
required for all. each and every municipal purpose during the year next following the first day of 
January thereafter, and shall report the same to the common council. Such report shall specify the 
several purposes for which the money should be raised and the amount required for each purpose, 
including the amount necessary for the maintenance of the police force and public schools in said city 
and the common council shall consider and adopt the same with such changes and amendments as 
shall seem to it proper, except that no changes shall be made in such items thereof as shall relate to 
the interest, principal or sinking fund for the public debt ot the city, or in the appropriation for the 
police force and for the public schools. Provided, that for the tax budget which is to be made in the 
fall of eighteen bundled and eighty-three, there shall be included therein all sums which may be 
necessary for the objects therein specified from November first, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, to 
January first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and that the amounts raised by tax in the tax budget 
of eighteen hundred and eighty-two shall be expended before January first, eighteen hundred and. 
eighty-four, the officers, boards, commissions or departments charged with the expenditures thereof 
may incur such liabilities as may be absolutely essential to the execution of their respective duties. 

§ S. It shall be the duty of the board of police commissioners and the board of public instruction, 
each to certify to the finance committee on or before November first in each year, in detail, the several 
purposes for which and the amounts in which it will be necessary that money should be raised by tax 
for the purposes of said boards respectively ; and the finance board shall insert such amount without 
change in the city tax budget to be prepared by it. 

TITLE XVni.— GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

********* 

§ 8. Any person who shall willfully swear falsely to any material matter in any oath or affirmation 
required by this act shall be guilty of perjury, and where by the general laws of the State any different 
or greater "punishment is prescribed for any offense in this act mentioned the person guilty of such 
ofiiense shall be convicted and punished as in such general statutes prescribed. 

********* 

§ 14. All persons presenting bills for payment of claims against the city or any board or commission 
thereof shall use their own names or the names of the firm of which thev are members. If any person 
shall use a name other than his own, or that of the firm of which he is a member, he shall be guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and any member of any board or commission, or any officer of the city, who shall 
knowingly pass, audit or pay any such claim shall be guilty of a like offense. The chamberlain, upon 
receipt of a complaint under oath and in writing, signed by any citizen, stating that he has reason to 
believe that any illegal claim has been presented, shall withhold payment of the claims designated 
until satisfied they should be paid. Willful false swearing on such complaint shall be deemed to be 
perjury. 

TITLE SXI.— ELECTIO>'S. 

SECTioy 1. The officers of the city to be elected by general ticket at the charter election shall be the 
mayor, recorder, two aldermen from the city at large, police justices, justices of the justices" court, police 
commissioners, and members of the board of public instruction. 

§3. The annual charter election shall be held on the second Tuesday of April in each year, and the 
municipal year shall commence on the first Tuesday of May following. 

2 8. The clerk of the common council of said city shall at least ten days before each charter election, 
cause a notice to be inserted in the three official newspapers published in the said city, and also to be 
posted in five or more public places in each election district, containing the time of opening and closing 
the poll, the place designated for holding the election, and a list of the officers to be chosen. The 
inspectors of election of each district and ward shall proceed as provided by the general laws of the 
State in relation to elections other than towns. All the officers of said city to be elected from the city 
at large, except the police commissioners and members of the board of public instruction, shall be 



804 Amsterdam. 

placed on a ballot to be indorsed ' ' City," and the Inspectors holding such election shall provide a ballot- 
box on which shall he distinctly marlced " City, " wherein shall be deposited the ballots indorsed '• City." 
And when such police commissioners and members of the board of public instruction, or either one of 
them, are to be chosen, they shall be voted for by being named in a separate ballot or ticket, one of 
which shall be indorsed '* Police Commissioners," and the other " Board of PnbUc Instruction," as the 
case may require ; and separate boxes shall be provided and kepi in each election district of said city 
for the reception of such ballots. The names of the candidates for aldermen (except aldermen from the 
city at large), supervisors and other ward officers shall be on a bailot or ticket indorsed "Ward," and 
he deposited in a box to be provided by the inspectors, to be distinctly marked " Ward." 

g 9. The polls of the election in the several districts and wards of the said city of Albany, at the elec- 
tion to be held, as aforesaid, on the second Tuesday of April in each year, shall be kept open from the 
hour of eight in the morning until the hour of five in the afternoon. At the close of euch election the 
inspectors shall publicly proceed to canvass the votes, which shall be completed without adjournment 
or interruption. Wlien the canvass shall have been completed, the inspectors shall thereupon pub- 
licly certify and declare the result, stating the number of votes given for each person for each respect- 
ive office, and shall hie such statement and certificate on the same or next day after the canvass is 
completed with the clerk of the common council of said city, and the common council, at its next 
regular meeting thereafter, shall canvass such returns and declare the result. 

§ 10. The persons elected at the charter election shall be sworn into office on or before the first Tues- 
day of May next following such election, and the persons elected as aldermen shall be sworn into office 
by the mayor or other presiding officer of the common council. 

§ 11. Every person elected or appointed to any ofllce under the city government, except constables 
and commissioners of deeds, shall on or before their terms of office begin, or within ten davs after 
notice of such appointment, take and subscribe before the mayor, or any judge of a court ot record, an 
oath or affirmation faithfully to perform the duties of his office, which oath or affirmation shall be flled 
in the mayor's office. 

ALBION. 

iChap. 15, Laws of 1876.J 

Amends section 48 of chapter 125 of the Laws of 1842, ys follows : 

§ 48. The territory or district of country embraced within and constituting the said village of Albion 
shall be and constitute school district number one, ot the town of Albion, Orleans county ; and when- 
ever the territory of said village shall be enlarged, the act of enlargement shall extend the boundaries 
of the said school district number one, of the town of Albion, so that at all times the boundaries of 
said village of Albion and of said school district [number onej shall correspond with each other. 

[ Chap. 142. Laws of 1879.] 
[From the village charter.] 

TITLE rn. — SCHOOL BISTRICT — SCHOOL TKUSTEES. 

Section 1. The district of country constituting the village of Albion Shall be and constitute union 
free school district number one of the town of Albion, and whenever the corporate limits of said vil- 
lage shall be changed, the act changing the same shall also change the boundaries of said school dis- 
trict whether specified in the act or not, so that at all times the boundaries of said village and of said 
school district shall correspond with each other. 

I 2. The persons who, on the first day of October, eighteen hundred and seventy -eight, composed 
the board of education of said school district, are hereby declared to be members of said board, and 
thev shall continue to hold their offices for the terms to which they were severally originally elected, 
and hereafter three of the nine members of said board shall be elected annually at the time and place 
of the election of trustees of said village under this act, to supply the places of those whose terms shall 
then expire : and in case of any vacancy the said board of education shall fill the same until the next 
annual charter election, when the vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term. 
The said board of education shall continue to be composed of nine members, and their terms of office 
to be three years from the time of their elecuon. 

I 3. The said board of education shall possess all the powers and perform all the duties imposed by 
and be subject to all the provisions of title nine of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of 
eighteen hundred and sixty-four and the several acts amendatory thereof, except that they shall be 
elected and hold office in pursuance of this act. 

24. The treasurer of the village shall keep the moneys raised for school purposes as a separate fund, 
and shall set aside the first moneys received from the collector or collected by him on the general as- 
sessment-roll, as the school fund, to the amount voted by the trustees for school purposes, and no 
orders drawn upon him by any other body, board or person than the board of education shall be paid 
out ot such fund, nor shall the said fund be loaned to any other fund nor in any way or manner di- 
verted from the specific purpose for which it was raised or set apart. The funds received from the 
State shall be set apart, and kept and paid out in the same manner, and no other. The said treasurer 
shall report, under oath annually within one week prior to the annual charter election, to the board 
of education, in detail, the school monevs received and. disbursed bv him, and in case he violate any 
of the provisions of this section, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished as provided by 
law. 

AMSTERDAM. 

ICkap. 131, Laws of 1885, as amended. '\ 
[From city charter.] 

TITLE VII. 

Section 83. The school districts within the village of Amsterdam and town of Amsterdam as they 
existed at the|time of the passage of this act shall remain as they now are, without change, and continue 
subject to all the provisions of laws of this State applicable to common schools therein, excepting as 
charged by this act, and the school districts which shall be wholly within the bounds of the city of 
Amsterdam, shall still be regarded as school districts of the town of Amsterdam, and for all the pur- 
poses of continuing the provisions of law respecting said school districts, the schools in said city shall 



Auburn". 805 

exist and be controlled uuder the general school laws of the State in all respects as in towns. The as- 
sessment-roll of the city of Amsterdam shall be considered a town assessment-roll in relation to all the 
property therein, for assessment and taxation for all school purposes, and all the laws of this State re- 
specting the levying and collecting of taxes for school purposes shall apply to all of said school districts 
remaining entirely within said city, excepting only as changed by this act. 

§62. The taxes in this title aforementioned shall, if practicable, be included in one assessment, to- 
gether with the school tax hereinafter mentioned. The common council may require the assessors to 
levy and assess any such tax in the manner prescribed in section thirty- nine of this act. Otherwise 
it shall be the duty of the common council to raise the amount thereof by a general tax levied accord- 
ing to the annual assessment-roll required to be tiled with the city clerk on or before the first Tuesday 
of September next preceding, as revised and corrected, and a true copy thereof, with the respective 
amounts to be paid by each tax-payer duly entered thereon, shall be filed with the city clerk within 
thirty days after such tax shall have been legally directed. The mayor and clerk shall immediately 
attach their warrant thereto, and the subsequent proceedings thereon shall be the same and of the 
same validity as if a new assessment and tax-roll had been duly made. 

g 64. The boards of education of the union free school districts entirely within the city of Amsterdam 
shall, as soon as practicable, alter the passage of this act. and on or before the first day of April in 
each year thereafter present to the common council a detailed statement, giving the various purposes 
of anticipated expenditure, during the fiscal year beginning on the first day of March preceding and 
ending on the last day of February thereafter, and the amount necessary for each which shall have 
been voted by the electors of said union free school districts at their annual or a special meeting called 
for that purpose, and said common council shall levy and collect the same upon the taxable property 
of each of said union free school districts, and not upon an^' property outside the boundaries of said 
union tree school districts, in the manner as and with the general city tax, and the same when col- 
lected shall be held by the treasurer of the said city subject to the order of the said boards of educa- 
tion. The said tax for school purposes shall be assessed upon and against the property of each of the 
said union free school districts separately, and the amount of said tax shall be kept in a separate col- 
umn in said tax-roll. The city treasurer shall collect and receive all taxes levied and assessed as afore- 
said for school purposes, the same as all other taxes within said citv, and shall have the same powers 
and authority with respect thereto as are given him by this act, with respect to other taxes levied and 
collected in said city. (As amended by section 6, chap. 2bi, Laws qf 18S7.) 

AUBURN. 

[ Chap. 577, Laws of 1875.] 
An act to revise and consolidate the several acts relative to public schools in the city of Auburn. 

Section 1. The several school districts in the city of Auburn are hereby consolidated, and the corpo- 
rate limits of said city as they now exist, or may hereafter be changed, are hereby declared to be a 
separate school district, but nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent the board of education 
hereinafter named from making, from time to time, such subdivisions of said district as may be neces- 
sary for the convenience and accommodation of the pupils attending schools therein. The trustees 
and clerks of the .several school districts of said city shall, as soon as this act takes effect, transfer to 
the secretary of the board of education hereinafter named, all records, books and papers of their 
respective school districts in their official custody. The title to all real estate and personal property 
now belonging to the public school fund of said city, or which may be hereaftar acquired, by purchase, 
gift, grant or otherwise, is hereby vested in said board of education, and the same shall not be subject 
to taxation for any purpose whatever. 

§2. The public schools of said city shall all be under the control and management of nine commis- 
sioners of public schools, to be chosen in the manner hereinafter provided, who shall constitute and 
be called and known by the name of " The board of education of the city of Auburn." Said board of 
education is hereby constituted a body corporate in relation to all the powers and duties conferred 
upon it by this act, and in the name aforesaid, may sue and be sued, and shall have a corporate seal, 
such as said board may designate. 

§ 3. The members of the present board of education are hereby continued in office until the new 
board hereinafter provided for shall have been duly elected and qualified. But the terms of office of 
each of the members of the present board of education shall cease and determine when such board 
shall have been duly elected and qualified. 

2 4- Under the provisions of this act, an election shall be held in said city on the third Tuesday of 
May, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-six, and on the third Tuesday of Mav in each and 
every year thereafter, at such places as the common council shall designate, of which at least twenty 
days' notice shall be given by publication in one or more dailv papers published in said citv, and by- 
posting the same in at least two public places in each ward, signed by the city cierk and by the secre- 
tary of the board of education of said city. 

g 5. The first, sixth and tenth wards, as now designated, shall constitute the first election district; 
the second, third, eighth and ninth wards shall constitute the second election district, and the fourth, 
fifth and seventh wards shall constitute the third election district, for the purposes of this act; and 
the inspectors of election, chosen at the previous charter election in said city, for the wards wherein 
the elections under this act shall be designated to be held, shall be the inspectors of these elections ; 
and the provisions of law applicable to election districts, and to inspectors of elections therein, except 
as to previous registry of voters, shall apply to said districts and to said inspectors, (As amended by 
chap. '618, Laws of 1879.) 

g 6. Every male person of the age of twenty-one years and upward, residing within the district where 
he offers his vote, and entitled to hold lands within the State, who owns in his own right, or whose 
wife owns real property subject to taxation for school purposes in said city, and every resident of such 
district authorized to vote at charter elections in said citv, who owns personal property, taxed for 
school purposes in said city, exceeding fifty dollars in value, or who has permanently re'siding with 
him a child or children of school age, some one or more of whom shall have attended the public 
schools of said city for a period of at least fourteen weeks during the year preceding, and no others 
shall be allowed to vote at such elections. All penalties provided bv law forillegal voting at anv char- 
ter election for the election of the city officers for said citv, shall applv to such election ; and any per- 
son oflfering to vote may be challenged, as at a charter election aforesaid : and the same proceedings 
had thereon as are or shall be prescribed by law in relation to general elections, so far as the same shall 
be applicable to this election. 



806 AuBURJf 

§ 7. The city clerk shall give notice, in writing, of every election to be held under this act, to the 
inspectors of election in the several wards wherein the said election shall have been designated bv the 
common council to be held, as aforesaid; and said inspectors shall provide a ballot-box, to be marked 
or labeled ' ' Schools," for the reception of ballots, and two blank books, in which they shall record the 
name and residence of every person who shall vote at said election, and the name and residence of 
every person who shall offer to vote and whose vote shall be rejected, properly designated as rejected, 
with the reason therefor. 

§ 8. The polls of election in the several election districts at the said school election shall be opened at 
eight o'clock in the morning of the day of election, and shall be kept open, without intermission or 
adjournment, until live o'clock in the afternoon, when they shall be finally closed ; and the inspectors 
shall, without adjourning, canvass the votes received by them, and certify, in writing, to the same, 
and deliver one copy of said certificate to the city clerk, and another copy to the secretary of the board 
of education, within twenty-four hours after closing the polls ; and said inspectors shall cause one copj' 
of the list ot persons so voting or offering to vote at said election, duly certified to, to be delivered to 
the secretary of the board of education, and the other copy, also duly certified to, to the city clerk of 
said city. 

^ 9. At the election to be held on the third Tuesday of May. one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
six, there shall be elected nine commissioners, to be voted for under the title of " commissioners of 
public schools," in the same manner as other city officers are elected, except that only six names shall 
be voted on any one ticket, aud any ticket liaving thereon more than six names shall not be counted ; 
and no person entitled to vote at such election shall vote for more than six of said commissioners, and 
the nine persons receiving the highest number of votes at such election shall be declared elected com- 
missioners as aforesaid. 

§ 10. The common council of said city shall meet at the common council room at ten o'clock in the 
forenoon, on Thursday next after the election, and the statements of the inspectors of the several 
election districts shall be produced by the clerk, and the common council shall forthwith determine 
and declare who are. by the greatest number of votes, elected as said commissioners, as appears by 
said returns. And they shall thereupon proceed to classify by lot, the commissioners so elected, in 
manner following: The names of the six commissioners who were elected by the highest number of 
votes shall be placed in a box by themselves, and the names of the other three commissioners elected 
shall, in like manner, be placed in another and separate box by themselves. The names of two com- 
missioners shall then be drawn from the box containing the six names, and one name shall be drawn 
from the box containing thp three names, and the persons whose names are so drawn shall constitute 
the flrst class, and shall hold their office for three years. In like manner the names of two additional 
commissioners shall be drawn from the first-named box, and the name of one additional commissioner 
from the second-named box, and the three persons whose names are so drawn at the second drawing, 
shall constitute the second class, and shall hold their office for two years. The other three commis- 
sioners, who names are not drawn, shall constitute the third class, and shall hold their office for one 
year. And the common council shall make and sign a determination of such election and classification 
of the commissioners so as before elected, which shall be entered in the minutes, and the original filed 
by the city clei'k in his office, and a copy thereof in the office of the secretary of the board of educa- 
tion, and the city clerk shall notify every person so elected of his election and classification within 
twenty-four hoitrs after such detei-mination. 

§ 11. The said board of education, so constituted, shall hold their first regular meeting on the follow- 
ing fourth Tuesday of May. eighteen hundred and seventy-six, at ten o'clock, a- m., at the regular place 
of meeting of the present board of education, and elect by ballot one of their number president, who 
shall hold his office for one year, and until his successor shall be designated; and said board shall 
annually thereafter meet at their regular place of meeting on the fourth Tutsday of May, and desig- 
nate by ballot one of their number to be president of said board for the ensuing year. In case of 
vacancy in the office of president by death, resignation or otherwise, the board shall elect a president 
for the unexpired term. 

* ? 12. There shall be held a special election annually, on the third Tuesday of May, after the year 
eighteen hundred and seventy-six, at which there shall be elected three commissioners of public 
schools aforesaid, to take the places of those commissioners whose terms of office are about to expire, 
and whose terms of office shall commence on the Tuesday succeeding such election, and continue for 
three years. The regulations prescribed for the first election under this act, and for the determination 
by the common council of who have, by the greatest number of votes, been elected, shall, so far as 
applicable, apply to each annual election. (As amended hy chap. 3IS, Laivs of 1879.) 

2 13. In case of a tie vote of any election herein provided for. the mayor and common council of said 
city, at the first meeting after such election, shall determine, by ballot, who, among those receiving 
the highest number of votes, shall be declared elected, and the person or persons so designated shall be 
commissioner or commissioners, the same as if duly elected by a majority vote. 

2 14. In case of a vacancy in said board of education, occasioned by the death or resignation of any 
of its members, or otherwise, the said board of education shall fill the same for the unexpired term by 
appointment by ballot, and the vote of two-thirds of all the members of said board shall be necessary 
to a choice. 

g 1.0. The inspectors of election provided for in this act shall be entitled to the like compensation as 
inspectors of election for said city are allowed for similar services, to be paid out of the school fund of 
said city, on the order of the board of education of said city. 

g 16, The commissioners elected or appointed under this act shall, within ten days after being notified 
of their election, and before entering upon the duties of their office, take and subscribe the official oath 
prescribed by law for other city officers, and file the same in the city clerk's office, and any neglect so 
to do shall be deemed a refusal to serve, and the office shall thereupon become vacant. 

§ 17. A majority of said board of education shall constitute a quorum, but a less number may 
adiourn. 

§ 18. Regular meetings of said boai-d of education, for the transaction of business, shall beheld on the 
first Tuesdav of each month, and said board shall make such rules and regulations for its own govern- 
ment as it shall from time to time find necessary. Special meetings of said board may be held on the 
order of the president, or upon the request of any two members of said board, after due notice to all 
the members, by the secretary, of the time, place and purpose of such special meetings, and no 
business shall be transacted thereat except such as shall be specified in the notice thereof. In the 
absence of the president the board may appoint some other member to preside and perform the duties 
of president. 

§ 19. The said board of education shall have power and it shall be its duty to continue, organize, 
establish and maintain such and so many public schools, in said city, as said board may deem neces- 
sary for the proper education of all persons entitled to the benefits thereof; to purchase, lease or im- 
prove sites and additions thereto for school-houses ; to purchase, build, lease, enlarge, alter. Improve or 
repair school-houses, aud their out-houses and appurtenances ; to sell and convey any real or personal 



AuBUEN". 807 

property belonging to the school fund, in the manner hereinafter provided; to purchase, exchange, 
improve and repair anj' school apparatus, hooks, furniture or appendages, and to defray the expenses 
of the school library or libraries; but the powers herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the 
furnishing with class or text-books, any scholar whose parents or guardians shall be able to furnish the 
same: to have the care, custody and safe-keeping of all school property, both real and personal, and to 
prescribe penalties for any damages thereto, or misuse thereof; to contract with and employ all neces- 
sary teachers for public schools, subject to the removal of any such teacher, whenever said board may 
deem it for the best interest for the schools; to establish evening schools for the benefit of those whose 
ages or vocations are such as to preclude their attendance upon the day schools, in this act provided 
for ; to pay the wages of all teachers employed by said board out of the funds appropriated by law for 
such purpose; to audit and pay all necessary contingent expenses of the board, including the salary of 
the secretary and superintendent, the wages of Janitors, the cost of fuel, and any and all other neces- 
sary expenditures incurred in the conduct of said schools; and the payment of the same or of such 
parts thereof as shall be allowed by the said board shall be made directly to such claimants, out of the 
moneys belonging to the public school fund, upon the order of said board, as hereinafter provided; 
but the aggregate of the expenditures and contracts of said board during any year shall not exceed the 
amount of moneys which shall be subject to their order during the then current year; to have the 
general superintendence and management of the public schools of said city, and from time to time to 
adopt, alter, modily or repeal, as they may deem expedient, any rules or regulations for the organiza- 
tion, government and instruction of said schools, for the reception of pupils, their transfer from one 
department to another, for their advancement from class to class, as their degrees of scholarship shall 
warrant, and generally for the promotion of good order, prosperity and public utility of said schools ; 
and to that end such board is herebj' vested with the control and authority over all pupils attending 
the school? under its charge, both while in actual attendance and in going to and returning from 
schools. 

§ 20. The academic high school shall be considered as one of the public schools of said city, and shall 
be continued as provided in section three of chapter one hundred and seventy-six of the laws of eight- 
een hundred and sixty-six ; and said high school shall be entitled to all the privileges of the academies 
of the State, and be subject to visitations from the Regents of the University, and share in the distri- 
bution of the moneys of the literature and other funds of the State, and be subject to all the rules and 
regulations applicable to the incorporated academies of the State. 

§21. In no case shall tuition be charged for any pupil whose parents or legal guardians are residents 
ol said city; but upon the payment oif such tuition as the board of education may from time to time 
prescribe, the said board may admit to any of the public schools under its charge, any pupil or pupils 
whose parents or legal guardians are not residents of said city. Any school tax paid to the city treas- 
urer of said city, by the parent or legal guardian of any such non-resident pupil, mav be applied toward 
the payment of said tuition, for the current school year in which said tax is levied and paid, and not 
otherwise. (As amended by chap. 318, Laws of 1879.) 

§ 22. It shall be the duty of said board of education to elect a secretary, who shall hold oflftce during 
the pleasure of the board. They shall fix his salary and he shall be superintendent of all the schools 
under the care of the board. As superintendent, he shall, under the direction of the board, determine 
the course of studies to be pursued in the different schools; he shall hold teachers' institutes, as the 
board may dii'ect ; he shall visit each school personally as often as his other duties will permit; he 
shall recommend to the board such regulations as he may deem best for the manageineut and control 
ot'the schools, and perform such other duties as the board may, from time to time, impose. As secre- 
tary, he shall keep a record of the proceedings of each meeting of said board, which shall at all times be 
open to public inspection ; shall countersign all checks, drafts or warrants drawn by the board ; and 
perform all other duties which the board may, from time to time, enjoin. He shall annually present 
to the board, at their regular meeting in August, a report which shall contain a statement of the con- 
dition of the schools for the year preceding, the number of scholars who have been in attendance dur- 
ing such year, the receipts and expenditures of the board on account of the public schools, and such 
other information as said board may require and direct. 

g 23. The teachers in the public schools of said city shall be employed by said board of education, sub- 
ject to such regulations and restrictions as said board may, from time to time, prescribe ; any teacher 
may be removed for cause, to be specified in the minutes of the Proceedings of said board ; and in case 
of such removal, the contract with such teacher shall cease. (As amended by chap. 31S, Laws of 1879. ) 

g 24. The board of education is hereby authorized to organize a teachers' class in high school of said 
city, which shall be entitled to an annual allowance from the literature fund of the State of New York, 
on the conditions and rules of the Eegents of the University, adopted for the distribution of said fund 
in academies in which such classes are instructed. 

§ 25, The said board of education is hereby authorized to employ a teacher or teachers in the asylum 
for destitute children in said city, and to pay therefor out of the public school fund in like manner as 
other teachers are paid, and said board is hereby authorized to supply said asylum with fuel for school 
purposes, in like manner as other schools are supplied ; and said board shall have the same care, over- 
sight and direction of said school as the other public schools in said city ; but nothing in this act shall 
be construed to give the board of education any control over the management of said asylum except as 
herein provided. The board of managers of said asylum, with the concurrence of the said board of 
education, may at any time discontinue such school, in which case the pupils therein shall be entitled 
to all the privileges of any other of the public schools of said city. 

? 26. The said board of education may impose a penalty, not exceeding one hundred dollars in any- 
one case, for any misuse of, or damage to, any real or personal property under its charge, and such 
penallv, together with costs, shall be collected in the name of the said board, in the same manner that 
penalties for the violation of the ordinances of the common council of said city are collected, and when 
so collected shall be paid to the treasurer and tax receiver of said citj', to be placed by him to the credit 
of the general school fund ; and the parent or guardian of any minor, and the master or mistress of any 
apprentice or servant, shall be liable for any such penalty and costs for a violation by any such minor, 
apprentice or servant, of any ordinance adopted by said board of education. It shall be sufficient 
notice of any ordinance imposing such penalty to cause the same to be published in any daily news- 
paper of said city for one week. 

§ 27. The said board of education may sell and dispose of any personal properts^ at any time belong- 
ing to the school fund of said city, by a vote of a majority of tlie members of said board, at any regular 
meeting, after one month's notice thereof: and may also sell, convey and dispose of any real estate at 
any time, belonging to said school fund by a vote of two-thirds of the members of said board, at any 
two regular consecutive monthly meetings of said board, and the avails of the sales of any such real or 
personal property shall be deposited with the treasurer and tax receiver of said city to the credit of the 
general school fund. 

? 28. It shall be the duty of said board of education, annually, on or before the second Tuesday of 
June, to fix, determine, certify and report to the common council of said city, the amount of money 
which, when added to the amount of money annually apportioned to the public schools of said city oxxi 



808 Baldwinsville. 

of the funds belonging to the State, shall be necessary to defray the expenses of all the public schools 
under the charge of said board for the ensuing year, for building, fuel, furniture, school apparatus, 
repairs, insurance, teachers' wages, and contingent expenses of the schools and to pay the compensa- 
tion of the secretary and superintendent aforesaid, and the contingent expenses of such board. The 
amount so certified, exclusive of the amount required for building purposes, shall in no case exceed six 
times the amount which shall have been apportioned out of the funds belonging to the State aforesaid 
for the year next preceding. And the amount to be raised for building purposes shall in no case exceed 
eight thousand dollars in any one year, unless by the unanimous consent of every member of said board. 
(As amended by chap. 318, Laws of 1879.) 

§ 29. The common council of said city shall annually levy and raise the amount of money so certified 
and reported by the board of education, and the amount so to be raised shall be levied and collected at 
the same time and in the same manner as the other general taxes of the said city are levied and raised, 
and in addition thereto ; but all moneys raised for school purposes under this act shall be rated sepa- 
rately and as collected shall be kept separate and distinct from the other taxes levied and collected for 
city purposes. 

§ 30. All moneys levied aud raised for the support of public schools, together with the public money 
received from the State, and all moneys received from other sources for school purposes, shall be paid 
to the treasurer and tax receiver of the city of Auburn, in trust, aud shall by him be kept separate and 
distinct from other moneys, and shall, at least as often as once in each week, be bv him deposited to 
the credit of the board of education in some bank of deposit or trust, to be designated as hereinafter 
directed, said deposits to be known and distinguished as the public school fund of the citv of Auburn. 
Said fund so deposited as aforesaid shall be drawn out only upon order of the board of education, by 
resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of said board and signed by the president, and countersigned by 
the secretary of said board of education. Such order shall specify for what purpose the amount named 
therein shall be paid, and the secretary of such board shall keep an accurate account of all orders drawn 
on said fund, in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, and shall report at each monthly meeting of 
the board the amount of such orders drawn from the commencement of the fiscal year to the date of 
such report. The treasurer and tax receiver shall also report to said board, on the first dav of each and 
every month, the condition of the school fund in his hands, if any, also the amount of said fund which 
has come into his hands during the preceding month, and when and where deposited. And the bank 
or trust company holding said deposit shall be required to report to said board of education, on the first 
day of each and every month, the transactions of said board with said bank or trust company during 
the preceding month, stating the amount on hand at the commencement of the month ; the several 
amounts deposited during the month, the amount of interest allowed ou monthly balances on hand as 
shall be agreed upon, and the amounts drawn, and on whose order the balance in bank to the credit of 
the board at the close of the month. In case said treasurer and tax receiver shall retain in his hands, 
contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, or shall transfer or divert any part of the school 
moneys coming into his hands, to any other purpose than is herein specified, it shall be the duty of said 
board immediately to commence suit in the supreme court against such treasurer and tax receiver and 
his sureties, for the recovery of the sum so unlawfully retained, transferred or diverted, and double 
taxable costs shall be allowed against such treasurer and tax receiver and his sureties, upon recovery 
of any sum against them, and such treasurer and tax receiver and his sureties are hereby declared to 
be liable on their official bonds for any default, delinquency, neglect or misconduct in relation to the 
trust created by this act. And the treasurer and tax receiver shall, for each and every willful violation 
of either of the provisions of this section, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction 
thereof, shall be liable to a tine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or to imprisonment in the county 
jail for a period not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of 
the court before which such conviction shall be had. The board of education of said city of Auburn 
are hereby authorized at their first regular meeting in September, in each and every year, to designate 
the bank of deposit or trust wherein said school fund shall be deposited for the ensuing year. The 
board of education shall require from any depository designated for the deposit of such school moneys, 
a bond in such amount and with such sureties as shall be approved by the mayor of said city of Auburn, 
and by the president of said board of education for the safe-keeping of such school moneys, and the 
payment of the same as required upon the orders of the board, and which said bond shall be renewed 
whenever required by said board of education, such bond shall be made payable to said board of educa- 
tion, and filed in the office of the clerk of Caj'Uga county, and suit shall be brought thereon, by said 
board of education, for any deficiency in complying with any of the conditions thereof, whenever 
required by a vote ot a majority of said board. 

§ 31 . The said board of education shall, annually, on the first day of August, or as soon thereafter as 
practicable, cause a report to be prepared and published for general distribution among the patrons of 
the public schools of said city, which shall give in detail all practical information concerning the man- 
agement, expenses and progress of the public schools aforesaid. 

§ 32. An appeal may be taken to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction from any proceeding 
of the said board of education. 

2 33. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 

§ 34. This act shall take efiiect immediately. 

IChap. 10, Laws of 1886.] 

Section 1. The board of education of the city of Auburn is hereby authorized to bid upon, and pur- 
chase, and take, and hold title to any property, whether real or personal, which may hereafter be sold 
pursuant to any Judgment rendered in any action wherein said corporation is., or may be, a party, or on 
execution issued upon any judgment in any action wherein said corporation is now, or hereafter may 
become, a party, such property so acquired shall be held, owned and leased by said corporation, aud 
may be disposed of and conveyed in the same manner as other property now held by said board. 

\C7iap. .562, Latvs of 1886.] 

Authorizes the board of education of the city of Auburn to issue certificates of indebtedness to pro- 
vide for the erection of a new high school building. 

BALDWINSVILLE fTOWNS OF LYSANDER AND VAN BUREN). 

\Chapter 94, Laws of 1864.] 

Section 1. School districts number two (2), of the town of Lysander, of the county of Onondaga, and 
number eighteen (18), of the town of Van Buren, of the same county, are hereby consolidated for the 
purpose and to the extent in this act specified, and shall hereafter for such purposes and to suchliextent 
form but one school district, to be called *' The Baldwinsville union free school district." 



Baldwinsville. 809 

i 2, Said school districts shall remain and continue separate and distinct, for the purpose and the 

extent in this act specified, and shall be called " primary school districts," and numbered as follows : 
said district number two (2) of Lysander shall form district number one (1), and said district number 
eighteen (18) of Van Buren shall form primary district number two (2), and said districts shnll not be 
subject to alteration, except by resolution of the board of education, hereinafter created. The schools 
In said primary districts shall be preparatory schools for the instruction of children, until they attain 
a certain proficiency in learning, who shall then be transferred into the academy or high school here- 
inafter mentioned, the (jualifications to be prescribed by the by-laws, rules and regulations of the 
board of education hereinafter created. 

23. The following named persons, to-wit: James Frazee, John P. Shumway, Abel H. Tell, Henry 
Y. Allen, Silas H. Nichols and Payn Bigelow, and their successors to be chosen as hereinafter pro- 
vided, are hereby constituted a corporation, by the name of the " Board of Education for the Bald- 
winsville Academy and Union Free School. " The three persons first named shall hold their office until 
the first Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five (1865), and the three persons 
last named until the first Monday of Januarj', one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six (1866). 

g 4, The annual meeting of the electors of said union district shall be held on the second Tuesday in 
October of each year, at such hour and place in said district as the board of education shall previously 
designate. The president of the board of education, or, in his absence, the president for the time 
being, shall preside ; and the clerk, or in his absence, the clerk for the time being, shall act as secre- 
tary thereof. 

§ 5. At the annual meeting to be held in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four (1864), 
three members of the board of education .shall be elected to fill the places of the three persons first 
named in section three of this act. The places of the next three shall be filled at the annual meeting 
to be held in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five ; and annually thereafter, on the 
second Tuesday of October, there shall in like manner be elected three members to fill the places of 
those whose terms of office shall next thereafter expire. Every officer elected under this act shall 
enter on the duties of his office on the first Monday of January next succeeding his election, and shall 
continue in office for the term of two years. Of the three members of the board of education elected 
at any annual meeting, two shall be residents and taxable inhabitants of primary district number one, 
and one of primary district number two. At the first regular meeting of the board of education after 
any such election, the clerk shall certify to the board the names of the officers so elected. 

§ 6. Said board of education shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties of this 
act, and a majority ot the board shall form a quorum. 

§ 7. At the first regular meeting of the board of education, held in January in each year, they shall 
appoint a clerk, librarian, collector and treasurer of said union district, the last two of whom shall 
each, within twenty days after receiving written notice of his appointment, and before entering upon 
the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond, in such penalty and with 
such sureties as the said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his 
office. 

g 8. In case of a vacancy in any office mentioned in this act, occasioned by the death of such officer, 
his removal from the tlistrict, refusal to serve, his incapacity, or any cause other than the expiration 
of the term of office of persons elected, said board of education may make an appointment to till such 
vacancy. The officer so appointed shall hold his office until the next annual election. 

§ 9. Notices for annual meetings and all other meetings of said union district shall be given by said 
l)oard of education at least ten days before such meeting, by publishing such notice once in each of 
the newspapers printed in the village of Baldwlnsville, and by posting the same on the door of each 
school-house in said union school district. 

§ 10. Said board of education, and the clerk, the librarian, and the collector of said union district, 
shall severally possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to all the schools In 
said union district, that the trustees and other officers of common schools now possess or shall be sub- 
ject to by law, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. 

§ 11. From and after the first meeting of the board of education under this act, the offices of trustee, 
librarian, clerk and collector, in each of the school districts included within the limits of the said union 
school district shall be abolished, and the title of the property of the said school districts, real and per- 
sonal, shall from thenceforth become the property of and be vested in the said board of education, in 
Its corporate capacity, as created by this act; and said board shall settle all business of the school dis- 
tricts form'ng said union district then remaining unsettled. 

? 12. The said board of education shall, at their said first meeting, and uniformly thereafter, at their 
meeting to be held next after the first Monday of January in each year, appoint one of their number 
president. The clerk of said union district shall act as secretary to said board. In the absence of 
either of said officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president and a secretary may be appointed 
for the time being. 

§ 13. The said clerk, in addition to such other duties as are or may be imposed upon him by law, or 
required of him by the board, shall keep a record of the proceedings of said board of education, which 
record, or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and secretary, shall be received in all courts, 
and for all purposes, as presumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth. 

g 14. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty 

1. To establish and organize a classical school in the village of Baldwlnsville, to be known by the 
name of" The Baldwlnsville academy," which school shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents 
of the University ot this State, and to all laws and regulations applicable to the incorporated acade- 
mies thereof, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, and to share in the distribu- 
tion of the moneys of the literature fund of this State, the same as the other academies thereof; 

2. To establish and organize such and so many primary schools in said district, including for that 
purpose the common schools therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and alter and dis- 
continue, or change and consolidate the same ; 

3. To build, purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fenoe, 
improve, adorn and repair the same as they may think proper; 

4. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any lots or sites now owned by any school districts within the 
limits of said union district, erected by this act, to build, enlarge, alter, improve, adorn and repair 
school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable ; 

5. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, globes, 'maps, furniture and append- 
ages, books for indigent pupils, and for the school library; to provide fuel and lights, and defray the 
contingent expenses of the schools, of the board, the library and the salary of the librarian and clerk. 

6. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, and all the real and per- 
sonal property belonging, or which shall belong to said union school district and primary schools, and 
see that the ordinances and by-laws of said board in relation thereto be observed ; 

7. To contract with and employ teachers competent in the several departments of instruction ; to 
remove them at any time for neglect of duty or immoral conduct, and to pay the wages of such teach- 
ers out of the moneys appropriated for that purpose ; 

103 



SIO Baldwiksville. 

8. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public moneys and tuition fees received for that pur- 
pose, and the deficiency, if any, out ot the moneys to be raised by tax for general purposes of educa- 
tion under this act ; 

9. To tix the rates of tuition fees in said academy, and to designate some person or persons to whom 
the same may be paid ; 

10. To liave, in all respects, the superintendence, supervision, management and control of all the 
schools raeiitioued or contemplated, in and by the provisions of this act, to prescribe the course of 
studies therein, the books to be used, and to establish a uniformity in respect to such course of study 
and books; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules, 
regulations and ordinances for the organization, government and instruction of such schools, for the 
reception of pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, for the expulsion of any pupil from 
any of said schools for misconduct, for the promotion of morals and good order in said schools their 
prosperity and public utility ; for the protection, safe-keeping, and care and preservation of school- 
houses, lots, sices, fences, ornamental trees and shrubbery, and appurtenances, and all other property 
connected with or appertaining to such schools, and to cause such rules, regulations, ordinances and 
by-laws to be printed and published in such a manner as they may deem best calculated to give gen- 
eral information thereof; 

11. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, from time to 
time, by tax upon all the real and personal estate within the bounds of said union district, which shall 
be liable to taxation for town and county charges, such sums of money as may be determined by reso- 
lution ot said board, to be necessary for any and all the purposes mentioned in this act, or to.meet any 
deficiency for any purpose of education in said district, to provide for which, power may be given to 
the said board by the provisions of this act, or any law i-elating to common schools, or the rules, regu- 
lations, or any order of the Superintendent of PuDlic Instruction. 

12. Said board of education shall, at the commencement of each year, make an estimate, by the best 
means in their power, of the amount of money which will be needed for all the purposes of education 
and other purposes provided for by this act, over and above the public money and moneys to be 
received from the other sources, if any, and shall cause the same to be raised upon one assessment or 
warrant ; and not more than two taxes for such purposes shall be raised in one year. The amount of 
money so to be raised for teachers' wages, in any one year, shall not be less than the amount received 
from the State for the support of said schools for the year next preceding, nor shall more than four 
times that amount be raised by the board of education for that purpose, unless such greater amount 
shall be authorized by a vote of the voters at school meetings of said union free school district, at an 
annual or special meeting of such district, when they sh'all have power to vote such sum or sums as 
they may deem necessary for school purposes. 

? 15. All the primary schools and the academy in said union school district, and which shaH'be under 
the charge of the board of education, shall be free schools, and no tuition shall be charged nor any rate 
bill made out for the tuition in the regular or prescribed course of study of any pupils of lawful school 
age, who are or may be actual residents of said union sch ool districts ; but said board of education shall 
have power to establish or charge such rates of tuition, as they shall see fit, for non-resident pupils, 
and for the instruction of all pupils in any branches of learning not embraced in the regular course of 
study prescribed by the said board of education. 

§ 16. They shall, for all taxes raised by them, make out a list in the manner and form in which tax 
lists are or shall be required by law to be made out by trustees of school district, so far as such form is 
applicable; annex thereto a warrant in like form, signed by the president, or majority of the members 
of said board, and deliver the same to the collector, which when so made and signed, shall be as effec- 
tual to ail intents and purposes, as like tax lists and warrants, when made by the^trustees, of common 
school districts in this State. Said board may, in respect to the collection of taxes, conform to the pro- 
visions of the twenty-ninth, thirtieth and thirty-first sections of chapter one hundred and eighty of 
Sessions Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and require the collector to comply with 
the provisions of said sections so far as the same are applicable. 

Said board may make their warrants returnable at discretion, not less than thirty days, nor more 
than ninety days, from the issuing thereof. The said board may assess, levy and collect the amount 
of taxes to be raised under the preceding sections, in not more than two annual installments, 

2 17. All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropriated to or provided 
for said districts, shall be paid to the treasurer of said board, who, together with the sureties on his 
official bond, shall be accountable therefor to the said board of education; said treasurer shall not pay 
out any of said moneys except by resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the president, 
and certified by the secretary, to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution, 

g 18. Special "meetings of the board of education may be called by the president, or in his absence or 
inabihty to act, by the secretary, or any member of said board, as olten as necessary, by giving personal 
notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his place of 
residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. No member of said 
board shall receive, directly or indirectly, any pay or compensation for his services. 

§ 19. The said board of education shall annually make a like report in all respects as required from 
trustees of common school districts to the school commissioner. Such reports shall be received by 
the school commissioner instead of the reports now made by trustees of the school districts included 
in said union district. The supervisors of the several towns from which the said union district is taken 
shall, in making their apportionment of school or library moneys, allot to said union district its pro- 
portion of said moneys according to law, regulating it.s apportionments to districts formed out of two 
or more towns, and the report of its board ot education shall be regarded as the report of its trustees. 
All such sums shall be paid by said supervisors to the treasurer of said board of education- A copy of 
the reports of said board of education shall be filed with the clerk or secretary of the board. The board 
of education shall, at the close of each school year, publish in one or more of the village newspapers, a 
report of the moneys received and expended by them during the year showing the sources from whence 
received, and the objects of expenditure and such other matters pertaining to public instruction in 
said district as th^^y shall deem expedient. 

§ 20. Whenever, in the opinion of said board, a sale or exchange of any primary school-house orhouse 
and lot would be proper, said board may cause such sale or exchange to be made, and may buy a new 
site or may at any time build a new house for the accommodation of any portion of said district, when 
authorized thereto by a vote of a majority of the tax payers of said union district present and 
voting at anv annual or special meeting" called together as herein provided. 

§ 21. All the school property of said board of education, real and personal, while used for and appro- 
priated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to be 
levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution. Said board of education, in their corporate 
capacity shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, 
grant, bequest or devise, for the use of said district or any schools under their charge. Said board shall 
not have power to sell, grant, dispose of or incumber said academy or school lots. No portion of the 



BiNGHAMTOJs-. 811 

library money paid to sairl board of education shall be expended for teachers' washes but shall be ap- 
propriated exclusively lor the increase and benetit of the library and for school apparatus. 

g22. All the lands included in the bounds of said union district shall be subject to taxation therein 
under this act, without regard to the residence of the owners thereof, and the board of educatioji may 
cause them to be returned to the county treasurer, in the same manner as trustees of common schools 
are authorized to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non-residents of their <tistricts for 
unpaid taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of .said taxes 
out of anv moneys in the county treasury not other-ivise specifically appropriated, and such pro- 
ceedings 'in all respects shall thereupon be had in relation to such taxes and lands, as required by law 
in relation to such lands when so returned by trustees of common school district. 

J 23 The taxes imposed by the provisions of this act shall be a lien upon lands taxed, to be enforced 
anil collected by sale in the manner that county taxes are upon a return to be made by the collector to 
the treasurer of the county of all unpaid taxes in said districts. 

g 24. The board of education, or a majority of the same, in conjunction with the school commissioner 
of the first commissioner district of Onondaga county, shall have power at any time to change the 
bounds of said union school district by annexing to the said district the whole or part of anv adjoining 
common school district, the whole of a majority of the voters of said school district, and "they shall 
further have power to set off to any adjoining district any part of such union school district as the 
majority of the voters of said unioa school district may determine; but no such change shall be made 
between the first dav ol April in any year, and the first day of October, next following. 

§ 2.'). All the expenses incurred by said school district number two, of the town of Lvsander, for alter- 
ations and repairs of school buildings, since the eighteenth day December, one thousand eight 
hundred and sixty three and all the expenses incurred by both of said districts for teachers' wages, 
fuel, printing, rent of buildings, or any other expenses whatever, connected with or incurred for the 
support of saiil schools in the said districts since the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred 
and sixty-four, beyond the public moneys or other moneys on hand, shall be paid by tax, and the total 
amount of expenses incurred, as specified in this section, shall be embraced in the first tax levied bv 
the board of education of said union district; and the board of education of said union school district 
Is hereby empowered, and it shall be their duty, at their first regular meeting after the passage of this 
act. to levy a tax in accordance with the twelfth article of the fourteenth section of this act, for the 
support of the schools In said union school district for the current school year. 

BINGHAMTON. 

'[Chap. 477.] 
An Act to revise and amend title eleven of chapter two hundred and ninety-one of the laws of eighteen 
hundred and sixty-seven, entitled "An Act to incorporate the City of Biughamton," and the several 
acts amendatory thereof. 

Passed May 28, 1880: three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New Tork, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. Title eleven of chapter two hundred and ninety-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
sixty-seven, entitled " An Act to incorporate the City of Binghamton," and the several acts amenda- 
tory thereof, are hereby amended so as to read as follows : 

§ 1 . There shall be elected annually in each ward of the city one school commissioner. Such election 
shall be held on the third Tuesday in September, at such place in each ward of said citv as shall be 
appointed by the common council, which shall give ten days' notice of such election by piiblishing the 
same in the official and one or more other city newspapers. The inspectors of election of each election 
district in which the place is situated, appointed as aforesaid, shall hold said election, which shall be 
conducted in the same manner as the annual city election, and all laws, excepting those providing for 
the registry of legal voters, applicable to said city election, and to the canvass of the votes cast thereat, 
and to the certifying of the same, shall apply to said school conmiissioner election, so far as the same 
are applicable. The polls of such election shall be opened at five o'clock in the afternoon and shall be 
contirmed open until eight o'clock in the afternoon. 

§ 2. The common council shall meet each year on the Thursday next succeeding such election to can- 
vass the votes cast thereat. Each person so elected shall duly qualify and enter upon the duties of his 
ofllce on the Monday succeeding iiis election, and continue therein for the term of two years, and until 
his successor shall have taken the oalh of office and become duly qualified to serve therein. 

? 3. If, at any election authorized by this act, a commissioner shall not have been chosen by reason 
of two or more candidates having received an equal number of votes for the same office, or for anv 
other cause, a special election shall be ordered by the common council within five davsfrom such elec- 
tion, to be held at such place in the ward or wards where such vacancy or vacancies exist, as it shall 
appoint, and it shall cause such notice as is required for the annual commissioner election,' to be pub- 
lished for at least five days previous to such special election. The provisions of law in respect to the 
annual commissioner election, so far as the same are applicable, shall apply to such special election. 
Vacancies in the oftice of school commissioner shall be filled by special election, to be ordered and con- 
ducted as provided in this section, within five days after such vacancy shall occur. 

§ 4. The school commissioners of the several wards, together with the mayor, shall constitute a bo.ard 
to be'styled the " Board of Education of the city of Binghamton," which shall be a corporate body in 
relation to all the powers and duties conferred by law and this act, and shall serve without comnensa- 
lion. 

§ .5. The board of education shall meet annually on the first Monday after the general commissioner 
election, at seven and one-half o'clock in the afternoon, and at such other times as it shall bv resolu- 
tion designate. Special meetings may be called by the president of the board, or bv anv three com- 
missioners, by causing a printed or written notice to be served upon each member of the board, either 
personally or by leaving the same at least fortj'-eight hours before the time of such special meeting at 
his usual place of residence or business, with some person of suitable age and discretion. At such 
annual meeting the board shall elect a president from its number, who shall hold office until the next 
annual meeting of the board, and may appoint a secretary, who shall hold his office during the pleasure 
of the board. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum, but a less number mav adjourn, 
■Whenever the president shall be absent or unable to act, a president pro tempore shall be appointed. 

§ 6. Tlie secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, which record, or a transcript 
thereof, certified by the president and secretary, shall be received in all courts and places as prima 
facie evidence of the facts therein set forth. Such records, and all the books, accounts, vouchers and 
papers of the said board, shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council of the 
city, or any committee thereof. The secretary shall perform the duties prescribed by law. and such 
other duties as the board may impose. In his absence a secretary pro tempore may be appointed, who 
shall exercise all the powers of the secretary. 



812 BiKGHAMTOif. 

§7. The common council of the city of Binghamtonsball have power, and it shall he its duty, to 
raise from time to time by tax to he levied upon all the real and-personal estate in said city liable to 
taxation for city or county charges, such sums as may be estimated and certified by the board of educa- 
tion, and determined hy the common council, to be necessary and proper for any or all the following 
purposes : 

1. To purchase or lease sites for school buildings. 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter or repair school-houses, their outhouses and appurten- 
ances, and to improve school-house grounds. 

3. To pay such part of the salaries of the superintendent and teachers as shall be due after the ap- 
plication to that purpose of the public moneys which may be appropriated and provided therefor by 
law.. 

4. To defray the expenses of the city school library, including the purchase and repair of cases and 
furniture therefor, the purchase and rebinding of books, and the salaries of the librarian and assistants ; 
and to purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus and cabineis therefor, and class of 
text-books for indigent pupils. 

5. To defray the ordinary and contingent expenses of the schools and board of education, including 
the seating, furnishing, heating, lighting, keeping in order and insuring the several school buildings, 
and to pay the salary of the secretary and all other expenses not provided for under the four preceding 
heads. 

The sums raised or received for said several purposes shall be known respectively as the " site fund," 
the " building fund," the " teachers' fund," the " library fund," and the " general fund. " 

2 8. The fiscal year of the board of education shall commence on the first day of August in each year. 
The board shall, on or before the first Monday in April annually, make and certify to the common 
council a detailed estimate of the amount necessary to be raised by tax for each fund or class of pur- 
poses aforesaid for the ensuing fiscal year, and also a statement^of the amount received from the State 
for school purposes during the preceding fiscal year. Upon the reception of said estimate, the com- 
mon council shall proceed to consider the same, and approve, increase or diminish any or all of said 
amounts ; but the aggregate amount to he raised in any one year for the site and building funds shall 
not exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars, except as otherwise provided ; and the council shall not 
diminish the aggregate amount to be raised for the teachers' and general funds so that it shall be less 
than three, nor increase it so that it shall be more than six times the amount rec ived from the 
State during the preceding year for school purposes. 

g9. The common council, after having determined as aforesaid the amount necessary and proper 
to be raised by tax for each fund or class of purposes, shall certify the same to the board of education, 
and shall cause such amount to be collected with the next general tax for city purposes, and the board 
of education shall diiring the ensuing fiscal year, limit the expenditure so as to not to exceed any fund, 
and not lessen the time each school shall be kept open. In case the board shall, during any fiscal 
year, authorize expenditures from any fund, in excess of the whole amount of such fund, the city 
shall not be liable for such excess, but the members of the board of education voting therefor, or any 
of them, shall be personally liable therefor to the party entitled to payment. 

§10. The city treasurer shall receive all moneys appropriated by the State to said city for school 
purposes, and shall, at the proper time in each year draw upon the treasurer of Broome county or other 
proper officer therefor. 

§ 11. All moneys applicable to the maintenance of the schools or library, from whatever sources 
received, shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and by him placed to the credit of the "board of 
education ; " and shall be used or paid out only upon the orders, drawn by its secretary, and counter- 
signed by the president ; and they shall not draw or countersign any order unless it is authorized by 
a resolution of the board, nor shall the aggregate amount of the orders authorized to be drawn exceed 
the fund then in the treasury applicable to their payment. 

§ 12. The treasurer shall at all times, when called upon, report to the hoard the amount of money in 
his hands to the credit of the " board of education." For any default, delinquency or official miscon- 
duct in relation to the keeping or payment of any school moneys on the part of the treasurer, the 
board may cause a suit or suits to he prosecuted in the name of " the city Binghamton " upon his 
official bond. 

gl3. The board of education shall have power, and it shall be its duty, subject to the provisions of 
the law and this act : 

1. To pass such by-laws as it may deem proper for the regulation and exercise of its lawful business 
and power, and for its own government. 

2. To organize, establish and maintain such and so many schools in said city. Including primary. 
Intermediate, grammar and high schools, as it shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and 
discontinue the same when necessary. 

3. To have in all respects the i-uperintendence, supervision and management of such schools, and 
from time to time adopt, alter, modify and repeal as it may deem expedient, rules and regulations for 
their organization, government and instruction; for the admission of pupils and their transfer from 
one class or grade to another, or from one school to another, and generally, for their good order, 
prosperity and utility. 

4. To purchase or lease sites for school buildings. 

5. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter and repair school buildings and appurtenances, and im- 
prove school-house grounds. 

6. To purchase, exchange, Improve and repair schoofdesks, furniture and apparatus. 

7. To defray the ordinary and contingent expenses of the schools and the board of education, the 
heating and lighting of the school-houses and the keeping in order and insuring the school buildings 
and property. 

8. To have the care and custody and provide for the safe keeping of the school buildings and school 
propertv belonging to the city, and to see that the ordinances of the common council, in relation 
thereto," are observed. 

9. To contract with, examine, license and employ all teachers in the public schools of the city, and 
at its pleasure remove them. 

10. To fix and pay out of the moneys appropriated and provided by law and this act for such pur- 
poses, the salaries of the superintendent, secretary and librarians, and the wages of teachers and all 
employees of the board, 

11. To prescribe the text books to be used in the schools, and to compel uniformity in the use of the 
same, and to furnish the same to indigent pupils and no others out of any moneys provided for that 
purpose. 

? 14. The public schools of the city shall be free to all pupils between the ages of six and twenty-ona 
years, who are actual residents of said city, and, also, to all resident pupils between the ages of five 
and six years, who shall enter school at the commencement of the spring term. The board of educa- 
tion shall decide all questions of residence arising under this section. The said board may allow chil- 



BiKGHAMTOK. 813 

dren of non-residents to attend the schools of said city, and shall prescribe the rates of tuition of sachi 
non-residents, and also, for all pupils over twenty-one years of age, payable always in advance. 

8 15. The existing high school shall continue to be recognized as one of the academies of this State, 
and shall be subject to the visitations of the Regents of the University, and shall share in the annua' 
distribution of the literature and other school funds in the same manner, and to the same extent and 
upon the same conditions as other academies and the academic departments of union free schools, and 
the regents shall annually pay to the city treasurer, for the use of the board of education, the distribu- 
tive share of said funds to which said high school is entitled. 

5 16. The board shall have charge of the city school library, and make such rules and regulations 
concerning the management of the same and prescribing the duties of librarian, as it shall deem proper. 
It shall provide suitable rooms and furniture for the library, and appoint a librarian, and so many assis- 
tant librarians as shall be necessary, who shall hold their positions during the pleasure of the board. 
It shall have power to make all selectionsjof books for the library and purchase the same ; to exchange, 
repair or dispose of any books or other property of the library, and to defray the ordinary and contin- 
gent expenses of the library. 

§ 17. The board may appoint a superintendent of the public schools of the city, who shall hold his 
office during the pleasure of the board. He shall, unless the board otherwise appoint, be secretary of 
the board. The superintendent shall bounder the control of the board, and it shall establish rules and 
regulations prescribing his general powers and duties. He shall, under the direction of the board, 
examine persons proposing to teach in the city schools, and not having a certificate from the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction or a diploma from the State normal school, and shall, if he finds them 
qualified, grant them certificates in the forms which are or may bo prescribed by the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, which certificates may be revoked at any time by the board of education. He 
shall be paid for his salary out of the teachers' fund, and shall receive no compensation for his services 
as secretary in addition to his salary as superintendent. 

1 18. Between the first and fifteenth days of October, in each year, the board shall make to the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction a report in writing giving such information as he may require concern- 
ing the public schools of the city, and the receipt and expenditure of school moneys during the preced- 
ing fiscal year. 

§ 19. It shall be the duty of the board, at least fifteen days previous to each annual election for school 
commissioners, to prepare and report to the common council, a true and correct statement of the 
receipts and disbursements under the provisions of this title, during the fiscal year ending on the 
thirty-first day of July then last past, in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads: 

1. The balance in the treasury at the commencement of said fiscal year; the amount raised by city 
tax ; the amount received from the State ; from tuition ; and from all other sources, specifying them 
with the amount received from each source. 

2. The amount of the total receipts credited to the site, building, teachers', library and general funds, 
respectively. 

3. The balance in the treasury at the commencement of said fiscal year to the credit of the building 
fund ; the amounts received by said fund from city taxes, and from all other sources, specifying them, 
with the amount received from each source. 

4. The sums paid oat from said building fund, specifying the amount paid out under each head of 
expenditure. 

5. A like statement in respect to the site, teachers', library and general funds respectively, as 
required in respect to the building fund. 

6 The balance in the treasury at the end of said fiscal year, and the amounts remaining to the credit 
of said several funds respectively. And the common council shall, ten days before such election, cause 
the same to be published in the ofllcial and one or more other city newspapers. 

g 20. The title of the school buildings, sites, furniture, books and all other school property shall be 
vested in the city of Binghamton ; but the board of education may sell and transfer any personal prop- 
erty not needed for the purposes of this act ; and such board and the city of Binghamton, in their cor- 
porate capacities, by their concurrent action, may, by an instrument executed by both as grantors, 
sell and convey any of the real property, and all interest of the city therein. The proceeds of the sale 
of such property to be paid to the treasurer of the city, and be credited to the board of education. 

2 21. All moneys received for the use of the board from the sale of school property and from other 
sources than taxes and the state, shall be added to the several funds to be expended for the stated 
purposes thereof, as follows : From the sale or lease of sites, to the site fund ; from the sale, lease or 
Insurance of buildings, to the building fund ; from tuition, to the teachers* fund ; from the sale of 
library books and furniture, school books, apparatus and cabinets therefor and from library fines, to 
the library fund ; and from all other sources, to the general fund. Moneys added to any fund as afore- 
said may be transferred to any other fund by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of all who shall at the 
time be members of the board ; but moneys raised by tax, or provided by the state, for specific pur- 
poses, shall not be diverted to other purposes. 

§ 22. The common council shall have power, and it shall be its duty, to pass such ordinances and 
regulations as the board of education may report as necessary for the protection, preservation, safe- 
keeping and care of the school buildings, lots, libraries and property belonging to, or connected with 
the schools of said city. All penalties for the violation thereof, when collected, shall be paid to the 
treasurer of the city to the credit of the "Board of Education," and shall be subject to their order in 
the same manner as the moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this title. 

§ 23. If, in the Judgment of the board, it shall become necessary at any time to raise any larger 
amount for school purposes than herein provided, the common council mav, upon the recommendation 
of the board, submit to the qualified electors for their determination, the question whether the sum 
required shall be raised by special tax under the provisions of title thirteen, of the city charter. Such 
money, if voted, shall be placed, when collected, to the credit of the "board of education," to be 
expended by them for the purposes for which it was raised. The restriction in said title as to the 
amount which may be raised in any one vear by special tax shall not apply to a tax voted in pursuance 
of the provisions of this section nor shall the ta'c so voted diminish the amount which might be other- 
wise raised by special tax for city purposes under the provisions of said title. 

g 24. The present school commissioners of said city shall continue to be school commissioners thereof, 
and members of the board of education, provided for by this act, until the expiration of their several 
terms of ofllce. 

§ 25. Chapter three hundred and seventy-eight, of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-six, 
entitled "An Act to provide for the election of School Commissioners in the City of Binghamton," 
and all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 

i 26. This act shall take effect immediately. 



814 Brooklyn. 

BROOKLYN. 

Section l. There shall be a department of public inbtnictlon, which shall be under the control of a 
board of education, and all the provisions of law relating to the present board of education of the citv 
of Brooklyn shall apply thereto, except so much as relates to the appointment of members thereof, 
which shall be made in the following manner: (Section 1, title ^FI, chap. 863, Laws of 1873, revised 
charter of city of Brooklyn. ) 

§ 2. After the first day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, the mayor of the city of 
Brooklyn shall have sole and exclusive power to appoint the successor of anv commissioner or other 
head of department (except the department of finance and the department of audit), or of any assessor 
or member of the board of education of said city, when the terms of such officers shall respectively 
expire, or, as by law, may then or thereafter be required to be appointed, and the term of office of 
such appointees and their successors, except assessors, whose term shall be for four years, shall be for 
two years: provided, however, that if the mayor shall refuse or neglect for a period of thirty days 
after the expiration of the term of any officer to make an appointment to office authorized to be made 
.pursuant to this section, then and in that case such refusal or neglect shall be adjudged and deemed 
•to be in all respects eauivalent to and taken as an express appointment of the commissioner or other 
^officer who may at the time be holding such office. (Section 6, chap. 377, Laws of 1880.) 
: i 3. The board df education shall have the entire charge and direction of all the public schools of 
•said city, and of the school moneys raised for the support of the same, and shall possess the powers 
'and be subject to the general duties of trustees of common schools in this State, so far as the same are 
not impaired or affected by this act. It shall annually choose a presiding officer, make its own bj-- 
laws, keep a, journal of its proceedings, define the duties of its officers and committees, and prescribe 
such rules and regulations for instruction and discipline in the said public schools as are not incon- 
sistent with the laws of the State ; and all the provisions of the act, relating to resignation and expul- 
sions in the common council, shall be applicable to the board of education.* (Section 2, chap. 143, 
Laws of 18.50. ) 

§ 4. The whole city shall be a school district for all purposes of taxation, as well for the purchase of 
school sites and the building and repairing of school houses as for the annual support of schools, but 
shall be divided by the board or education into as many districts as there are schools, for the purpose 
of determining the limits within which children may attend such schools. (Section 3, chap. 143, Laws 
qf 1850. ) 

2 5. The boai-d of education shall have power tor organize and establish schools for colored children, 
and such evening schools as it may, from time to time deem expedient, and shall adopt the necessary 
rules for the government of the same. It may make use of the public school houses under its charge 
for such evening schools, and the expenses of said schools shall be paid out of the general fund in the 
same manner as those of the other public schools. No person shall be prohibited from attending the 
evening schools on account of age. (Section 4, chap. 143, Laws of 18-30.) 

§ 6. TJie board of education shall annually appoint a city superintendent of common schools, whose duty 
in addition to the visitation and superintendence of the schools shall be to examine teachers and grant 
certificates in such manner and form as m/iy be prescribed by the State Superintendent of Pu^Aic Instruc- 
tion, lohich shall not be in force Longer than one year, and may at any time he revoked by the board of 
education ; he shall also make such annual and other reports of the condition of the schools, as may be 
required by law or by the said board, and perform such othrr duties as may be prescribed by the said 
hoard in relation to the common schools of said city. The said board shall also annually appoint 
a secretary to said board, who shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by said board. 
Such superintendent and secretary shall be paid salaries out of the general fund, to be fixed by the 
said board. They may be removed from office by a vote of a majority of all the members of the board 
of education.! (Section 5, chap. 112, Laws of 1857.) 

§ 7. The board of education of the city ot Brooklyn, at its next annual meeting in July, or at any 
regular meeting thereof, shall elect a superintendent of public instruction, and may elect one or more^ 
not exceeding two, associate superintendents, subject, however, to removal from office by a vote of 
two-thirds of all the members elected to the said board. (Section 1, chap. 420, Laws of 1873. ) 

g 8. The said board shall have power to fix and determine the duties, powers and functions of the 
said superintendent and associate superintendents, so far as relates to the several departments, and 
shall also fix the salary to be paid to each of them which shall be paid out_of the general fund. (Sec- 
tion 2, chap. 420, Laws of 1873.) 

§ 9. All the duties now prescribed by law for the office of superintendent of common schools of the 
city of Brooklyn shall devolve upon and be perfoi-med by the superintendent and associate superin- 
tendents, to be elected under the provisions of this act, in such manner as the board shall prescribe. 
(Section 3, chap. 420, Laws of 1S73. ) 

? 10. The term of office of the said superintendent and associate superintendents elected under the pro- 
visions of this act shall commence at the date of their election, and shall expire on the first day of 
August, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, and the board of education, at its annual meet- 
ing in that year, and triennially thereafter, shall elect its superintendent and associate superintendents 
as aforesaid, the term of whose office shall be three years, subject to removal as aforesaid. Whenever 
a vacancy shall occur in any of such offices by death, resignation or otherwise, the board may elect a 
successor to serve for the unexpired term. (Section 4, chap. 420, Laws of 1873. ) 

§11. The commissioners of the sinking fund of the city of Brooklyn, together with the supervisor- 
at-large and the treasurer of the county of Kings, shall be a board of estimate, who shall in each year 
estimate the amoiint required to be raised by law for all city and county purposes, including the mon- 
eys raised for the board of education and the commissioners of charities for the fiscal year next suc- 
ceeding ; they shall state separately what will be required for city and county purposes respectively. 
The amount so raised in said city for citj'' and county purposes shall not exceed two cents per dollar 
upon an amount equal to the aggregate of the assessed value of the property in said city for the pre- 
vions year, and no greater amount shall be raised in said city by tax for such purposes ; but nothing 
herein contained shall prevent the raising by tax of any further moneys which shall be required to 
pay the principal and interest of the city and county debt hereafter to become due. The city and 

* The following are the provisions referred to in the last clause of section three : 
" The board of aldermen ***** may punish or expel a member for disorderly conduct or a 
violation of its rules, or declare his seat vacated bv reason of absence, provided such absence be con- 
tinued for the space of two months. But no expulsion shall take place except by the vote of two- 
thirds of all the members elected, nor until the delinquent member shall have an opportunity to be 
heard in his defense." 

t The clause in italics, and the provisions relating to city superintendent, are superseded by sections 
7 to 10, immediately following. 



Bkooklyi?-. 815 



county departments and oi5acers, including the park commissioners and the commissioners of charities 
and the hoard of supervisors of Kings county, sliall, on or before the fifteenth day of May in eacli 
year, transmit to the said board of estimate a statement in detail of the several amounts which. In 
their Judgment, will be required for the use of the said board of supervisors, the said departments, offi- 
cers and commissioners respectively. The said board of estimate shall revise such statements and fix 
a certain amount to be raised for the use of the said board of supervisors, and each of the said several 
departments, officers, and the said commissioners respectively for the year next ensuing. (Section 1, 
chap. 532, Laws of 1830. 

§ 12. The said board of estimate shall annually on or before the first Monday in July, present to the 
common council of the city of Broolvlyn their estimate of the amount to be raised for city purposes, 
and she said common council shall thereupon determine what sums shall be necessary for the year 
commencing the first day of January thereafter; they may, by a majority vote of all the members 
elected, reduce the said several amounts fixed by the said board of estimate for the said several city 
departments, officers and commissioners, including the board of education, but they shall not increase 
the said amounts; and there shall be no further action taken on the said estimates bv the common 
council after the first Tuesday in October ; the city clerk shall thereupon substitute in each case, 
where a reduction has been made by the common council, the amount as reduced in place of that 
fixed by the board of estimate, and shall, on or before the second Monday in October, certify to the 
board of supervisors of Kings county the said several amounts as they then stand, giving also the 
aggregate amount thereof, and the said aggregate amount shall be raised for city purposes in the 
annual tax levy next following. (Section 2, chap. 532, Laim o/lSSO.) 

§ 13. The several amounts so determined by the conmion council to he raised as aforesaid shall be 
levied upon all the taxable property of the city, in the same manner and at the same time as the taxes 
for city purposes, and shall be stated and sent to the board of county supervisors, to be levied and col- 
lected accordingly. Section 11, chap. 143, Laws o/1850, ) 

g 14. The board of supervisors, in their warrant to the collectpr, shall direct him to pay the amount 
so to be collected to the treasurer of the city, to the credit of the board ot education, out of the first 
moneys collected. Section 12, chap. 143, Laws o/lS50.) 

§ 15. The treasurer of the city shall be, ex officio, the treasurer of the board of education, and shall 
receive to the credit of said board, from the county treasurer, the amount of school money to which 
the city is entitled from the State appropriation, together with such amount as is raised by the board 
of supervisors, to entitle the city to its distributive share of tlie school moneys of the State, and from 
the city collector the money raised by tax for the support of schools ; and he shall disburse the same 
only by the order and upon the warrant of the hoard of education, drawn in favor of the person 
entitled to payment, signed by the presiding officer of the board, and countersigned by the secretary, 
(^Section fi, chap. 143, Laws of 1850.) 

§16. The treasurer shall give such bonds for the faithful performance of his duty as the common 
council may require, and shall report monthly to the board of education his receipts and expendi- 
tures, with the balance remaining on hand to the credit of the board, and such other informatlL>n in 
relation thereto as the board of education may from time to time require. (Section 7, chap. 143, Laivs 
O/1850.) 

§17. The board of education shall determine the number and location of schools; but no expendi- 
tures for the purchase of ground or the erection of school-houses shall hereafter be made unless the 
same shall have been approved of by the common council. Such approval shall be deemed to have 
been given when the tax therefor shall be approved by the common council and levied by the super- 
visors, or it may be especially given upon the application of the board of education to make expendi- 
ture in anticipation of a tax to be levied in the ensuing year. (Section 14, chap. 143, Laws of 1850. ) 

§ IS. The title of all property now or hereafter to be acquired for school purposes shall be vested in 
the board of education. (Section 15, chap 143' Laws of ISail.) 

1 19. The board of education shall determine whether any and what portion of the State appropria- 
tion and the county tax, designated as library money, shall bo applied to the purchase of school 
libraries and apparatus, and the disposition thereof; and the residue of said money shall be applied to 
the pavment of teachers' wages or for the purchase of school-books, and no other purpose. (Section 
16. chap. 143, LawiCf 1S50.) 

i 20. The money raised for the purchase of school sites, and the building, repairing and furnishing of 
school-houses, shall be known as the " special school fund," and all other moneys as the "general 
school fund;" and it shall be the duty of the board of education to keep accurate accounts of its 
receipts and expenditures, distinguishing between those of a general and those of a special character ; 
and it shall not be lawful to expend any portion of the moneys raised for the use of one of said funds 
for the purpose of the other of said funds, but the expenditures shall be made in conformity with the 
appropi'iations under which the funds were levied and collected. (Section 17, chap. 143, Laws of 1850.) 

§ 21. The board of education shall make returns annually to the common council of its receipts and 
expenditures, specifying those on account of the general and special funds respectively, with such other 
details as the common council may from time to time require. (Section 18, chap. 143, Laws of 1850.) 

g 22. No schools in said city shall be entitled to any portion of the school moneys, in which the 
religious sectarian doctrine or tenets ot any particular christian or other religious sect shall be taught 
or inculcated, or which shall refuse or pi-ohibit visits or examination by the city superintendent or 
members of the board of education of said city; provided, that this section shall not be deemed to pro- 
hibit the use of the Holy Scriptures without note or comment. (Section 19, chap. 143, Laws of 1850. ) 

g 23. The orphan asylum societies of the city of Brooklyn shall participate in the distribution of the 
school moneys raised in said city, in proportion to the number of children between the ages of four and 
sixteen, who have been under the charge of said societies during the past year, and instructed in such 
manner as is usual in common schools, and shall hereafter be annually entitled to such distributive 
share in the same manner, and to the same extent, as is now or shall be provided in respect to the 
common schools of said city. And all industrial schools in which industrial employments are taught 
in addition to the studies of the common schools, during some portion of the school day, and in which 
the pupils are clothed, fed and lodged, the said tuition and support being entirely free, shall participate 
in the distribution of the school moneys, in the same manner and under the same restrictions as the 
said orphan asylum societies at Brooklyn. (Section 1, cliap. 76, Laws of 1848, as amended by section 1, 
chap. 590, Laws of 1874. ) 

§ 24. The schools of said societies shall be subject to the general supervision of the board of education 
of said city, but remaining under the immediate direction and management of the said societies as 
heretofore. (Section 2, chap. 76, Laws of 1848. ) 

§ 25. The orphan asylum societies and the industrial schools for indigent and homeless children, 
under the charge of the board of education of the city of Brooklyn, shall, in each and every year, be 
entitled to receive ten per cent of the gross amount of money received by the commissioners of 
excise in the city of Brooklyn, for licenses to sell liquors, ales and wines, and of fines for the breach 
of the laws in relation thereto, and the comptroller of the said city of Brooklyn shall, on the requisi- 



816 BROOKLYiq-. 

tion of the proper officers of the said societies, pay over to them, the officers, directors or trustees 
of the said orphan asylum societies and industrial schools, or such persons as they shall authorize 
to receive the same, a sum equal to ten per cent of the gross sum received by the said commissioners 
of excise for licenses and fines as aforesaid, pro rata according to the number of orphans and indigent 
cliildren fed, clothed, lodged and taught in each of the said asylums or industrial schools free of 
expense ; the said pro rata to be established and taken by the said comptroller from the report of the 
superintendent of public instruction for the said city of Brooklyn for the distribution of the public 
school fund to the said orphan asylum societies and Industrial schools. {Section 3, chap.76, Laiosof 
1848, as amended hv chap. 255, Laios of 1875. ) 

§ 26. The board of education and the mayor of the city of Brooklyn are hereby authorized to sell any 
lands with the buildings thereon which, in the opinion of the said board, first declared by resolution, 
are not needed for school purposes, or that shall hereafter not be needed for school purposes, and to 
grant and convey the same. (Section 1, chap. 473, Laws of 1883. ) 

§ 27. The proceeds arising from any such sale shall be paid into the special school fund of said board 
of education, and deposited with the treasurer of the city of Brooklyn, to the credit of said fund. (Sec- 
iion2, chap. 478, Laws of 1883.) 

Chap. 335, Laws of 1886. 

An Act to provide for the annexation to the city of Brooklyn of the town of New Lots and for the 
acquisition and regulation of the water supply thereof. 

Section 1. All that territory now comprised within the limits of the town of New Lots, in the county 
of Kings, with the inhabitants and estates therein, is hereby annexed to, merged in, and made a part of, 
the city of Brooklyn in said county, and shall hereafter constitute a part of the city of Brooklyn, and 
shall be, and shall be known as, the twenty-sixth ward of said city, and except as in this act otherwise 
specially provided, shall hereafter be subject to and governed by the same laws, ordinances, rules and 
regulations, and entitled to the same rights, privileges, franchises and immunities as the said city of 
Brooklyn as constituted at the time this act takes effect. 

? 3. All public property in said town, used for public educational purposes, and vested in said town, 
or in any public body, board, district, trustee or trustees, otflcer or officers, pertaining to the educa- 
tional department or public school system thereof, shall become the property of, and is hereby vested 
in, the board of education of the city of Brooklyn. All moneys collected from taxes levied, or to be 
levied, for educational purposes in said town, and all moneys and funds due or to become due to said 
town, or any school district thereof, or which said town or school district is, or shall become entitled 
to receive, for educational purposes, shall be paid over to the said board of education, and shall be con- 
trolled, applied and disbursed by said board, as is now by law provided. 

§ 4. * * * But the property in such town, or school district, as now constituted, as the case maybe, 
shall remain liable for the said debts, liabilities and obhgations, and the money to meet the same, 
principal and interest, as they accrue shall be raised by taxation upon the property of said town or 
school district now liable for said principal and interest, and the taxes raised, therefor when collected 
by the city of Brooklyn, shall be paid over to the treasiirer of the county of Kings, or other officer or 

Eerson charged with the payment of said indebtedness as now provided by law ; and all moneys received 
y said city from taxes or assessments levied before this act shall take effect, applicable to the payment 
of any such indebtedness, shall likewise be paid over to the officer or person charged with the duty of 
paying the same. 

' ? 16. This act shall be held and construed to be a public act, and shall take effect on the first day of 
August, eighteen hundred and eighty-six. 

iChap. 65.] 

An act to provide for the support of the public schools in the twenty-sixth ward of the city of Brook- 
lyn (late town of New Lots) for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and for the equitable 
apportionment hereafter of the State school moneys to the counti' of Kings, between the city of 
Brooklyn and the residue of said county. 

Passed March 11, 1887 ; three-fifths being present. 
Tlie People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 
Section 1. The county treasurer of Kings county is hereby authorized and directed, out of the State 
school moneys apportioned by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the year eighteen 
hundred and eighty-seven upon the basis of population to the county of Kings, outside of the city of 
Brooklyn in said county, to pay to the city treasurer of the city of Brooklyn, to the credit of the board 
of education, in said city, the sumof four thousand five hundred and ninety-three and ninetj'-four one 
hundredths dollars, the said sum being the amount apportionable from said school moneys for eighteen 
hundred and eighty-seven, to the late town of New Lots, now the twenty-sixth ward of the city of 
Brooklyn, upon the basis of the population of said town, according to the enumeration of the inhabit- 
ants of the said town by the United States census, taken in eighteen hundred and eighty. 

§ 2. The said moneys shall be applied by the board of education of said city, exclusively to the pay- 
ment of teachers' wages in the said twenty-sixth ward (late town of New Lots). 

§ 3. It shall be lawful for the board of education of the city of Brooklyn, to apply the moneys appro- 
priated for school purposes in the city of Brooklyn, for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, to 
the support of the public schools in the twenty-sixth ward of said city (late town of New Lots) in 
common with the other schools of said city. 

H. Hereafter, in the apportionment of the State school moneys to the county of Kings upon the 
basisof population the Superintendent of Publiclnstruction shall apportion the same to the city of 
Brooklyn upon its population including that of the late town of New Lots in said county, and to the 
residue of the county upon its population, excluding that ol the late town of New Lots. 
§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately, 



BuppALO. 817 

ICIiap. 661, Laws of 1887.] 

An act to provide for the appointment of members of the Board of Education of the city of Brooklyn 
and regulate their term of office. 

Section 1. The members of the board of education who were appointed by the mayor of the city of 
Brooklyn, July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and any members appointed to fill vacancies 
occasioned by the death or resignation of members so appointed, shall hold office until July one, eight- 
een hundred and eighty-eight, and the members who were appointed July one, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-six, and any members appointed to fill vacancies occasioned by the death or resignation of 
members so appointed, shall hold office until July one, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine. 

§ 2. The mayor of the city of Brooklyn shall, on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-seven, appoint fifteen members of the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to hold office 
for three years from that date in place of the fifteen members appointed in July, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-three, and of any members appointed to fill vacancy occasioned by the death or resignation of 
any members so appointed in eighteen hundred and eighty-three. And thereafter he shall, on or before 
July first in each succeeding year, appoint fifteen members to the said board of education, to hold office 
for three years in place of the members whose term of office shall then expire. 

? 3. The term of office of the members of the board of education of the city of Brooklyn shall be for 
three years from the first day of July in the year in which they have been or shall beappointed and 
until their successors shall be appointed, except in caso of vacancies, when the person appointed shall 
hold office during the unexpired term to fill which he was appointed, and the mayor of the city of 
Brooklyn may at any time fill vacancies caused by death, resignation or otherwise, by appointment, 
for the unexpired term. 

§ 4. If the mayor shall refuse, fail or neglect for thirty days after the expiration of the term of a mem- 
ber of said board, as provided by this act, to make an appointment required by this act, such failure, 
refusal or neglect shall be in all respects equivalent to and taken as an express appointment of the mem- 
ber who may be at the time holding office. 

§ 5. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

i 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 

BUFFALO. 

[Extract from the city charter, chap. .519, Laivs of 1870, as amended by chap. 719, Laws of 1871, chap."^ 
828, Lawsof\S12, and chap. 181, Laws o/1885.] 

TITLE IL 
Section one makes the superintendent of education a city officer, and elected by general ticket 
Section two fixes the term of such superintendent's office at two years. 

TITLE JTL 

Section I. The city has power to establish, maintain and regulate public schools in the city. 

§ 2. The city shall be, by ordinance, divided into school districts, and from time to time redivided, 
and in each district there shall be maintained one or more schools. 

g 3. Such schools shall be open and free to all children between five years and twenty years of age 
residing within their respective districts. 

§4. The city shall establish, maintain and regulate one or more schools, free to all colored childi-en 
between the ages aforesaid, residing in the city. 

§ 5. It may maintain and regulate a central school, into which may be admitted pupils who have 
attended the district schools for two or more years, and who will be selected for merit in the manner 
prescribed by ordinance. 

§ 6. The central school shall share in the school fund of this State, and in all appropriations to acad- 
emies. The district schools shall share in the school fund of this State and in the appropriations made 
to public schools. 

§ 7. The city is hereby authorized to equalize the expenditures which may have been made in the 
several school districts within said city among the said districts. The assessors of said city shall on or 
before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, submit to the common council a state- 
ment showing the total valuation of school property and real and personal property within said city, 
the value ot the lots, buildings and property owned by each of the said school districts, together with 
a statement of the assessed valuation within the boundaries of the same and the average rate between 
the same. The common council shall thereupon order a tax to be levied upon such districts wherein 
the ratio of school property to the assessable property is less than the average ratio as shown by such 
statement, until all of such districts shall have paid a sum equal to such average rate. Such tax shall 
not exceed one hundred thousand dollars in any one year. Such tax when collected shall be used 
solely for the purchase of school lots and the erection, enlargement, repairs and furnishing of school 
buildings for said city. 

§ 8. Such tax, when ordered, shall be assessed as follows : The assessors shall, as soon as practicable, 
make out an assessment-roll of the taxable real and personal estate in the district, and revise and 
correct the same in manner and form prescribed in title two. They shall make a fair copy of the 
corrected roll, and shall apportion the sum ordered to be raised upon the taxable property in such roll. 
They shall set down in a column to be prepared for that purpose, opposite to the several sums set down 
as the valuations of real and personal estates, the respective sums, in dollars and cents, to be paid as a 
tax thereon, and certify and deliver it to the comptroller. 

§ 9. The comptroller shall deliver said rolls to the treasurer, and the like proceedings for the collec- 
tion of such tax shall be had as are provided for the collection of local assessments. 

(The former section ten of this title repealed; see chapter 181, Laws 1885. ) 

§ 10. All expenses of the school department shall be included in and paid out of the general fund 
or tax. 

§ 11. The superintendent of education shall be the head of the educational department. He shall, 
from time to time, recommend to the common council the courses of studies to be pursued in the 
different schools, and such measures as will, in his judgment, increase the usefulness and efficiency of 
the schools. He shall select the teachers to be employed in the different schools, and hire them for 
the period of time, at the compensation, and upon the terms and conditions provided by ordinance. 
He shall see that the course of studies and system of education established by ordinance are observed. 
If none be established by ordinance, he shall direct the course of studies and system of education to 
be pursued. The teachers shall be subject to his orders and directions. He may suspend, and for 

103 



818 Cambridge. 

cause and after a heafing, with the concurrence of the mayor, dismiss any teacher. He shall yearly, 
and oftener if required, make a statement to the common council of the condition of the schools. 
The superintendent of education shall appoint a clerk, who shall be well versed in the German as well 
as the English language, who shall receive a salary of twelve hundred dollars per year. Nothing 
herein shall authorize but one clerk of said department. 

§ 12. No charge whatever shall be exacted or received from any pupil in any of the schools ; but he 
may be required to provide himself with school books and stationery. 

§ 13. The common council shall annually publish a statement of the number of public schools, the 
number of pupils instructed therein the year preceding, the several branches of education pursued by 
them, and the expenditures for each school in detail. 

(See chapter 181, Laws 1885. ) 

ILaws of 1856, chap. 123, section 30.] 

? 30. The schools established and maintained by the Buflalo Juvenile Asylum shall participate in the 
distribution of the common school fund, in the same manner and degree as the common schools of the 
city of Buflalo. 

CAMBRIDGE, 

IChap 671, Laws of 1873.] 

An Act to establish and maintain union graded schools in the village of Cambridge, Washington 
county, New York, and constitute said village a single school district. 

Section 1. The village of Cambridge shall constitute one school district. The tuition in all schools 
Tinder the charge of the board of education, lower than the high school grade, shall be free to all per- 
sons, between the ages of five and twenty-one years, residing in said village ; '.and the rates of tuition 
in the high school grade shall be fixed by the board of education. 

§2. The title of all school property in this act mentioned shall be vested in the village of Cambridge, 
and such property shall be exempt from all taxation, and shall not be levied upon or sold by virtue of 
any warrant or execution ; and the said village shall have power to take, hold and dispose of any real 
or personal estate transferred to it for the use of the public schools. It shall be the duty of the several 
school districts heretofore existing in the village of Cambridge, within thirty days from the passage 
of this act, to transfer and convey to said village all common school . property of whatever description, 
and to place in the care of the board of education all books and papers now belonging to said districts ; 
and the present school oflScers of the several districts of said village shall continue in office not exceed- 
ing thirty days after the passage of this act, with all^the powtrs and duties now by law imposed upon 
them, for the purpose of closing such business. 

2 3. For the purposes of this act, and pursuant'td^ the -provisions hereinafter contained, James 'S. 
Smart, James Ellis, R. K. Crocker, Henry Wells, C. T. Hawley and George Baker are appointed com- 
missioners of public schools in said village ; C.,T. Hawley and George Baker shall hold office for one 
year; R.K.Crocker and Henry Wells for two years, and James S. Smart and James Ellis for three 
years, all from the next annual charter election in said village, who, together, shall constitute the 
board of education of the village of Cambridge until such time as their successors are elected and qual- 
ified ; and the said board shall be a corporate, bo^dyjn relation^to all powers and duties by this act 
conferred upon them. ' _ ^ 

2 4. At the annual charter election of eighteenrnundred'^and seventy-four, and at each succeeding 
annual charter election in said village, all qualified electors for village officers shall be entitled to vote 
by separate ballot, to be indorsed "School Commissioner," for one person for the office of school com- 
missioner, who shall be an elector and a resident in said village ; and of the persons so voted for the 
two receiving the greatest number of votes for said office shall be elected school commissioners for the 
term of three years, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified. But if more than two 
persons receive the greatest number and an equal number of votes, or if, after one person is elected 
by the greatest number of votes, two *or [more other persons receive each an equal number of votes, 
then it shall be deemed a failure to elect either of the persons receiving such equal number of votes, 
and the board shall have the power, and it shall be theirdujy, to fill such vacancy in the same manner 
as they are hereinafter empowered to fill vacancies.' 

2 5. All persons appointed or elected to the office of school 'commissioner shall, within ten days after 
receiving notice of their election to such office, take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of 
this State, and file the same with the village clerk ; and no commissioner shall receive any pecuniary 
compensation for his services as a commissioner ; nor shall any member or officer of the board parti- 
cipate in the profits of any transaction of contract entered into by the board, or by any member 
thereof as such, or be interested in such profits in any manner whatever. 

2 6. No person being at the time president or trustee of the village of Cambridge shall be eligible to 
the office of school commissioner ; and if any member of said board accept either of the offices above 
named, his office in the board shall be vacant, and shall be filled by the said board as hereinafter pro- 
vided. And it shall be the duty of each school commissioner to visit all the schools under the direc- 
tion of the board at least once in each year, and the said board shall also provide that each of the 
said schools shall be visited by a committee of three or more members of the board at least twice in 
each year. 

2 7. The members of said board shall hold their meeting on the evening of the second Wednesday 
next after their election, each year, at seven and one-half o'clock, or as soon thereafter as may be, for 
the purpose of organizing their body. They shall elect by ballot a member of their body to be 
president, and also a suitable person to be clerk, whose compensation shall be fixed by the board ; 
and the board shall have power ancVit shall be their duty to fill all vacancies that may occur in their 
body, by the election of a person eligible to the office, to hold office till the vacancy be filled at 
the next annual charter election, when the vacancy shall be filled by election for the residue of the 
term. 

2 8. Four members of the board shall constitute a quorum, and shall have power to decide any 
question before them, other than filling vacancies, selecting or changing text-books, or passings 
resolution appropriating money ; and it shall be the duty of the said board in all their expenditures 
and contracts to have reference to the amount of money subject to their order during the then current 
year, and not to exceed that amount ; and no money shall be appropriated by the said board imder 
this act to any school, except it be under the exclusive and entire control of said board. 

2 9. The said board of education shall have power and it shall be their duty : First. To establish and 
maintain such schools. Including the common schools now existing in said village, as they shall deem 
requisite, and to alter and discontinue the. [same. Second. To build, lease or contract for the occuna- 
tion and use of school-houses or rooms, and to alter, improve and repair the same and appurtenances 



Ca]\ibiiidge. 819 

as they VnaV cleora adrisable, provided such houses and appurtenances are owned by the village or 
clulv leased" hv the said board of education for a term. Third. To adopt, alter, modify or repeal rules 
and' regulations for the ora^amzation, superintendence, management, instruction and transfer of pupils 
of the public schools, and generally for the promotion of their good order, prosperity and utility. 
Tourth. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture and 
appendages, and to purchase, exchange, improve and repair school furniture, books and apparatus, 
■ and to see that the village ordinances in relation to the public schools are observed. Fifth. To contract 
■with,Ucense, employ and pav all teachers in said schools and at their pleasure to remove them. Sixth. 
To allow the children of non-residents to attend any of the schools of said village under the care of 
the board, upon such terms as the board shall by resolution prescribe. Seventh. To defray the neces- 
sary contingent expenses of the board, including an annual salary to the clerk. Eighth. To report to 
the president and trustees of the village whenever it may be advisable to sell any of the school property 
belonging to the village. Ninth. To prepare and report to the president and trustees of the village 
such ordinances and regulations as may be necessary for the safe-keeping of all school property. Tenth. 
To present and certify to the president and tinastees of said village, on or before the first day of April 
In each year, a detailed statement in writin? of the amount of money which will be required the ensu- 
ing year for school purposes, exclusive of the public moneys, specifying the several purposes for which 
it will be required and the amount for each ; also" true statements of receipts and disbursements of all 
moneys under the direction of the board and how expended. Eleventh. To transmit to the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, or such other ofllcer as may be designated by law, between the 
first and fifteenth days of October in every year, a report in writing, dated the first day of October of 
the year of its transmission, and specifying— first, the whole time the schools have been kept and the 
whole number of days, including hoUdays, the schools were taught by qualified teachers ; second, the 
whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said village during the preceding year, 
distinguishing the amount received from the county treasurer, from the village tax and from any other 
source, also the manner in which such moneys have been expended and what part remains unexpended; 
third, the number of children between the ages of five and twenty-one years residing in said village on 
the last day of September of that year; fourth, the number of children taught in said schools during 
such year, and the sum of the days' attendance of all such children ; fifth, the amount of money paid 
for teachers' wages in addition to the pubhc moneys, and such other information in relation to the 
schools of said viUage as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may from time to time require. 
Twelfth. To have full power and control of the pubUc schools in said village. 

2 10. The president and trustees of said village shaU have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, 
from time to time, by tax, to be levied upon all the real and personal property in said village which 
shall be hable to taxation for village or county charges, such sum or sums of money as the board of 
education of said village shall declare necessary for any or all of the following purposes : 

1. To purchase school-houses, and also to purchase, lease or improve sites therefor. But the question 
of the choice of a site and of the purchase thereof shall be first submitted to the people, at such time 
and place and in such manner as shall be directed and provided by the trustees 

2. To enable the board of education to build, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses 
and their out-houses. 

3. To purchase, exchange. Improve and repair school apparatus, furniture and books for indigent 
pupils. 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the public schools. 

5. To pay the wages of teachers due after the application of the public moneys, provided the tax to 
be levied as aforesaid and collected by virtue of this act shall be collected at the same time and in the 
same manner as other village taxes. 

§ 11. Th amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses in any one year shall not 
be more than four times the amount apportioned to said village from the public school moneys of the 
State during the previous year ; and the amount raised in one year for purchasing sites, erecting and 
repairing school-houses, shall not exceed one thousand dollars, unless a majority of the electors in said 
village, entitled now by the common school law of this State to vote at school meetings, present at a 
village meeting called by said board of education in the same form and manner as now prescribed by 
the common school law of this State, shall vote to raise a larger amount, and they may direct by such 
vote the moneys so voted to be levied in one sum or by annual installments with interest thereon, and 
the said president and trustees of said village shall cause such sum or such installments, with interest 
thereon, as shall be determined by such meeting, to be assessed and collected as provided in section 
eleven of this act at such times as they shall become due. 

§ 12. The president and trustees of said village shall have power and it shall be their duty to make all 
such ordinances as the board of education shall report necessary for the safe-keeping of the school 
property and to impose penalties for the violation of the same, such penalties to be collected in the 
usual manner and paid over to the village treasurer for the use of the board of education ; and the said 
president and trustees, on the recommendation of the board of education, can seU any of the village 
school property and pay the proceeds of such sales to the village treasurer, to be expended again bv the 
board of education. 

§ 13. The village treasurer shall receive, hold and be accountable for all moneys of the board of edu- 
cation ; he shall open an account with said board, and keep the funds of said board separate from any 
others, and pay the orders of the board on the treasurer in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of 
said board, drawn by the president and countersigned by the clerk of said board of education. 

g 14. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of the county of Washington, from and after the 
passage of this act, to direct that all moneys derived and collected on the inhabitants of the village 
of Cambridge, for common school purposes, whether the same shall be levied and collected as county 
taxes or otherwise, shall be paid over by the receiver of taxes for the said village to the treasurer 
thereof, for the sole use and benefit of the public schools within said village ; and it shall be the duty 
of the board of education to apply all such moneys to the support of the public schools of said village 
in conformity to law. 

g 15. All former or existing acts, or parts of acts, repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act are hereby repealed, so far as relates to said school district of the village of Cambridge. 

§ 16. The trustees of the village of Cambridge, at any annual or special village meeting to be called 
as now provided by law, shall, within sixty days after the passage of this act, file the consent of the 
village to this act with the Secretary of State ; the consent of the viUage shaU be ascertained by a vote 
of the electors thereof, to be taken by ballot, upon which shall be written " For consent to the act to 
estabhsh and maintain union graded schools in the village of Cambridge, TTashington county. New 
York, and constitute said village a single school district," and " Against consent to the act to establish 
and maintain union graded schools in the village of Cambridge, Washington county, New York, and 
constitute said village a single school district," if a majority of the ballots so cast shall be against the 
consent of the village to the " Act to establish and maintain union graded schools in the village of 
Cambridg©, Washington county, New York, and constitute said village a single school district," thea 
this act shall be void. 



820 OaMILLUS Al^D GeDDES — OASTLETOiq" A:^D SOUTHFIELD. 



CAMILLUS AND GEDDES.— DISTRICT NO. 1. 

[Laws of 1852, chap. 249.] 

Section 1. The legal voters in Joint school district number one, formed from parts of the towns ol 
Camillus and Geddes, in the county of Onondaga, are hereby authorized, from time to time at any 
meeting of said school district, to empower, by resolution, the trustees of safd district to Iceep the 
accounts of the wages of the teacher of the highest department of the principal school in said district 
separate from the accounts of the wages of the other teachers in said district, and to applv a iust pro- 
portion of the pubUc money to the payment of such teacher's wages, and to make out a separate rate 
bill for the collection of the remainder of such teacher's wages from the scholars that were instructed 
by the principal teacher, which rate bill shall be collectible in all respects as other rate bills are col. 
lected. 

CASTLETON-DISTRICT NOS. 2, 3. 5 AND 7. 

[Laws 0/1855, chap. 510.] 

Section 1. The trustees of each of the school districts, two, three, five and seven. In the town ol 
Castleton, in the county of Richmond, shall annually, at least three weeks before their annual meet- 
ings, or three weeks before a special meeting which may be called for that purpose, in their respective 
districts, prepare an estimate of the amount which they shall deem necessary to pay the debts of their 
districts and for the support of common schools therein for the ensuing year, exclusive of the 
money which they may be entitled to receive from the town superintendent, and including the sum 
required for building, for the purchase of necessary furniture, apparatus and books, and for contingent 
expenses, and shall cause notice thereof to be posted for two weeks previous to said meeting, in at 
least five of the most public places in the district. And they shall present such estimate at such meet- 
ing, when the inhabitants so assembled shall vote thereon for each Item separately, and the same, or 
so much thereof as shall be approved by a majority of such inhabitants, shall be levied and raised by 
tax on such district, as now prescribed by law for raising school district taxes. 

? 2. When the trustees shall have completed any tax list, they shall annex to such tax list a war- 
rant, directed to the collector of the district, for the collection of the sums of money in such list men- 
tioned, returnable in thirty .days, and take from such collector approved security for the performance 
of his duty. Such warrant may be renewed from time to time, as now provided by law for the collec- 
tion of district taxes. The money so collected shall be paid to said trustees, and by them appropriated 
to the purpose for which the same was voted, unless otherwise directed by a vote of the inhabitants at 
their annual district meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose. 

§ 3. The tax hereby imposed shall be a lien upon the lands taxed, to be enforced and collected by sale 
in the manner that county taxes are collected, upon a return to be made by said collector to the treas- 
urer of the county of all unpaid taxes in said district. 

IChap. 447, Laws of 1859, p. 1066.] 

Section 1. The provisions of the above act are extended and made applicable to school district num- 
ber six in the towns of Castleton and Southfield, Richmond county. 

• CASTLETON AND SOUTHFIELD - DISTRICT NO. 1. 

iChap. 280, Laws o/1855.] 

Section 1. School district number one. In the towns of Castleton and Southfleld, in the county of 
Richmond, shall form a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the town 
Buperintendent of common schools for the towns in which said district is situated. 

1 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled " The board of education," 
which board shall consist of three members, two of whom shall constitute a quorum for, the transac- 
tion of business, James 0. Ludlow, James Anketel and Theodore Frean shall compose the first board 
of education, and hold their office from one to three years ; that is to say, one shall go out of office in 
each year, and in the order in which their names stand recorded in this section. 

§ 3. At the annual meeting of said district, in each year, there shall be elected for three years one 
member of said board of education, who shall be a resident and taxable inhabitant of said district; said 
election, and all other elections provided for by this act, shall be held by three inspectors, to be 
appointed by said meeting or the moderator thereof, as the people assembled in annual meeting may 
determine ; said election shall be by ballot, and shall be condiicted in all respects and in the same 
manner as is now provided by law for the election of trustees in school districts in this State. 

§ 4. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government ; they shall 
have the entire control and management of all the common schools within said district, and all 
the property belonging to the same, and they shall have and possess, within said district, all the rights, 
powers and authority of town superintendent of common schools, and they shall provide for keeping a 
school in said district at least eight months in each year, and as much longer as may be deemed prac- 
ticable ; they may appoint a collector, with all the powers and duties of a district collector, or may 
employ the town collector of either of said towns for that purpose, and such collector shall collect and 
pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the said board of education, in the same 
manner and under the same conditions as is imposed by the laws of the town of which he is such col- 
lector. They shall require at least one of the members of said board to visit each school in said district 
at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teacher and advice to the pupils as may be 
necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly adhered to. 

§ 5. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax, in each 
year, upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, such sum as may be necessary, not 
exceeding in amount three-fifths of one per cent on the value of such taxable property, as the same 
shall be assessed by the assessors of the said towns of Castleton and Southfield, and shall be ascertained 
from the last assessment rolls of said towns; and the said board shall add to their warrant, for collec- 
tion of such taxes, such amount as they may deem proper for fees for collection, not exceeding five per 
cent on the amount. (As amended by. chapter 116, Laws of 1864.) 

§ 6. The said tax shall be laid and collected between the first days of February and November in each 
year. {As amended by chapter 74, of 1856.) 

*The above district is now known as district No. 2, Middletown and Southfleld (chap. 428, Laws of 
1860), and the act amending the charter of Edgewater (chap. 879, Laws of 1872). 



Champlaik — Clarence. 821 

? 7. Tlie town superintetfdents of common schools of the towns of Castleton and Southfleld shall pay- 
over to the board of education all the public monej's to which said district number one shall be entitled 
for school purposes. 

§ 8. The said board of education shall call an annual district meeting at such time in the 3'ear as they 
shall think proper, and submit thereto a full report, in writing, of their doings as such board, and shall 
state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under their charge, and the num- 
ber of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State, 
as well as the amount raised in the district for school purposes, and the expenditure of the same, and 
generally all the particulars relating to the schools in said district, which report, if said board thinli 
proper, may be published in pamphlet form, or in some newspaper pubhshed in the county, 

? 9. The board of education shall have entire control of the district library ; they may employ a libra- 
rian, make such additions to the librai-y and such regulations in relation thereto as they niay deem 
necessary or proper. 

g 10. A school for colored children may be organized and be supported as the other schools in said 
district under this act. 

g 11. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem 
it necessary; and whenever a special meeting shall be called, notices of it shall be posted up in live 
public places in said district, at least one week previous to said meeting, and no business shall be trans- 
acted at such meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. 

§ 12. [Temporary, authorizing certain taxes for the completion of school-houses.] {See this section as 
amended by I 2, chapter ^'i:, of l8o6. ) 

§ 13. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as they relate to 
district number one, in the towns of Castleton and Southfleld, in the county of Richmond. 

g 14. All the rights, powers and duties conferred on the trustees of said school district, bvthe annual 
meetings held therein in the years one thousand eight hundred and flfty-one and one thousand eight 
hundred and fitty-two, are hereby transferred to said board of education, who are hereby authorized 
and empowered to do all the acts that the said trustees were required to do by the proceedings of said 
annual meetings. 

[Laws ofl85&, chap, 7^.1 

* * * The said board of education are hereby empowered and directed to keep the said school- 
houses belonging to the said district, together with the furniture, library and scientific apparatus, 
insured in such sum as they may deem to be the true value thereof, and to levy and collect the cost 
and expense of the same, as hereinbefore provided. 

5. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to purchase a suitable lot of 
grotmd, as a site upon which to erect a school-house for colored children, on the most reasonable terms 
which they can, and to pay for the same out of the moneys now in their hands for that purpose; and if 
the same shall not be suthcient to pay for said lot and erect the house thereon, the said board of educa- 
tion are hereby authorized, empowered and directed to levy and collect, by a tax upon all the taxable 
property and inhabitants in said district, such sum, not exceeding three hundred dollars, as maybe 
necessary and sufficient to purchase said lot and erect said house. 

CHAMPLAIN, District No. 1. 
Chap. 32, Laivs of lS8t. 

Section 1. School district number thirteen of the town of Champiain in Clinton county is hereby 
abolished and the territory comprising said school district is hereby annexed to and made a part of 
union free school district number one of said town. 

g 2. Said union free school district number one is hereby vested with the title to all the property, 
both real and personal, of said school district number thirteen, and shall be liable for all the debts and 
obligations of said school district number thirteen. 

g 3. The board ot education of said union free school district number one is hevebj' authorized to 
make all reports relating to the affairs of said school district number thirteen for the year eighteen 
hundred and eighty-four, which would have been required by law from the trustee of said school dis- 
trict if this act had not been passed. 

§ 4. The school commissionsers of the countj' of Clinton shall, in their apportionment of school 
moneys for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-four, apportion to said union free school district 
number one all moneys apportioned or apportionable to said school district number thirteen upon 
reports already made by said district number thirteen. 

g 5. By and with the consent of the board of education of said union free school district number one 
and the consent of the trustee or trustees of the school districts now known as numbers three and fif- 
teen of said town, the whole or any part of said districts numbers three and fifteen, or either of them, 
may be annexed and made a part of said union free school district number one, by an order made by 
the school commi-^sioner of the disti'ict in which said school districts are situated. 

g 6. This act shall take effect on the fifteenth day of March, eighteen hundred and eight3'--four. 

CLARENCE. 
lOiap. 643, Laws o/1872, as amended by sec. 1, chap. 815, Laws o/1873.] 

An Act to empower the lev5nng of a tax on Union school district number one in the town of Clarence, 
county of Erie, for the purpose of creating a permanent fund lor the employment of teachers, and to 
regulate the investment and management of said fund ; also to create the otfice of loan commis- 
sioner for sa:id district, and to provide for the exemption of said district from taxes for the payment 
of teachers' wages. 

Section]. Jared Parker, of the town of Clarence, in the county of Erie, having agreed with the 
taxable inhabitants of the school district in said town known as "the Union free school district num- 
ber one," and with the board of education thereof, that he will donate to said district, upon condition 
of the passage of this act and the carrying into effect of the same, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, 
in good bonds and mortgages, the board of education of said district shall receive said bonds and mort- 
gages, and they shall levy and collect a tax upon said district for the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, in ten 
equal annual installments of fifteen hundred dollars each. With the first installment there shall be col- 
lected one year's interest on the whole amount, and with each succeeding installment the interest on 
the amount remaining untaxed for and uncollected of the said sum of fifteen thousand dollars, until 
the whole of said sum shall have been provided for. The sum 'of thirty thousand dollars, so donated 
by said Jared Parker and levied and collected by taxation, shall constitute a permanent fund for the 
objects and purposes specified for lu this act, and for no other, and shall so remain forever, 



822 CLARKSOiT. 

? 2. The ta'x list for tlie first installment herein provided for shall be issued in the month of April, in 
the j'ear one thousand eight hundred and seventy- three. The interest of the said permanent fund, or 
so much thereof as maj' be necessary, shall be devoted annually to the payment of teachers, and shall 
be apportioned and applied with the exclusive view to the obtaining for the schools of the district the 
best attainable teachers, and the balance, if any, shall be appropriated by said board of education ia 
such manner as they shall deem for the best interest and benefit of said school. 

g 3. As soon as may be after the passage of this act, a special meeting shall be called in said district^ 
in the manner provided for and prescribed for calling annual meetings in such district, at which meet- 
ing a loan commissioner for said district shall be elected, whose term of office shall be for three years 
from the next annual meeting of said district, and at the end of such term and every three years there- 
after there shall be elected, at the annual meeting of such district, a loan commissioner, whose term of 
office shall be for three years, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified. In case of a vacancy 
in such office, the board of education shall fill such vacancy by appointment until the next annual 
meeting of the district, oruntil the election or qualification of a successor. Said loan commissioner, 
before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and file with the board of education the oath of 
office prescribed by the constitution of this State, and shall executeand deliver to such board his bond, 
with sureties in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, conditioned for the full and faithful discharge 
of the duties of said office, which bond shall be made satisfactory to said board. Should the person so 
elected or appointed fail or neglect to appear and qualify within thirty days from the time of such elec- 
tion or appointment, such failure or neglect shall be deemed a final declension of the office. Said loan 
commissioner may be removed from office for official misconduct or neglect of duty by the county 
Judge of Erie county ; but no removal shall be made unless said commissioner shall have been served 
with a copy of the charges, and have had an opportunity to be heard. 

2 4. The loan commissioner, with the advice and consent of the board of education of said district, 
shall invest, and keep invested the whole of the said fund, and shall receive and immediately pay over 
to the treasurer of said district all moneys received for interest on said fund, and if interest can be 
obtained therefor for the district, the said treasurer shall deposit the same in some savings bank, or 
the same shall be loaned on call, as the board of education shall direct. The moneys belonging to said 
fund shall be kept invested by the loan commissioner in good bonds and mortgages on real estate in 
fee according to rules to be laid down and made by the board of education, and he shall have power 
to demand and receive, and to sue for and recover, the said moneys as directed by the said board. In 
the investment of said fund, other things being equal, preference shall be given to borrowers residing 
In or near said district. For the purpose of satisfying or assigning any such bonds and mortgages be- 
longing to such fund, as may be, irora time to time, required, such satisfaction or assignment shall bo 
signed and acknowledged by the president of the board of education and the loan commissioner, and 
when so signed and acknowledged it shall be proof that such bond and mortgage is duly satisfied ot 
assigned. 

i 5. In case the fund hereby created shall at any time become lost or impaired, the said board shall 
have power, and it shall be their duty, to levy and collect a tax upon the property of said district, to 
supply any deficiency that may arise from such loss or impairment until such loss or impairment is 
fully re-imbursed ; but there shall not be levied and collected in any one year in said district a sum 
exceeding two thousand dollars for this purpose ; such sum or sums so collected shall be invested for 
the purposes of said fund as herein provided. 

§ 6. The loan commissioner shall receive an annual salary to be fixed by the board of education ; such 
salary shall not exceed fifty dollars a year for his services, besides the necessary expenses and disburse- 
ments of his office. The treasurer shall also receive a salary not exceeding fifty dollars per year, to be 
fixed by the board, and such salaries, expenses and disbursements shall be levied and collected as con- 
tingent expenses of said district. 

IChap. 815, Laws o/1873.] 

1 2. The loan commissioner may in his discretion, in case of a sale of the lands mortgaged to said 
union school district, upon the forclosure of such mortgage, bid in such lands in trust for said district, 
and may sell the same on terms to be fixed by him in conjunction with the board of education, and 
may by deed, executed by him as such loan commissioner, convey the said lands. The moner 
received upon such sale, together with any purchase-money mortgages taken on suph sale, after 
deducting the expenses of such sales, shall be added to the capital fund to be invested as prescribed 
by^said act. 

[ CJiap. 136, Laws of 1878. ] 

Name of the district changed to the Parker union fi-ee school district number one of the town of 
Clarence . 

CLARKSON. 

[Chap. 154. Laws of 1859.] 

Section 1. All that part of the town of Clarkson, in the county of Monroe, known as lots seven, 
eight, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty and twenty- 
one, and the north halt of lots twenty-two and twenty-three in sections five, township four, of the 
triangular tract; that part of lots one and two and the north-east part of lot six, all in section six of 
the same town, and lately owned by Theodore Downs and now owned by John F. Hamlin ; lots seven 
and eight in section six and lot one (the farm now occupied by Samuel C. Perry), lots two, seven 
and eight in section ten, and lot seven and the west and middle parts of lots two and three to the east 
line of the farm now occupied by Frederick Nellis in section thirteen ; also lots nine and ten and the 
west half of lots eleven and twelve in section six ; also part of lot nine in section fourteen and north 
part of lot two and south half of lot three in the tenth section of said township four, shall 
hereafter constitute a single school district for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, and for the pur- 
poses of a common school shall be known as school district number two in said town of Clarkson, and 
all the lands within the boundary lines of said Clarkson high school district, as aforesaid, shall be taxed 
for'the support of said high school. (A s amended by chap. 394, Laws of 1876 and chap, 353, Laws of 
1885.) 

2 2. On the first Tuesday in May next, commencing at two o'clock in the afternoon, there shall be a 
meeting of the inhabitants of the district mentioned in the first section of this act, entitled by law to 
vote for the election of trustees of common schools, at which there shall be separately elected five 
trustees of said district; the person first elected shall hold his office for five years, the second for four 
years, the third for three years, the fourth for two years, and the fifth for one year from the said first 
Tuesday in May ; and a similar meeting shall be held annually thereafter on the first Tuesday In May, 
at the school-house in said district, at which there shall be elected one trustee to supply the place of 
the trustee whose term of office shall then expire, each trustee so elected to hold his office for five 



Clakksok. 823 

years. The present trustees of said school district number two shall cause noticelof the meeting on 
the first Tuesday oi May uext, staling tlie time, place aua object tnereot, to be posted in three public 
places within the said district, at least one week before the time appointed for said meeting, and similar 
notice of the annual meetings thereafter shall be given by the trustees then to be elected, and their 
successors. If there shall be a failure to elect a trustee at any annual meeting, the trustee whose 
term of office would then expire shall hold until another shall be duly elected in his place. 

5 3. All laws and regulations which now are or hereafter may be rnade applicable to the election of 
trustees of school districts, shall apply to the elections to be held under the second section of this act, 
so far as they shall be consistent with the terms of this act. 

§ 4. The trustees to be elected under the second section of this act shall constitute a body politic and 
corporate, by the name and style of " The trustees of the Clarkson high school," and shall possess all 
the powers and be subject to all the duties in respect to said district that the trustees of common schools 
now possess or are subject to, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. 
When five trustees shall have been elected in pursuance of the second section of this act, they shall be 
immediately invested with all the rights and powers, and become subject to the duties of the present 
trustees of school district number two before mentioned, and the powers of the present trustees shall 
thereupon cease. 

§ 5. Thetrustees to be elected by virtue of this act shall have power to organize, establish and main- 
tain a classical school in said district, to be known as the " Clarkson high school, " which school shall 
be an academy, and shall be subject to all laws and regulations applicable to other incorporated acade- 
mics in this State, so far as shall be consistent with this act, and shall be entitled to a share in the 
distribution of the Income of the literature fund, upon the same terms as other academies ; and the 
Regents of the University shall recognize such academy as such, as soon as the required sum shall 
properly be invested in buildings, library and apparatus, and competent teachers employed. 

§ 6. The trustees shall appoint one of their number president of their board, who shall preside at the 
meetings of said board when present, and when absent a president pro tempore shall be appointed in 
his stead. They shall also appoint a secretary who shall hold his office during their pleasure, and who 
shall record all the acts, doings and resolutions of said board, and also of the meetings of the taxable 
inhabitants of said district, of which meetings he shall be the secretary, and in his absence a secretary 
pro tem. shall be appointed to discharge all such duties. They shall also appoint a collector and a 
treasurer, who shall respectively hold their offices for one year, and until others are appointed in their 
places, unless sooner removed by said board. Such collector and treasurer, before entering upon the 
duties of their offices, shall execute and deliver to said board a bond in such penalty and with such 
sureties as such'board mavrpouire. 

§ 7. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in said board of trustees by the death, removal from the district, 
or resignation of any trustee, the remaining trustees shall have power to appoint a person to fill such 
vacancy, and the person so appointed shall hold his office for the unexpired term of the person to 
supply whose place he shall have been appointed. 

2 8. The taxable inhabitants of said district at any annual, special, or adjourned meeting, legally 
held, may vote to raise such sums of money as they shall deem expedient, not exceeding fifteen 
hundred dollars, for the purpose of purchasing a site and building a school-house in said district, or for 
the purpose of purchasing any suitable lot or building for such purpose, and furnishing the same with 
the necessary furniture, library and apparatus, and may direct the trustees to cause the same to be 
levied and raised upon the real and personal estate liable to taxation in said district, by installments, as 
such meeting may direct, and to make out a tax for the collection of the same as often as such install- 
ments shall become due; and the legal voters at any such meeting may fix the compensation for 
collecting and paying over to the treasurer of said board the amount so levied. They shall also have 
power, in like manner, from time to time, to raise such sums as shall be deemed necessary for the 
payment of teachers' wages, for keeping insured and in repair their real and personal property, for the 
purchasing of fuel and for defraying the other ordinary expenses of maintaining schools ; but no tax 
shall be leried upon said district without the assent of the majority of the legal voters thereof, except 
as now provided by law. 

5 9. The trustees to be elected by virtue of this act may purchase from the trustees of the Clarkson 
academy, who are hereby authorized to sell to them, the real and personal property now owned and 
possessed by the trustees of said academy, upon such terms as may be agreed upon by said parties ; but 
no money shall be paid or engagement entered into for the purchase of said real estate, unless a con- 
veyance thereof shall be made to the trustees, to be elected by virtue of this act, by the trustees of the 
first Congregational society of the town of Clarkson, and the trustees of Clarkson academy, so as to vest 
In the grantees a perfect title thereto, in fee simple. The trustees of said Congregational .society are 
hereby empowered, in their discretion, to execute such conveyance. 

2 10. The trustees to be elected by virtue of this act are hereby authorized and empowered to sell at 
public auction, to the highest bidder, or at private sale, and to convey to the purchaser the school- 
house and site thereof, situated in said district, and to hold and use the proceeds for the purposes 
specified in this act. 

i 11. The trustees to be elected as above provided are hereby empowered and authorized to make 
such by-laws and regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and govern- 
ment of said schools, and to divide the same into primary and'higher departments, and to regulate the 
transfer of scholars from one department to the other ; and to provide suitable instructors for each 
department ; to direct what text-books shall be used in the same ; to estabUsh such primary or infant 
school or schools as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same ; 
to purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and improve the 
same as they may think proper ; to purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages; to purchase fuel and all other necessaries for the use of the school or 
scholars in said district, and to pay the contingent expenses thereof; to pay the wages of all teachers 
employed in the school or schools in said district, out of the public money and funds applicable thereto ; 
to fix and regulate the terms of tuition fees in said primary and other higher branches in said school or 
schools ; to sue for and collect in their corporate name any sum of money or tuition fees due to said 
district ; to receive and apply to the use of said school or schools, or any department thereof, any gift, 
legacy, bequest or annuity given or bequeathed to them, and to apply the same according to the • 
instructions of the donor or testator; to take and hold any real estate granted or devised to them for 
the purposes of said school or schools, or any department thereof, and to apply the proceeds thereof 
according to the instructions of the donor or devisor, if not inconsistent with the purposes of public 
education and the laws of the State. 

g 12. The report now required by law to be made to the commissioner of common schools shall be 
made by said trustees ; and the public moneys payable to said district in the manner provided by law, 
shall be paid to the treasurer appointed by such trustees, whose receipt shall be sufficient voucher for 
all money so paid. 

2 13. Said trustees shall have power to receive into said academy and cause to be instructed therein, 
any pupil or pupils residing in or out of said district, and to regulate and establish the terms of tuUioD 



824 Clyde High School. 

of such resident or non-residenfpupils, and to regulate generally the rates of tuition, and to graduate 
the same according to the studies pursued in the higher English and classical departments of said 
academ5' ; the tuition fees In said academy shall not exceed three dollars per quarter for pupils whose 
parents or guardians reside within the said district, and for all other pupils shall not exceed five dollars 
each per quarter. 

§ 14. After applying the puhlic moneys applicahle thereto, and the tuition fees which may he received 
for the instruction of pupils, in payment of the salaries and wages of teachei^s employed in said schools, 
and of the other expenses necessary for the support thereof, the said trustees shall, unless the same 
shall have been previously raised, cause such additional sum as may be required to pay such wages, 
salaries and expenses to be assessed and levied upon the taxable property of said district, and collected 
in the manner provided by law for the assessment and collection of school district taxes in the several 
towns of this State. Not more than two taxes for such purposes shall ever be raised in one year ; and 
warrants for the collection of taxes in said district shall be issued under the hand and seal of the 
president or the major part of said trustees. 

2 15. All moneys raised in said district for the purpose of said school or schools, and all moneys to be 
received by such district from the common school fund, literature fund, or other source, shall be paid 
to the treasurer of said district, to be paid by him on the warrant of said board of trustees, and to be 
applied by them for the use of the said school or schools, according to the provisions of this act. 

CLYDE HIGH SCHOOL. 
l^Lawa of 1834, chapter 175, as amended hy chapter 268, Laws o/1842.] 

Section 1. School district number seventeen, in the town of Galen, in the county of Wayne, shall 
form a permanent school district, not subject to alteration by the town superintendent of common 
schools of the said town of Galen, and shall hereafter be known by the name of " The Clyde high 
school." 

I 2. The trustees of the Clyde high school shall be seven in number; and the first trustees shall be 
George Burrell, John Condit, Sylvester Clark, Cyrus Smith, Isaac Lewis, William S. Stow and Calvin 
D. Tompkins ; and shall hold their offices until the first annual meeting of said permanent school dis- 
trict, and until others are chosen. 

g 3. Said trustees are authorized to receive gifts, grants and donations toward defraying the expen- 
ses of purchasing a site and building a suitable school-house for said high school. 

§ 4. Said trustees, on receiving the sum of one thousand dollars, or having the said sum secured to be 
paid to them by subscription or otherwise, shall have power to levy and cause to be raised by tax. 
upon the taxable inhabitants of said permanent school district, a like sum of one thousand dollars ; but 
no such tax shall be levied until said trustees shall have called a special meeting of the taxable in- 
habitants of said permanent school district, in manner now provided by law for calling special school 
district meetings. 

. § 5. Said trustees shall report in writing to said meeting the amount of moneys received by them, 
the sum or sums secured to be paid to them, and the manner in which it is secured ; and if the sum of 
one thousand dollars appears to be paid or is secured to be paid to said trustees, said meeting shall 
proceed to elect a clerk and collector for said high school, who shall hold their offices until the first 
annual meeting of said permanent school district, and until others are chosen. 

§ 6. The trustees hereby appointed, and clerk and collector hereby directed to be chosen, shall be 
subject to the same penalties, and shall have the same powers and perform the same duties, as like 
officers directed to be chosen by chapter fifteen, title second and article fifth of the Revised Statutes, 
and all subsequent elections shall be held under that act. 

§ 7. The trustees of said high school shall select a suitable site in the village of Clyde for the erection 
of their school-house, and shall contract for and purchase the same, and thereon erect a school-house 
of sufficient size to accommodate such children as may be required to be educated in said permanent 
school district, and shall furnish the necessary furniture and fixtures for the same. 

§ 8. School districts fourteen and seventeen, or either of them, may sell their district property, and 
pay the amount of money arising from such sale or sales to the trustees of the Clyde high school. 

§ 9. Said trustees, on receiving such moneys, shall, if required by either district, deduct the amount 
■from that part of the tax hereby directed to be imposed on the taxable inhabitants of the individual 
district paying the same. 

§10. The school money, which school districts number fourteen and seventeen shall from time to 
time be entitled to receive from the commissioners of common schools in the town of Galen, shall be 
paid to the trustees of the Clyde high school, who shall be required to report to said commissioners in 
the same manner as other school districts are by law required to report. 

§ 11. The trustees receiving such moneys shall give their receipt for the same, and shall apply the 
money received exclusively to the payment of the teachers employed by them ; and it may be applied 
in such manner as to render the tuition of such poor children in said district as they may deem proper, 
gratuitous. 

§ 12. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the said high school to make an annual report, to the 
superintendent of common schools, of the state and condition of the said school. 

. § 13. The trustees shall have the general superintendence of all schools taught in said school-house, 
and shall employ as many teachers and assistants as they shall deem necessary, and shall direct the 
course of instruction, and regulate all the internal concerns of said school. {Section 2, act o/1842.) The 
trustees of said Clyde high school may from time to time rent or lease, for scholastic purposes, such 
rooms or apartments in their school-house as in their judgment may not be required for the use of 
schools therein established by them. 

[Chapter 192, Laws of 1858.] 

Section 1. The board of the trustees of the Clyde high school shall have the power, and they are 
hereby authorized, to raise, from time to time, by tax, to be levied equally upon all the real and per- 
sonal property in said high school district, which shall be liable for ordinary school district taxes, such 
sum or sums of money, not exceeding one-half of one per cent in any one year, as the trustees may 
deem necessary for the payment of teachers' wages, after applying all other moneys belonging to said 
district applicable to teachers' wages ; not more than two taxes for such purpose shall be raised in any 
one year. 

§ 2. Said high school shall be free to all children between the ages of four and twenty-one j'ears, 
residing in the district. 

§3. Saidboardof trustees may call special meetings of the inhabitants of said high school district 
whenever they may deem it necessary, or whenever petitioned by twenty-five of the taxable inhabit- 
ants of said district ; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice 
thereof in at least three public places in said district, at least one week previous to the time fixed for 



CoHOES. 825 



such meeting. Such notice shall state the time and place of holding such meeting, and th© purpose 
for which the same is called, and no business shall be transacted at any such meeting except that 
stated in the notice calling the same. 

i 4. Whenever, in the opinion of the trustees, it becomes necessary to build an additional school- 
house, or houses, in the district, or enlarge or repair the one already built, they shall submit the plans 
and estimated cost thereof to the electors of said district, at i special meeting to be called for that pur- 
pose, and if a majority of such electors, present at said meeting, shall vote in favor of the same, the 
trustees may carry the same into full effect. 

§ 5. The trustees shall prepare and submit to each annual meeting of said district, an estimate for 
the amount necessary for defraying the contingent expenses of the school for the ensuing year, specify- 
ing the purposes for which the same is to be expended. 

§6. The trustees shall, at the annual meeting, submit a full report in writing of their doings as trus- 
tees, and shall state therein the number of teachers employed in said school, the amount of salary paid 
to each teacher, the number of scholars attendingthe same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys 
received from the State, and from all other sources, as well as the amount raised in the district, the 
expenditures of the same, and all the particulars in detail relating to said school. 

{Chap. 332, Laws o/lS76.] 

Section 1. The Clyde high school, established at Clyde, Wayne'county, underthe provisions of chapter 
one hundred and seventy-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and thirty-four, and the amendments 
thereto, shall hereafter, in its academical department, be subject to visitation and control o( the 
Regents of the University, the same as the academies and academic departments of union free schools 
as provided by section twenty-three of title nine, chapter five hundi-ed and fifty-five ot the laws of 
eighteen hundred and sixty-four; and said Clyde high school shall hereafter share in the annual dis- 
tribution of the literature fund, and of all other moneys divided by the Regents of the University, in 
the same manner and to the same extent as academies and academic departments of union free 
schools. 

COHOES. 

[Extract from Charter. Laws of 1869, chapter 912, title ^.] 

President of the Board of Education. School Commissioners, Their Powers and Duties. 

Section 1. President board of education. There shall be appointed by ballot at a joint meeting of 
the common council and the board of education, to be held on the second Tuesday after the first elec- 
tion under this act, and every second year thereafter, an otficer to be styled the president of the board 
of education of said cit3\ who shall enter at once upon the duties of and hold his oflice for two j'ears, 
and until his successor shall be appointed. He shall have all the powers and perform all the duties con- 
ferred and imposed by this act, and shall receive an annual salary for all services rendered by him of 
three hundred dollars. In case of a vacancy in said oflice, the same shall be filled for the residue of 
the unexpired term, at a joint meeting of the common council and the board of education. Such joint 
meeting for the purpose of appointing such president or filling such vacancy shall be called by the 
mayor and the time and place of such meeting designated by him. Written notices thereof must be 
served by the clerk on each member thereof. Said otficer may be removed by the vote of two-thirds 
of all the members elected to the common council and the board of education in joint meeting, for 
official misconduct or neglect of duty. 

g 2. School commissioners. There shall be elected in each ward of said city, at the first election to be 
held undei' this act, two school commissioners, one of whom shall hold his office for one year, to be so 
designated on the ballot, and one school commissioner who shall hold his office for two years, to be so 
designated on the ballot. In each and every year thereafter, one school commissioner shall be elected 
who shall hold his ofiffce for two years. The term of ofiBce of such school commissioners shall com- 
mence on the first Tuesday after the annual election. Such school commissioners shall have the 
powers and perform the duties imposed by this act, and shall serve without compensation. 

§ 3. Board of education. The president of the board of education and the school commissioners shall 
constitute and be styled the board of education of the city of Cohoes, which shall be a body corporate 
in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by this act. 

? 4. Meetings. The first meeting of the board shall be held on the second Tuesday after the annual 
election in each year. The board shall also meet for the transaction of business as often as once In 
each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, 
or, in his absence or inability to act, by any two members of the board, as often as necessary, by givdng 
personal notice to each member of the board, or bv causing a written or printed notice to be left at his 
last place of residence at least twenty-four hours before the hour of such special meeting. 

§ 5. Common schools to be free. The common schools in said city shall be free to all children between 
the ages of five and twenty-one years, residing therein. 

§ 6. Title to school property. The title of school-houses, lots, furniture, books, libraries and apparatus, 
and other school property which has been heretofore or may be hereafter acquired, either as school 
districts or by the village or city of Cohoes, and within the bounds of said city, shall be vested in the 
city of Cohoes, and while the same are used for school purposes they shall not be levied upon or soli 
by virtue of any warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation, and the said city may take, hold and 
dispose of in its corporate capacity, any real or personal property, transferred to it by gift, grant, be- 
quest or devise, for the use of common schools in said city. 

§7. Sale of school property. The common council may, upon the recommendation of the board of 
education of said city, sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites thereof, and the mayor of the city is 
hereby authorized to make and execute all necessary contracts, deeds and conveyances therefor, and 
the proceeds of such sales shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city of Cohoes, and remain in hla 
hands as a fund for the purchase or improvement of lots or sites for school-houses. 

§ 8. Any member of the board of education may be removed from oti^ice for official misconduct, or 
iieglect of duty, by the common council, by a vote of two-thirds of the members thereof, but a written 
copy of the charges against such member shall be served on him at least eight days before any action 
shall be. taken thereon, and he shall have an opportunity to refute such charges before he can be 
removed. 

g 9. Duties of president. The president of the board of education shall see that the school-houses, 
buildings and other school property are not unnecessarily injured or destro.ved. He shall visit each of 
the schools in said city at least once in each month, and oftener if required by said board, and shall 
perform such other duties as shall be required of him by said board, and shall perform such other 
duties as shall be required of him bv said board of p-inoation or otherwise. He shall, in connection 
with any three or more members of the board of education, examine and license all teachers in said city. 

104 



826 CoHOES. 



§ 10. Trustees of library. The said board of education shall be trustees of the school library orllbran'ea 
in said city, and all provisions of law which now or may hereafter be enacted relative to school libraries 
shall apply to said board of education. 

§ 11. Said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting after each annual election, or aft 
soon thereafter as practicable, appoint a clerk of the board of education, who shall also be librarian^ 
and as such clerk and librarian shall perform all the duties which are, or may be required by the gen- 
eral school laws and board of education. As clerk of the board of education he shall keep a record of 
the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The said 
record or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and clerk, shall be received in all courts of jus- 
tice as evidence of the facts therein set forth, and such records, and all books, accounts, vouchers and 
papers of said board, shall be at all times subject to the inspection of the common council or any com- 
mittee thereof. Said clerk and librarian may be removed from office by said board of education at any 
time at their pleasure by a vote of a majority of all the school commissioners elected. The clerk and 
, librarian shall receive for all his services such annual salary as the board of education may determine, 
not exceeding three hundred dollars. (As amended by chap. 316, Laws o/1874.) 

g 12. Non-resident pupils. The board of education may allow the children of persons not resident 
within said city, to attend any of the schools therein under their custody or control, upon such terms 
as they shall prescribe in their by-laws or resolutions for the government and management of said 
schools. 

§ 13. General powers. Said board shall have the power and it shall be their duty— 

1. Organize schools. To organize and establish in said city so many primary departments or schools 
and departments of higher grades, including an academical department and such as they deem requisite 
and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same in their discretion. 

2. Hire school-hoiises. To hire school-houses and rooms for purposes of said schools when necessary. 

3. Build and improve school-houses. To build school-houses upon lots or sites purchased therefor in 
the name of the city, and to alter, repair or improve such school-houses and their appurtenances and 
to improve the lots or sites of school-houses belonging to said city. ' 

4. Purchase books, furniture, etc. To purchase books for indigent pupils, and to purchase and repair 
furniture, school apparatus and other necessary articles including libraries. 

5. Custody of school property. To have the custody, control and safe-keeping of the school-houses, 
buildings, lots, and all other school property belonging to said city of Cohoes, and to exercise the 
powers and discharge the duties in respect to the schools in said city, as appertain to trustees of school 
districts and of commissioners' districts. 

6. Employ teachers. To contract with and pay all teachers in said schools, and at their pleasure 
remove them, and to employ a superintendent of said schools. {As amended by chapter 316, Laws 
of 1874. ) 

7. Pay teachers. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public money appropriated and pro- 
vided by law for that purpose so far as the same shall be sufficient, and to pay the balance of such wages 
from the money authorized to be raised for that purpose by the provisions of this act. 

8. Defray contingent expenses. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including 
the salary of the president of the board. 

9. To have entire control of schools. To have in all respects, unless otherwise provided by this act, the 
superintendence, supervision and management of the schools in said city. They may Irom time to 
time adopt, alter, modify and repeal all rules and regulations for their organization, government and 
instruction, as they may deem expedient for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school 
to another, and generally for the promotion of good order in said schools. 

10. Sale and purchase of school property. To report to the common council whenever in their opin- 
ion it may be advisable to sell any school-houses, lots or sites or other school property belonging to said 
city, and also to report to said common council whenever they shall deem it advisable to purchase any 
school-house, lots or sites or school buildings for said city. 

11. To enumerate children of city. To cause an enumeration of all the children between the ages of 
five and twenty-one years, residing in said city on the thirtieth day of September next preceding, to be 
made between the first and fifteenth days of October in each year, and to report the number of such 
children at the time and in the manner as is by law required of school trustees. 

12. Report to Superintendent of Public Instruction. To make and transmit between the first and 
fifteenth days of October in each year, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, a Uke report in all 
respects as is required by law of trustees of school districts, and deposit and file the same as required 
by law. The city of Cohoes shall not be included in any commissioner's district heretofore created or 
authorized to be created or formed by the board of supervisors. 

§ 14. President to report to common council. It shall be the duty of the chairman of the board of 
education, within thirty days and not less than fifteen days .before the annual election in each year, to 
make a report to the common council skowing— 

1. Numher of children of school age. The number of children between the ages of five and twenty- 
one years residing in said city on the thirtieth day of September next :preceding said report, and the 
number of scholars between the ages of five and twenty-one years residing in said city who have 
attended the free schools therein during the preceding year, and the number attending each school, 
including the evening schools. 

2. Number of non-resident pupils. The number of scholars not residing in said city but who have 
attended the common schools therein during the same time. 

3. Public money received for teachers'' wages. The amount of public moneys'received,by the city cham- 
berlain applicable to teachers' wages, and the amount applicable to school libraries. 

4. Money appropriated by common council. The amount of moneys appropriated or set apart by the 
common council for the use of said schools as required ;by the provisions of this act, and the portion* 
thereof appropriated to the respective funds. 

5. Money received from sale of city property. The moneys received from the sale of city property. 

6. All other sums for common school purposes. All other sums received by the chamberlain and appro- 
priated to the purposes of the common schools. 

7. Mode of expenditure. The manner and purposes for which such sums of money shall have been 
expended specifying the amount paid under each head of expenditures and the amount remaining 
unexpended, if any, in each fund respectively. 

g 15. Publication of report. The common council shall cause the report required by the last precedmg 
eection to be published in one or more of the newspapers pubUshed in said city at least two weeks next 
preceding the annual election. ,_ , ■ ^ 

g 16. Chamberlain to set apart money for school purposes. It shall be the duty of the chamberlam to 
annually set apart as soon as the same is collected, for the use of common schools, twenty-fiveper cent 
of all moneys raised by the common council in each year, except such moneys as msy be raised for 
extraordinary or special objects or local improvements. In addition to the amount required by section 
sixteen of title ten of said act, to be set apart for the use of common schools in said city, the common 
council of said city shall have the power, and it shall be their duty to raise annually by tax, to be 



COHOES. 827 

evied equally upon all the real and personal estate in said city which shall he liahle to taxation for the 
ordinary city taxes, or for county charges, such sum as shall be required hy said board of education, 
not exceeding one-quarter of one per cent on the assessed valuation of the taxable property in said 
city; said sum so raised as aforesaid shall be used by the board :of education for the payment ol 
teachers' wages and the contingent expenses of the schools. (As amended by chap. 316, Laws o/1874.) 
§ 17. Money to he apportioned. All moneys so appropriated and set aside for the use of common schools, 
shall be apportioned by the board of education to the credit of funds for the following uses and pur- 
poses : 

1. School rooms. To hiring school rooms and school-houses. 

2. Repairs. To enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and their out-houses and appurte- 
nances, and to improve sites thereor, and for building school-houses. 

3. Fuel. To purchase fuel ; also stoves and heater, and to repair the same. 

4. Teachers' wages. To pay teachers' wages. 

5. Contingent expenses. To pay contingent expenses. 

g 18. Money, how tised. Whenever the moneys appropriated for the use of the common schools shall 
he apportioned and accredited to specific funds, as herein required, they shall not be applied to any 
other fund or purpose whatever during the then current year, but shall be used solely and exclusively 
for the purposes so designated. 

§19. Poll tax for school purposes. The common council shall have the power and it shall be their 
duty to levy and raise for the use of the common schools of said city, at the same time and in the same 
manuer, and subject to the same exemptions as highway poll taxes are levied and raised by this act, a 
tax of one dollar from each male Inhabitant of the age of twenty-one years and upward residing in 
said city, and the money so raised shall be placed to the credit of the contingent fund of said schools, 
and all the provisions of title fourteen for the enforcement of the collection of the highway poll tax 
shall be applicable to the collection of the school poll tax hereby authorized. 

i 20. School moneys, how kept and drawn All moneys raised by virtue of this act, which the board 
of education is authorized to expend, shall be deposited with the chamberlain of the city to the credit 
of the respective funds under the control of the board of education as provided by law, and shall be 
drawn out in pursuance of a resolution of said board by drafts drawn by the president and countersigned 
by the clerk of said board, payable to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys 
and'accompanied by the affidavit of the claimant, or some one in his behalf, to the correctness thereof, iv. 
the same manner required by the provisions of this act, in the case of accounts audited and allowed by 
the common council. No part of said school funds shall be borrowed or transferred by the city or its 
oflacers in any manner whatever, but shall remain in the treasury solely and exclusively for school pur- 
poses. Said board of education, in all their expenditures and contracts, shall have reference to the 
amount of moneys which shall be subject to their order for any specific object during the then current 
year, and shall not exceed the amount so provided. In case any debt shall be incurred or contract 
made by said board of education, or any member thereof, which shall require the expenditure of a 
greater sum than shall have been provided or appropriated for the use of the public schools, the city 
shall not be liable for the same, but the members of the board of education voting therefor, or eith^ of 
them, shall be personally Uable therefor to the party entitled to payment. 

§ 21. Common council to raise money for school purposes. It shall be the dtity of the common council, 
npon the recommendation of the board of education, to take all necessary proceedings in the manner 
provided by this act, for the raising of money for extraordinary or special purposes, to raise money to 
build or purchase school-houses and to purchase and improve lots or sites therefor. The money so 
raised. In case it shall be voted by the tax payers, as provided by this act, shall be paid to and kept by 
the chamberlain of the city, distinct from other money, and shall be controlled and appropriated by the 
board of education, exclusively to the object or oblects for which it shall be raised, and no such money 
shall be appropriated or expended except by resolution of said board. 

§ 22. School districts. For the purpose of distribution of any money, now or hereafter appropriated by 
the State, for the support of common schools, in which the city of Cohoes or the schools therein shall 
be entitled to a share, there shall be constituted and shall be as many school districts as there have been 
employed in said city and duly qualified teachers, who, and the successors of whom, shall have taught 
in the common schools therein for a period during the preceding year of twenty-eight weeks of five 
school days each, including the hohdays allowed by law, and the attendance of a teacher upon a 
teachers' institute within the county. Every evening school taught by a qualified teacher for a period 
of five months shall be considered as and shall be a district. 

2 23. Common council to pass school ordinances. The common council shall have the power and it 
shall be their duty to pass such ordinances and regulations as the said board of education may report aa 
necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of the school-houses, lots, 
sites, appurtenances and appendages, libraries and all other school property belonging to or connected 
with the common schools of said city, and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject 
to the restrictions and limitations contained in this act, and all such penalties may be collected by said 
board of education or common council in the same manner that penalties for the violation of the city 
ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city, and by 
him placed to the credit of the contingent fund. 

§ 24. President to administer oaths. The president of the board of education is hereby authorized to 
administer oaths to all persons having accounts to be audited and allowed by said board as to the correct- 
ness thereof. 

? 25. Pay of teachers in school district number eight. School district number eight, in the town of Water- 
vliet, shall be excepted from the provisions of this act. so far as relates to the employment of teachers 
and other matters pertaining to the management of the schools therein, except in the collection of 
taxes. The board of education of said city shall pay to the trustees of said school district num- 
ber eight, the sum of one hundred and sixty-six dollars for the purpose of paying the teacher in said 
school district and for the support of the school in said district ; provided, however, that any children 
of school age, residing in said city, outside of the bounds of said district number eight, have the privi- 
lege of attending the schools therein. 

[Section 2, chap. 316, Laws of 1874, was repealed by chap. 224, Laws of 1886.] 

Miscellaneous Provisions of the City Charter Relating to Election, Appointments. Qualifica- 
tions, Powers and Duties of Members of the Board of Education. 

title m. 

Section 17. No person shall be elected to any city office unless he be a resident elector of said city 
nor to any ward office unless he be a resident elector of the ward for which he is elected, and whenever 
any officer of said city shall cease to be a resident of said city or ward or district for which he was 
elected, his office shall thereby become vacant. 



828 CoRNii^'G. 

§ 18. If any person appointed to any office under the provisions of this act, shall not within ten days 
after notification of his appointment, take the required oath of office and file the same with the city 
clerk, and give the security required of him by the provisions of this act, the common council may 
treat such neglect or omission as a refusal to serve, and declare vacant the office to which such person 
was appointed, in which case the vacancy shall be forthwith filled as herein px'ovided. 

2 19. Resignation of any office held under the provisions of this act shall be made to the common 
council in writing, and filed with the clerk of the city. 

2 20. If a vacancy shall happen in any elective office, the common council shall fill the same by 
appointment until the next annual election, when the residue, if there be any unexpired, of the office 
whose term shall have become vacant, shall be filled by some person to be elected to such office for the 
residue of such term, according to the provisions of this act. 

§ 22. No member of the common council shall be appointed to any office by the common council, nor 
shall the mayor or any alderman of said city, nor the president or any member of the board of educa- 
tion, nor the president or any member of the board of water commissioners, be directly or indirectly 
interested in any contracts to which the city or either of said boards shall be a party, or in any account 
against said city or either of said boards for supplies or materials furnished ; and any contract in which, 
any such officer shall be or become so interestea shall be void. 



Section 3.' The mayor shall have the power and it shall be his duty to suppress riots, and to order 
and compel all tumultuous assemblies to disperse, and he shall have all the power for these purposes 
given by law to sheriffs in case of resistance to the execution of process. He shall hold his office for 
two years, and shall serve without compensation. He shall be ex-officio a member of the board of 
water commissioners and the board of education. 

TITLE V. 

Section 7.~It'shall oe the duty of the common council and they shall have the power— 
1. To appoint the usual officers, whose offices are held by appointment under them and to fill 
vacancies therein, and to fill any vacancy in any other office by appointment of a suitable person, who, 
if the office is electoral, shall hold only to the next annual election, and if the vacant term be not then 
terminated it shall then be filled for the residue of the terms by election. 

\_Chap. 8, Laws of 1887.] 

An act to authorize the Board of Education of the city of Cohoes to borrow money to meet a deficiency 
in the expenses of said board in the support of the common schools in said city. 

Passed February 8, 1887 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. The board of education of the city of Cohoes is hereby authorized to borrow, upon the 
credit of the city of Cohoes, such sum of money as is or shall be necessary to meet the deficiency in 
the expenses of said board in the support and maintenance of the common council of the city of 
Cohoes for the present current school year ending on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight 
hundred and eighty-seven, not exceeding nine thousand dollars. 

? 2. Said board may from time to time and in such amounts, within the limits of this act, as it shall 
determine, issue certificates of indebtedness which shall be sealed with the seal of the city, and 
signed by the mayor of the city and the president and clerk of said board, and shall be payable with 
interest at a rate not to exceed four per centum per annum, on the first day of September, one thousand 
eight hundi-ed and eighty-seven. 

g3. Said certificate shall be sold by the chamberlain of said city for not less than the par value 
thereof, at such times and in such manner as the board may direct, and the proceeds of such sale or 
sales shall be deposited by said chamberlain, to the credit of and drawn out by said board of educa- 
tion, for the support and maintenance of the common schools of said city. 

§ 4. It shall be the duty of the common council of said city to provide for the payment of said certi- 
ficates by levying and collecting, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, at the same 
time and in the same manner as other general taxes are levied and raised, and in addition thereto a 
sum sufficient to pay said certificates and interest upon their maturity. 

§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately. 

CORNING. 
[Chap. 298, Laws o/ 1859.1 

Section 1. The trustees of school district number nine, in the town of Corning, county of Steuben, 
shall constitute a board to bo styled the board of education of the village of Corning, which shall be a 
corporate body, with a seal, in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by thia act, 
and shall be elected from time to time as now provided by law. A maiority of the board shall consti- 
tute a quorum. The first meeting of said board shall be held on the second Wednesday of May, eigh- 
teen hundred and fifty-nine ; and the annual meeting of said board in each year thereafter shall be held 
on the first Tuesday in October in each year. At the first meeting of the board, and annually there- 
after, at the annual meeting they shall elect one of their number president of the board, and when- 
ever he shall be absent, a president pro tempore may be appointed. The said trustees shall receive no 
compensation for their services, rror shall they be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract for 
building or for making any improvements or repairs provided for by this act. 

§ 2. The said trustees shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once In each month and 
may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or In his absence 
or inability to act, by any member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each 
member of the board, or by causing written or printed notice to be left at his last place of residence, at 
least twenty-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. 

§ 3. The said trustees shall appoint a secretary and treasurer, who shall hold their offices during the 
pleasure of the board and whose compensation shall be fixed by the board. The said secretary shall 
keep a record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may pre- 
scribe. The said record, or transcript thereof, certified by the secretary, shall be viewed in all courts 
as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth, and such record, and all the books, accounts, 
vouchers and papers of said .board shall, at all times, be subject to the inspection of the people ot the 
district, 



Corning. 829 

§ 4. The trustees aforesaid shall have power and it shall he their duty to raise, from time to time, hy 
tax to be levied upon all the real and personal estate in said district which shall be liable to taxation 
as provided for by law, for school purposes as the board of education shall deem to be necessary and 
proper for any and all of the following purposes: 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses.'or sites with buildings thereon for the same 
purpose ; 

2. To huild, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school -houses and their out-houses 
and appurtenances ; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages; 
but the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the furnishing with class or text-books 
any scholar whose parents or guardians shall be able to furnish the same ; 

4. To procure fuel anddefray the contingent expenses of the common schools, including the academ- 
ical department therein, and the expenses of the school library of said district, and the necessary 
expenses of said board, including the salary of the secretary of the board and the compensation allowed 
the librarian and treasurer; 

5. To pay teachers' wages after the application of public moneys which may by law, be appropriated 
and provided for that purpose ; 

6. The amount raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses shall not be less than twice nor more 
than six times the amount appropriated to said district, from the common school fund of the State 
during the previous year, nor shall there be raised in any one year for buying sites, or sites with buildings 
thereon, erecting'and repairing school-houses and the appurtenances, a sum exceeding two thousand 
dollars, except as herein otherwise provided for. And the board of edacation are authorized and 
directed, when necessary, to borrow, in anticipation, the amount of taxes so to be raised, collected and 
levied as aforesaid, and to give the bonds of the district, signed by the president of the board of educa- 
tion, and under the seal of the district, as security for the repayment of the moneys so borrowed. 

g 5. All moneys required to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by 
law appropriated to or provided for said district, whether from the school or Uterature funds, or under 
the act to establish free schools throughout the State or otherwise, shall be paid to the treasurer of said 
district, who, together with the sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same 
manner as the treasurer of the county of Steuben is for moneys which come into his hands, and shall 
he liable to the same penalties for official misconduct. 

2 6. The treasurer shall pay out the moneys authorized by this act, to be received by him, upon drafts 
drawn by the president, and countersigned by the secretary of said board of education, which drafts 
shall not be drawn, except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be made 
payable to the person or persons entitled to receive the same. 

2 . The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty ; 

1. To organize and establish such and so many schools in said district, as they shall deem requisite 
and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same, but nothing in this act contained shall authorize 
said board of education to support or contribute any moneys belonging to said district, to the support 
of any parochial or church school in said district. {As amended by sec. 1, chap. 82, Laws of 1868.) 

2. To purchase and hire school rooms or houses, lots or sites for school-houses, or sites with buildings 
thereon to be used as school-houses, and to fence and improve such sites as they may deem proper. 

3. Upon such lots, and upon such sites owned by said district, to build, enlarge, alter, improve and 
repair school-houses and appurtenances as they may deem advisable. 

4. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture and 
appurtenances, and to see that their ordinances in relation thereto are observed. 

5. To contract with, license and employ all teachers in said schools and the academical departments 
therein, and at their pleasure to remove them. 

6. To pay the wages of the teachers in said schools out of the moneys appropriated and provided by 
law for the support of common schools in said district, and the wages of the teachers of the academical 
department out of the moneys appropriated to said department, from the income of the literature and 
United States deposit funds, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue of the wages of the 
teachers in said schools and academical department from the moneys authorized to be raised for that 
purpose, by section fourth of this act, by tax upon said district. 

7. To defray the contingent expenses of the said common schools and academical departments, and 
the expenses of the school library of said district, and the necessary and contingent expenses of the 
board, including the annual salary of the secretary and treasurer, and librarian. 

8. The said board to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the 
common schools of said district, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may 
deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, or the recep- 
tion of pupils, and the transfer from one school to another, and generally for their good order, pros- 
perity and utility ; and to have power to establish in said schools an academical department, to receive 
mto said schools or academical department pupils residing out of said district, and to regulate and 
establish the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils in the several departments of said schools, and in 

, such academical department, and to collect such fees in the name of said district. To regulate the 
transfer of scholars from the primary to the academical department, to direct what text-books shall' 
be used in said schools and academical department, to provide and keep in repair school apparatus, 
books for indigent pupils, furniture and appendages, fuel and other necessaries lor the schools and aca- 
demical department. 

9. To sell whenever in their opinion it may be advisable any of the school-houses, lots or sites and 
appurtenances, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging o the said district. Such 
sale shall in no case be made however, unless a petition setting forth the necessity or expediency 
thereof shall first be presented by said board, to the county court of Steuben county, and an order 
authorizing such sales and specifying the terrasand conditions thereof shall be granted by said court. 
All moneys arising from such sale shall be paid to the treasurer of the district and all securities taken 
on account of any such S£fle or sales shall be made payable to him. 

10. To prepare and report to the trustees of the village of Corning such ordinances and regulations 
as may be necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, 
lots and sites, and appurtenances, and all the property belonging to the district, and to suggest proper 
penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations. 

11. To make and transmit to the county clerk or such other officer as may be designated by law, a 
report in writing bearing date the first day of October, in the year of its transmission, and stating : 

1. The number of school-houses in said district, and an account and description of all common 
schools kept in said district during the preceding year and the time they have been severally taught. 

2. The number of children taught in said schools respectively, and the number of children over the 
age of four years and under the age of twenty-one years, residing in said district on the last day of Sep- 
tember in each year. 

3. The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said district during the preced- 
ing year, distinguishing the amount received from a tax on the district, and from other sources. 



830 Cortland. 

4. The manner in which such monej's "have been expended and whether any and whft part remains 
unexpended, and tor what cause. 

5. The amount of moneys received for tuition fees from foreign pupils during the year, and^ the 
amount paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the public moneys, and with such additional informa- 
tion relating to the common schools of the district as may, from time to time, be required from the 
State superintendent of common schools. 

J 8. The board of education shall provide that each school shall be visited by a committee of one or 
more of their number, at least once in each term. 

§ 9. Every academical department to be established as aforesaid shall be under the visitation of the 
Regents of the University , and shall be subject to its course of education and matters pertaining thereto 
(but not in reference to the buildings or erections in which the Same is conducted, unless in case tha 
buildings or erections aforesaid are separate from those of the common school department), to all the 
regulations made in regard to academies by the said Regents : and in such department the qualifications 
for the entrance of any pupil shall be the same as those established by the said Regents for admissioa 
Into any academy of the State under their supervision; and such academical departments shall share 
In the distribution of the income of the literature fund, and of the income of the United States deposit 
fund, with academies in the State subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University. 

5 10. It is hereby provided, that in case the board of education shall deem It expedient to erect a 
building for an academy in said district, they shall submit the question to a vote of the tax payers of 
the district, at 'the annual meeting, or at a special meeting called for that purpose, specifying the amount 
to be raised, and the manner of raising It, which vote shall be taken by ballot, and if a majority of tho 
persons voting shall be in favor of the propositions of the board of education, then they shall have 
power to raise the sum of money voted for that purpose, by a tax upon the real and personal property 
in said district, which shall be liable to taxation for town and county charges, in like manner as other 
taxes are raised in said district ; and the board of education are authorized and directed, when neces- 
sary, to borrow, in anticipation, the amount of taxes to be raised, collected and levied as aforesaid, and 
to give the bonds of the district, signed by the president of the board of education, and under the seal 
of the district, as security for the repayment of the moneys so borrowed. The moneys to be raised 
and paid in annual installments orctherwise,as the board shall deem expedient. 

§ 11. This act shall extend over and be applicable to all the territory lying within the bounds of 
district number nine, of the town of Corning ; and the office of county or district superintendent of 
common schools, so far as is applicable to the said district, is hereby abolished. 

^Sections 12 and 13, added by chap. 82, Laws of 1868.] 

? 12. There shall be six trustees in said school district number nine, who shall be divided into three 
several classes, the first class to hold until one, the second until two, and the third until three years 
from the second Tuesday of October last past; and after the first election of trustees under this 
amended act, two trustees shall be elected, in the manner now provided by law, at the annual meet- 
ing of said district in each year, and shall hold their office for the term of three years each. 

§ 13. There shall be a special school meeting held at the school-house in said district on the first 
Tuesday of May next, at half past seven o'clock, p. m., of that day, to elect the three additional 
trustees required by this act, and the clerk of said district shall give the same notice of said special 
meeting now required by law for an annual meeting, and at said special meeting the electors of said 
district shall elect three trustees for one, two and three years respectively from the second Tuesday of 
October last past, and shall designate by their votes for which term each is elected, and said trustees 
so elected, together with the trustees of said district now in office, and their successors, shall con- 
stitute the board of education of the village of Corning. {As amended by chap. 312, Laws of 1868. ) 

CORTLAND. 

IChap. 109, Laws of 1883.] 

Section 1. All school districts and parts of school districts lying within the corporate limits of the 
village of Cortland, in the county of Cortland, in this State, are hereby consolidated and incorporated 
into one school district, which shall be called " Cortland Union Free School District Number One " and 
shall not be altered, except by legislative enactment. The boundaries of said union free school dis- 
trict shall be the same as the boundaries of the village of Cortland. 

§ 2. James S. Squires, Edward D. Webb, James C. Carmichael, Frank Place, Jonathan L. Watrous, 
Hugh Duffy, William H. Clark, Benton B. Jones and John W. Suggett, are hereby appointed commis- 
sioners of said Union Free School District Number One, and they and their successors, to be chosen as 
hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a body corporate to be styled "The Board of Education 
ot Cortland village," and are hereby invested with all the powers and charged with all the duties con- 
ferred upon them by this act. A majority of the commissioners shall constitute a quorum. The board 
may adopt a common seal. 

§ 3. Said commissioners shall meet and organize within twenty days after the passage of this act, and 
shall divide themselves into three classes of three each, and it shall be determined by lot who shall 
belong to each. Those belonging to the first class shall hold office until the regular annual charter 
election of the village of Cortland in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one ; those of the 
second class until the regular annual charter election of said village in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eighty-two ; and those of the third class until the regular annual charter election of said 
village in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three; and until their successors shall be 
elected and enter upon the duties of their office respectively. 

I 4. At the regular annual charter-election of the village of Cortland in the year .one thousand eight 
hundred and eighty-one, and annuallv thereafter, at the regular annual charter election, there shall be 
elected in the same manner as other village officers, three commissioners to fill the places of Uiose 
whose terms of office then expire. The commissioners thus elected shall hold their respective offices 
for the term of three years, and until their successors shall be elected and enter upon the duties of their 
office, respectively, and such commissioners may be reelected. . 

? r>. The said board of education shall have power to fill by appointment any and all vacancies that 
mav occur in its membership, from any other cause than the expiration of the terms of office ot tne 
members thereof, and the person or persons so appointed shall continue in office until the ensuing 
annual charter election of said village, when a commissioner or commissioners shall be elected lor the 
balanceoftheunexpired termor terms, (^s amended fey cAap. 142, iawso/ 1881.) .,. „ , ^ 

§6. The commissioners hereby appointed, and those hereafter elected or appomted, shall, before 
entering upon their duties, take and file with the clerk of Cortland county the usual constitutional oath 
of office. All the records and minutes of the board of education, or a copy thereof, duly certihett 



CORTLAITD. 831 

by tbe secretary, shall be evidence in all courts and places of the facts therein contained. It shall be a 
suflScient execution and authentication of any document, paper or instrument made by the board ot 
education, in pursuance of this act, to have the same signed by the president and secretary thereof. 
The said commissioners hereby appointed shall, at their first meeting, choose one of their number 
president, and shall fix the time of the annual meeting of the board, and unless changed the time thus 
fixed shall be the time for future annual meetings. The board of education shall meet, for the trans- 
action of business, as often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. If the presi- 
dent is absent a president pro tempore may be appointed by the members of the board present. A 
president shall be chosen at the first meeting of the board after the regular annual charter election in 
each year. Any member of the board of education may resign by giving one month's notice to the 
secretary. Special meetings of the board may be called, as the board may determine, by resolution. 

§ 7. The board of education shall appoint a secretary and librarian ; one person may hold both offices 
and may be a member of said board of education. The compensation ot the secretary and libraiian 
shall be fixed by the board, but shall not exceed one hundred dollars per annum. (.4* amended by chap. 
142, iaws 0/1881.) 

§ 8. No member of the board of education shall receive any compensation or salary except as pro- 
vided for the secretary and librarian. {As amended by chap. 142, Laws of 1881.) 

g 9. It shall be the duty of the board of education, previous to the last day of February in each j'ear, 
to estimate all the necessary expenses over and above the public moneys accruing to the said union 
free school district for the following purposes : 

J. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses or sites with buildings thereon. 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, improve, rebuild and repair school-houses, out-houses, fences 
or appurtenances, and to lease rooms for school purposes. 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair furniture, apparatus and other necessaries for the use 
of said schools, including books, for indigent pupils only. 

4. To purchase fuel and pay teachers' v^ages ; to defray the necessary expenses of keeping the school- 
houses in order, including insurance, expenses of library and salary of secretary ; to pay all expenses 
incurred by law or necessary to carry into effect this act, and to refund loans legally contracted and 
pay interest thereon. {As amended by chap. 142, Laws of 1881. ) 

§ 10. It shall be the duty of the board of education after having made their estimates as above speci- 
fied or enumerated, for the current year, to transmit the same to the president and trustees of the vil- 
lage of Cortland who shall cause the same to be published for two weeks prior to the ensuing annual 
charter election of said village, in two or more of the newspapers published in said village. (As 
amended by chap. 142, Laws of 1881-) 

1 11. The estimates so transmitted shall be submitted by said president and trustees of said village at 
such ensuing annual charter election, to a vote of the citizens of said village, entitled to vote at said 
election the same as the estimates of the president of said village for the ordinary expenses of said vil- 
lage, for the ensuing year. Each or any of said estimates of said board of education may be voted on 
separately, or they may be voted on collectively as the said president and trustees of said village may 
determine- Such of said estimates as shall be approved by a majority of all the persons voting thereon 
shall be raised by tax, to be levied and collected in the same manner, at the same time and by the 
same officers, as the ordinary corporation expenses of taxes of said village are annually levied and col- 
lected. Provided, however, that no more than fifteen hundred dollars shall be raised as in this sec- 
tion provided, unless the vote shall be by ballot, the same as provided for in the charter (being chap- 
ter four hundred and six of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four) of said village for raising a 
specific sum of money for special purposes in addition to the ordinary expenses of said village. {As 
amended by chap. 142, Laws 0/I88I.) 

2 12. The board of education may at any time in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, 
after the passage of this act, estimate all the necessary expenses immediately required for any or all 
the purposes mentioned in section nine of this act. The total amount of such estimate shall not 
exceed thirty-five hundred dollars. The amount so estimated shall be transmitted to the president 
and trustees of said village, who shall immediately certify the same to said assessor. Said amount 
shall then be levied and collected in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty at the same time 
and in the same manner and by the same officers as the sums directed to be raised at the annual 
charter election of said village held on the third Tuesday of March, in the year one thousand eight 
"hundred and eighty, for the ordinary and other expenses of said village. 

§ 13. The board of education shall have power : 

1. To establish such rules and regulations concerning the order and discipline of the school or 
schools in the several departments thereof as they deem necessary to secure the best educational 
results ; to grade and classify the schools of the union free school district, and to regulate the admis- 
sion of pupils and their transfer from one class or department to another, as their scholarship shall 
warrant ; to prescribe the text books to be used in said schools, and compel a uniformity in the use of 
the same, and to furnish the same to any indigent pupils out of any moneys provided for that pur- 
pose. 

2. To purchase, lease, or improve sites for school-houses, or sites with buildings thereon ; to build, 
purchase, lease, enlarge, improve, remove, rebuild, and repair school-houses, out-houses, fences, or 
appurtenances, and to lease rooms for school purposes, and to pay all expenses legally incurred. Pro- 
vided, however, that said board of education shall create no liabiUty for the payment of which money 
has not already been appropriated. 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve, and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages. 
Including books for indigent pupils, and provide fuel, pay teachers' wages, insurance on buildings and 
property, salary of secretary and librarian, and defray contingent expenses of the schools and the 
board. 

4. To contract with, examine, and employ teachers in said schools and at the pleasure of the board 
to remove them. {As amended by chap. 142, Laws 0/I88I. ) 

§ 14. The board of education shall have power and it shall be their duty to organize, establish and 
maintain such and so many schools in said union free school district as they may deem necessary, or 
to alter or discontinue any of the same. 

§ 15. The said union free school district, for the purposes of the apportionment and distribution of 
school moneys from any source (including the apportionments from the income of the literature, com- 
mon school or United States deposit funds, or otherwise), shall be recognized and regarded the same 
as a school district under the general school law of the State. It shall be the duty of the board of 
education to make an annual report to the school commissioner of the first commissioner's district of 
Cortland county, at the same time other school officers are required so to do, and (as near as may be 
making the necessary changes) in the same manner. And the said board of education may also cause 
so much of said report as they may deem proper, or a summary thereof, to be immediately published 
for two weeks in two or more of the newspapers published in said village. {As amended by chap. 142, 
Laws oj 1881.) 



832 COETLAIS-D. 

? 16. It shall be the duty of the supervisor of the town of Cortlandville, on the receipt of the public 
school moneys raised for or appropriated to said union free school district from anv source, to immedi- 
ately pay the same over to the treasurer of the village of Cortland, whose duty it shall be to credit the 
same in a distinct and separate account to said board of education. And whenever any mone.vs are 
raised by tax, as provided in this act and the act of which it is amendatory, as amended by this act, 
the corporate authorities or officers of said village shall immediately after the collection thereof pay 
the same to said treasurer, who shall immediately credit the same in a distinct and separate account to 
said board of education. Said treasurer shall only pay out said moneys on orders of the board of edu- 
cation, signed by the president and countersigned by the secretary thereof, which orders can onlv be 
drawn in pursitance of a resolution of said board of education. The corporate authorities of said" vil- 
lage may require said treasurer to give additional security to them for the safe keeping of said monevs, 
and the performance of his duties in relation thereto. {As amended by chap. 142, Laws 0/I88I.) 

? 17. The amount raised for teachers" wages and contingent expenses for any one year shall not be 
more than live thousand dollars, nor shall the aggregate amount to be raised in any one year for all 
the purposes contemplated in this act and the act of which it is amendatory as amended by this act 
exceed ten thousand dollars. (As amended by chap. 142, Lavjs of 18SI.) 

1 18. If. for any reason, it shall become necessary, in the judgment of said board of education, to raise 
money for any of the purposes specified in this act. and the act of which it is amendatory, as amended 
by this act, at any other time than the annual charter election of said village, they shall certify to the 
president and trustees of said village the sum desired to be raised, the purposes to wtiich it is to be'applied 
and the reasons which make it necessary that such sum should be raised, and said president and trus- 
tees shall thereupon forthwith call a special meeting, in the manner now prescribed in the charter of 
said village for calling such meetings, at which it shall be decided by ballot, in the manner prescribed 
in said charter for balloting at special village meetings, whether the sum certified as above provided 
shall be raised. In case it shall be decided to raise such sum. the same shall be levied and collected in 
the manner provided in said charter for levying and collecting the money voted to be raised at a special 
village meeting. But the amount voted to be raised at any special meeting shall in no case exceed the 
sum of five thousand dollars, nor shall it cause the total appropriations, under this act. for the year 
then current, to exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars. It shall be the duty of the president and 
trustees of the village of Cortland, whenever, in their judgment, the amount voted to be raised at any 
election for any or all the purposes mentioned in this act, and the act of which it is amendatory, as 
amended by this act, is too large to be raised by tax in any one year, to cause to be raised by tax only 
such a portion thereof as they deem expedient, and immediately to issue interest-bearing bonds or 
obligations of said village for the balance, in such form and denominations, and payable at such times 
and in such a manner as they may deem for the best interest of said village, and sell the same. The 
avails of said bonds shall be paid to said village treasurer, to the credit of said board of education. Said 
bonds, when they respectively become due, shall be paid by ? tax to be duly levied and collected, or 
by issuing and selling other bonds in their place and stead, as the then corporate authorities of said 
village shall decide, having regard for the t)est interests of said village. (As o.mended by chap. 142. 
iawso/lSSl.) 

§ 19. The board of education may sell, in its corporate capacity, any real or personal school property 
in the union free school district when they deem it advisable, and the avails thereof shall be used for 
school purposes. The title to all the real and personal school property belonging to said union free 
school district, or to the former school districts and parts of districts included in and composing the same, 
is hereby vested in said board of education as a corporation ; provided that where the school-house in 
a district, part ot which district lies within the boundaries of said union free school district, is situate 
without the boundaries of the said union free school district, this section shall not apply to such 
district, 

§ 20. No person or corporation subject to taxation on real or personal property for the purposes con- 
templated by this act shall be otherwise taxed on the same property for school purposes. 

§ 21. The various school offices in the several districts or parts of districts composing this union free 
school district shall terminate whenever this act shall take effect, except so far as may be necessary to 
close up all unsettled business in their several districts. All money and property in the hands of the 
officers of, belonging to or appropriated for. said districts, shall pass to and vest in said board of edu- 
cation, for the purposes contemplated in this act ; provided, that where the present school-house in a 
district, part of which district lies within the boundaries of said union ft-ee school district, is situate 
without the boundaries of said union free school district, this section shall not apply to such district. 

§ 22. All the schools organized under this act shall be free to all pupils between the ages of five and 
twenty-one years residing in the said union free school district. All questions of residence shall be 
settled by the board. 

§ 23. All matters of controversy of a civil nature arising under this act, or the act of which it is 
amendatory, as amended by this act, may be referred, by consent of the board of education and all 
other parties interested, to the Superintendent of Public Instraction for his decision which, when 
made or rendered, shall be final and conclusive. (As amended by chap. 142, Laivsof 18S1.) 

§ 24. This act shall be liberally construed by all courts and officers, so as to fully carry out its intent 
and spirit. 

\ 25. All former or existing acts or parts of acts repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act, are hereby repealed, so far as relates to the said union free school district ; but nothing herein 
contained shall apply to, or in any manner affect, the State normal and training school, at Cortland 
village, New York, or any law or laws in relation thereto. 

§ 26. Full, ample and complete power and authority are hereby vested in, and conferred upon, the 
president and trustees, assessor and other corporate officers of the village of Cortland, to fully carry 
out and perform the acts and duties required bv this act, and it shall be their duty to carry out and 
perform the acts and duties required by this act, and it shall be their duty to carry out and perform 
said acts and duties with all convenient speed. 

2 27. This act shall take effect immediately. 

DEERPARK. 

\Chap. 573, Laws of 1S67.] 

Section 1. Section one of an act entitled " An act in regard to union free school district number 
one in the town of Deerpark, and to enlarge its boundaries, and authorize the board of education 
thereof to raise money to purchase sites, and to build or purchase school-houses, " passed April four- 
teenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, is hereby amended so as to read as follows : 

§ 1. Union free school district number one, in the town of Deerpark, in the county of Orange, is 
hereby enlarged so as to include within its boundaries all additions made to it by the school commis- 
sioner in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-five ; and all that part of school district number eight 
which lies west of the Neversink river, north of a line running due west from the railroad bridge 



Dunkirk. 833 

across the Neversink river to the Delaware river, and east of the present west boundary line of said 
anion free school district number one ; and the boundaries of said enlarged "district shall be as follows, 
to wit: Beginning on the west side of the Neversink river, on the lands of Charles Weiss, at a large 
spring situated in the lower edge of the bank of said river, being the original corner of school dis- 
tricts numbers one and eight, and running thence south, seven and one-half degrees east, seven 
chains and ninety-four links ; thence south, seventeen degrees east, three chains and forty-eight Hnks ; 
thence south, one degree west, Ave chains and forty -six links ; thence south, seven degrees west, five 
chains and twenty-seven links ; thence south, twenty-four and three-quarter degrees west, three 
chains and seventy-eight links; thence south seventy-one and one-half degrees west, eight chains; 
thence south, sixty-six degrees west, nine chains and thirty links to the south end of the west abut- 
ment of the Erie railroad bridge across the Neversink river; thence on a course due west sixteen 
chains to a white pine tree standing on the northerly bank of the Delaware river, near the north-east 
corner of Laurel Grove cemetery ; thence same course to the center of said river ; thence up the center 
of said river to the sluice or waste way of the Delaware and Hudson canal, on the line between the 
lands of M. Reeder and Buckley and Brothers ; thence along said sluice or waste-way to the Delaware 
and Hudson canal; thence westerly along said canal to the line between lots numbers forty-four 
and forty-five of the seventh division of the Neversink patent; thence along said lot line to the 
north-easterly corner of Barney Gorman's land; thence in a direct line to the lands of Elting Cud- 
deback ; thence along the line of said Cuddeback to the lines between the lands of S. V. Farnum and 
Simon Westfall, on one side, and A. J. and Isaac Cuddeback on the other; thence along the line 
between S. B. Farnum and A. J. and Isaac Cuddeback to the north-east corner of the lands of S. B. 
Farnum; thence north-easterly to a certain corner near a stone standing in the ground; thence 
along the division line between the lands of A. J. Cuddeback and Solomon and Benjamin Van Vleet, 
crossing the highway to the Neversink river to a point nearly or quite opposite to the mouth of Mill 
brook; thence dowii the Neversink river to the place of beginning. Said enlarged district shall be 
known and designated as " union free school district number one." The inhabitants of that part of 
school district number eight so included as aforesaid in union free school district number one, are 
hereby declared subject to all the duties, burdens and obligations, and entitled to the same benefits 
and privileges which the inhabitants of said union free school district number one bear and enjoy ; and 
the board of education of said union free school district number one shall be and continue, during 
their respective terms of otflce, the board of education of such enlarged district, but nothing herein 
contained shall affect any liability or claim which may have accrued previous to the passage of this 
act. 

2 2. All acts of theDoard of education of union free school district number one, done under and by 
virtue of said act, which is hereby amended, are hereby legalized and confirmed, provided that nothing 
in this section or act contained shall authorize or legalize the collection of any tax from the inhabit- 
ants of that part of school district number eight under and by virtue of the tax list and warrant made 
out by said board, for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six. 

Sections two and three of the act of eighteen hundred and sixty-six authorized the raising of 
$10,000 to build a school-house ; and permitted the sale of the school-house sites and purchase of a 
new one. 

DUNKIRK — FORMERL Y, POMFRET. 
[Chap. 34, Laws of 1858. ] 

Section 1. All school districts and parts of school districts 'now or heretofore existing within the 
limits of the town of Dunkirk, in the county of Chautauqua, which lately formed part of the town of 
Pomfret. in said county, are herebv consolidated into one entire school district, to be known as the Dun- 
kirk union free school district. The said district as herein enlarged and consolidated, shall, from and 
after the passage of this act, be under the direction, control and management of the present board of 
education of said district number one of said town of Dunkirk. (As amended by sec. 1, chap. 169, Laws 
0' 1875.) 

g 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a hoard to be styled the " board of education," 
which board shall consist of six members, and be a body corporate, a majority of whom shall consti- 
tute a quorum for the transaction of business. Ebenezer R. Thompson, Samuel Hilliard, Joseph Mile- 
ham, James H. Van Buren, Julian T. Williams and Otis E. Tiffany shall compose the first board of 
education, and shall hold their offices from one to three years, that is to say: two shall go out in each 
year, in the order in which their names stand recorded in this section. 

§ 3. There shall he elected each year in said district, by the qualified voters thereof, two members of 
said board of education, who shall be residents and freeholders of said district and shall hold their 
offices for three years, and until their successors in office are elected and qualified. The said election 
shall take place at the annual meeting of the district, when the taxable inhabitants of said district 
may deposit their ballots containing the names of two persons designated thereon for the said offices ; 
the two persons receiving the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected. The said board of 
education shall appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said election at any time within thirty 
days next preceding such election. (As amended by chap. 163, Laws of 1883.) 

2 4. The annual meetuig ur said uistrict shau be held on the first Monua^ oi October, in each year, at 
6ome place in said district, to be designated by the said board of education, at least two weeks prior to 
the time for the holding of such meeting. The said board of education shall give pubHc notice of the 
time and place and object of such meeting, by publishing the same in the newspapers printed in said 
town of Dunkirk for the two successive weeks immediately preceding the week in which such meeting- 
is to be held, and by posting copies of such notice in three public places in said district at least two 
weeks prior to such meeting, which notice shall specify the number of the members of the board of 
education to l»e elected at such election ; and, at least two weeks prior to such meeting, said board of 
education shall appoint three suitable persons inspectors of such election, whose duties shall be to 
receive the ballots of the electors of said district and deposit them in a suitable box, to be provided for 
that purpose, and, after the polls are closed, ami on the same day, to canvass the votes given at such 
election; and immediately after canvassing such votes, to make a statement in writing, which shall be 
signed by them, or a majority of them, thereby certifying the number of votes cast at such election, 
which certificate shall also show the number of votes cast at such election for each person voted for as 
trustee at such election. Such certificate shall further show the persons who are, by the highest num- 
ber of votes, elected to the office of members of said board. Said inspectors shall, immediately there- 
after, make two copies of such statement and certificate, signed bv them, or a majority of them, and 
shall forthwith deliver one copy thereof to the town clerk of said town of Dunkirk, and the other copy 
thereof to the secretary of said board of education. Said inspectors of election shall be entitled to a 
reasonable compensation for their services in the premises, to be paid by the said board of education. 
The polls of such election shall, in all cases, be opened at nine o'clock in the forenoon, and continue 
open until nine in the evening of the same day, and no longer. The provisions of law relating to the 
elections of State and cmmty officers shall annlv to the el^^rtions under this act, so far as the same are 
applicable. (As amended hy sec. 2, chap. 169, Laws of 1^5.) 

105 



834 Dunkirk. 

? 5. Said board shall have power to fill vacancies occurring in their own body, but the person so 
appointed shall hold his office only until the next annual meeting of said district, when the vacancy 
shall be filled by election. 

§6. The said board may make all necessary by-laws for their own govfernment; they shall have the 
entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and all the property 
belonging to the same; they shall have and possess within said district all the rights, powers and 
authority of trustees of school districts, and shall in all respects be subject to the restriction and con- 
trol of the commissioner of common schools for the district, in the same manner as the common schools 
in this State are subject. They shall at their first meeting, and at their first meeting after the annual 
election in each year, appoint one of their number president of said board, who shall preside at the 
meetings of said board when present ; when absent, a president pro tempore shall act in his stead ; they 
shall also appoint at said meeting one of their number secretary, who shall record all the acts and res- 
olutions of the board, also act as clerk of school district ; in his absence, a secretarv pro tempore shall 
be appointed to discharge said duties; they shall also appoint a treasurer, collector and librarian of said 
district, who shall hold their offices respectively one year from their appointment, and until others are 
appointed in their places, unless sooner removed by said board. Such treasurer and collector shall each 
■within ten days after notice in writing has been received of his appointment, and before entering on the 
duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond in a penalty of twice the 
amount of the estimated amount of the money coming into his hands, and with such sureties as said 
board maj' require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond 
ehall not be given within ten daysafter receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated 
and such board of education shall thereupon make an appointment to fill such vacancy. Such treas- 
urer's bonds shall be approved by the county clerk, and a copy thereof deposited in said county clerk's 
office. 

§7. The said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business on the first Monday in each 
month, or on such other day of the week as they shall fix upon for the year, and mav adjourn for a 
shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or inability to act, 
by the secretary, or any other member of the board, as often as is necessary, by giving personal notice 
to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his place of residence, 
at least twenty-four hours before the hour of said meeting ; and if any of said board refuses oi neglects 
to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, and if no sufficient cause of his non- 
attendance be shown, the board may declare his office vacant. 

2 8. No member of the board of education, except the secretary, shall receive any pay or compensa- 
tion for his services, nor shall it be lawful for any member of said board to become a contractor for 
building or making any improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner, directly 
or indirectly, interested, either as principal, partner or surety in any such contract. All contracts 
made in violation of this provision shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit 
the sum of one hundred dollars, which shall be collected by the board for the use of the district. 

2 9. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem it 
necessary; they shall give notice of the same, by posting up a written or printed notice thereof, in at 
least six public places in said district, and by publishing the same in said district, at least two weeks 
previous to the time fixed for such meeting ; which notice shall state the time and place of such meet- 
ing, and the purpose for which the same is called ; and no business shall be transacted at any such 
special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. One week's notice of the annual 
meetin? Kbalt be given in said newspapers, 

§ 10. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books and all the school property in said 
district shall be vested in said board of education; and the said board, in its corporate capacity, may 
take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise 
for the use of the common schools in said district; and all the rights, powers and duties heretofore 
belonging to the trustees of the Dunkirk academy, and all grants ol lad to said trustees by the Dun- 
l£irk association, or by any members thereof, or otherwise, are hereby vested In the said board of edu- 
cation; and all the rights, titles and interests which the said town of Pomfret, or the town or village 
of Dunkirk, or the trustees or said academy may have had, or does now have, in the plot of ground 
given by the said Dunkirk association, or any one belonging thereto, to the said trustees in the year 
eighteen hundred and thirtv-eight, or at any other time, as donation to endow an academy as laid 
down on a certain map and" filed in the office of the county clerk of Chautauqua county on the eleventh 
day of July, eighteen hundred thirty-eight, and entitled "map of the town of Dunkirk, in the Chau- 
tauqua county. State of New York, eighteen hundred and thirty-six. the termination of the New 
York and Erie railroad, " are herebv vested in said board of education, whose ditty shall be to carry out 
the object of the donors as expressed by them in a resolution adopted by said donors at a meeting held 
by them on the fourteenth day of January, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight ; and the niap so filed 
on the eleventh day of July, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, together with the inscriptions and 
acknowledgments thereon by the owner or owners of said land, shall be deemed and construed In 
all courts as a good and sufficient deed of said plot of land to endow an academy to the trustees of the 
said academy; and the title of said trustees to the land so donated shall not be forfeited from non- 
accepLance or usage by said trustees during the time it has been used as a burial place, and prior to 
the removal of all the remains of the dead therefrom, nor from any other cause; and said board of 
education are hereby authorized to enter at once into the possession of said plot of land, and to have 
all the rights and powers hitherto vested in and possessed by the board of trustees of said village rela- 
tive to the removal of any remains of the dead which may be found therein. (As amended by chap. 
17, La7m of \mo.) 

§ 11. The public schools in said district shall be free to all children residing therein; but the board of 
education may permit children of persons not resident within said district to attend said schools, on 
such terms as they may prescribe, and said board shall have power to sue for and recover such pre- 
scribed stim. Said board shall require one of their number to visit each school in said district at least 
once in each week, to render such -assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be neces- 
sary. 

§ 12. Every resignation of officers, appointed or elected under this act, shall be made to the board o( 
education; and such resignation shall not excuse said officer from the discharge of his duties until 
accepted by said board. 

§ 13. Said board of education shall cause an enumeration of the children between the ages of four 
and twenty-one years, in said district, and make, once in each year, such a report to the school com- 
missioner, at the time and in the manner prescribed by law, of trustees of school districts; and any 
parent, or guardian, or housekeeper reJxising to give his or her own name to the person appointed by 
said board to take such enumeration, and the number of the children between said ages, living in his or 
her family, shall be liable to a penalty of ten dollars ; said penalty to be sued for and recovered by said 
board, and appropriated to school purposes. 

g 14. The town supervisor shall, upon the written order of the president and secretary of said board, 
pay to the treasurer of said board, out of money in his hands belonging to said district, such sums as 
said order may specify, and all moneys to be received shall be paid to the treasurer of said boards who. 



East Chester. 835 

together with his sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable to said board of education. Said 
treasurer shall not pay out any moneys except by resolution by said board and upon an orderdrawn by 
the president and certified by the secretary to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 

i 15. Said board of education shall have the entire control of the district library, andmaynnake such 
regulations in regard to the purchase and distribution of books, and management of said hbrary.aa 
they shall deem proper. 

2 16. Said board of education shall have the power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by 
tax, once in each year, upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, as the same shall 
have been last assessed by the town assessors of the town in which such district is situated, such sums 
as said board shall estimate to be necessary for the following purposes, viz. : 

1. To pay any deficiency in teachers' wages, after paying all the public money appropriated for such 
purpose; 

2. To hire sites, school-houses and rooms for the use of said school district when necessary ; 

3. To alter, repair and improve the school-houses belonging to said district and their appurte- 
nances ; 

4. To insure the school-houses and property belonging to said district; 

5. To pay all necessary contingent expenses of said school district, and of the board of education; 

6. To pay the hbrarian a salary of not to exceed twenty-five dollars a year ; 

7. To pay the secretary of said board a salary not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars per year. 
(.As amended by chap. 180, Laws of 1881.) 

8. Any such sums as shall be authorized by a majority of the taxable inhabitants, at any special meet- 
ing of said district, for the purposes specified in section seventeen of this act ; and the board shall add 
to their warrant for collection of taxes, such amount as they shall deem proper for fees for collecting, 
not exceeding five per cent on the amount to be collected. Said board shall have power to make all 
warrants for the collection of taxes to be raised by them returnable in sixty or ninety days, at their 
discretion, and to renew the same whenever it shall become necessary : such warrant to be signed by 
the president and secretary, pursuant to a resolution of said board. In case it shall appear that the 
town assessment roll does not include all the taxable property of said district, the property omitted 
«hall be assessed by the said board, in the same mode required by law, and added thereto ; and the 
collector of said school district shall in the collection or any tax authorized by this act proceed 
In the same manner, and have all the powers which collectors of towns and county taxes now pos- 
sess. 

i 17. Whenever in the opinion of said board it becomes necessary to procure a site, and build a school- 
house, to enlarge those already built, or to raise money for any necessary school purpose not enumera- 
ted in this act; they shall submit the plans, and the estimated cost of such buildings, site, and necessary 
appendages, to the taxable inhabitants of said district, at a special meeting called for that purpose ; 
and if a majority of such inhabitants present sliall vote in favor of the same, the said board may pro- 
ceed to carry the same into effect ; but no site purchased and house built, after the passage of this act, 
shall excecdin cost, jointly, the sum of three thousand dollars, nor shall any addition to school-houses 
in said district exceed said amount; neither shall more than one school-house or addition to any school- 
house in said district be built in any one year ; nor shall any addition be made to ^^ny school-house iu 
said district the same year in which a new school-house is built ; nor shall a greater sum than four 
hundred dollars be raised in any one year, for .purposes not enumerated in this act, by said special 
meeting. 

§ 18. Said board of education shall have the power to establish as many primary schools in said dis- 
trict as they may deem proper, and to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and man- 
agement of the public schools in said district, to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem 
expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, for the reception 
of pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for their good order, prosperity 
and public utility. 

§ 19. Whenever, in the opinion of said board, it may be advisable to sell or exchange any school- 
house, lots or sites now or hereafter belonging to the district, they shall state such object in the notice 
of an annual or special meeting, and, with the consent of a majority of the taxable inhabitants present 
at such meeting, may sell or dispose of such school-houses, sites or lots, to the best advantage. 

2 20. Said board of education shall, at each annual meeting, submit a report in writing of their doings 
as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under 
their charge, and the number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of 
money received from the State and from any other source, the expenditure of the same, and all the 
particulars in detail relating to schools in said district, which report may, if the board think proper, be 
printed. 

§21. All laws and parts of laws, inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed, so far as relates to 
said Dunkirk union free school district. (As amended hy sec. 3, chap. 169, Laws of 1875.) 

[Chap. 17, Laws of 1880.] 

2 2. The annual election for members of said board of education shall be on the second Wednesday 
of October, and the polls for said election shall be open from twelve o'clock noon till eight o'clock in 
the afternoon. 

§ 3. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 

EAST CHESTER. 
[_C?iapter 334, Laws of 1853, as amended.'] 

Section 1. School district number four in the town of East Chester, Westchester county, shall form 
a permanent school district, but shall be subject to alteration in the manner prescribed for the jdtera- 
tion of school districts in chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
sixty-four, and in such acts as may be hereafter enacted amendatory thereof. (As amended by sec. 
1, chap. 235, Laws o/1873.) 

§ 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be stjded " The board of education of 
school district number four, in the town of East Chester," which shall be a corporate body, in relation 
to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by this act ; said board to consist of nine members, 
five of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 

§ 3. The trustees of said district shall, within thirty days after the passage of this act, call a special 
meeting of the district, for the election of school officers, by giving notice as provided by law. There 
shall be elected at such meeting three members of said board of education, to serve until the first 
Monday in October, eighteen hundred and fifty-three ; three until the first Monday in October, eighteen 
hundred and fifty-four ; and three until the first Monday in October, eighteen hundred and fifty-five. 
There shall also be elected at said meeting a district treasurer, collector, clerk and a librarian, each of 



836 East Chester. 

whom shall serve until the first Monday in Uctober, eighteen hundred and fifty-three. After said elec- 
tion, the office of school trustee in said district shall be abolished. 

1 4. The annual meeting of the inhabitants of said district shall be held on the first Monday of Octo- 
ber in each year. 

§ 5. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem 
it necessary, or whenever petitioned by twenty-five taxable inhabitants of said district ; they shall 
five notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof in at least fivepubhc places 
in said district, at least one week previous to the time fixed for such meeting, which notice shall state 
the time and place of holding such meeting, and the purpose for which the same is called ; and no 
business shall be transacted at any such meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. 

§ 6. At the annual meeting of said district in each year there shall be elected three members of said 
board of education, who shall be residents of said district and shall hold oflSce for three years. There 
shall also be elected at said meeting a district clerk and a district treasurer, each of whom shall hold 
office for one year. The election shall be by ballot and shall be conducted in the same manner as the 
annual election for town officers. The polls for each annual or special election shall be opened at four 
P. M., and close at nine p. M. Said board of education shall appoint a district librarian and a clerk to 
the board of education; and shall also appoint, at least thirty days preceding each annual or specif 
election, three inspectors of election, who shall have the same powers* as inspectors of general elections. 
(.As amended by section 2, chapter 235, Laws of 1873.) 

§ 7. Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall be made to the board of 
education; and such resignation shall have no force or effect, nor in any degree excuse such officer 
from the discharge of his duties, until the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of said 
board. 

§ 8. Any such officer may be removed from office, for any official misconduct or neglect of official 
duty, by a resolution of said board, two-thirds of the members thereof concurring ; but <. written copy 
of the charges against such officer shall be served upon him, and opportunity shall be given to every 
such officer to be heard in his defense, before any such resolution shall be adopted. 

§9. Every person appointed or elected to any office mentioned in this act (and not having refused to 
accept), who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars 
to said board of education. .It shall be the duty of such board of education forthwith to prosecute for 
all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recovered to apply the same to the purposes ot 
education in said district. All officers mentioned in this act shall be deemed pubhc officers, within the 
Intent and meaning of section thirty-eight of title six of chapter one, part four of the Revised Statutes, 
and, as such, liable to the penalties therein prescribed, in addition to the penalties in this section. 

g 10. Every officer in this act mentioned, having in his possession, custody, care, charge or control, 
any property belonging to said district, or any money raised by the provisions of this act or provided by 
law for the purposes of education in said district, shall, at the expiration of his term, or whenever such 
officer shall resign, be removed from office, cease to act, or his office be otherwise vacated, transfer all 
such property and pay over all such money to the board of education. 

§ 11. The said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting, choose one of their number for 
president and one for secretary of said board, who shall hold office for one year. In the absence of the 
president or secretary at any regular meeting of the board, a president or secretary may be appointed 
for the time being. The district treasurer and collector shall, within ten days after receiving notice in 
writing of their election, execute and deliver to the said board of education a bond, in such penalty 
and with such sureties as the said board may deem necessary, conditioned for the faithful discharge of 
their respective duties. In case such bond shall not be given within ten dars after receiving such 
notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and the said board may make appointment to fill 
such vacancy. 

g 12. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their own government. Vaci\n- 
cies in the board, occurring by resignation or any other cause, may be filled by the board until the 
next aimual election, when such vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as those caused by expi- 
ration of term of office. 

The said board shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may 
adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or 
inability to act, by the secretary or any other member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving 
personal notice to each member thereof, or causing a wTitten or printed notice to be left at his last 
place of residence at least twenty-four hours before the hour of meeting; and if any member of the 
said board refuses or neglects to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, and if no 
satisfactory cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare liis office vacant. 

No member of said board shall receive any pay or compensation for his services. 

It shall not be lawful for any member of said board to become a contractor for building or making 
any improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner directly or indirectly inter- 
ested, either as principal, partner or surety, in any such contract. All contracts made in violation 
of this provision shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit the sum of fifty 
dollars. 

§ 13. The title to the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances in this 
act mentioned, and all other school property in the said district, shall be vested in said board of educa- 
tion ; and the same, while used for or appropriated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes 
and assessments, and shall not be liable to be levied upon and sold by virtue of any warrant or execu- 
tion. And the said board of education, in its corporate capacity, may take, hold and dispose of any 
real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of the common 
schools in the said district, or any or either of them, or to mortgage or incumber the same for school 
purposes, with the consent of the district. They shall have and possess, within the said district, all the 
rights, power and authority of town superintendent of common schools. They shall have the entire 
control and management of all the common schools within the said district and all the property 
belonging to the same. They shall require one of the members of said board to visit each school in 
said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the 
pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly adhered to. 

§ 14. The board of education shall have entire control and charge of the district school library in said 
district. They may make such additions to the library and such regulations in relation thereto as they 
shall deem necessary. 

2 15. The said board of education shall have power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by 
tax in each year upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, as the same shall be 
assessed by the assessors of the town m which said district is situated, such sums as said board of 
education shall be authorized by a majority of the voters at any special or annual meeting of said dis- 
trict, to raise by tax for the purposes specified in sections sixteen and eighteen of this act, and also such 
sums as may be necessary to pay the principal and interest of the bonded debt of said district falling 
due in that year. In case it shall appear that the assessment roll does not include all the taxable prop- 
erty in said district, the property omitted shall be assessed by the said board of education in the mode 
required by law, and added thereto. (As amended by sec. 4, chap. 235, Laws of 1873.) 



East Chester. 837, 

f 16. Whenever, in the opinion of sairt board of education, it becomes necessary to build a new school- 
house or school-houses, or to enlarge any of those already built, they shall cause plans and specifica- 
tions thereof to be prepared, and an estimate of the cost of said building buildings or enlargements, 
8pecif>ing the cost of said building, and the cost of the furniture required for said buildings separately, 
which statement shall be certified to as Just and true, according to said plans and specifications, by a com- 
petent builder or architect. The board of education shall then issue a noticeof a special meeting of those 
entitled to vote at the annual election for school officers, at which meeting said electors shall vote for 
or against raising the amount given in said statement, and whether by issuing bonds in payment 
therefor or by immediate tax. The notice of said meeting shall be published for two weeks In succes- 
sion in at least two papers published weekly in said district, or if there be no paper published in said 
district, the notice of said meeting shall be posted for the same length of time in at least fifty public 
places in said district, and a certificate sworn to by the publishers ot said papers, or a certificate sworn 
to by the poster of said notices, as the case may be, stating that notice was published or posted as the 
law directs, shall be filed with the clerk of the board of education, and entered on the minutes of the 
board, at the first meeting held thereafter; said notice shall state the purpose for which said meeting 
is called, and the amount to be authorized by the sale of bonds or otherwise. From the date of the pub- 
lication or posting of the notice to the day of meeting the plans and specifications shall be in the care 
and custody of the clerk of the district, or such other person as the board may designate, and be open to 
the inspection of any one entitled to vote at said meeting. Whenever, at such meeting, a majority of 
votes cast shall be in favor of raising the amount named in the notice of meeting, the board of educa- 
tion shall take such steps, as to them may seem necessary, to build such school-house or school-houses 
or enlargements, by contracting with responsible parties for the several kinds of work required by said 
plans and specifications; and if the people so elect to issue bonds, not exceeding the amount authorized 
by the vote of the people at said meeting to pay for the same, said bonds shall beef such denomina- 
tion as may be convenient, and not have over twenty-one years to run, nor less than three years, and 
be made payable between those times in such amounts as may be the least burdensome to the people, 
always, provided, that some portion thereof shall be paid each year as aforesaid ; and it shall be the duty 
of tlie board of education to raise by taxation, in each year, the amount necessary to pay the 
interest due and the bonds maturing In each year. The bonds shall not be sold below par ; shall bear 
interest not to exceed seven per cent per annum, payable annually, and shallbe signed by the president 
and secretary of the board of education, and countersigned by the district treasurer, each of whom shall 
keep a separate record of the bonds signed by him, showing the amount, the date of issue, to whom issued 
and when due, and shall deliver to his successor in office such record, together with all similar records 
received by him from his predecessor. And the said board of education shall cause to be published, in 
their annual report, a statement of the amount of bonds paid during the previous year, and the amount 
outstanding, and at the first regular meeting of said board held after said annual report is made out, 
shall destroy all bonds which have been paid off, and the treasurer of the district shall deliver said bonds 
10 said board, at the meeting aforesaid for that purpose. {As amended by chap. 29, Laws of 1877.) 

{17. Whenever, in the opinion of the board. It may be advisable to sell or exchange any of the 
school-houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the district, 
they shall report the same to the electors of said district at a special meeting called for that purpose, 
and, with the consent |of a (majority of the electors present at said meeting, may sell and dispose of 
«uch school-houses, lots or sites to the best possible advantage. 

2 18. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, out of the funds collected, 
and paid to them, as provided in sections fifteen and twenty-two of this act : 

1. To purchase or lease and improve sites for school-bouses ; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, and their out-housea 
and appurtenances, so as to aff"ord ample accommodation to educate all the children of the said dis- 
trict ; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the several schools and of the board of 
education ; 

5. To pay the wages of the teachers employed by them ; 

6. To defray the expenses of insuring al' the school property of said district. 

J 19. The public schools in the district shall be free to all children residing in the district, but the 
board of education may permit children of persons not resident within said district to attend said 
schools, on such terms as they shall prescribe ; the said board may, in the name of said district, sue for 
and recover of the father or mother, master or mistress, or any person under whose charge such child 
or children may be, all such sums as shall be so prescribed, with costs of suit. 

2 20. All moneys to be received by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropriated to or pro- 
vided for said district, shall be paid to the treasurer, who, together with the sureties upon the official 
bond, shall be accountable therefor to said board of education. Said treasurer shall not pay out any of 
such moneys, except by resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the president and certi- 
fied by the secretary to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 

§21. The town superintendent of common schools of the town of East Chester shall pay over to the 
treasurer all the public moneys to which said district number four may be entitled. 

2 22. The said board of education shall prepare and submit, at each annual meeting of the district, an 
estimate of the amount necessary to be raised for defraying the expenses of the district for the ensuing 
year, specifying the purposes for which the same is to be expended. 

§ 23. The said board of education jwhall, at the annual district meeting, submit a full report in writ- 
ing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in 
Baid district under their charge, and the number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, 
the amount of moneys received from the State, and from other sources, as well as the amount raised in 
the district for school purposes, the expenditures ot the same, and all the particulars iu detail relating 
to the schools in said district; which report may, if the board think proper, be printed in pamphlet 
form, or in some newspaper published in the county. 

\_Chap. 217, Laxos of 1865.] 
PROVIDES FOR A RECEIVER OF TAXES AND ASSESSMENT IN THE TOWN. 

Section 9. The offices of collector of the town of East Chester, and of the several school districts 
therein, after said receiver shall have executed and delivered his bond, as hereinbefore provided, shall 
cease to exist, and the same are hereby abolished, and all laws and provisions of law applicable to 
town collectors, and collectors of school districts in said town, not inconsistent with this act, are 
hereby made applicable to the said otBce of receiver of taxes herebv created. 

§10. It shall Ou the duty of the board of supervisors of said county, and the officers of the several 
school districts in said town, to issue their warrants to said receiver of taxes in the same manner as 
warrants are now required by law to be issued to town collectors; and the said receiver of taxes is 
hereby directed and required, on or before the first day of April in each and every year, to pay over to 



838 Elbkidge — Elaiira. 

the treasurer of saij county, and to the several persons entitled to receive tho same, all moneys remain- 
ing in his hands payable to said treasurer, or other persons, and to make a just and proper return of all 
taxes or assessments remaining uncollected in said town, in the same manner as now required by law, 
and the treasurer of said county, upon receiving such moneys, the making of such return, and the cer- 
tificate of the officers of the several school districts, in said town, and of the supervisor thereof, that 
he has paid the several town officers Jthe moneys they were entitled to receive, shall cancel and dis- 
charge the bonds of said receiver, and deliver to him a certificate thereof, which certificate, upon being 
flied with the couuty clerk, shall be a full release and discharge of said receiver and his sureties. 

ELBRIDGE. 

(Tillage of Jordan.) 
[Chap. 43, Laws o/1867.] 

Section!. The Jordan academy, in the village of Jordan, is hereby constituted an academical de- 
partment in free school district number four, in the town of Elbridge, in the county of Onondaga, in 
the manner provided for that purpose by section twenty-four of title nine of chapter five hundred and 
fifty-five of the Session Laws of this State, passed May second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. 

§ 2. When such consolidation is effected, said academical department shall be exempt from the opera- 
tion and effect of section eleven of said title, but shall in all other respects be subject to the provisions 
of said title, except as hereinafter provided. 

5 3. The library and philosophical apparatus then belonging to said academy shall be used for the 
benefit of said academical department, unless the Regents of the University may otherwise order. 

§ 4. The terms of tuition in said academical department shall be fixed by the board of education, at 
snms not less than four dollars per terra of fourteen weeks, and in that proportion for each student or 
scholar receiving instruction in said department, and which may be collected by action in the corporate 
name hereinafter mentioned. 

2 5. The board of education may exempt, in whole or in part, from payment for tuition, such indi- 
gent persons residing within the bounds of said district as they may think proper. 

56. Said academy and district number four, and the board of education thereof, shall be a body cor* 
porate, under the name of the Jordan academy and free school. 

ELMIRA. 

Chap. 113, Laws of 1859, as amended by chap. 139, Laws of 1864, erecting the city of Elmira, and iy chap. 

95, Laws of 1866. J 

Chapter 139, section 14, title 2, Law3 of 1864, and title 2, section 1, provides for the election of four com- 
missioners of common schools, to be elected on the first Tuesday in March in each year, and to enter 
upon their offices on the Monday following. The term of oflSce is one year, and " until their success* 
ors shall qualify." 

Section 1. From and after the thirtieth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
three, the territory embraced within the corporate bounds of the city of Elmira shall constitute one 
school district, to be called "The School District of the city of Elmira;" and thenceforth the bound- 
aries of said school district and of said city shall always coincide; but no change in the boundaries of 
said city shall take effect as respects said school district until the close of the school year in which such 
change is made. The school commissioner of the county of Chemung shall assign or set off, either to a 
new or adjoining district or districts, all territory lying without the corporate bounds of said city which 
formerly formed part of the union school district of Elmira. Provided that nothing herein contained 
shall be construed to release or discharge any taxes levied for school purposes for the school year end- 
ing at the time or times any changes in the boundaries of said school district shall take effect by virtue 
of this act, but such taxes shall be collected and the payment thereof enforced in the same manner as 
if this act had not been passed; but school taxes levied for defraying the expenses of the year com- 
mencing when such change shall take effect, shall be levied only upon the property taxable for school 
purposes within the several school districts affected by such change as they will exist for that year. In 
case any extension of the boundaries of said city shall divide a school district so as to bring within 
said boundarie? any school lands or buildings belonging to such divided district, the trustee or trustees 
of saiddistrict residing without such extended boundaries, or if there be no such trustee at the time 
ofsuch extension, then such trustee or trustees as may thereafter be elected by the inhabitants of said 
district residing without said boundaries, and the board of education of said city shall, if they can 
agree, make such regulations, arrangements or disposition of or respecting such school lands or build- 
ings as they may deem just and proper, and for that purpose may provide for the Joint or common 
use of said lands or buildings ; or may sell the same or any part thereof, and make an equitable divis- 
ion of the proceeds of such sale ; or the said board or said trustee or trustees may have and retain the 
exclusive property in and use of said lands or buildings, upon making proper compensation to the 
party surrendering its interest therein; and in case the said trustee or trustees should so hold or use 
th& said lands or buildings, the same shall, for school purposes, form and be a part of said school dis- 
trict, and so long as said lands or buildings are so held or used, they shall be exempt from all taxation 
within said city. In case said trustee or trustees, and said board of education, shall fail to agree in 
whole or in part upon such regulations, agreements or disposition of said lands or buildings, the mat- 
ters of difference between them respecting the same .shall be submitted to the school commissioner of 
Chemung county, who shall decide the same subject to appeal upon the matters decided, or any of them, 
to the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the manner prescribed in title twelve, chapter five hun- 
dred and fifty-five, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, (^s amended by sue. 1, chap. 259» 
Lawsof\%ri.) 

§ 2. The said school district of the city of Elmira shall remain and continue separate and distinct for 
the purposes and to the extent in this act specified ; and for the purpose of the election of commission- 
ers shall be divided into five commissioner districts. The commissioner districts shall continue as hith- 
erto, subject only to such changes as shall be made in making the boundaries of said school district and 
city correspond ; hut the board of education of said city may at any time change or alter said commis- 
sioner districts, provided no change is made which shall reduce the population of a commissioner dis- 
trict to less than three thousand inhabitants ; and the said board of education may from time to time 
divide and subdivide the said union school district for school purposes into such and so many districts 
as they shall think proper. {As amended hy sec. 2, cltap. 259, Laws of 1873.) 

2 3. Ariel S. Thurston, in commissioner district number one ; Stephen McDonald, residing in com- 
missioner district number two ; Archibald Robertson, residing in commissioner district number three ; 
Civilian Brown, residing in commissioner district number four, and Shubael B. Denton, residing in 
commissioner district number five, are hereby appointed commissioners in behalf of such districts 
respectivel}'. The common council of the city of Elmira shall, within fifteen days after the passage of 
this act. appoint four persons to act as school commissioners in behalf of said " union school district," 



Elmijra. 839' 

who shall be residents thereof, anrl the said persons above named, and the persons appointed by the 
common council of the said city as commissioners, and their successors to be chosen as hereinafter 
provided, are hereby constituted a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred or 
Imposed by law. to be styled "' the board of education of the city of Elmira," and are hereby invested 
with all the powers and charged with all the duties conferred upon them by this act. A majority of 
commissioners shall constitute a quorum. 

§4. On the second Tuesday in October, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, there shall be elected 
in the same manner that trustees of school districts are now elected, by each of said commissioner dis- 
tricts, one school commissioner, who shall be a resident of such district, to succeed the present com- 
missioner elected in such district. Biennially thereafter, on the second Tuesday of October, there shall 
be elected in each of said commissioner districts, the number of which is an odd number, one school 
commissioner. On the second Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and eighty, and biennially there- 
after, on the second Tuesday of October, there shall be elected in each commissioner district, the num- 
ber of which is an even number, one school commissioner. Each commissioner so elected in the year 
eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, in a district the number of which is even, shall hold his office 
from the day of his election until the second Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and eighty, and 
until his successor shall be chosen and qualified to act. Each commissioner elected as above provided, 
shall hold his office from the day of his election until the second Tuesday of October of the second vear 
thereafter, and until his successor be chosen and qualified to act. (As amended by sec. 1, chap 50, 
Laws 0/1877.) 

g 5. On the Monday next preceding the second Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
seven, and annually thereafter on the Monday next preceding the second Tuesdaj' of October, the com- 
mon council of said city shall appoint two school commissioners for said union school district, to suc- 
ceed the two commissioners appointed by the common council, whose term of office shall next there- 
after expire. The persons so appointed shall hold their office from the time of their appointment 
respectively, until the Monday next preceding the second Tuesday of October of the second year there- 
after, and until their respective successors be appointed and qualified to act. Within ten days after 
receiving notice of his election or appointment, the person so elected or appointed shall take the oath 
of office prescribed by the constitution of the State, and file same with the clerk of the city. {As 
amended hy sec. 2, chap. .W, Laius of 1S77.) 

§6. All vacancies which may occur in said board of education from any other cause than the expira- 
tion of their term of office, of the class known as commissioners at large, or commissioners appointed 
by the common council of the city of Elmira, shall be filled by the common council in the same man- 
ner that the original appointments are made, and vacancies occurring in like manner in the class 
known as district commissioners shall be filled by the said board of education. The commissioners so 
appointed shall hold their offices for the unexpired term of those whose places they are chosen to fill. 
Any member of the board of education may resign his office by giving five days previous flotice in 
writing to the mayor of the city, who may, if he deems the reason sufficient, accept the same. {As 
amended by sec. 1, chap. 717. Laws o/1869.) 

5 7. Any member of the board of education may for neglect of duty, or other immoral or official mis- 
conduct, be removed from office by the common council of the city, by a vote of two-thirds present at 
any regularly called meeting thereof; but before final action thereon, a written copy of the charges 
preferred against said member shall be served upon him, and he shall be allowed an opportunity to 
explain or refute them. 

2 8. At the first meeting of the board of education, and at each annual meeting thereafter, they shall 
elect one of their number president of the board, and, whenever he shall be absent or unable to act, 
they shall elect a president pro tempore. At their first meeting the board shall fix the time for their 
next annual meeting, and unless changed by a resolution of the board the time thus fixed shall be the 
time for future annual meetings. The board of education shall receive no compensation for their 
services. 

2 9. The board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, 
and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or in his 
absence or inability to act, by any member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal 
notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his place of 
residence at least twenty-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. 

§ 10. The board of education shall appoint a secretary and librarian, who shall hold their offices dur- 
ing the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation sliall be fixed by the said board ; and the same 
person may hold the office of secretary and librarian. The secretary shall keep a record of the proceed- 
ings of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The librarian shall have 
charge of the library or libraries of the district, and may appoint such assistants as may be necessary 
from time to time, and such assistants may be removed at any time by the board of education. 

§ 11. The record of the board of education, or a transcript thereof certified by the secretary, shall be 
received in all courts as prima/aoie evidence of the facts therein set forth ; and such record, the books, 
accounts, vouchers and papers of the said board, shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the 
common council of the city or any committee thereof. 

? 12. Tlie common council of the city of Elrairashall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise 
fi-om time to time, hy tax, to be levied upon all the real and personal estate in said school district, 
which shall be liable to taxation for town or county charges, such sums as may be determined upon, 
and certified by the board of education to be necessary and proper, for any or all the following purposes 
for the current year : 

1. To purchase, lease, or improve sites for school-houses. 

2. To build, purchase, lease, alter and repair school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances thereunto 
belonging. 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus ; but the power herein granted shall 
not be deemed to authorize the furnishing with class or text-books any scholar whose parents or 
guardian shall be able to furnish the same. 

4 . To procure fuel, and defray the necessary expenses of keeping the school-house in order, exclusive 
of repairs, including insurance. 

5. To defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, and the district library or libraries, 
including salary of librarian and superintendent. 

6. To defray the contingent expenses of the board of education, including the salary of the secretary 
thereof. 

7. To pay teachers' wages, after the application of the public money appropriated by law for that 
purpose. 

8. To pay charges or expenses incurred by law, or necessary to carry this act into effect, or to refund 
loans contracted by law, and to pay the interest thereon, or to pay such sums as shall be required to 
fulfill any contract duly made under the provisions of this act. 

§ 13. The aforesaid tax, to be levied and collected by virtue of this act, shall be levied and collected 
in the same manner by the same collector, and at the same time that other city taxes are, and the pow- 
ers, duties and liabilities of the collector and his sureties shall be the same in reference to the collec- 



840 Elmira. 

tion of this tax as for other city taxes, and his Jiirisdiction shall extend iinder this act to all tenitorr 
embraced in the said school districL. In extending the city tax roll the school tax shall be placed in a 
separate column designated '•school tax," and at the end of each thirty davs after the collector 
begins the collection of said tax, he shall pay to the treasurer of the sai<I citv all moneys collected on 
account of the said school tax, to that date. (As amended by chap. 861. Laios of 1S71.) 

? 14. The money raised for the purchase of school sites, an 1 the buildin?. repairing and furnishing the 
school-houses, shall be known as the "special school fun 1."' and all other monevs as the "general 
school fund ;" and it shall be the duty of the board of education to keepaccurate account of its receipts 
and expenditures, distinguishing between those of a general and those of a special character; and it 
shall not be lawful to expend any portion of the money raised for the use of one of .said funds for 
the purposes of the other of said funds, except by permission of the common council. (.As amended 
by s^c. 2, chap. 717, Lavjs of 1869 ) 

§ 13. All moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school monevs by law appropri- 
ated to or provided for said school district shall be paid to the treasurer of said citv, who. together 
with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other 
funds of said city, and the board of trustees in fixing the amount of the treasurer's sureties shall 
include the moneys received by virtue of this act. The said treasurer shall be liable to the same 
penalties for official misconduct in relation to said money as for any similar misconduct in relation 
to other moneys of said city. 

§ 16. All moneys raised by virtue of this act, or received from anv other source, for the use of com- 
mon, academic or high schools, in buildings therefor, shall be deposited with the treasurer for the safe- 
keeping thereof, to the credit of the board of education, until drawn as hereinafter provided for, and 
the said treasurer shall keep the account of the funds thus doposited with him separately and distinct 
from any other funds which he is oi mav be authorized to receive. 

Section 2, chapter 57, Laws of 1S66, provides that " section 17 of said act is hereby repealed.'' 

2 IS. The treasurer shall payout the money received by him by virtue of this act only upon drafts 
drawn by the president and countersigned by the secretarv of the board of education, which draftsshall 
not be drawn except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, au'l shall be made pay- 
able to the person or persons entitled to receive the money thereon, and shall state ou what account 
said draft is drawn. 

? Ip- The board of education may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the city of 
Elmira. upon the official bond of the treasurer, or any collector of >aid city for anv default, deliuquency 
or official misconduct in relation to the collection, safe-keeping, and payment of anv money in this act 
mentioned. 

i 20. The said hoard of education shall have power and it shall be their dutv : 

1. To organize, estabhsh and maintain such and so many schools, in said school district, including 
the common schools now existing therein, and including also any academy or high school, as they shall 
deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and fliscontinue the same: 

2. To purchase and hire school-houses and rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and 
improve them ; 

3. Upon such lots and sites owned by said city, to build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school- 
houses, out-houses, and appurtenances as they may deem advisable: and for the purchase of said lots 
and the building and enlargement of such school-houses, upon obtaining the consent of two-thirds 
of the common council of saiil city, by a vote thereon duly taken and recorded, to issue the bonds of 
the city of Elmira to an amount not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, payable within ten years 
from the issue thereof, with interest thereon at not exceeding seven per cent, which bonds shall be 
signed by the mayor of said city ana the president of said board, and shall have affixed thereto the 
respective seals attested by the respective clerks of said city and said board, and may have attached 
thereto coupons or warrants for the payment of interest, which may be made payable semi-annually ; 
hut such bonds shall not be sold for less than their par value, with accrued interest from the da*e thereof. 
{As amended by sec 3, chap. 259, Laivs of 1873.) 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for indigent pupils, furniture, 
and appendages, and to provide fuel for the schools, pay the necessary insurance on buildings and 
school property and to defray contingent expenses of the school library ; 

6. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, and all school property belonging to 
said district, and to see that the ordinances of the board of trustees in relation thereto be observed; 

6. To contract with, examine, license and employ all teachers in said schools, and at their pleasure 
remove them ; 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the money appropriated and provided by law for the 
support of common schools in sai 1 district, or by this act ; 

8. To defray the contingent expenses of the said board of education, the salary of the secretary 
thereof, and the librarian. (As amended by sec. 3, chap. 717, Laws oj 1S69. ) 

9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the common 
schools of said district, and from time to time to adopt, alter, moilify and repeal, as they may deem 
expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, or the reception of 
pupils and their transfer from one class to another, or from one school to another, and generally for 
their good order, prosperity and utility ; 

10. Whenever, in the opinion of the board of education, it may be advisable to sell any of the school- 
houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the corporation, to 
report the same to the common council : 

11. To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regulations as may be neces- 
sary' and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots and all 
property belonging to the city connected with or appertaining to the schools, and to suggest proper 
penalties for the violation of such ordinance and regulations, and annually on or before the day for the 
last regular meeting of the common council in March, to determine and certify to the common council 
the sums in their opinion necessary or proj^er to be raised, under the twelfth section of this act, for the 
year commencing on the first day of October thereafter, specifying the amount required for each of the 
purposes therein mentioned ; 

12. From time to time to adopt, amend or repeal such by-laws, rules and regulations respecting the 
meetings of said board and the transaction of its affairs as maybe deemed proper. {As amended by 
sec. 4, chap. 2.59, Laws of 1873.) 

I 21. Upon the reception of the report of the board of education, by the common council of the city 
of Elmira, in relation to the amount of money necessary for school purposes, as directed to be made in 
preceding section, the common council shall proceed to consider the same, and approve, increase or 
diminish any or all of said estimates; provided, however, that the aggregate amount shall not fall 
below a sum sufficient to defray all the necessary expenses for the support of the public schools in the 
school district of Elmira, including the academy, for the succeeding year. Alter having fixed the 
amount to be expended for each and all the purposes mentioned in the last preceding section, the same 
shall be certified to the board of education, who shall, during such fiscal year, limit the expenditures 
for such purpose, so that the same shall not exceed the appropriation. {As amended by sec. 3, chap. 
57, Laws of 1866.) 



Elmira. 841 

J 22. Between the first and fifteenth days of October in each year the boarrl of education shall make 
and transmit to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction a report of the condition of the schools 
under their supervision, in such form and embracing such statistics as the said Superintendent and the 
laws of the State require. 

1 23. Whenever, in the opinion of the board of education, it shall become advisable to establish a 
hi^h school or academy in connection with the school system by this act contemplated, and erect a 
suitable building therefor, they shall report that fact, together witli an estimate of its entire cost, with 
the site, to the common council. The said common council, upon the receipt of such report and esti- 
mate, shall cause the question of raising the proposed amount by tax to be submitted to the decision of 
the tax payers of the school district, in such manner as they shall deem best calculated to procure a 
fair expression from said tax payers. All further proceedings in relation to this special school tax by 
the said common council shall be as directed and set forth in section nine, title five of the city char- 
ter, so far as the same will apply to this act, except that if the tax is voted, the restriction in time of 
three years for re-imbursing any loan made as therein stated, is hereby removed, and the time left 
optional with the common council. 

J 24. The trustees of Elmira academy are hereby authorized and empowered to transfer to the board 
of education hereby created, either immediately or at a future time, on such conditions as they Jointly 
shall deem most conducive to tht cause of education, the right, title and interest in and to all the 
estate, real and personal, and all bequests belonging to said academy, to be by them used in the pur- 
chase of a site, the erection of suitable buildings, the organization of an academic or high school, or 
for the maintenance of an academy in connection with the general free school system contemplated in 
in this act. The board of education, if they shall deem it necessary, may, with the advice and consent 
of the common council, organize and maintain primary, secondary or high schools, or either of them 
In, or cause them to be taught in connection with, the Elmira academy, on such terms and conditions, 
and for such time, as shall be deemed expedient, by and between said board of education and the 
trustees of such academy. 

2 25. The academy connected with the school system contemplated by this act, when organized, and 
when it has complied with the necessary requirements, shall be recognized as one of the academies of 
this State, subject to the visitation of the Regents, and shall be entitled to participate in the distribu- 
tion of the income of the literature and other funds in the same manner and upon the same conditions 
as the other academies of the State ; and the Regents of the University of the State of New York shall 
pay annually to the board of education of Elmira the distributive share of the said funds to which the 
said academy shall be entitled. 

J 26. Repealed. 

t; T,. Jiiuch member ot the board ot education shall visit all the schools in said school district at least 
once in each year of his official term ; and the said board of education shall provide that each of said 
schools shall be visited by a committee of their number at least once in each term, who shall report 
in writing to said board the condition of each school, and make such suggestions as they may deem 
proper 

§ 28. The schools organized under this act shall be free to all pupils between the age of five and 
twenty-one years, who are actual resident.s of the said union school district. The board of education, 
shall decide all questions of residence arising under this section. The said board may allow the children 
of non-residents to attend the schools of said district, and shall prescribe the rates for the tuition of 
such non-residents, and also for all pupils over twenty-one years of age. (^s amended hy sec. 4, chap. 57 
Laws of 1866.) 

1 29 The said board of education shall be trustees of the school district libraries of said union 
district, and all the provisions of law which are now in force, or hereafter may be passed, relative 
to school district libraries, shall apply to said board of education in the same manner as if they 
were trastees of a school district. They shall be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition 
of moneys appropriated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries which is therein con- 
ferred on the inhabitants of school districts, and thej' shall have power to purchase, exchange, repair 
or dispose of any books or other property of said libraries, or cause it to be done, and apply the pro- 
ceeds to the purchase of other books or apparatus; also to provide suitable rooms and furniture for 
said libraries. 

§ 30. The title of the school-houses, sites, furniture, books, and all other school property belonging 
to the districts in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the city of Elmira, and the same, while used 
or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied on or sold by virtue of any warrant or execu- 
tion, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever ; and the said village, in its corporate 
capacity, shall be competent to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to 
it by grant, gift, bequest or devise, for the use of the common schools or academy of said school district, 
whether the same be transferred in terms to said city by its proper stjde, or by any other designation, 
or to any person or persons, or corporation, for the use of said schools or academy. 

§31. The common council may, upon the recommendation of the board of education, sell any of the 
property, including existing sites held by thein by virtue of this act, upon such terms as they shall 
deem most advantageous ; and the proceeds of all such sales shall be pai<l to the treasurer of the city, 
and shall be by said board of education expended in the purchase, repair or improvement of school- 
houses, sites, or appurtenances, furniture or apparatus. 

2 32. It shall be the duty of said board of education, at least fifteen da.vs previous to each annual 
election for commissioners, to prepare and report to the common council a true and correct statement 
of the receipts and disbursements under the provisions of this act, dnring the preceding year, in which 
account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 

1. The moneys raised by the common council under the twelfth section of this act; 

2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the county treasurer; 

3. The moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the county treasurer ; 

4. All other moneys received by the said treasurer, subject to the order of the board of education, 
specifying the sources from which they shallhave been derived; 

5. Themannerin which suchsums of money shall have beenexpended, specifyingthe amountunder 
each head of expenditure; and the common council shall, ten days before such election, cause the 
same to be published in one or more of the newspapers of said city. 

§ 33. The common council shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to pass such ordinances and 
regulations as the board of education may report as necessary for the protection, preservation, safe- 
keeping and care of the school-houses, lots, libraries, and property belonging to or connected with the 
schools of said district, and to impose proper jjenalties lor the violation thereof, subject to the restric- 
tions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate said city, and all such penalties, and all others 
by this act imposed, shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for violations of the city 
ordinances are by law collected; and, when collected, shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, to the 
credit of the boardof education, and shall be subject to their order in the same manner as other moneys 
raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

2 34. The various school district, offices, in each of the districts herein embraced, shall terminate 

lu6 



842 Flushing. 

whenever this act shall take effect, and the hoard of education shall be chosen and organized, and 
shall enter upon the duties of their office, except as herein otherwise provided. The trustees and 
collector in each district shall retain the power now by law vested in such officers, until they by due 
diligence, shall have closed up all the unsettled business of their several districts, and discharged all 
the indebtedness thereof, and for such purpose shall, if necessary, call meetings of the inhabitants of 
such district, and, when voted at a legally called meeting, shall levy and collect a tax sufficient to 
liquidate such indebtedness. 

_ I 35. It shall be the duty of the clerk of each meeting held for the election of school commissioners 
in each district, within twenty-four hours after the result of said election is declared to notify the 
clerk of the city of the result, and the full name of the person elected commissioner of said district- 
and it shall be the duty of the city clerk, with due diligence, after the appointment of commissioners 
by the common council, and after receiving notice of election in the districts, personally, or in writing 
to notify the persons chosen of their appointment or election ; and any person who, without sufficient 
cause, shall refuse to serve therein shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars, and every person so elected or 
appointed, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office 
shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of the said 
board of education, forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act when volun- 
tary payment is refused, and when received, to apply the same to the purposes of education in said 
district. All officers mentioned in this act shall be deemed public officers within the intent and mean- 
ing of section thirty-eight of title six of chapter one of part four of the Revised Statutes, and as such 
liable to the penalty therein prescribed in addition to the penalty in this section before provided (As 
amended by sec. 7, chap in. Laws of 1869.) *- • v » 

§ 37. The board of education may, when they shall deem it advisable,*appoint a superintendent of 
common schools for the said school district, who may, ex offlcio, be secretary of said board He shall be 
under the direction of the board of education, and they shall prescribe his general duties. In addition 
to such other duties as may be devolved upon him by the board, in the visitation and superintendence 
of the schools, he shall examine the qualifications of teachers, and grant certificates in such manner 
and form as may be prescribed by the State Superintendent ; which shall not be in force longer than a 
year, and which may at any time be revoked by the board of education. He shall be paid a salary out 
of the general fund, to be fixed by the board of education, and may be removed from office by the vote 
of a majority of all the members of the said board. 

238. Repealed. 

2 3a. Ail aoiN and parts of acts, cuntlicting or inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby 
repealed, so far as they affect this act, 

g 40. This act shall take effect immediately. 

iChap. 139, Laws of 1864, title 10, section 9.] 

2 9. The act of the legislature of the State of New York, entitled " An act in relation to the common 
schools in the village of Elmira," passed April 4, 1859, is hereby amended by striking out the word 
" village," whenever the same appears in said act, and in the title thereof, and inserting the word 
" city " in place thereof, and also by striking out the word " trustees," and the words " board of trus- 
tees," wherever the same appear in said act. and inserting in place thereof the words " common coun- 
cil," and also by striking out the word "president," where the same appears in the sixth section of 
said act, and inserting in place thereof the word " mayor," and also by striking out the words " the 
board of trustees of," in the second line of section nineteen of said act. And all the provisions of said 
act, as so amended, shall apply to and be in force in said city, and in the school district and districts 
therein, as the same has heretofore applied to and been in force in the village of Elmira. 

FLUSHING, DISTRICT No. 3. 

IChap. 638, Laws of 1857.J 

Section 1. School district number three, in the town of Flushing, in the county of Queens, shall 
form a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the school commissioner of 
the assembly district in which said school district is situated. 

g 2. Said school district shall hereafter be bounded as follows : Commencing in the north boundary of 
district number five, in the center of the front road leading from Clintonville to Flushing; thence 
north-westerly In a nearly direct line to the waters of Nostrand's cove, said line passing one hundred 
yards west of Jacob Wilkins' residence ; thence following the waters of said cove to the East river, up 
the East river and the waters of Little Neck bay to the northern boundary of district number two; 
thence westerly along said northern boundary to district number five ; thence northerly and westerly 
along said boundary, to the place of .beginning. 

§ 3. The said school district shall be under the management and direction of a board, which shall be 
styled tlie board of education, which board shall consist of five menibers, three or more of whom shall 
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business ; and the determination of a majority of a quorum, 
at a meeting regularly called or duly assembled, shall be regarded as the determination of said board 
ot education ; one member of said board of education shall be elected in each year in said district, who 
shall be legallv qualified to vote at school elections therein, and shall hold office for the term of five 
years. The said election shall take place at the annual meeting of said district. The said board of 
education, within sixty davs next preceding any annual or special election in said district, shall appoint 
three suitable persons as inspectors of said election ; and, in case they shall neglect to attend, the 
board may fill such vacnncv ; and, in case of their failure to appoint, then those of the inspectors who 
attend shall fill the vacancy by the appointment of a suitable person as inspector. All elections shall 
be by ballot, and notice of the time and place of holding all elections, and the object thereof, shall be 
post'd in eight or more public places within said district at least eight days before the day appointed 
for holding such election ; and the like notice shall be published in a public newspaper printed and 
published in the town of Flushing, in at least two issues of such paper, one of which issues shall be 
in each of the two weeks immediately preceding the date of such election, and no business shall be 
transacted ar, such meeting, except that stated in the call for the same. The meeting shall convene at 
two o'clock in the afternoon, the polls shall be opened at fifteen minutes after two o'clock, and remain 
opf^n until seven o'clock in the evening. (A<< anipnded hv chap. 4.'!4, Laivs of 1885. ) 

§ 4. In case at the election so held the approval aforesaid shall not be obtained, it shall be lawful for 
the said trustees to call and hold subsequent elections within five years after the passage ot this act. 
In all respects to be called and conducted as prescribed for said first election; but no succeeding elec- 
tion shall be held within one year of the time of holding a preceding election under this act. If a 
majority of the ballots cast at any such election shall contain the words^ In favor of additional school 
tax," the approval aforesaid shall be considered as given. (As amended iy chap. 559, Laws of 1875.) 



Flushing. 843 

§ 5. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government ; they Shall 
have the entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and of all 
the property belonging to the same ; they shall have and possess, within said district, all the rights. 

Sowers and authority of school commissioners ; they may appoint a collector with all the powers and 
uties of a district collector, or may employ the town collector for that purpose, and such collector 
shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the treasurer of the board of 
education. In the same manner and under the same conditions as the laws of the town of which he is 
such collector require. They shall appoint two of the members of said board who shall visit each 
school in said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and 
advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly adhered to. 

g 6. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum, not exceeding- 
the sum of five thousand dollars, by a ta.xor loan. Such loan may be secured by a mortgage upon the 
public school property of said district, to be executed by said board in their official capacity ; such 
money, when loaned, shall be paid over to said board of education, to be applied by them in purchas- 
ing a site and erecting or purchasing a school-house for said district, in grading and regulating the 
grounds, and in building the necessary fences and out-houses, 

f 7. The said board of education -are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax, in each 
year, upon the taxable property in school district number three as hereby enlarged, such sum as may 
be necessary to pay principal and interest on loans ; to furnish teachers, books, stationery and apparatus 
for the school-houses and rooms, and for such other purposes as they may deem proper. Such tax shall 
not exceed in amount four-tenths of one per cent on the value of such taxable property, as the same 
shall be assessed by the assessors of the town of Flushing, and the said board shall add to the amount 
of any such warrant, for the collection of taxes, such amount as they may deem proper, as the collect- 
or's fees for collecting, not exceeding five per cent on the amount of any warrant. (As amended by 
sec. 1, chap. 367, Laws of 1873.) 

2 8. The school commissioner of the assembly district in which said school district Is situated shall 
pay over to the treasurer of the board of education all the public moneys to which said district num- 
ber three shall be entitled for school purposes. 

J 9. The said board of education shall call an annual meeting of the district at such time in the year 
as they may deem proper. They shall post up written or printed notices of the same in eight or more 
public places in said district, at least one week previous to such meeting; they shall submit thereto a 
full report in writing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of 
the schools in said district under their charge, and the number of scholars attending the same, t\x& 
studies pursued, the amount of money received from the State, as well as the amount required in the 
district for school purposes, the expenditure of the same, and generally all the particulars relating to 
the schools in said district ; which report, immediately after it is made, shall be published in at least 
two newspapers published in Queens county. 

§ 10. The board of education shall have entire control and charge of the district school library ; they 
may employ a librarian, make such additions to the library and such regulations in relation thereto as 
they may deem expedient. 

§ 11. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school-houses 
in said district, they shall prepare an estimate showing the location proposed, the cost of the ground 
required, a plan of the building, with the estimated cost of the building and appurtenances, and shall 
BUbmit the same to the electors of said district at a special meeting called for that purpose. In the same 
manner as other special meetings are required to be called, and, if a majority of all the electors pres- 
ent vote in favor of the same, then the board may proceed to erect said school-house or houses in the 
manner proposed by said estimate. 

2 12. The said board of education may call special meetings of said school district whenever they may 
deem it necessary; notices of a meeting shall be posted in eight or more public places, and published 
in a countv pa[)er at least one week previous to such meeting, and no business shall be transacted at 
such meeting except that stated in the notice culling the same. Any person entitled to vote at any 
district meeting shall be an elector or legal voter tor all purposes under this act. 

213. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed so far as the same 
relate to district number three, in the town of Flushing, in the county of Queens. 

[ C?iap. 367, Laws of 1 873. ] 

Section 1 amends section 7 of original act. (See above.) 

2 2. All that part of school district number five ot the town of Flushing which lies within the cor- 
porate limits of the village of Whitestone is hereby added to and included in said district number three, 
and the board of education of said district number three shall have and exercise the same powers and 
duties respecting such portion so added, as if the same had been originally embraced in the district 
described in the act hereby amended. 

§ 3 The said board of education and their successors shall take no steps in pursuance of the pro- 
visions of section one of this act until the same shall be approved by a majority of voters of said school 
district number three entitled to vote at school district meetings, voting at a special school district 
meeting, to be called and held by said board of education at the present public school-house in said dis- 
trict, after giving at least twenty days' notice of such meeting by posting the same in at least six public 
and conspicuous places in the said school district, and by publication of such notice in all the news- 
papers of said school district once in each week for two weeks. The said meeting shall be held from 
the hour of two o'clock in the afternoon until seven o'clock in the evening, during all which time the 
poll shall be open and shall be conducted in all other respects as now provided by law. The said board 
of education shall provide a box for said meeting, in which to receive the ballots hereina?fter men- 
tioned. The ballots shall contain the words " In favor of additional school tax," or " opposed to addi- 
tional school tax," if a majority of the ballots cast at such election shall contain the words, " in favor 
of additional school tax." the approval aforesaid shall be considered as given. Said ballots, voted as 
aforesaid, shall be canvassed by the said board of education or a majority of its members ; and the said 
board shall keep a record of the proceedings of such meeting, and shall file the same, together with a 
certificate of the result of such election, in the office of the town clerk of said town within five days 
after such meeting shall be hcM. 

[ Chap. 434, Laws of 1885.] * 

Section 1. Amends sec. 3, chap. 63S, Laws of 1857, as in that act referred to. 

§ 2. The said board of education shall, at their first meeting'after the annual district meeting, choose 

* This chapter does not amend or repeal any particular section or sections, with the exception of sec. 
3, of chap. 638, Laws of 1857. All former or existing acts or parts of acts repugnant to or inconsistent 
with the provisions of this act are repealed. For this reason it becomes necessary to print both acts 
and they must be examined together. 



844 FLusHiiq"G. 



one of their members for president, one for secretary, and a treasurer, who may or may not be a mem- 
ber of the board, each of whom shall be entitled to hold oflace for one j^ear, or until his successor quali- 
fies. The treasurer, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall execute and deliver to said board 
his bond, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, with such penalty, and in 
such form, and with such surety as the board shall approve. 

§ 3. The said board of education shall have power to appoint a district clerk at a salary not to exceed 
one hundred dollars per year, to hold the office during the pleasure of the board. 

§ 4. The board shall have power by appointment to fill vacancies that may occur in their number, and 
the person so appointed shall hold office until the next annual election thereafter, or until his successor 
sliall be duly elected or appointed. 

§ .5. The board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government, and for the order 
and government of the school?;, and for the protection of the property under their control. They shall 
have entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and all the 
property belonging to the same. They shall have and possess within the said district all the rights, 
powers and authority of the school commissioner of common schools of the first assembly district of 
the county of Queens. 

§ 6. The said board of education shall each year appoint a collector, with all the powers and duties of 
a school district collector. The collector shall execute a bond, conditional for the faithful performance 
of his duties, in such penalty and form and with suth sureties as the said board shall approve ; and 
such collector shall pay over all moneys collected by him, by virtue of his warrant, to the treasurer of 
the board of education. 

§ 7. It shall be the duty of the board of education of said district to make an annual report to the 
school commissioner of the first assembly district of Queens county, at the time, in the same manner, 
and at the same extent, as other schools are required by law to make report. 

§ 8. The supervisor of the town of Flushing shall pay over to the treasurer of the board of education 
all the public moneys to which said district number three shall de entitled. 

g 9. The said board of education shall have the power, and are hereby directed to levy and collect by 
tax, once in each year, upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, such sum as the 
said board shall estimate or determine to be necessary: First, for the payment of the principal and 
Interest on the bonded indebtedness of said district, and, second, such additional sum said board shall 
estimate to be necessary for teachers' wages, repairs, insurance, school supplies, fuel and other current 
expenses incident to the proper maintenance of good schools; provided that the amount raised for the 
purpose specified under the second clause of this section shall not exceed fifty-five cents on each one 
hundred dollars of the assessed valuation of the taxable property in said district, as the same shall have 
been assessed by the assessors of the town of Flushing, in their last preceding annual assessment-roll 
of said town. 

g 10. Said board shall have power to issue warrants for the collection of taxes, returnable in sixty or 
ninety daj'S after date, at their discretion ; and they shall have power to renew the same whenever 
they shall deem it necessary. Such warrant to be signed by the president and secretary, or a majority 
of the board of education, and tbe board shall add to their warrant for collection of taxes such amount 
as they shall deem proper for fees lor collecting, not exceeding five per centum of the amount to be 
collected. 

§11. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school- 
houses in said district, or to enlarge the school- house or school-houses, or to purchase sites or lots for 
said buildings m said district, before they shall proceed to levy and tax for the same, they shall prepare 
an estimate and plan, showing the location proposed, cost of ground, and plans and estimated cost of 
buildings; and shall submit the same to the electors of said district at an annual meeting or at a 
special meeting to be called for that purpose ; and if a majority of the electors voting at such election 
shall vote in favor of the same, then the said board of education may proceed to acquire litle to such 
sites or lots, and to erect or enlarge said school-house or school-houses in the manner proposed in said 
estimate and plan. 

g 12. The said board of education is hereby authorized and empowered to raise such sum as may be 
necessary for the purpose specified in section eleven of this act. by a loan to be secured by bonds 
pledging the faith and credit of said district number three ; provided, however, the amount raised shall 
not exceed the amount estimated and voted for by the electors, to be issued by said board of education 
in their official capacity, and signed by the president and treasurer. The said bonds to be issued in 
sums of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars each, and not less than 
five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars of said bonds shall mature in any one year. 
The said bonds shall be issued at a rate of interest not to exceed six per centum, and sold at a price not 
less than their par value. 

g 13. All former or existing acts or parts of acts repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act are hereby repealed, so far as the same relates to district number three in the town of Flush- 
ing, county of Queens and State of New York. 

§14. This act shall take eflect immediately. 

FLUSHING, DISTRICT No. 5. 
[Laws of 1848, chap. 81, as amended by chap. 117 of 1849, and 284 of 1854.] 

Section 1. School district number five, in the town of Flushing, in the county of Queens, shall form 
a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the town superintendent of common 
schools for the town in which said district is situated. 

2 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled " The board of education," 
which board shall consist of five members, three or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business; Effingham W. Lawrence, Edward E. Mitchell, Samuel B. Parsons, WiUiam H. 
Fairweather and Thomas Leggett, Junior, shall compose the first board of education, and shall hold 
their offices from one to five years; that is to say, one shall go out of office in each year, and in the 
order in which their names stand recorded in this section. _ ^ , ■ ^, 

g 3. There shall be elected in each year, in said district, one member of said board of education who 
shall be a resident and taxable inhabitant of said district, and shall hold his office for five years; the 
said election shall take place at the annual meeting of said district; and the board of education shall 
appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said election, and of all other elections provided for by 
this act. except as provided in section fourteenth of this act, within thirty days next preceding any 
such election ; such elections shall be by ballot, and notice thereof .shall be given, the same shall be 
held and conducted, the votes shall be canvassed and the result of the election determined, m the same 
manner as in the case of the annual election of other village officers. , „ . 

3 4 The board of education mav make all necessary by-laws for their government ; they shall have 
the entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and all the prop- 
erty belonging to the same ; they shall have and possess, within the said district, all the rights, powers 



Flushing. 845 

and authority of town superintendent of common schools. They may employ a collector, with all the 
powers and duties of a district collector, or may employ the town or village collector for that purpose ; 
and such collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the treas- 
urer of the board of education in the same manner and under the same conditions as is imposed by the 
laws of the town or village of which he is such collector. They shall require two of the members of 
said board to visit each school in said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to 
the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly 
adhered to. 

J 5. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum not exceeding 
the sum of five thousand dollars, either by a tax on said district or by a loan, such loan to be secured 
by a mortgage upon the public school property of said district, to be executed by said board in their 
official capacity. . ^ . _, . 

i 6. The said board of education, in addition to the other taxes which they are hereby authorized to 
raise, mav lew and collect a sum sufficient to pay interest on loans, as the same becomes due ; and 
whenever anv part of the principal of such loans becomes due, they shall levy and collect an amount 
sufficient to pay the same, which sums, when collected, shall be paid over by said board in discharge of 
such principal and interest. 

2 7, The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax in each 
year such sum as mav be necessary upon all the taxable property in such district, two-fifths of one per 
cent on the value of such ta-xable property as the same shall be assessed hy the assessors of the town 
of Flushing, and the said board shall add to the amount of any warrant fo'- the collection of taxes such 
amount as thev shall deem proper as the collectors' fees for collection, which compensation, however. 
shall in no case exceed five per cent on the amount of the warrant. {As amended by chap. 261, LaW3 
of 1869.) 

§ 8. The town superintendent of common schools of the town of Flushing shall pay over to the 
treasurer of the board of education all the public moneys to which said district number five shall be 
entitled for school purposes. 

29. The said board of education shall call an annual district meeting at such time in the year as they 
may think proper, and shall submit thereto a full report in writing of their doings as such board, and 
shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under their charge, and the 
number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the 
State, as well as the amount required in the district for school purposes, and the expenditure of the 
same, and, generally, ail the particulars relating to the schools in said district ; which report shall, 
immediately after it is made, be published in a newspaper pubHshed in the town of Flushing, for two 
weeks, and once in each week. 

2 10. The board of education shall have control and charge of the district school library in said district; 
they may employ a librarian, make such addition to the library and such regulations in relation thereto 
as they may deem necessary. 

§ 11. The school for the colored children under the charge of the female association in the village of 
Flushing may, with the consent of said association, be taken under the charge of the board of educa- 
tion and he organized as a district school, and be supported as the other schools in said district are 
under this act. 

§ 12. Whenever the said board'of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school-houses 
in said district they shall prepare an estimate showing the location proposed, the cost of the ground 
required. a plan of the building, with the estimated cost of the building and appurtenances, and shall 
submit the same to the electors of said district at a special meeting, to be called for that purpose in 
the same manner as other special meetings are required to be called.andif a majority of all the electors 
present at such meeting shall vote in favor of the same, then said board may proceed to erect said 
school-house or houses in the manner proposed by said estimate ; and if the sum authorized to be 
raised by .section five of this act should be insufficient to pay the estimated cost of such buildings and 
ground, with the expense of grading and regulating the grounds, building the necessary out-houses 
and fences, with the cost of the necessary books, stationery and necessary apparatus for the school- 
house and rooms, then the said board of education may raise a sum, in addition to the sum mentioned 
in section 5, and in the manner therein authorized, a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars ; and 
they are also authorized to levy and collect such amount as may be necessary to pay the principal or 
interest of such additional sum as may become due, in the same manner as is provided in section sixth 
of the said act. 

2 13. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may 
deem it necessary : they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof, 
in at least four public places in said village, and by publishing the same in a newspaper published 
in the village of Flushing, at least one week previous to the time fixed for said meeting, which notice 
shall state the time and place of such meeting and the purpose for which the same is called : and no 
business shall be transacted at any such special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the 
same. 

[Chap. 346, Laws of 187.5.] 

Subjects the Flushing high school to the visitation and control of the Regents[of the University, and 
admits it to a participation in the literature and other academic funds. 

IChap. 477, Laws of 1877.] 

Section 1. From and after the passage of this act the territory embraced within the corporate 
limits of the village of Flushing, in Queens countj', shall constitute one school district only, and the 
boundaries of school district number five, of the town of Flushing, are hereby extended and changed 
so as to coincide and be identical with the boundaries of said village. 

2 2. All districts adjacent ti. and bordering upon said district number five, as heretofore bounded, 
shall hereafter border upon and be bounded by the village of Flushing. But nothing herein contained 
shall be construed to release or discharge or in any way affect any tax for school purposes, in any 
district, levied prior to a change in the boundaries thereof, pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 re-enact for this district sections 13, 8, 18 and 25 of title nine of the Consolidated 
School Act of 1864. 

Section 7 gives to the superintendent of public instruction the power for cause to remove members 
of the hoard of education. 

Section 8 confers upon the board power to fill vacancies in the same. 

[Section 2, chap. 187, Laws of 1878.] 

Confers upon the board of education power to employ a superintendent of schools. 
Other acts afifecting this district have been passed, but chiefly of a special character for immediate 
purposes, and not affecting the organization of the schools. 



846 Flushing. 

[^Chap. 426, Laws cf 1886 ] 

Section 1. The sum or sums of money which the board of education of school district number five 
of the town of Flushing shall declare necessary for the furtherance of the powers vested in them by- 
law shall not exceed in the aggregate in any one year seventy-rtve cents on each one hundred dollars 
of the assessed valuation of the taxable property in said district as the same shall have been assessed 
by the assessors of the town of Flushmg in their last precedmg annual assessment-roll ot said town 

FLUSHING/DISTRICT No. 7. 
( Village of College Point. 1 

Section 1 . School district number seven, in the town of Flushing, in the county of Queens, shall form 
a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the school 'commissioner of the 
assembly district in which said school district is situated. 

? 2. Said school district shall hereafter be bounded as follows : commencing at the south-west comer 
in the center of the front road leading from the village of Flushing to CUntonville, and north boundary 
of district number five ; thence westerly along the north line of said district number Ave to the waters 
of Flushing bay: thence northerly along the waters of said bay to the East river; thence an easterly 
course along the waters of said river until it comes to Nostrand's cove and the north-west boundary 
of district number three : and thence along the west boundary of said district number three to the 
place of beginning. 

5 3. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled the " board of education," 
•which board shall consist of five members, three or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business. Augustus Drebling, Francis Zoeller, William E. Chisholm, Conrad Pappea- 
hausen. and Herman A. Schleicher shall compose the first board of education, and shall hold that office 
from one to live years, that i^ i d .say : unc shall yo out of odice in ekch year, and in tlie oraer m which 
their names stand recorded in this section. 

§ 4. At the first annual meeting held in said district, and at each annual meeting thereafter, there 
shall be elected one member of said board of education, who shall hold his office for five years, who 
shall be a resident and taxable inhabitant of said district. Said election, and all other elections pro- 
vided for by this act, shall be held by three inspectors, who shall be appointed by the board of educa- 
tion, at least thirty days preceding such election, and shall be by ballot, and conducted in the same 
manner as the annual election. 

§ 5. The said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting, choose one of their number for 
president, one for secretary, and one for treasurer, who shall hold office for one year ; the treasurer 
shall execute a bond conditioned for the faithful performance of his duty, in such form and with such 
sureties as the said board shall approve, and the said board of education may make all necessary by- 
laws for their government. They shall have the entire control and management of all the common 
schools within the said district, and of all the property belonging to the same. They shall have and 
possess within said district all the rights, and powers, and authority of school commissioners. They 
may appoint a collector, who shall have all the powers and duties, and shall be subject to all the con- 
ditions that district collectors now are, or may employ the town collector for that purpose, and such 
collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the treasurer of the 
hoard of education, in the same manner and under the same conditions as the laws of the town of 
"Which he is such collector require. They shall appoint two of the members of said board, who shall 
visit each school in said district at least once in each week, to render shch assistance to the 
teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly 
adhered to. 

§6. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum, not exceeding 
the sum of five thousand dollars, either by tax on said district or by a loan, such loan to be secured by 
a mortgage upon the public school property of said district, to be executed by said board in their 
official capacity. Such money, when raised by tax or loaned, shall be paid over to said board of educa- 
tion or treasurer thereof, to be applied directly by them in purchasing a siteand erecting or purchasing 
a school-house or school-houses for said district, in grading and regulating the grounds and building 
the necessary fences and out-houses. 

§ 7. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax in each 
year, upon all the taxable property in said district, such sums as may be necessary for teachers' wages, 
to pay the interest due on loans and a part of the principal, to furnish the teachers with necessary 
books and stationery, to furnish the necessary apparatus for the school-house and rooms, and for such 
other purposes as they may deem proper. Such tax shall not exceed in amount one-fourth of one per 
cent on the value of such taxable property as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town 
of Flushing ; and the said board shall add to the amount of any warrant for the collection of taxes 
such amount as they may deem proper as the collector's fees for collecting, which compensation, how- 
ever, shall in no case exceed five percent on the amount of any warrant. 

1 8. The supervisor of the town in which said school district is situated shall pay overto the board 
of education all the, public moneys to which said district number seven is or shall be entitled to for 
school purposes. 

2 9. The said board of education shall call an annual meeting of the district at such time in the year 
as they may deem proper. They shall post up written or printed notices of the same in eight or more 
public places in said district, at least one week previous to said meeting, and shall submit thereto a 
full report in writing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition 
of the schools in said district under their charge and the number of scholars attending the same, the 
studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State, as well as the amount required in the 
district for school purposes, and the expenditure of the same, and generally all the particulars relating 
to the schools in said district, which report shall, immediately after it is made, be published in one 
or more newspapers published in the yillage of Flushing. 

§ 10. The board of education shall have entire control and charge of the district school library in such 
district. They may employ a librarian, make such additions to the library, and such regulations in 
relation thereto as they may deem expedient. 

2 11. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school-houses 
in said district, they shall prepare an estimate showing the location proposed, the cost of the ground 
required, a plan of the building with the estimated cost of building and appurtenances, and shall 
submit the same to the electors of said district at a special meeting called for that purpose, in the 
same manner as other special meetings are required to be called; and if a majority of all the electors 
present vote in favor of the same, the said board may proceed to erect said school-house or school- 
hou.ses in the manner proposed by said estimate. 

§ 12. The said board of education may call special meetings of said school district whenever they 
may deem it necessary. Notices of a meeting shall be posted in eight or more public places, and 
published in a county paper at least one week previous to such meeting, and no business shall be 



Fort Covington. 847 

transacted at such meetinc: except that stated in the notice calHng the same. Any person entitled to 
vote at any district meeting shall be an elector or legal voter for all purposes under this act. 

§13. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with thi> act are hereby repealed, so far as the same 
relate to district number seven, in the town of Flushing, couuty of Queens. 

\Chnp. 3U. Larvsof Ism] 

(Village charter of College Point.) 

Section 1. The boundaries of school district number seven of the town of Flushing shall be the same 
as the boundaries of the said village of College Point; and the trustees of the village of College Point 
shall, on the requisition of the board of education of school district number seven, cause to be asses>ed, 
levied and collected with their annual tax, the amount which the said board of education of school 
district number seven are now authorized and directed to levy and collect, and pay the same as soon 
as collected to the treasurer of the said board ot education. 

[Chap, in, Zflr7WoyiR87.1 

Section 1. Section four of chapter four hundred and forty-nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
seventy-one, entitled "An act authorizing the trustees of the village of College Point to issue bonds 
and borrow money for the erection of a school-house in said village, and to increase the school tax in 
said village," is hereby amended so as to read as follows : 

§ 4. The trustees of said villtige are hereby authorized to increase the annual tax for school purposes 
in said village from one-half of one per centum now allowed by law, to an amount not exceeding six- 
tenths of one per centum for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and annual'y thereafter. 

§ 2. The trustees of the said village of College Point shtill take no steps in pursuance hereof until the 
same shall be approved by a majority of the voters of said village voting at a special election to he 
called by the trustees of said village, by giving at least twenty days' notice before such election, by 
posting notices in at least six public places in said village, and by publishing the same in all news- 
papers published in said village once a week for two weeks. The said election shall be held from the 
hour of twelve o'clock noon until seven o'clock In the afternoon and such election shall in all things 
be conducted as are the annual elections for trustees in said village. The ballots received at said sec- 
tion shall be endorsed " school tax," and in order to be canvassed shall contain the words " in tavor of 
increasmg the annual school tax " or "against increasing the annual school tax.'' If a majority of 
the ballots so canvassed shall contain the words "in favor ot increasing the annual school tax" 
the approval above mentioned shall be considered as given. A certificate ot the result of said election 
shall be filed by the canvassers thereof in the office of the county clerk of Queens county within five 
days after said election. 

FORT COVINGTON. 

[Laws of 1853, chap. 155.] 

Section 1. There shall hereafter he elected in school district number one, formed of school districts 
numbers one and two, in the town of Fort Covington and county of Franklin, three or five trustees, 
who shall respectively hold their othces three or five years (as the term of othce may be). Preserved 
Ware, Warren L. Manning, William Hogle, G. A. Streeter. H. B. Mears, and George A. Cheney are 
hereby appointed trustees of said district, and shall respectively hold said office as follows, namely : 
The term of office of Preserved Ware and Warren L. Manning shall expire at the same time that the 
term of office of Henry A. Paddock, a trustee of said district, shall e.xpire; the term of office of Wil- 
liam Hogle and G. A. Streeter shall expire at the same time that the term of office of A. M. Lincoln, a 
trustee of said district, shall expire ; and the term of office of H. B. Mears and George A. Cheney shall 
expire at the same time that the term of office of Christopher Briggs, as trustee of said district, shall 
e.xpire. 

? 2. The trustees of said district, and their successors in office, shall constitute a board of education 
for said district; and, for the purposes of this act, in addition to the present powers and duties of trus- 
tees, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and title of " Th'' hoard of edu< 
cation of the village of Fort Covington ;" and said corporation shall have power to estahllshand organ- 
ize a classical school in said village, to be known by the name of the " Fort Covington acaaemy ; " and 
such classical school shall be subject to all laws and regulations applicable to other incorporated acade- 
mies of this State, and shall be entitled to share in the distribution of the moneys of the Uterature 
fund, upon the same terms as other academies of this State ; and the Regents of the University shall 
recognize said academy as such, as soon as the required sum of money shall be expended in buildings 
and competent teachers employed therein. 

§ 3. Said board of education, shall appoint one of their number president of said hoard, who shall 
preside at the meetings of said board, when present ; when absent, a president pro tempore shall be 
appointed in his stead. They shall also appoint one of their number secretary, who shall record all the 
acts and resolutions of said board ; and in the absence of the secretary, a secretary pro tempore shall be 
appointed to discharge such duties. They shall also appoint a collector, Ubrarian and treasurer of said 
district, who shall hold their offices (respectively) one year from their appointment, and until others 
are appointed in their places, unless sooner removed by said board ; such collector, hbrarian and treas- 
urer shall each, within ten da.vs after notice has been received of their appointment in writing, and 
before entering upon their duties of office, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond, in 
such peailty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of 
the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiving such 
notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and said hoard of education shall thereupon make an 
appointment to fill such vacancy. 

? 4. The said board of education shall have power to fill any vacancy which may happen by reason of 
the death, removal from office, or from the said district, of any of said board ; and the officer so ap- 
pointed shall hold his office for the unexpired term of the person to supply whose place he shall be 
appointed. 

§ 5. Said hoard of edacation^ or any one of them, may be removed from office for the non-perform- 
ance of any duty imposed upon them, or any one of them, as set forth in this act, by a two-third vote 
of the legal voters present of said district, at any annual or special meeting of said district; and the 
vacancies or vacancy then caused may be filled at such annual or special meeting by a majority of the 
legal voters then and there" present. Notice of annual and special meetings shall be given, in the same 
manner that annual and special meetings are given in the common .school districts of this State. 

§ 6. Said bqard of education shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties in respect to 
flaid district that the trustees of common schools are now subject to or now possess. 



848 Fort Covikgton-. 

J 7. The taxable inhabitants of said district, at any annual, special or adjourned meeting legally held, 
may vote to raise such sum of money as they shall deem expedient for the purpose of purchasing a 
site and building a school-house in said district, or for the purpose of purchasing any suitable building 
for such purpose, and direct the trustees to cause the sum to be levied and raised by installments, and 
make out a tax for the collection of the same, as often as such installments shall become due; and the 
legal voters at any such meeting are authorized to fix the compensation for collecting and paying over 
to the said board of education the amount so levied. 

§ 8. The inhabitants of said district shall have no power to rescind the vote to raise such sum of 
money at any subsequent meeting, unless the same be done within ten days thereafter ; nor shall they 
have power to reduce the amount of the same after the expiration of ten days from the time the tax 
was first levied, but may remit such sum as shall remain unappropriated after paying for the site 
and erection of the house or purchase of suitable buildings. 

§ 9. The said board of education are hereby authorized to obtain by loan the whole or any part of 
the money legally voted by said district, and secure the payment of the same by their official 
bonds. 

g 10. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to sell at public auction, to 
the highest bidder, the school-houses and sites belonging to said district, by giving public notice to be 
posted in ten public places insaid district, ten days previous to such sale, toward purchasing a siteand 
erecting a school-house in said district, or to such other purpose as said district shall direct ; such sale 
may be made upon such terms of credit as said board of education shall determine upon, and a bond and 
mortgage taken by said board for the whole or any part of the purchase-money or price for which said 
siteand house may be sold, and suoh bond and mortgage may be sold and assigned by said board at par, 
for money to be applied by them as herein provided. 

g 11. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to make such by-laws and 
regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government of said school, 
and divide the same into primary and 'hi'-:her departments, and regulate the transfer of scholars from 
one department to the other, and provide suitable instructors for each department, direct what text- 
books shall be used in the same, in carrving out the above provisions of this section ; the town super- 
intendent of common schools in said town shall constitute one of said board; said board shall purchase 
fuel and other necessaries for the use ot the school or schools in said district, and all contracts made by 
them in their official capacity shall be binding on them and their successors in office ; to fix and regu- 
late the terms of tuition free in said primary and other higher departments, to sue for and collect in 
their corporate name any sum of money due to said district, to receive and apply to the uses of said 
school or schools, or any department thereof, any gift, legacy, bequest, or annuities, given or bequeathed 
to said board, and apply the same according to the instruction of the said donor or testator ; to take and 
hold any real estate given or bequeathed to said board, for the purpose of said school or schools, or any 
department thereof, ami apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the terms and 
instructions of the >ionor or testator ; to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, man- 
agement and control of said schools or any department thereof i^except when otherwise provided for in 
this act) and to hire, pay and dismiss any teacher or teachers employed by them in said school or any 
department thereof. 

g 12. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the restrictions and control of the 
superintendents of common schools of the town, county and State, in the same manner that the 
common schools in this State are subject. 

§ 13. Said board of education shall have power, and arehereby authorized to receive into said academy, 
and cause to be instructed therein, any pupil or pupils residing in or out of said district, and to regulate, 
and establish the terms of tuition fees of such resident or non-resident pupils. And said board of edu- 
cation shall have power to regulate the tuition fees and rates of charges in the higher English and 
classical departments of said academy, and shall have power to make such application of the money 
raised for the support of common schools in said district, for the payment of teachers' wages, as said 
board shall determine, and may divide and apportion the same as sai' board may deem best, to pay the 
salaries of teachers employed in said academy or the elementary English branches in the schools con- 
nected therewith or maintained in said district under their supervision. The rates of tuition in the 
elementary Enghsh branches in the schools maintained in said district shall be subject to the general 
laws relating to common schools, and after applying such portion of the money received in said district 
as said board shall determine, to the support of such elementary English department, such sum Qot to 
be less tnan one-hail of all the moneys received in said district for the suppon. oi common schoois 
therein, the additional sum required to pay teachers' wages and provid fuel and other contingent 
expenses necessary to the support of such elementary schools, shall be estimated, assessed, collected 
and applied in the manner provided in chapters one hundred and forty and four hundred and four of the 
Session Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, or in such manner as shall be hereafter 
provided by laws for the support of common schools. 

§ 14. All moneys raised in said district for the purpose of said school, and all moneys to be received 
by such district from the common school fund or other sources, shall be annually paid to the said board ol 
education or to their order, and be applied by them for the uses of said school or schools according 
to law 

§ 15. The members of said board of education, before receiving any moneys belonging to said district, 
shall severally execute to the town superintendent of common schools of the town of Fort Covington 
their separate bonds, with two sufficient sureties, to be approved by said town superintendent, in a 
penalty at least double the amount to be expended by the-m for the benefit of said school during the 
next ensuing year; conditioned, that such trustee giving such bond will faithfully account for the ex- 
penditure of all moneys he shall receive for said district and pay over the balance remaining in his 
hands at the time of the expiration of his office to the other trustees; and the district, at any legal 
meeting thereof, may require the penalty of such bond to be increased or additional security to be giveu 
by either orall of the trustees, if they shall deem the same insufiicient ; and any trustee or treasurer of 
said district, or any member of said bo^rd, who shall apply any moneys of said district to his own use, 
shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement. 

§ 16. The trustees and stockholders of " Fort Covington academy " are hereby empowered, by a vote 
of a majority of its members at any regular meeting, to convey to the board of education hereinbefore 
named, their buildings, apparatus, books, funds, together with all the appurtenances to theeaid " Fort 
Covington academy" belonging. 

§ 17. The said board of education shall have the same control over the watering places and military 
lands on the mile square, in the town of Fort Covington, as the board of trustees of Fort Covington 
academy has heretofore possessed. 

[Chap. 228, Laws of 1866.] 

Section 1. The board of education of the village of Fort Covington is hereby authorized to sell and 
convey that portion of out-lot number seven in the mile square in said village, heretofore used as a site 
for school-house number one in said town, together with the school-house thereon erected, and the 
commissioners of the land office are hereby required to issue letters patent to the purchaser of 
said lot. . 



Fort Edward — Grand Island. 849 

} 2. The said board of education is also authorized to sell and convey the site of district school-house 
number two in said town, and use the proceeds of both the said lots, in the erection of more commo- 
dious school-houses. 

§ 3. Chapter one hundred and'twenty-seven of the Laws of one thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
two is hereby amended so as to authorize and empower the said board of education to make selection 
of a portion of the public square in said village for a site for a new academy and free grade school build- 
ing or buildings and to inclose and use such portion of the said public square as they may select and 
deem proper and necessary for the purposes of the said academy and grade schools. 

§ 4. All portions of the acts of eighteen hundred and twenty-one, and eighteen hundred and thirty 
two above referred to, Inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed. 

FORT EDWARD. 

[ Chap. 523, Laws of 1 874 . 1 

An act to increase the number comprising the board of education of the Union free school district 
number one, of the town of Fort Edward, county of Washington. 
Sectiox 1. The board of education of the Union free school district, number one, of the town of 
Fort Edward, heretofore composed of three members, shall be increased to the number of nine, in the 
manner prescribed as follows : All members of the present board shall continue to act as such until 
the expiration of their term of office respectively. There shall be a special meeting of the Inhabitants 
of said school district qualitied by law to vote for trustees in said district, held at the Union school- 
house in said district within thirty days after the passage of this act, for the purpose of electing six 
additional trustees to be members of said board of education, notice of said election to be given by the 
clerk at least five days before the time of holding such election. Said election to be conducted in the 
usual manner of electing trustees in said district. Two of said additional trustees shall serve one year, 
two, two years, and two, three years from the date of the ne.xt annual school meeting, and also shall serve 
from the time of their election as aforesaid, and their respective terms of office shall be determined by 
lot, and on and after such election vacancies in said board shall be tilled in the usual manner. 

FREDONIA. 
[Chap. 677, Laws of 1868.] 

Section 1. All that part of school districts number one, two, nine and fourteen, of the town of 
Pomfret, county of Chautauqua, lying within the boundaries of the village of Fredonia, are hereby con- 
solidated with and made a part of district number eight of said town. 

§ 2. The trustees of said district number eight are hereby authorizea and empowered to use, for the 
purposes of a primary school, the school-house and site now and heretofore occupied and used for 
school purposes in said district number two. 

§ 3. Any public moneys which may hereafter come into the hands of the trustees of the said district 
number two, which shall not be required for the e.xpenses of maintaining a school in said district num- 
ber two, before this act goes into effect, shall be paid over to the trustees of district number eight. 

i 4. This act shall take effect on the eighteenth day of October next. 

GLEN'S FALLS. 

By chapter 424, Laws of 1851, the libraries of districts two, seven, eight, eighteen, nineteen and 
twenty, in the town of Queensbury, in Warren county, were united into one common library, called 
the common school library of Glen's Falls, under the charge of three directors, appointed by the trustees 
of the village of Glen's Falls. 

GO WANDA. 

[ Chap. 97, Laws of 1877 . ] 

Provides for the election of three assessors in the Gowanda Union Free School District, one fronxeacb 

of the three towns in which the said district is located. 

[Chap. 170, Laws o/lS78.] 

Section l. The board of education of Gowanda union free school district number one, composed of 
parts of the towns of Persia and Perrysburgh, in Cattaraugus county, and of a part of the town of 
Collins, in Erie county, heretofore composed of nine members, shall be reduced to the number of 
sis, in the manner prescribed as follows: All members of the present board shall continue to act as 
such until the next annual meeting for the election of trustees of said board, at which time no election 
shall be held to fill the vacancy of the three outgoing trustees, whose term of office then expires, and 
the remaining si.x shall constitute the said board of educalion, two of whom shall serve one year, two 
two years and two three years from the date of the next annual school meeting, and their respective 
terms of office shall be then determined by lot, and after that date, vacancies in the said board shall 
be filled in the usual manner. 

GRAND ISLAND. 

[Chap. 222, Laws of 1879. ] 

AN ACT to consolidate the several school districts in the town of Grand Island, Erie county, and t» 
provide for the election of a board of education therein. , : 

Section 1. From and after the second Tuesday in October, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, the 
town of Grand Island, Brie county, shall constitute one school district, the present district boundaries 
and organizations being hereby dissolved, and their management and property shall pass into the 
hands of a board of education to be constituted as hereinafter provided. The said board of education, 
shall have, in all respects, the same powers and duties as are now conferred by law on trustees of school 
districts, together with such additional powers and duties as arc conferred by this act. 

g 2. On the second Tuesday in October, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, at two o'clock p. M., all citi- 
zens of Grand Island who are legal voters at school district meetincrs shall nssemhle at the town hall, in 
said town, and elect by ballot Ave persons who shall be legal voters in saH school district. The per- 

107 



850 Hamilton. 

sons so elected shall constitute a board of education for said school district, and their term of oflace shall 

be five years, and thereafter, at the annual school meeting, as provided by law, they shall elect one 
member of the board of education to take the place of the member whose'term expires, and so many 
other members as may be necessary to fill any vacancy caused by death, removal, resignation or other 
disabilitj' of any member or members of such board. 

§ 3. The members of the board of education shall meet at the town hall on the Saturday next succeeding 
their election, at ten o'clock A. M., and determine by lot which of their number shall hold their office 
respectively for the term of one, two, three, four or five years. They shall then organize by electing 
one of their number as president and one as secretary, who shall hold their office for one year and until 
their successors shall have been elected. The board of education shall have power to fill all vacancies 
made by death, removal, resignation or other disability ; the member so appointed to fill such vacancy 
shall hold office until the next annual meeting and until such vacancv is filled by election. 

§ 4. The board of education shall hold Its first regular meeting in each year in the town hall, on the 
Saturday next succeeding the second Tuesday in October, at two o'clock p. m. , and shall also meet at 
the hour and place above named on the second Saturday of January, April and July of each year, and 
shall hold such special meetings as may be called by the president. 

§ 5. The board of education shall each year, at its first meeting after the annual election, furnish, for 
the supervisor of the town, an estimate of the amount of money which, in addition to such as is on 
hand and that to be received from other sources, as shall be necessary for the payment of teachers' 
wages and for all other necessary expenses for the support of the several schools for the ensuing year. 
The supervisor shall report such estimate to the board of supervisors of Erie countv at their annual 
meeting, and the sum so estimated shall be levied on the taxable property of said town, and collected 
in the same manner in all respects as are other taxes for town purposes. The supervisor shall safely 
keep the money so collected, and shall pay out the same only on the order of the president of the 
board of education, countersigned by the secretary. 

§ 0. The members of the board of education, or such of them as shall be present, shall act as 
Inspectors of election, and immediately after the close of the polls shall proceed to canvass the votes, 
and declare the result. If a majority of the members of the board of education shall not be present at 
the time for opening the polls, those in attendance may appoint any of the legal voters of the district 
present to act as Inspectors in place of the absent members of the board of education. If none of the 
members of the board of education shall be present at the time for the opening the polls, the legal 
voters may choose three of their number to act as inspectors. 

§ 7. The members of the board of education shall, at the expense of the district, provide a suitable 
box in which the ballots shall be deposited as they are received. Such ballots shall contain the names 
of the persons voted for, and shall designate the office for which each one is voted. The ballots may 
be either written or printed, or partly written and ])artly printed. 

§ 8. The secretary of the board of education shall attend the election, and record in a book, to be 
provided for that purpose, the name of each elector as he deposits his ballot. When the polls shall 
have been closed, the inspectors shall first count the ballots, to see if they tally with the number 
of names recorded by the clerk. If they exceed that number, enough ballots shall be withdrawn to 
make them correspond. Any secretary who shall neglect or refuse to record the name of a person 
whose bcdiot is received by the inspectors shall be liable to a fine of twenty-five dollars, to be sued for 
by the supervisor of the town. If the secretary of the board of education shall be absent, or shall be 
unable, or shall refuse to act, the inspectors of election or board of education shall appoint some per- 
son to act in his place. 

§ 9. If any person offering to vote at any such election shall be challenged as unquaHfied by any legal 
voter, the chairman of the inspectors shall require the persons so olfering the vote to make the follow- 
ing declaration : I do declare and affirm that I am an actual resident of this school district, and that 
I am legally qualified to vote at this election, and every person making such declaration shall be per- 
mitted to vote; but if any person shall refuse to make such declaration, his ballot shall not be received 
by the inspectors. Any person who, upon being so challenged, shall willfully make a false declaration 
of his right to vote at such election, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished by im- 
prisonment in the county jail for not less than six months nor more than one year. Any person who 
shall vote at such election, not being duly qualified, shall, though not challenged, forfeit the sum of 
ten dollars and costs, to be sued for by the supervisor of the town for the benefit of the school or 
schools of the district. 

g 10. All disputes concerning the validity of any such election, or of any votes cast thereat, or of 
any of the acts of the inspectors or clerk, shall be referred to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
whose decision in the matter shall be final. Such Superintendent may, in his discretion, order a new 
election in any district. 

gll. The persons having the highest number of votes respectively for the several offices shall be 
declared elected, and the clerk shall record the declaration of the inspectors. Incase two persons shall 
have an equal number of votes for the same office, the inspectors of election shall immediately choose 
one of such persons. If the inspectors cannot agree, the clerk shall decide the matter. 

2 12. This act shall take effect on the second Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, 

HAMILTON. 

[C/iajo, 158, iatos 0/1857. Chap. 2oi, Laws of IS&l. Jnd Chap. 4m , Laws of lm5.^ 

Section 1. The board of education of consolidated school districts numbers one, fourteen and seven- 
teen in the town of Hamilton, shall have power and are authorized, in their discretion, to employ 
teachers, without reference in their contracts to the moneys which shall be appropriated or subject to 
their order or drafts during the current year, and nothing contained in the act entitled "An act to pro^ 
vide for the establishment of union free schools," passed June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty^ 
three, shall be construed to prevent said board from exercising said power, and in case of any defi- 
ciency of funds for the payment of teachers' wages, beyond the amount of public moneys appropriated 
and belonging to said consolidated districts, and other moneys, whether appropriated by a vote of said 
district or arising from the tuition fees of non-resident pupils, or otherwise, the said board shall have 
power to raise the sam.e by rate bill, to be made out by the said board of education, against those send- 
ing to school in proportion to the number of days and children sent, to be determined by the teachers' 
list; said rate bill to be collecteil by the collector of said consolidated districts, in the same manner as 
now provided by law for the collection of school district taxes. In making out such rate bill, it shall 
be the duty of said board to exempt, either wholly or in part, as they may deem expedient, such indigent 
inhabitants as may in their judgment be entitled to such exemption ; and the amount of such exemp- 
tion shall be added by them to the first tax list thereafter to be made out by said board for the purposes 
of said consolidated districts, or shall be separately levied by them as they shall deem most expe^ 
dient; and-for the purposes of levying and directing the collection of any s'jrao so exempted from 
said rate bill, the said board shall have the same power that trustees of oovnruor. school district& now 



Hamilton". 851 

2 2. The said hoard of education shall have power to apply the public moneys r.nnually vcccivcci 
by them, or subject to their order, for the pnnnent of teachers' warres to the several terms during 
which school shall be kept in saitl consolidated districts, in such proportion as they shall deem 
expedient. 

g 3. The collector appointed by said board shall possess the same power, be entitled to the same fees, 
and subject to the same liabilities as are now provided by law for collectors of common school 
districts, not inconsistent with the provisions of the said act of June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and 
fifty-three. 

? 4. The said board of education in any contract and expenditures for the construction of new school 
buildings, or for the alteration, repairs or improvements with reference to site of structures in the 
acalemy or free school Imildings, or in buying apparatus or fixtures, shall have power to ma!;c such 
contracts and expenditures in advance of levying and collection of appropriations then vo;('(l and 
authorized to be raised for such purposes, and may make the same to tlie full amount of such appro- 
priations so voted, but in no case to exceed the amount thereof, and nothing contained in the said act 
0.' June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, shall be construed to prevent said board from 
exercising'such power. 

§ 5. The provisions of the first and second sections of this act shall apply only to the departments of 
said union free school below the academical. 

[Chap. 264, iazos 0/I86I.] 

Section 1. Nothing contained in the act entitled "An act to change the school, and to amend the 
statute In relation to public instruction," passed April twelfth, eighteen hundred and flfuy-eiiht, shall 
be so construed as to alt;;ct or interfere with the union free school in the town of Ilamilton. established 
in pursuance of the act entitled "An act to provide for the establishment of union free schools," 
passed June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, or to affect or interforc with any of the 
officers of said school, or of the districts composing the same ; but the sai 1 school, the boards of in- 
struction, and the other officers of said districts, shall, in all respects, remiin and continue subject to 
the provisions of said act of June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, and of any special acts 
heretofore passed in relation to said school, except that sections one and two of said act of April 
twelfth, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, shall apply to said union free school and to the districts 
composing the same. 

? 2. The present board of education of consolidated school districts number one, fourteen and seven- 
teen, in the town of Hamilton, now acting as such, and consisting of nine in number, having been 
elected wholly in pursuance of the said act of June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, is 
hereby declared to be the board of education of said consolidated districts; and the acts of said board 
heretofore done and performed are hereby legalized and confirmed, that is to say, such acts shall not 
be impeached or held invalid on account of said board having been elected and constituted under and 
in accordance with the provisions of said act of June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three. 

2 3. A majority of the members of said board of education shall constitute a quorum, and shall have 
power to transact all business and do all acts that said board is legally authorized to perform. 

\_CJiap. 401, Laws of 1865/J 

Section 1. The board of education of consolidated school districts number one. fourteen and seven- 
teen, in the town of Hamilton, shall have power and are authorized, in their discretion, to employ 
teachers without reference in their contracts to the mone.ys which shall be appropriated or subject to 
their order or drafts during; the current year; and nothing contained in the act entitled " An act to 
revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," passed May second, eighteen 
huii !red and sixty-four, shall be construed to prevent said board from exercising said power, and in 
case of any deficiency of funds for the payment of teachers' wages, beyond the amount of the public 
money appropriated and belonging to the said consolidated districts, and other moneys, whether appro- 
priated by a vote of the said districts or arising from the tuition of any non-resident pupil, or other- 
wise, the said board may raise the same by rate bill, to be made out by the said board of education 
against those sending to school, in proportion to the number of days and childi-en sent, to be deter- 
mined by the teacher's list. Said rate bill to be collected by the collector of said consolidated district 
in the same manner as now provided by law for the collection of school district taxes. In making out 
such rate bill it shall he the duty of the said board to exempt either wholly or in part, as they may 
deem expedient, such indigent Inhabitants as may in their judgment be entitled to such exemption, 
and the amount of such e.xemption shall be added to them by the first tax list, thereafter to be made 
out by said board for the purpose of said consohdated district, or shall be separately levied by them, as 
they shall deem most expedient; and for the purpose of levying and directing the collection of any 
surn so exempt from said rate bill, the said board shall have the same power that trustees of com- 
mon school districts now possess. 

g 2. The said board of education shall have power to apply the public money annually received by 
them, or subject to their order for the payment of teachers wages to the several terms during which 
school shall be kept in said consolidated districts, in such proportion as tliey shall deem expedient. 

g 3. The collector appointed by said board shall possess the same powers, be entitled to the same 
fees, and subject to the same lial)ilities as are now provided bv law for collectors of common school 
districts, not inconsistent with the provisions of said act of May second, eighteen hundred and sixty= 
four. 

? t. The said board of education, in any contract and expenditure for the construction of new school 
buildings or for the alteration, repairs or improvements with reference to site of structure in the 
academy or free school buildings, or in buying apparatus or fixtures, shall have power to make .>uch 
contract and expenditure in advance of the levying and collection of any appropriation voted and 
authorized to be raised for such purpose, and may make the same to the full amount of such appro- 
priation so voted, but in no case to exceed the amount thereof; and nothing contained in the said act 
of IMay second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, shall be construed to prevent said board from exercis- 
ing such power. 

? 5. The said consolidated districts, numbers one, fourteen and seventeen, of the town of Hamilton, 
shall be known and designated by the name of union free school of Hamilton, and be numbered school 
district number one of the said town of Hamilton. 

g 6. The provisions of the first and second sections of this act shall apply only to the department ot 
said union free school below the academical. 



862 Hempstead — Hoosick. 



HEMPSTEAD. 

\C7iap. 116, Laws of 1863.] 

Section' 1. School district number one in the town of Hempstead, in the county of Queens, shall form 
a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration bj' the commissioner of common 
schools for the district in which it is situated. 

g 2. The boundaries of said district shall remain as at present on the west and south ; but shall hcro- 
aiter, on the east, run from the house of John Petit to the house of Stewart S. Half, thence to the 
"house of Lewis F. llandall, thence to the house of Jacob Bates, and thence running north to the line 
dividing the town of North Ilempstead, thence along the district school boundary to the place of 
beginning. 

g 3. The said district shall bo under the direction of a board, to be styled " the board of education," 
which board shall consist of live members, three or more of u'hom shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business. John Harold, Wm. M. Carmichael, Richard Brower, Richard Ingraham and 
A. V. Cortelyou shall compose the first board of education, and shall hold their office from one to 
five j'cars, that is to say, one shall go out of office in each year, and in the order in which their names 
stand recorded in this section. 

§4. The board of education shall fill all vacancies which may happen by death, resignation, or 
removal from the district; the members so appointed shall hold their office until the next annual 
meeting, and at each annual election a person shall be elected to supply the place of an)' member of 
the board so appointed, and the person thus elected shall serve out the une.xpired term. 

§ 5. At the annual meeting of said district in each year, there shall be elected one member of said 
board of education to serve five years, who shall be a resident and taxable inhabitant of said district. 
Said election, and all other elections provided for by this act, shall be held by three inspectors, who 
shall be appointed by the board of education, at least thirty days preceding such election ; and said 
election shall be by ballot; and due notice shall be given, by publishing a notice of said election in the 
village newspapers at least three weeks previous to said election, and shall be conducted in the same 
manner as the annual election of village officers. 

2 6. The said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting, choose one of their number for 
president, and one for secretary, and one for treasurer, who shall hold their offices for one year. The 
treasurer shall execute a bond for the faithful performance of his duties in such form and with such 
sureties as the said board shall approve, and such bond shall be deposited with the president of said 
board; the said board may make all necessary by-laws for their government; they shall have the 
entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and kU the 
property belonging to the same; they shall have and possess within the said district all the rights, 
powers and authority of commissioners of common schools; they may appoint a collector, with all the 
powei-s and duties of a district collector, or may employ the town or villase collector for that purpose, 
and such collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district, to the 
treasurer of the board of education, in the same manner and under the same conditions as is imposed 
by the laws of the town or village of which he is collector. They shall require one or more of the 
members of said board to visit each school in said district at least once in each week, to render such 
assistance to the teachers, and advice to the pupils, as may be necessary, and see that the regulations 
are rigidly adhered to. 

§7. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax ia 
each year, upon all the taxable property in said district, such sums as may be necessary, not exceeding 
in amount one-fourth of one per cent on the value of sucli taxable property, as the same shall be 
assessed by the assessors of the town of Hempstead, or incorporated vdlage of Hempstead. And the 
said board shall add to the amount of any warrant for the collection of taxes such amount as they shall 
deem proper, as collector's fees for collection, which compensation, however, shall in no case exceed 
five per cent on the amount of any warrant; and on all sums voluntarily paid to the treasurer of the 
board of education, before the warrant is placed in the collector's hands, only one per cent shall be 
charged as collector's fees. 

§8. The supervisor of the town of Hempstead, or any other officer having charge of the same, shall 
pay over to the treasurer of the board of education all the public moneys to which said district number 
one shall be entitled for school purposes. 

?9. The said board of education shall call an annual district meeting at such time in the year as thej 
mav think i)roper, and shall submit thereto a full report in writing of their doings as such board, and 
shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under their charge, and 
the number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received frona 
the State, as well as the amount required in the district for school purposes, and the expenditure of 
the same, and generally all the particulars relating to schools in said district, which report shall, 
immediately after it is made, be published in the newspapers published in the village of Hempstead 
two successive weeks. , . ,. . ^ , ,-. . -j 

§10 The board of education shall have control and charge of the district school library in said 
district; thev mav employ a librarian, make such additions to the Ubrary, and such regulations In 
relation thereto, as they may deem necessary ; but no books shall be loaned to residents out of the 

2 II. A school for colored children may be organized as a district school, and be supported as the 
other schools in said district are under this act. . . . ^ ^ 

g 12. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem 
it necessary ; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof In 
at least four public places in said village, and by pubHshing the same in a newspaper pubhshed in the 
village of Hempstead, at least one week previous to the time fixed for said meeting, and the purpose 
for which the same is called; and no business shall be transacted at any 8uch special meeting, except 
that stated in the notice calling the same. 

HOOSICK. 

IGhap. 194, Laws of 1864.1 

Section 1 The trustees of school district number one in the town of Hoosick, in the county of 
Rensselaer 'shall annually, at least three weeks before their annual meeting,prepare an estimate of the 
amS whfchV^^^^ necessary to pay the debts of such district and for the support of 

common schools therein, for the ensuing year, exclusive of the moneys which they may be entitled to 
receive from the town supervisor, and including the sums required for the purchase of necessary 
furniture, apparatus and books, and the contingent expenses; and shall cause printed or written 
notices thereof to be posted for two weeks thereafter, in five or more of the most public places in said 



HORNELLSVILLB. 853 

district. They shall present such estimate at such annual meeting, when the inhabitants of such 

district entitled to vote at school district meetings then present shall vote thereoa ; and me sanie 
having been approved of by a majority of such inhabitants, shall be levied and raised by tax on such 
district, as now provided by law for raising a district school tax. 

§ 2. When the trustees shall have completed the tax list, they shall issue their warrant to the 
collector of taxes of siid district, returnable in thirty days, for the collection of the same, and 
take from such collector approved security for the performance of his duty; such warrant may 
be renewed from time to time The moneys so collected shall be paid to such trustees, and 
by them aporopriated to the purposes for which the same were voted, unless otherwise directed 
by a vote of the inhabitants at their annual district meetin;,', or a special meeting called for the 
purpose. 

g 3. The tax hereby imposed shall be a lien upon the land tax, to be enforced and collected by sale. 
In the manner that county taxes are, upon a report to be made by said collector to the treasurer of 
the county of all unpaid taxes in said district. 

HORNELLSVILLE, 

[CAap. 386, iaiws 0/ 1873.] 
AN ACT TO PROMOTE EDUCATION IN HOKNELLSVILLE. 

Section 1. The trustees of school district number seven, in the town of Hornellsville, county of 
Steuben, shall constitute a board to be styled the board of education of the village of Hornellsville. 
which shall be a corporate body, with seal, in relation to all the powers ami duties conferred upon 
them by this act, and shall be elected from time to time as now provided by law. A majority of the 
board shall constitute a quorum. The first meeting of said board shall be heUl on the first Saturday 
of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and the annual meeting of said board in each year there- 
after shall be held on the first Tuesday in October in each year. At the first meeting of the board, 
and annually thereafter at the annual meeting, they shall elect one of their number president of the 
board, and whenever he shall be absent a president pro tempore may be appointed. The said trustees 
shall receive no compensation for their services, nor shall they be interested directly or indirectly in 
any contract for building or making any improvements or repairs provided by this act. 

I '>. The said trustees shall meet for the transaction of all business on the first and third Tuesday of 
each and every month, and may adjourn for any shorter time ; special meetings may be called by the 
president of said board, or in his absence or inability to act, by any two members of the board, as often 
as may be necessary, by giving personal notice, printed or in writing, to each and every member of 
the board, or by causing such notice to be left at his last place of residence, with some person of suit- 
able age and discretion, or if there be none, by posting the same on the outside frontdoor thereof; 
such notice shall be served, as aforesaid, at least twenty-four hours before the hour named for such 
special meetings ; all meetings of said board shall be public, an, I the transactions and proceedings of 
all meetings of said board shall be open for the inspection of all persons who may desii'e to inspect the 
same, or to take copies thereof tor the purpose of publication in all or any of the newspapers pub- 
lished in said village, or elsewhere. The said trustees can only transact business as a board sitting in 
public; and all their acts shall be entered in the journal or book of minutes of said school district. 
The secretary of said board shall in all cases, enter in the record of the proceedings of the trustees, to 
be kept in said book of minutes, the namesof all trustees voting onany re>olution,and how each voted. 
No member of said board shall in any manner be interested in any contract for furnishing any supplies 
required to maintain any of the schools or departments in said school district. {As amended by section 
1, chap. 294, Laws of 1881.) 

§ 3. The said trustees shall appoint a secretary and treasurer, who shall hold their otflce during the 
pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the board. The said secretary shall 
keep a record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may pre- 
scribe. The said record or transcript thereof, certified by the secretary, shall be viewed in all courts 
as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth, and such record and all the books, accounts, 
vouchers and papers of said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the people of the 
district. 

§ 4. The trustees aforesaid shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise from time to time by 
tax, to be levied upon all the real and personal estate in said district which shall be liable to taxation, 
as provided by law for school purposes, as the board of education shall deem to be necessary and proper, 
for any and all of the following purposes: 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses, or sites with buildings thereon, for the 
same purposes. 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, and their out-houses 
and appurtenances. 

3. To purchase, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; but the 
power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the furnishing with class or text-books any 
scholar whose parents or guardians shall be able to furnish the same. 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses ofthe common schools, including the academical 
department therein, and the expenses of the school library of said district and the necessary expenses 
of said board, including the salary of the secretary ofthe board. 

5. To pay teachers' wages, after the application of public moneys, which may by law be appropriated, 
apportioned and provided for that purpose. 

6. The amount raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses shall not be less than twice nor 
more than five times the amount appropriated or apportioned to said district from the school fund of 
the State during the previous year, nor shall there be raised in any one year for buying sites or sites 
with buildings thereon, erecting and repairing school-houses and the appurtenances, a sum exceeding 
two thousand dollars, except as herein otherwise provided for. And the board of education are 
authorized and directed when necessary to borrow in anticipation the amount of taxes so to be raised, 
collected and levied as aforesaid and to give the bonds of the district, signed by the president of the 
board of education, and under the seal of the district, as security for the repayinent of the money so 
borrowed. 

§ 5. All moneys required to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by 
the law apportioned, appropriated to or provided for said district, whether from the school, literature 
or United States deposit funds, or under the act to establish free schools throughout the State, or other- 
wise, shall be paid to the treasurer of the said district, who, together with the sureties on his official 
bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as the treasurer ofthe county of Steuben is for 
moneys which comes into his hands, and shall be liable to the same penalties for official misconduct. 

i 6. The treasurer shall pay out the moneys authorized by this act, to be received by him, upon 
drafts drawn by the preslcfent and countersigned by the secretary of said board of education, which 
drafts shall not be drawn except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be 



854 HORN^ELLSVILLE. 

made payable to the person or persons entitled to receive the same, but he shall receive no compensa- 
tion for his services. 

§ 7. The treasurer of sakl district shall, before entering upon his duties, execute a bond with at least 
two sureties to be presented to and approved by the said board of education. He shall receive all 
moneys collected by the collector, and give his receipt for the same, and shall draw upon the super- 
visor of the town for the amount due and apportioned from the common school fund, and upon the 
Comptroller of the State for the amount appropriated from the literature fund, and receive all moneys 
from any and all sources that may belong to or be due to said school district or academic department 
and receive all money from foreign scholars, and give his receipt for the same, and shall pay all drafts 
drawn by the president and secretary of said board, and shall report annually at the annual meetin" of 
the board, also at the annual meeting of the district, and shall present a statement of his accounts to 
the board at any time they may require, and shall surrender at the end of his term of oflfice all moneys 
and papers in his hands as such treasurer to his successor in ofiBce. 

§ 8. The supervisor of the town of Hornellsville aforesaid shall pay to the treasurer of said cllstrict all 
mone.vs apportioned to said district and which shall come into his hands, upon the draft of said trp«s- 
urer, countersigned by the members of said board, which said draft, so drawn and countersigned, shall 
be as valid and effectual and have the same force and effect as if drawn by the trustees of a school 
district, payable to the order of a duly qualified teacher. 

g 9. A collector shall be elected, chosen or appointed for said district, as now provided by law, and 
have and perform the same powers, rights and duties and be liable to the same obligations, penalties, 
pains and proceeding as now provided by law, except that said collector shall, within the life of his 
warrant or the renewal thereof, pay all moneys collected by him as such collector to the treasurer of 
said school district. 

2 10. The said board shall have power and it shall be their dtity, 

1. To organize and establish such and so many schools or departments In said districts as they shall 
deem requisite and expe<lient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 

2. To purchase and hire school-rooms or houses, lots or sites for school-houses, or sites with build- 
ings thereon, to be used as school-houses, and to fence and improve such sites as they may deem 
proper. 

3. Upon such lots and upon such sites owned by said district, to build, enlarge, alter, improve and 
repair school-houses and apiiurtenances, as they may deem advisable. 

4. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture, appar- 
atus and appurtenances, and to see that their ordinances in relation thereto are observed. 

5. To contract with, license and employ all teachers in said schools or departments and the academi- 
cal departments therein, and at their pleasure to remove them. 

6. To pay the wages of the teachers in said schools out of the moneys apportioned, appropriated 
and provided by law, for the support of common schools in said district, and the wages of the teachers 
of the academical department out of the moneys appropriated to said department from the income of 
the literature and United States deposit funds, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue of 
the wages of the teachers in said schools and academical department, from the moneys authorized to 
be raised for that purpose by section fourth of this act, by a tax upon said district. 

7. To defray the contingent expenses of said common schools and academical department, and the 
expenses of the school library of said district, and the necessary and contingent expenses of the board, 
including the annual salary of the secretary. 

8. The said board to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of com- 
mon schools of said district, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal as they may deem 
expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, or the reception of 
pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for their good order, prosperity and 
utility, and they shall have the power to expel or suspend any pupil or scholar from any of the said 
schools or departments for such time as they may see fit, when in their Judgment the welfare and 
good order of said schools or academical department may require. And to have power on the first day 
of September, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, or at any time thereafter, to establish in said 
schools an academical department to receive into said schools or academical department, pupils resid- 
ing out of said district, and to regulate and establish the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils in 
the several departments of said schools, and in such academical department, and to collect such fees 
in the name of said district ; to regulate the transf^" of scholars from one department to another, and 
for their transfer from class to class , to direct what text-books shall be used in said schools and 
academical department; to provide and keep in repair school apparatus, books for indigent pupils, furni- 
ture and appendages, and fuel and other necessaries for the schools and academical department, and 
to establish in said district as they may see fit. 

9. To sell, whenever in their opinion it may be advisable, any of the school-houses, lots or sites and 
appurtenances, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to said district. Such sale 
shall in no case, however, be made unless a petition, duly verified by the president of said board, 
setting forth the necessity or expediency thereof, shall first be presented by said board to the county 
court of Steuben countv. and an order authorizing such sale and specifying the terms and conditions 
thereof shall be granted by said court. Notice of the presentation of such petition to said judge shall 
be published in all of the newspapers published in said district at least ten days before the presentation 
thereof. All moneys arising from such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of the district, and all securi- 
ties taken on account of any such sale or sales shall be made payable to him. 

10. To prepare and report to the trustees of the village of Hornellsville such ordinances and regula- 
tions as may be necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school- 
houses, lots and sites and appurtenances, and all the property belonging to the district, and to suggest 
proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations. 

11. To cause to be prepared and published in the newspapers published in said district, at least ten 
days before the annual meeting of the electors of said district, a full report: 

ist. Stating what schools have been kept during the year and for what time. 

2d. The whole number of teachers efoployed, and in what department and salary. 

3d. The number of children on the roll in each department, and the average attendance of each. 

4th. The number of children in the district between the ages of five and twenty-one years. 

5th. The amount of school monev received by the treasurer, and from what source received. 

6th. An itemized statement for what purpose expended. 

7th. And such other information as they may deem necessary to pubUsh. 

12. To make and direct between the first and second Tuesdays in October, to the school commis- 
sioner of the district in which said school district is, a report in writing dated on the first day of October 
of the year in which it is made, and shall sign and certify it, and deliver it to the clerk of the town of 
HornellsviUe aforesaid, and every such report shall certify: 

1st. The whole time anv school has been kept by qualified teachers, and the whole number of days, 
including hollidays, in which the school was taught by qualified teachers. 

2d. The amount of their drafts upon the supervisor or treasurer of said district for the payment of 
teachers' wages during such year, and the amount of their drafts upon him for the purchase of books 
and school apparatus during such year, and the manner In which such moneys have been expended. 



Hudson-. 855 

3d. The number of children taught in the district school or schools during such year, bj' qualifled 
teachers, and the sum of the days' attendance of all such children upon the school. 

4th. The number of children residing in the district on the last day of September previous to the 
making such report, between the ages of five and twenty -one years, and the names of the parents or 
other persons with whom such children respectively reside, and the number of children residing witb 

5th. The amount of money paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the public money paid therefor, 
the amount of taxes levied in said district for purchasing school-houses, sites for building, hiring, pur- 
chasing, repairing and insuring school-bouses, for fuel, for district liabraries, or for any other purpose 
allowed by law, and such other information in relation to the schools and the district as the superin- 
tendent of public instruction may from time to time require. 

§ 11. The board of education shall provide that each department shall be visited by a committee of 
one or more of their number at least once in each term. 

g 12. The academical department to be established as aforesaid, shall be under the visitation of the 
regents of the university of this State, and shall be subject to its course of education, and matters per- 
taining thereto (but not in reference to the buildings or erections in which the same is conducted, unless 
in case the buildings or erections aforesaid are separate from those of the common school department) 
to all the regulations made in regard to academies by the said regents; and in such department, the 
qualifications, for the entrance of any pupil shall be the same as those established by the said regents 
for admission into any academy of the State under their supervision ; and such academical department 
shall share in the distribution of the income of the literature fund, with acadamies in the State, subject 
to the visitation of the regents of the university. Such academical department shall be known as the 
Hornell Free Academy, and shall be forever free to all persons of school age, who are residents of the 
said district, and who shall comply with the regulations of said board of education. 

g 13. It is hereby provided that in case the board of education shall deem it expedient to purchase 
additional sites or lots and to erect additional buildings tor the use ot said school, or to erect a building 
for an academy in said district, they shall submit the question to a vote of the tax payers of the district, 
at the annual meeting, or at a special meeting called for that purpose, specifying the amount to be 
raised and the manner of raising it, which vote shall be taken by ballot, and if a majority of the per- 
sons voting shall be in favor of the propositions of the board of education, then they shall have the 
power to raise the sum of money voted for that purpose by tax on the real and personal property in 
said district, which shall be liable to taxation for town and county charges, in like manner as other 
taxes are raised in said district; and the board of education are authorized and directed, when neces- 
sary, to borrow in anticipation the amount of taxes to be raised, collected and levied as aforesaid, and 
give the bonds of the district, signed by the president of the board of education and under the seal of 
the district, as security for the repayment of the money so borrowed. The moneys to be raised and 
paid in annual installments, or otherwi>e. as the board shall deem expedient; such proposition, stating 
the object thereof, shall be first published in all the newspapers published in said district, at least two 
weeks before said meeting, 

g 14. This act shall extend over and be applicable to all the territory lying within the bounds of dis- 
trict number seven, of the town of Hornellsville; and the otiice of school commissioner, so far as is 
applicable to said district, except as herein provided, is hereby abolished. 

g 15. This act shall take effect the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and all acts 
and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

g l(i. There shall be five trustees in said school district number seven : one of whom shall he elected 
at each annual meeting of said district, and those hereafter so elected shall hold their office for the term 
of five years. {Added by chap. 294, Laws of 1S81. ) 

§ 17. There shall be a special school meeting held at the village hall, in the said village of Hornellsville, 
in said district, on the last Tuesday of June next, at two o'clock in the afternoon of thatda}', to elect 
the two additional trustees required by this act, and the clerk of said district shall give the same notice 
of said special meeting now required by law for an annual meeting; and at said special meeting the 
electors of said district shall elect one trustee for four, and one trustee ibr five year, from the Wednes- 
day ner.t following the second Tuesday of October last past, and shall designate by their votes for which 
term each is elected, and said trustees so elected, tugethei' with the trustees now in office, and their 
successors, shall constitute che board of education of the village of Hornellsville. {Added by chap.2\)i.. 
Laws of 1881. ) 

HUDSON. 
IChap. 55, Laws of 1881.] 

Section!. The, .superintendents of public schools in and for the city of Hudson, appointed by the 
common council of said city, and in office when this act takes effect, shall hold their office until 
the expiration of the term for which they were respectively appointed, and until a successor or succes- 
sors shall be appointed and qualifled. And all their official acts and proceedings taken or had by them 
heretofore shall be held and adjudged in all respects valid and binding upon all the parties thereto. 

g 2. Said superintendents and their successors, as hereinafter provided, shall constitute a board to 
be hereafter styled " The board of education of the city of Hudson," which .shall consist of five mem- 
bers, and be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred by this act, and thiee 
members of said board .^hall form a quorum for the transaction of business. The common council of 
said city shall, at the regular monthly meeting held in the month of May in each year, appoint one 
member for the board of education in place of the member whose term of office shall expire on the fol- 
lowing first day of June. The term of offi-e of such member shall commence on the first day of June 
following such appointment, and shall continue for five years. Should a vacancy occur, otherwise 
than by expiration of term of office, the common council "shall appoint some person to fill the unex- 
pired term ot the member whose term of office has become vacant. The members of the board of edu- 
cation appointed pursuant to the provisions of this section shall respectively, before enteringupon the 
duties of their office, file with the city clerk a bond to the eity of Hudson "in the penal sum of two 
thousand dollars, ana with such .sureties as the common council shall direct; the said bond to be con- 
ditioned that the principals therein, respectively, shall and will faithfully perform the duties of their 
office, and account for all money to be received by them, or drawn from the funds in the hands of the 
city treasurer by virtue of this act; the form ot such bond, and the sufficiency of such sureties, to be 
approved by the common council. 

g 3: Any member of said board may be removed by said common council for malfeasance or mis- 
feasance in office, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of said common council, upon written 
charges and '-■pecifications of such misconduct being presented to said common council, signed by one 
member of said common council, or by one member of said boardjof education; provided, however that 
a copy of such charges and specifications shall be personally .served on the member sought to be 
removed, at least twenty days before the hearing and examination of such charges and specifications 



856 HuDSOir, 

by the cominon council, or a committee thereof, ana at such hearing and examination said member 
shall have full opportunity to cross-examine the witness, to present evidence, and bo heard in liisown 
behalf. In case euch charges and specitications are proved and sustained, the defending member of 
said board shall pay all expenses and counsel fees incurred by him in his defense. 

i 4. The said board of education shall hold their first meeting within ten days after receiving from 
the Secretary of State a certified copy of this act, and the annual meetings of said board shall beheld 
on the first Monday of July in each year. At the first meeting, and at the annual meetings in 
each year thereafter, said board shall organize. by the election of one of their members as president, 
and when said president shall be absent, such board shall elect a president pre tem., who shall possess 
all the powers of the president at such meeting. The said board shall meet as often as cnce In each 
month. Special meetings may be called by the president, or any three of its members by giving per- 
sonal notice to each member, or causing a written or printed notice of such meeting to be left at his 
last place of residence at least twenty-four hours before such meeting. No member of said board shall 
be entitled to or receive any fee or compensation for his services, but the said board mav, at their 
annual or other regular meeting, designate and appoint some suitable person — not a member of the 
board — by a vote of not less than a majority of the entire board, to act as superintendent of public 
schools for the ensuing school year, and such person so appointed shall receive such salary as the board 
may direct, not to exceed one thousand dollars per annum. Such superintendent may be removed at 
any rime by the said board, and in case of removal or resignation at any time he shall be entitled to 
receive only the pro rata share or portion of such annual compensation as may be then due. The 
acting superintendent, who has had general supervision of the public schools since September first, 
eighteen hundred and eighty, shall be held to have been appointed, according to law, and shall hold 
said ofQce under this act as above, or until a successor be appointed ; and the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction shall apportion to the city of Hudson, from the school moneys of the State, the same 
amount as provided for other cities Avhere special supervision of the schools is maintained. Said 
appropriation to begin with the school year in which this act is passed. 

§5. The superintendent appointed under the provisions of this act, or some member the board 
designate, shall be the secretary, or secretary pro tem. of said board of education, and perform the 
duties thereof, but shall receive no compensation other than that to be paid to him as superintendent 
under the provisions of this act. He shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board and perform 
such other duties in connection with the schools as said board may prescribe. The said records, or a 
trani=cript thereof, certified by the secretary or secretary pro tem., shall be received in all courts as 
prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth, and such records, and all the books, accounts, 
vouchers and papers of said board shall at all reasonable times be subject to the inspection of the 
common council, or a committee of the same. 

§ 6. Said board of education shall have the power and it shall be their duty— 

1st. To divide the city into school districts, to establish, organize and reorganize such and so many 
schools in said city, including the common schools now established therein, as they shall deem 
requisite and expedient, and to discontinue the same. 

2d. To purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lot> or sites for school -houses, and upon such lots and 
■upon any sites now owned by said city, and used for school purposes, to build, enlarge, improve, alter, 
and repair school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, subject to the provisions of this act. 

3d. To purchase, improve and exchange school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, and to 
have charge of all the real and personal property of said city, provided for school purposes, including 
the Joint school district library of the city of Hudson, make all proper and necessary regulations con- 
cerning the same, and they may appropriate for tho benefit of said library or for apparatus necessary 
for the schools, out of the moneys annually raised in the said city for school purposes, an amount not 
exceeding one hundred dollars in addition to the library money received from the State, and see 
that the ordinances of the common council in relation thereto are observed. 

4th. To appoint a librarian who shall, under their direction, have special charge of the library, and 
to pay the said librarian a salary not exceeding fifty dollars per annum out of the school funds of the 
city. 

5th. Todefrayall the expenses connected with the schools out of the moneys provided for school 
purposes. 

6th. To examine, license, employ, and pay all teachers of the schools under their charcre and at their 
pleasure remove them. No teacher employed as such shall be a member of the board of education. 

7th. To determine the kind of class-books to be used in the several schools. The books thus adopted 
to be uniform throughout all the schools as near as may be. 

8th. To have the superintendence, supervision and management of the public schools of said city, 
and adopt alter and repeal rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, 
for the reception of pupils and for their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the pro- 
motion of their good order and utility. 

9th. The said board of education shall also have power to allow the children of persons not residents 
of Hudson to attend the schools of said city upon such terms as the board shall by resolution prescribe. 
The money so received from non-residents to be used for school purposes. 

§7. No person shall be eligible or appointed to the olRce of member of the board of education who 
shall at the same time be a member of the common council, nor unless at the time of his appointment 
he shall be a resident of the city and an elector; and whenever such appointee shall cease to be a resi- 
dent his office shall thereby become vacant. 

§ 8. No officer of said board of education, or any other person, shall have power to make or shall make 
any purchases, create any liability, or contract any debt'on the part of said board, unless specially 
authorized by said board, or by his title so tod'^, and no account, claim or demand shall be audited, 
allowed or paid by said board unless the same, was so authorized : nor shall any member of said board 
be directly or indirectly interested in any contract made by said board. 

§ 9. Each member of the board shall visit all the schools under their charge not less than once in each 
year, and said board shall provide that each school shall be visited by a committee of their number at 
least once in each term. 

§10, The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and 
all other school property, shall be vested in the city of Hudson, and the same, while used or appropri- 
ated for school purposes, shall not be levied or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution, nor be sub- 
ject to taxation for any purposes whatever. And the said city in its corporate capacity shall be able 
to take, hold and dispose of any personal or real estate transferred to it by grant, gift, bequest or devise 
for the use of the schools of sai<l city, whether the same be transferred in terms to said city by its proper 
stvle or by any other designation, or to any person or persons or body for the use of said schools. 

§ 11. The common council of said city may. by a two-thirds vote of all its members, upon the recom- 
mendation of said boaid of education, sell any of the school-houses, sites, lots, or any of the school 
property now or hereafter belonging 1o said city, upon such terms as the common council shad deem 
reasonable ; the proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of said city, and deposited to 



HUI^TIKGTON. 857 

the credit of the board of education, and shall be b3' said boaid expended in the purchase, repairs or 
improvement of school building^;, lots, sites, or school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 

i 12. The common council ofsaicl citv of Hudson, at the regular monthly meeting in January in each 
year, sliali appropriate out of the general fund raised under the i)rovisions of the city charter, for the 
annual expenses and general purposes of the common schools of the city of Hudson, an amount not 
less than seven thousand dollars. 

i 13. In case any school building shall be destroyed by fire or otherwise, or in case any school build- 
ing shall be in the opinion of the board of education unfit for school purposes, or in case it shall be 
necessary, in the opinion of said boarti, to add to, to enlarge, or repair any existing school buildings, 
their out-houses or appurtenances, then, upon the recommendation of four-tiftlisof the members of 
the board of education, the common council of the city of Hudson may, by a vote ot two thirds of all 
the members thereof, raise the amount necessary for such purpose on the credit of the city, and pay 
and discharge the same from the sum raised for city purposes, in accordance with the provisions of 
section forty-one of title four of the city charter, except that should the amount required exceed the 
sum of one thousand dollars, the common council may issue bonds of such form as such council shall 
prescribe, for the amount exceeding such sum of one thousand dollars, at a rate of interest not exceed- 
ing six p'-r cent per annum, ami payable at the rate of one thousand dollars a year; said sum of one 
thousand dollars, and the interest on all bonds remaining unpaid and issued in accordance with 
the provisions of this section, to be paid out of the sum raised, in accordance with the provisions of 
section forty-one of title four of the city charter. Said amount shall not in the aggregate exceed the 
sum of rtve thousand dollars, in any one year, for the purpose of adding to, enlarging or repairing any 
existing school building. Nor shall more than ten thousand dollars be expended in the erection of 
anyone school buikhng; nor shall the number of school sites be increased, or a school-house or 
school-houses in addition to the number now existing be erected, except by a majority vote of the tax 
payers of the city at an election held for that purpose, subject to the provisions of title seven of the 
city charter. 

§ 14. All moneys appropriated, raised or received pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all 
school moneys a|)propriated or provided by law for said city, shall be paid to the treasurer of said city, 
who shall, with his sureties upon his official bond, be accountable therefor, and shall be liable for 
official misconduct in relation to such moneys in the same manner and to tlie same extent in every 
way as for other moneys, and similar misconduct in relation to other moneys of said city. All mon- 
eys so raised, appropriated and provided for school purposes shall be deposited to the credit of the 
board ol eilucation of said city, separate and distinct from any othtr funds by the treasurer of the city. 
The said city treasurer shall pay out such moneys upon drafts drawn by the president, and counter- 
signed by the secretary of said board of education, and no such drafts shall be drawn except by virtue 
of a resolution of said board, and shall be made payable to the person or persons entitled to receive the 
same, or to their order. 

§ 15. The said board may cause suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the city of Hudson upon 
the official bond of tlie treasurer of the city of Hudson for any default or official misfeasance or mal- 
feasance in relation to any of the moneys appropriated or raised for school purposes. 

§ 16. Whenever in the opinion of the board it may be advisable, it shall be their duty to recommend 
to the common council of the city of Hudson such ordinances as they may deem necessary to carry the 
foregoing powers into execution, and annually, on or before the montlily meeting in October in each 
year, to certify the sums necessary or proper to be raised under the preceding sections of this act, to 
make the ainnial report to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction on or before the tirst day of 
November of such matters as shall be required, and on or before the last Thursday of December in 
each year, to report to the common council of the city of Hudson a detailed statement of the receipts 
and disbursements for the school year next preceding such report. 

g 17. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the common council immediately after the appointment of 
any person as member of said board of education, in writing, to notify him of his appointment, and if 
such person shall not, within ten days after receiving such notice, take and tile with said clerk the 
constitutional oath of office, the common council may consider it a refusal to serve, and proceed to fill 
the vacancy occasioned by such refusal. 

§ 18. This act shall take effect immediately, and all existing provisions of laws relating to the com- 
mon schools of the city of Hudson are hereby repealed. 

[Chap. 298. Laws of 1886. | 
Entitled " An act to provide for borrowing money upon the credit of the city of Hudson, to erect a 
public school building in said city, and procure site therefor." 

HUNTINGTON.. 

[Chap. 387, Laws of 1857.1 

Section 1. School districts numbers three, four and five of Huntington, in the county of Suffolk, are 
hereby consolidated for the purposes in this act specified, and shall hereafter for such purposes form 
but one school district, to be called the union school district of Huntington. 

2 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board to be styled "the board of education," 
which board shall consist of six members, four or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business, George A. Scudder, Brewster Conkhn, Smith Woodhull. Brewster Skidmore, 
Richard R. Post and George W. Conklin, shall compose the first board of education, who shall be 
divided into three equal classes, each class containing two members, and shall determine by lot their 
respective terms of office, so that the first class shall serve to the first annual meeting ensuing; the 
second one year and the third two years from said meeting. 

§ 3. At the annual meeting of said district, to be held on the first Monday in January in each year, 
there shall bo elected for three years, two members of said board of education, who shall be residents 
and taxable inhabitants of said district, as also a clerk, librarian and collector, lor one year; and in 
case of a vacancy of any office in said board or other office of the district, occasioned by the death of 
such officer, his refusal to serve, removal out of the district, or any cause other than the expiration of 
the term of office of persons elected, said board of education may make an appointment to fill such 
vacancy until the next annual meeting. 

g 3. At the annual meeting of said district, to be held on the second Tuesday in October in each year, 
there shall be elected, for three years, two members of the said board of education, who shall be 
residents and taxable inhabitants of said district; also, a clerk of the district, and a librarian for one 
year; and in case of a vacancy in said board, or other office of the district, occasioned by death, 
refusal to serve or removal from the district, or any cause other than expiration of term of office of 
po'-^ons f>1octed, said bon'-.i of pduca^on rnnv make an anpointment to fill such vacancy until the next 
annual meeting. (As amended by chap. 769, Laivs of 1868. ) 

108 



858 HUNTINGTOJS^ 

? ^,Pv''.^ V^'J'"'^ ^^ oducafion shall possess all the powers and be sijbject to all the duties in respect to 
said district that the tmstees of common schools now possess, and snch other powers an<l duties as are 
Riven or imposed by this act. 

§5. The legal voters of said district, at any annual, special or adjourned meeting lecallv held 
may vote to raise such sum of money as they shall deem expedient, for the purpose 'of purchasing 
a site and building a school-house in said district, or for the purpose of purchasing anv suitable 
building and site for such purpose, to erect suitable out-buildings, to inclose the same with a 
suitable tence, and for such other improvements as may be considered necessary, and also direct 
the board of education to cause the same to be levied bv installments, and make'out a tax list for 
the collection of the same, as often as such installments shall become due; and the said board 
of eilucation are hereby authorized to obtain by l"an the whole or anv part of the monev le"-allv 
"^i^'^^'L'^'i.^*"-^ distrut. and secure the payment of the same by their ofBcial bond as representatives 
or sala district, as also to collect by tax from said district a sum sufficient to pay interest on said 
loans. 

i 6. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to make such by-laws and 
regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government of said school, 
and divide the same into primary and higher departments, and regulate the transfer of scholars from 
one department to the other, and provide suitable instructors for each department, direct what text- 
books sball be used in the same, purchase fuel and other necessaries for the use of the school or schools 
in said district; and all contracts made by them in their official capacitv shall be binding upon them 
and their siiccessors in office ; to fix and regulate the terms of tuition fees in said primarv and other 
higher branches in said school or schools, to sue for and collect in their corporate name any sum of 
money due to said district, to receive and apply to the uses of said school or schools, or any department 
thereof, aiiy gitt, legacy, bequest or annuities, given or bequeathed to said district for the purposes of 
said school or schools, and apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the terms 
and mstruction3 of the donor or testator ; to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, 
management and control of said school or schools, and to hire, pay and discharge any teacher emplos'ed 
by them in said schools. 

5 7. Said board of education shall in all respects be sublect to the restriction and control of the 
commissioner of com m on schools for the district in the same manner as the common schools in this 
State are sut:Ject. 

5 8. Every person elected or appointed to any office mentioned in this act who, without sufficient 
cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars, and every person so elected or 
appointed, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of Buch office, 
shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of said board 
forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recovered to apply 
the same to the purposes of education in said district. 

i 9. The trustees of said districts numbers three, four and five, holding office at the time of the 
passing of this act, shall, as soon as it can be done conveniently, sell, at public auction or private sale, 
as they shall deem expedient, the district property in their respective districts, and after paying the 
Just debts of the respective districts, apportion the balance so received from each district among the 
taxable inhabitants thereof in the ratio of their several assessments upon the last assessment roll of 
the town. 

[Chap. 306, Laws of 1870.] 

An act to exempt the Union School district of Huntington from certain of the provisions of chapter 
five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, as amended by chapter 
four hundred and six of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, being an act entitled "An act 
to amend an act entitled 'An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruc- 
tion,' passed May second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and 1o abolish rate bills authorized by 
special act," and to enable saidt'nion school to take and receive the benefits of the bequest of 
Nathaniel Potter, deceased, known as the " Potter School Fund," and to provide for the payment of 
teachers' wages. 

Section 1. In addition to the duties imposed upon the teachers by section fifty-three of title seven of 
chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixt.v-four, as amended by 
chapter four hundred and six of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixtj'-seven, the teachers of the 
union school district of Huntington shall keep a record of the names of the parents and guardians of all 
children attending said school. 

§ 2. It shall be the duty of the board of education of the tmion school district of Huntington, on or 
before the second Tuesday of October, in each and every year, to ascertain from the teacher's list and 
make out a statement of the names of the parents or guanlians of children attending said school, and 
of persons sending children to said school, and the number of children each has sent, and the number 
of days each child has attended, and also a written statement of the proportion of such parents, guard- 
ians, or persons vv'ho havosent children to school, of the balance necessary to be raised, beyond the pub- 
lic moneys apportioned to the district, for the payment of teachers' svages, each in proportion to the 
number of days, and children sent by such parent, guardian or person : and also a written list of the 
parents of said children attending school, whose names are not on the tax list, and of those whose 
names stand lowest on the tax list. 

23. The said board of education, within ten days thereafter, shall present said statement and list, 
under their hands, to the trustees of the fund bequeathed to said school by Nathaniel Potter, deceased, 
and known as " The Potter School Fund," to enable said trustees to apply the moneys in their hands to 
the education of the children whose parents' names are not on the tax hst, and in case of any surplus, 
to apply the same toward the education of children whose parents stand lowest on the tax list, until 
the v/hole is absorbed, according to the provisions of said bequest. 

§ 4. The inhabitants of said school district entitled to vote at the annual school meeting, when duly 
assembled at such meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present, to vote a tax 
to pay whatever deficiency there may be in funds for the payment of teachers' wages ; the amount of 
which deficiency shall be ascertained by deducting from the whole amount the public moneys appor- 
tioned to the district, and all moneys in the hands of the trustees of the Potter school fund then appli- 
cable to the education of the children of the poor in said school district ; and if the inhabitants shall 
neglect or refuse to vote a tax for this purpose, or if they shall vote a tax which shallprove Insufficient 
to cover such deficiency, then the board of education are authorized, and it is hereby made their duty, 
to raise bv district tax any reasonable sum that may be necessary to pay the balance of teachers' 
wages remaining unpaid, the same as if such tax had been authorized by a vote of the inhabitants. 

§ 5. Section sixteen, title seven, chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred 
and sixty-four, as amended by chapter four hundred and six (section eight) of the laws of eighteen 
hundred and sixty-seven, shall not apply to the union school district of Huntington. 

? 6. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are to be deemed innnni'—: e 
to the union school district of Huntington. 



IsLiP. 859 



ISLIP. 

[Chap. 4.'^5, Larvs of IS65. ] 

Shctio!! 1. School district number twelve, in the town of Islip, in the conntyof Suffolk, shall form a 
Union fi-ee school district. 

J 2. The said district shall bo under the direction of a board to be stvled "the board of education," 
6uch board to consist of three members, two of whom shall constitute a ouornra for the transaction of 
business. Robert W. Pearsall, Stephen Sharp and William Metcalf shall compose the first board of 
education, and shall hold their office from one to three years, from the second Tuesday in October next, 
that is to say, one shall so out of office in each year, and in the inverse order In which their names 
stand recorded in this section. 

§3. At the annual meeting held in said district in eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and at each 
annual meeting thereafter, tli^rc shall be elected one member of said board of education, who shall 
holil his office for the term of three years, and who shall be a resident and tax payer in said 
district. 

§4. The said board of education shall, at their first meeting, choose one of their number president, 
and one clerk, and one treasurer, who shall hold office until the annual meeting of said board. The 
said board of education shall also appoint one of the taxal)le inhabitants of their district collector of 
the moneys raised and to be raised within the same tor school purposes, who shall hold such 
appointment during the pleasure of the board. The said treasurer and collector shall each execute 
a bond conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties and with such sureties as the board shall 
approve. 

§5. Tiie said board of education may make such by-laws as they may deem necessary for their own 
government ; they shall have the entire control and management of all tlio common schools within 
their said district, and all property belonging to the same; they shall require one of the members of 
said board to visit each school in said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to 
the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to sec that the rules and regulations are 
strictly enforced. And the said board of education shall have the power to take by purchase or by 
devise, and to hold any real and personal estate necessary for the purposes of this act, and also to sell 
and convey the school-house or school-houses and site or sites situated in their thstrict, and to execute 
and deliver good and valid conveyances therefor when authorized by a majority of votes of the tax 
payers of the said district present at a special meeting called for that purpose. 

§ 6. Said board of education shall have the power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by tax 
once in each year upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, as the same shall have 
been last assessed by the town assessors of the town in which said district is situated, such sums as said 
board shall estimate to be necessary for the following purposes : 

1. Topav teachers' wages; 

2. To alter, repair and improve the school-houses belonging to said district and their appurtenances ; 

3. To hire sites, school-housas and rooms for the use of said school district when necessary ; 

4. To insure the school-houses and property belonging to said district ; 

5. To pay ail necessary contingent expenses of said school district and board of education. 

J 7. All moneys belonging to the said district shall be deposited in a bank or trust company to be des- 
ignated by the board of education. No moneys shall be paid out, except by direction of said board, and 
upon the order of the p'esident, countersigned by the secretary. 

gd. Whenever said board of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school-houses 
in said district or to enlarge that or those already built, they shall submit, the plans and estimated 
cost of such buildings and of furnishing the same, to the voters of the said district, at an annual 
meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose; ami if a majority of such voters present 
shall vote in favor of the same, the said board may proceed to carry the said improvements into full 
eflect. 

? 9. The said board of education, in addition to the other taxes which they are authorized to raise by 
this act, may levy and collect a sum sufficient to pay interest on loans as the same- becomes due; and 
whenever any part of the p-incipal of said loans becomes due, they shall levy and collect an amount 
sufficient to pay the same, which s ;ras, when collected, shall ba paid over by said board in discharge 
of such principal and interest; and thi said board shall add to the amount of any wnr rant for 
the collection of taxes such amount as they shall deem pro. ler as the collector's feesforcoHectioniWhicli 
compensation, however, shall in no c ise excee'i five per cent on the amount of any wa- rant. 

§ I'j. The pubhc schools in the district shall be free to all the children residing in the district ; and the 
Baid board of education may permit persons not residents within the said district to attend such schools 
on s-.ich terms as they shall prescribe ; and the said board may, in their corporate name, and for the 
benefit of the said district, sue for and recover of the father or mother, master or mistress, or any 
person under whose charg-3 such noa-resident child or children may be, all such sums as shall be so 
prescribed with costs of suit. 

§ 11. The supervisor of the town of Islip, or snch other officer as may be authorized to receive the 
school moneys from the county treasurer for said town, shall pay over to the treasurer of the said dis- 
trict all the public moneys in his hands apportioned to the said district number twelve. 

g 12. The collector of this school district shaU, in the collection of any tax authorized by this act, 
proceed in the same manner and have all the powers which collectors of town and county taxes now 
possess. 

? 13. The said board of education shall submit a full report in writing, at the annual meeting, of said 
district, of their doings as such board, and they shad state thei-ein the number attending their schools; 
how many white children and how many colored; the condition of schools in said district under their 
charge and the number thereof ; the studies pursued; the amount of monev received from the State 
and other sources, as well as the amount raised in the district for school purposes^ and the expenditure 
of the same, and generall/ 1 1 1 1 ■ particulas r 'I uiti-; t) school-; in th3 district. 

I 14. The board of education shall have control and charge of the district school library in said dis- 
trict. They may employ a librarian, make such additions to the library and such regulations therefor 
as they shall deem necessary. 

§ lo, A school for colore 1 children miv be o''(:anlzed by said board, and be supported in the same 
m mner as other schools shall be supported under and by virtue of this act. 

§ 16. The said board of education may call special mp"tings of said district whenever thcv may deem 
it necessary; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof in at 
least six pubhc places in said district, and by publishing the same in the newspapers published in said 
district at least one week previous to the time fixed for such meeting, and state the purpose for which 
the same is called ; and no business shall be transacted at any such special meeting except that stated 
in the notice calling the same. 

§ 17. In all respects, exct^pt as expressly provided otherwise by this act, the said district shall be held 
and regarded as organized under an I subject to the provisions of title nine, chapter five hundred and 
fifty-five, 01 th'^ Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and the amendments thereto that are or may 
hereaft/^'- be made. 



860 Ithaca. 

ITHACA. 

iChap. 125, Laws of 1874.] 
An act to provide for the establishment.of a system of graded schools in the village of Ithaca. 

Section 1. All school districts and parts of school districts in the village of Ithaca, together with that 
portion of territory directly east of and adjoining said village corporation, and bounded as follows • On 
the east by a line parallel to the east boundary of said corporation and distant one hundred and twenty 
rods therefrom ; on the north and south, respectively, by continuations of the north and south bound- 
ary lines of the said corporation ; and on the west by the said village corporation, shall, for the purpo- 
ses hereinafter mentioned, form one school district, to be called " the Union School district of the vil- 
lage of Ithaca." Said district shall not be altered except by legislative enactment. 

f 2. Douglass Boardman, Benjamin h\ Taber, John L. Whiton, William L. Bostwick Rufus Bates 
John Gauntlett, Francis M. Finch, Peter B. Crandall, Joseph C. King, Henry D. Donnelly Marcus Lyon 
and Edward S. Esty, are hereby appointed commissioners of the aforesaid union school district and 
the said persons hereby appointed, and their successors, to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby 
constituted a body corporate in relation to all the powers and duties conferred or imposed by law, to 
be styled " The Board of Education of the village of Ithaca," and are hereby invested with all the 
powers and charged with all the duties conferred upon them by this act. A majority of-the commis- 
sioners shall constitute a quorum. 

2 3. The commissioners hereinbefore mentioned shall meet and organize within twenty days after the 
passage of this act. At the said meeting they shall divide themselves into three classes of four each, 
and it shall be determined by lot who shall belong to each class. Those belonging to the first class 
shall hold office until the second Tuesday in October, one thousand eight hundred and stventy-ttve; 
those of the second class until the second Tuesday in October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
six ; and those of the third class until the second Tuesday in October, one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-seven, and until their successors shall be elected and enter upon the duties of their offices 
respectively. 

?4- At a regular election of village officers of the village of Ithaca, to be held on the first Tuesday in 
March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and annually thereafter at each said village elec- 
tion, there shall be chosen, in the same manner as other village officers are chosen and by a vote of all 
the inhabitants legally qualified to vote at a district school meeting in this State, four commissioners, 
to fill the places of those whose terms of office expire on the second Tuesday of October next succeed- 
ing such election. The conmiissioners thus chosen shall hold their respective offices for the terra of 
three years from the second Tuesday in October next succeeding their election, and until their success- 
ors shall be elected and enter upon the duties of their offices respectively. This act shall not be so 
construed as to disqualify any commissioner aforesaid for re-election. The collector of the village of 
Ithaca shall be the coUectov ex-officio of the said " Union School district of the village of Ithaca," and 
his authority and jurisdiction shall extend to all taxes levied by the said board of education of the vil- 
lage of Ithaca during his term of office as such village collector, and shall continue until his final set- 
tlement with said board of education as required by section twelve of this act. (As amended by sec. 1, 
chop. 46, Laivs of 1877.1 

§ 5. The commissioners elected by virtue of this act shall, before entering upon the duties of their 
office, take and file with the clerk of the county of Tompkins the oath of office prescribed by the con- 
stitution of this State, and they shall be members of the board of education of the said union school 
district. The board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to fill all vacancies in the 
said board which may occur from any other cause than the expiration of their term of office. The 
commissioners so appointed shall hold their offices for the unexpired term of those to supply whose 
places they were appointed. 

f 6. Any member of the board of education may, for neglect of duty, or either immoral or official 
misconduct, be removed from office by the board, by a vote of two-thirds present at any regularly 
called meeting thereof; but, before final action thereon, a written copy of the charges preferred against 
said member shall be served upon him, and he shall be allowed an opportunity to explain or refute 
them. Any member of said board may resign his office by giving one month's previous notice, in 
writing, to the said board, who may, if they deem the reason sufficient, accept the same. 

2 7. At the first meeting of the board of education, and at each annual meeting thereafter, they shall 
elect one of their number president of the board, and whenever he shall be absent, or unable to act, 
they shall appoint a president pro tempore. At their first meeting the board shall fix the time for their 
next annual meeting, and, unless changed by a resolution of the board, the time thus fixed shall be 
the time for future annual meetings. The board of education shall receive no compensation for their 
services. 

§8. The board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, 
and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special nieetings may be called by the president, or in case of 
his absence or inability to act, by any member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal 
notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his residence, 
with some person of suitable age and discretion, at least twenty-four hours before the time for such 
special meeting. 

J 9. The board of education shall appoint a secretary and librarian, who shall hold their offices during 
the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the said board; and the same per- 
son may hold the office of secretary and librarian. The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings 
of the board and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The lilirarian shall have 
charge of the library or libraries of the district, and may appoint such assistants as may be necessarj', 
from time to time, and such assistants may be removed at any time by the board of education. The 
record of the board of education, or a transcript thereof, certified by the secretary, shall be received in 
all courts as primafacie evidence of facts therein stateil, and such record, the books, accounts, vouch- 
ers and papers of the said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the trustees of the vil- 
lage, or any committee thereof, or any tax payer, and a transcript thereof may be taken. 

J 10. The" board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise by tax to be levied 
upon all the real and personal estate in said union school district which shall be liable to taxation for 
town or county charges, such sums as may be determined upon to be necessary and proper, for any or 
all the following purposes, for the current year : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses ; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, alter and repair school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances thereto 
belonging ; 

3. To purchase, exchange, Improve and repair schoo' apparatus and provide suitable and necessary 
text-books for the pupils of the several schools under their care ; provided, however, that it shall ba 



Ithaca. 861 

optional with said board of education to provide suitable and necessary text^books for the pupils attend 
ing the high school. (As amended by sec. 3, chap. 4(>, Lau)s of 1877. ) 

4. To procure fuel and defray the necessary expenses of keeping the school-houses in order, exclusive 
of repairs, including insurance ; 

.5. To defray the contingent expenses of the several schools and the district library or libraries, includ- 
ing salary of librarian and superintendent) 

6. To defray the contingent expenses of the board of education, Including the salary of the secretary 
thereof ; 

7. To pay teachers' wages, after the application of the public money appropriated by lav? for that pur- 
pose: 

8. To pay charges or expenses incurred by law, or necessary to carry this act into effect, or to refund 
loans contracted by law, and to pay the interest thereon, or to pay such sums as shall be required to 
fuiflllany contract duly made under the provisions of this act, 

2 II. The tax aforesaid, and all other taxes to be levied and collected by virtue of this act, shall be 
assessed, and the tax list made out and delivered to the proper officer for collection, within thirty days 
after the same shall have been voted, except as herein otherwise provided. The said tax list or lists 
shall, in respect to manner, form and other particulars, be made out the same as school district tax lists 
are required to be made by sections sixty-five, sixty-six, sixty-seven, sixty-eight, seventy, seventy-one, 
seventy-two and seventy-four of title seven of the general school law of the State of New York. The 
board of education shall attach to said tax list or lists their warrant for its collection, directed to the 
proper officer, and signed by the president and secretary of the board, The said warrant shall be the 
same in form as a warrant issued by the trustees of a school district of the State, and it shall have a 
like force and effect as are given to a warratit of the trustees Of a school district by section eighty-one 
of title seven of the general school law of the State. The board of education may renew, from time 
to time, as they shall deem proper, any warrant issupd for the collection of any tax assessed by them 
by virtue of this act. The said board may amend and correct any tax list made out by them, when 
any error shall have been discovered, in the manner and lorm prescribed by section eighty-seven of 
title seven of the general school law of the State, 

The board of education, upon delivering any tax list and warrant to the collector, shall retain a 
copy of the same for themselves, and shall take a receipt from the collector for the said tax list 
and warrant, which receipt shall specify the amount to be collected, and the return day of the said 
tax list. 

The board of education shall also, immediately upon the delivery of any tax list to the collector, 
publish a notice thereof in two of the village papers, designating some convenient place where said 
collector shall attend on Monday and Saturday of each week, for four successive weeks next after the 
delivery to him of said tax roll and warrant, from nine o'clock in the morning to six o'clock in the 
afternoon, for the purpose of receiving said taxes. 

It shall be the duty of the collector, before receiving any warrant for the collection of money, to exe- 
cute a bond to the board of education, with two or more sureties to be approved by the said board in 
such amount as they shall deem reasonable, conditioned for the due and faithful execution of the duties 
of his office. His iurisdiction under this act shall extend to all the territory embraced in the said union 
school district. Also, he shall have the same power to execute the warrants delivered to him beyond 
the limits of the district as is given to the collector of a school district by section eighty-five of the 
general school law of the State. 

2 12. It shall be the duty of the collector of the village of Ithaca, after receiving any tax list from 
the board of education, to attend at the place and time designated by the board In their published 
notice, as provided by section eleven of this act, and receive such taxes as may be there and then 
tendered to him. He shall receive for his services on all sums paid in as aforesaid and all other sums 
paid before the expiration of four weeks after receiving such tax list and warrant, one per cent ; on all 
sums collected by him after the expiration of the time mentioned he shall receive three per cent; and 
in case a levy and sale shall be necessarily made by said collector, he shall be entitled to traveling fees 
at the rate often cents per mile, to be computed from the academy or high school building of the village 
of Ithaca. All such percentages and fees he shall collect as above in addition to the taxes so paid to 
or collected by him. It shall be the duty of ths collector, before the expiration of his warrant, to pay 
over all moneys received by him by virtue of its authoritj', except his percentage of compensation, to 
the treasurer of the village of Ithaca, whose receipt shall be his sufficient vouclier therefor. He shall 
settle with the board of education, at their first regular monthly meeting after the final expiration of 
such warrant, and shall account to them for all moneys received by him upon the tax list delivered to 
him. He shall also comply with section seventy-five, title seven of the general school law, the same 
as Is required of the collector of any other school district of the State; in which case the board of 
education shall credit him with the amount to which he shall be entitled bj' virtue of the said section. 
(As amenderl by ace. 2, chap. 46, Laws of 1877.) 

g 13. It shall be the duty of the board of education to proceed with the account of money so 
credited to the collector, the same as trustees are directed to do under like circumstances, by section 
seventy-six, title seven of the school law aforesaid. And, further, all the provisions of sections 
seventy-seven, seventy-eight, seventy-nine and eighty of the said title of the general school law shall 
have the same application to the taxes of this union school district as to those of other school districts 
of the State. 

The board of education shall also have the same power to sue for and collect any tax as is given by 
section eighty-six of the aforesaid article of the general school law to trustees of school districts. In 
case the office of collector shall become vacant by the death, resignation, refusal or inability of the 
incumbent to act, the board by appointment may fill the vacancy for the unexpired term. And the 
said board are empowered to appoint a collector at their organization, Y^^ho shall hold his office until 
the second Tuesday In October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, 

2 14. The amount raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses shall not be less than two 
nor more than five times the amount appropriated to said union district, or the several districts com- 
posing the same, from all the common school funds of the State during the previous year; nor shall 
the amount raised in any one year for the purchase of sites, erecting and repairing school-houses 
and the appurtenances, exceed three thousand dollars, except as herein otherwise provided for. 

2 15. All moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law appro- 
priated to or provided for said union school district, shall be paid to the treasurer of the village of 
Ithaca, who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same 
manner as for other funds of said village, and the board of trustees of said village, in fixing the amount 
of the treasurer's sureties, shall include the moneys received by virtue of this act. The said treasurer 
shall be liable to the same penalties for official misconduct in relation to said moneys as for any similar 
misconduct in relation to other moneys of said village. 

2 16. All moneys raised by virtue of this act, or received from any other source, for the use of common, 
academic or high schools, in buildings therefor, shall be deposited with the treasurer for safe-keeping 



863 Ithaca. 

thereof, to the credit of the board of education, until drawn as hereinafter provided for, and the said 
treasurer shall keep the account of the funds thus deposited with him separate and distinct from any 
other funds which he is or may be authorized to receive. 

§ 17. The treasurer of the village of Ithaca shall, at the proper time in each year, draw upon the 
county treasurer or other proper officer for all moneys appropriated to said union district from the 
common school, literature, or other funds of this State ; and he is hereby authorized to receive the 
same for the said union district, as provided for in the preceding section. 

g IS. The treasurer shall pay out the moneys received by him by virtue of this act onlv upon drafts 
drawn by the president and countereigned by the secretary of the board of education, which drafts 
shall not be drawn except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be pay- 
able to the person or persons entitled to receive the money thereon, and shall state on what account 
said draft is drawn. 

The treasurer, when required to do so by the board of education, shall make to them a written state- 
mejit of the moneys received and disbursed by him on their account, together with the amount in his 
hands at the time of such statement. At the end of his official term he shall settle with the said board 
of education, and pay to his successor in office, to the credit of the said board, all moneys remaining 
in his hands subject to their order. He shall be entitled to the same percentage for receiving and pay- 
ing out the moneys committed to his charge by virtue of this act as he is by law entitled to receive. 
His compensation for receiving and disbursing the moneys committed to his charge by virtue of this 
act shall be determined by the board of education. 

§ 19. The board of education may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted, in their corporate name, 
upon the official bond of the treasurer or any collector of said village, for any default, delinquency or 
official misconduct in relation to the collection, safe-keeping and payment of any money in this act 
mentioned. 

§20. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To organize, establish and maintain such and so many schools in said union school district, includ- 
ing the common schools now existing therein, and including also any academy or high school, as they 
shall deem re()uisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 

2. To purchase and hire school-houses and rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and 
improve them. 

3. Upon such lots and sites owned by said village to build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school- 
houses, out-houses and appurtenances as they may deem advisable. 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for pupils (save as hereinbefore 
provided), furniture and appendages, and to provide fuel for the schools, pay the necessary insurance 
on buildings and school property, and to defray the contingent expenses of the school library. {As 
amended by sec. 4, chap. 46, Laws of 1877.) 

.5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses and all school property belonging to 
said union district, and to see that the ordinances of the board in relation thereto be observed. 

6. To contract wHh, examine, license and employ all teachers in said schools, and at their pleasure to 
remove them. 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the money appropriated and provided by law for the 
support of common schools in said union district or by this act. 

8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including the annual salary of the sec- 
retary of the board. 

9. To have in all respects the superinte7idence, supervision and management of the schools of said 
district, and, from time to time, to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules 
and regulations for their organization, government and in.struction, or the reception of pupils, and 
their transfer from one class to another, or from one school to another, and generally for their good 
order, prosperity and utility. 

10. To sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter 
belonging to the district, when authorized to do so by a majority vote at any regular or special election 
of the voters of the district, upon such terms as the board shall deem most advantageous; arid the 
proceeds of all sales shall be paid to the treasurer of the village of Ithaca, and shall be by said board of 
education expended in the purchase, repairs or improvements of school-houses, sites or appurtenances, 
furniture or apparatus. 

g 21. Whenever, in the opinion of the board of education, it shall become advisable to establish a high 
school or academy in connection with the school system by this act contemplated, and erect a suitable 
building therefor, they shall cause an estimate of the cost of a suitable site and building to be made, 
and shall cause the (luestion of raising the amount required by tax to be submitted to the decision of 
the voters of the union school district, in such manner as they deem best calculated to procure a fair 
expression from said voters. Incase the tax shall be voted, the same may be raised in installments, 
the amounts of which, and the times of payment, shall be left optional with the board of education. 
The provisions of this section shall extend to all amounts required for building school-houses, where 
the estimated cost exceeds three thousand dollars. 

§ 22. The trustees of Ithaca Academy are hereby authorized and empowered to transfer to the board 
of education hereby created, either immediately or at a future time, on such conditions as they shall 
deem most conducive to the cause of education, the right, title and interest in and to all the estate, 
real and personal, and all bequests belonging to said academy to be by them used for the purchase of 
such a site, the erection of suitable buildings, the organization of an academic or high school, or for the 
maintenance of an academy in connection with the general free school system contemplated in this act. 
The board of education, if they shall deem it necessary," may, with the advice and consent of the board 
of trustees aforesaid, organize and maintain primary, secondary or high schools, or either of them in, 
or cause them to be taught in connection with, the Ithaca Academy, on such terms and conditions 
and for such time as shall be deemed expedient by and between said board of education and the trus- 
tees of such academy. 

g 23. The academy connected with the school system contemplated by this act, when organized and 
when it has comphed with the necessary requirements, shall be recognized as one of the academies of 
this State, subject to the visitation of the Regents, and shall be entitled to participate in the distribu- 
tion of the income of the literature fund and other funds in the same manner and upon the same con- 
ditions as the other academies of the State; and the Regents of the University of the State of New 
York shall pay annually to the board of education of Ithaca the distributive share of the said funds to 
which the said academv shall be entitled. 

? 21. The board of education shall report annually the condition of the union school district of Ithaca 
to the school commissioner of the western district of Tompkins county, in the same manner and to the 
same extent as other school districts are by law required to report. The said commissioners, in mak- 
ing apportionment of school money, shall designate the amount due said union district separate from 
other school districts in the town of Ithaca, and certify the amount due said district for teachers' 



Ithaca. ^^3 



wages and library, to the treasurer of the village of Ithaca and also to the treasurer of Tompkins 
county. The said treasurer of Tompkins county shall, upon the draft of the treasurer of the village of 
Ithaca, pay annually to him the sum thus certified as due the said union school district. 

g 25. Each member of the board of education shall visit all the schools in said union school district, 
at least once in each year of his otticial term, and the said board of education shall provide that each 
of said schools shall be visited by a committee of their number, at least once in each term, who shall 
report, in writing, to said board the condition of each school, and make suggestions as they may deem 
proper. 

g 26. The schools organized under this act shall be free to all pupils between the ages of five and 
twenty-one years who are actual residents of said union school district. The board of education shall 
decide all questions of residence arising under this section. The said board may allow the children of 
non-residents to attend the schools of said district, and shall prescribe the rates for the tuition of such 
non-resiilents, payable always in advance. 

i 27. The said board of education shall be the trustees of the school district library of said union dis- 
trict, and all the provisions of law which are now in force, or hereafter may be passed, relative to school 
district libraries, shall apply to said board of education in the same manner as if they were trustees of 
a school district. Thev shall be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of moneys, 
appropriated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries, which is therein conferred on the 
inhabitants of school districts, and they shall have the power to purchase, exchange, repair or dispose 
of any books or other property of said Ubrarj', or cause it to be done, and apply the proceeds to the 
purchase of other books or apparatus ; also to provide suitable rooms and furnitui'e for said library ; and 
further they may appropriate for the benetit of said library, out of the moneys annually raised in said 
district by the school tax, an amount not exceeding one hundred dollars, in addition to the library 
money received from the State. 

g 28. The title of the school-houses, sites, furnitui-e, books, and all other school property belonging to 
the districts in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the union school district by this act created ; and 
the same, while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied on or sold by virtue of any 
warrant or execution, or other process, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever ; and the 
said union school district, in its corporate capacity, sliall be competent to take, hold and dispose of any 
real or personal estate transferred to it by grant, gift, bequest, or devise, for the use of the common 
schools or academy of said union school district, whether the same be transferred in terms to said dis- 
trict by Its proper style, or by any other designation, or to any person or persons, or corporation, for 
the use of said schools or academy. 

§ 29. It shall be the duty of the board of education, between the first and fifteenth days of Octo- 
ber, of each year, to prepare and publish in one or more of the newspapers printed in the village 
of Ithaca, a true and correct statement of the receipts and disbursements under the provisions of 
this act for the preceding year, ending September thirtieth, in which account shall be stated under 
appropriate heads : 

1. The money raised by the board of education under the- tenth section of this act. 

2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the village from the county treasurer. 

3. The moneys received by the treasurer of the village under the tenth section oi this act. 

4. All other moneys received by the said treasurer, subject to the order of the board of education, 
specifying the sources from which they shall have been derived. 

5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, specifying the amount under 
each head of expenditures, and the person or persons to whom the money has been paid. 

6. Such other information as they shall deem proper in regard to the conilition of the schools under 
their care. 

2 30. The board of education may, whenever they think proper, prepare and publish a catalogue of 
any school or schools under their care, together with such other information as they may deem for tho 
best interests of said schools. 

g 31. The various school district ofiices in each of the districts herein embraced shall terminate when- 
ever this act shall ta".:e effect, and the board of education shall be chosen and organized, and shall enter 
upon the duties of their office, except as herein otherwise provided. The trustees and collector in 
each district shall retain the power now by law vested in .such officers, until they, by due diligence, 
shall have closed up all the unsettled business of their districts and discharged all the indel)tedness 
thereof, and for such purpose shall, if necessary, call meetings of all the inhabitants of such district, 
and when voted at a legally called meeting, shall levy and collect a tax sufficient to liquidate such 
indebtedness. Nothing in this section containel shall be construed to annul or intertere with the 
jurisdiction of school district officers over any territory or parts of school districts lying outside the 
boundaries of said union school district, as defined in the first section of this act. 

g 32. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the village. Immediately after the election or appointment of 
any person to any othce mentioned in this act, personally or in writing to notify him of his election or 
appointment, and any person, who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit 
the sum of ten dollars; and every person so elected or appointed, and not having refused to accept, 
who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said 
board of education. It shall be the duty of the said board of education, forthwith, to prosecute for all 
forfeitures and penalties under this act, when voluntary payment is refused; and when received, to 
apply the same to the purpose of education in said district. All officers mentioned in this act shall be 
deemed public officers within the intent and meaning of section thirty-eight ol title six of chapter one, 
part four of the Revised Statutes, and as such, liable to the penalties therein prescribed, in addition 
to the penalty in this section before provided. 

g 33. The board of eiiucation maj'. when they shall deem it advisable, appoint a superintendent of 
schools for the said union school district, who may, ex officio, be secretary of said board. He shall be 
under the direction of the board of education, and they shall prescribe his general duties. In addition to 
such other duties as may be devolved upon him bv the board in the visitation and superintendence of 
the schools, he shall examine the qualifications of teachers, and grant certificates in such manner and 
form as may be prescribed by the State Superintendent ; which shall not be in force longer than a year, 
and vfhich may at any time be revoked by the board of education. He shall be paid a salary out of the 
general fund, to be fixed by the board of education, and may be removed from office by the vote of a 
majority of aU the members of said board. 

g 34. All former or existing acts, or parts of acts, conflicting or Inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act are hereby repealed, so far as they affect this act ; but nothing in this act shall be so construed 
to limit, restrain or annul the powers of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In all matters of 
dispute, which shall be referred to him by appeal, and which shall arise under and by virtue of this 
act, or under and by virtue of any other act which is now, or shall hereafter be applicable to the schools, 
school officers or school property of or in said district, his decisions or orders shall be final and binding. 

i 35. This act shall take effect immediately. 



864 Jamaica. 

An act in rekUon to the election of trustees of" Tbe Tlharn Acarlemv," the transfer and disposition of 
its funds and property, and the dissolution otsaid corporation. 

Passed January 25, 18S4 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of Ntw YoTk, ^presented in Semte and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

SE9'noN 1. The triistces of " The Ilhaca Academy, " elected at the annual meeting of the members 
01 said corporation held in the year one tliousand eight hundred and sixtv-idne or a maioritv of them 
are hereDy authorized and empowered to call a special meetiiiff of the members of saiil corporation, to 
be held m the village ot Ithaca, at a time and phice to he designated in the notice of said meetiu'^ for 
the election ot twelve trustees of said "The Ithaca Academy " in the place and stead of such trustees 
as may baye been heretotore elected, and for sucli other purposes as are contemplated by the provi- 
sions ot this act. Notice ot such meeting and the purposes thereof shall be given bv said trustees or a 
ruigonty of them, to the members of said corporation, by publication of said notice in the newspaper 
printed at Albany in which lesal notices are required to be pubu-hed, and also in two of the public 
newspapers printedin the said Tillage of Jihaca, at least once in each week for four successive weeks 
immedialelypreceding the time of holding said meeting. The members ofsaid corporation present at 
such meeting, by majority vote, Khali by ballot elect twelve tiustees of said corporation, who shall 
have and possess all of the powers and privileges conferred upon the trustees of "The Ithaca Acad- 
emy, by the act of incorporation of said academy and the acts amendatory thereof and reUxting 
thereto, except as the same may be inconsistent with the provisions of this act. 

§ 2. The members ofsaid corporation may, by a two-thirds vote of the members present atsaid meet- 
ing, so authoriKe and direct the trustees elected as hereinbefore provided, to transfer and convey unto 
the" board of education of the village of Ithaca," by a good and sutHcient deed of conveyance, and for 
a nominal consideration merely, the title in tee to all of the veal estate owned by said "The Ithaca 
Academy" In said village of Ithaca, and all of the interest of said corporation therein, for the purpose 
ot erecting a building or buildings thereon for school, literary and educational purposes. The trustees 
ofsaid " The Ithaca Academy" elected as atoresaid, on being so authorized and directed by the mem- 
bers of said corporation, as aforesaid shall, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to, trans- 
fer and convey, as atoresaid, the title in fee to the real estate owned by said " The Ithaca Academv " in 
the manner and for the purposes atoresaid. 

? 3. The members ofsaid corporation may, by a two-thirds vote of the members present at said meet- 
ing, so authorize and direct tlio trustees elected, as hereinbefore provided, to assign, transfer and set 
over all of the personal property owned by said " The Ithaca Academy " for a nominal consideration 
merely, unto such persons, corporation or corporations as said trustees shall by resolution designate, to 
be held by such persons, corporation or corporations, in such manner or under such trusts as said trustees 
shall by resolution designate; and the interest and income, only, from the money and invested funds 
ot said "The Ithaca Academy " shall be appropriated and expended by such persons, corporation or 
corporations for the same general uses and purposes, or for soiae, or one, or more of the same, as said 
interest and income are now and have heretofore been used and appropriated by the acting trustees 
of " The Ithaca Academy ; " and on being so authorized and directed by the members of said corpora- 
tion, said trustees shall, and they hereby are empowered to assign, transfer and set jver allot said 
personal property to the persons, cori)oration or corporations so designated by them, as aforesaid, and 
in the manner and for the uses and purposes aloresaid. 

§ -1. The official acts of the respective officers ofsaid "The Ithaca Academy " heretofore performed. 
In the management, control and disposition of tlie funds and property, real and personal, of sai<l cor- 
poration are hereby ratitied and contirmed, without prejudice to any legal proceedings already had or 
instituted, if any there should be. All sales, deeds, conveyances, assignments and transfers of the 
property of said corporation, real and personal, made in pursuance of the provisions of this act, are 
hereby declared to be valid and ellectual. 

§ /). All valid debts against the said *' The Ithaca Academy" existing at the time of the transfer and 
conveyanceof said funds and property as herein provided, and theretofore incurred, shall be a lien 
and charge upon said funds and property in the hands of the persons, corporation or corporations to 
■whom said funds and property shall be transferred and conveyed as aforesaid; and such persons, cor- 
poration or corporations, and each ot them, shall be liablefor the debts of said " The Ithaca Academy, " 
contracted prior to the time of such transler and conveyance, to the extent of the funds and property 
so transferred and conveyed. The nersonal property shall be the primary fund out ot which ali debts 
shall be paid, and if thatbhould be insufficient to pay such debts, then, and not till then, the real estate 
shall be resorted to for that purpose. 

g 6. At any time after the transfer of all the funds and property of said " The Ithaca Academy," as 
herein provided, the president and secretary ofsaid corporation, for the time being, are hereby author- 
ized to call a special meeting of the members ofsaid corporation in the manner hereinbefore provided 
for calling the special meeting of the members ofsaid corporation, at which meeting the members of 
said corporation may. by a two-thirds vote, declare that the corporate existence of said "The Ithaca 
Academy " cease and determine and said corporation be dissolved, and thereupon and thereby the 
corporate exi^tence ofsaid " The Ilhaca Academy " shall cease and determine, and t>aid corporation 
shall be dissolved. 

g 7. This act shall take effect immediately. 

JAMAICA,. 
iChap. 533, Laws of 1853.] 

Section l. The village of Jamaica, in the town of Jamaica, in the counts' of Qtlcens, shall form a per- 
manent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the town superintendent of common 
schools for the town of Jamaica. 

§2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled "the board of education." 
Such board shall consist of five members, three of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 
of business. Gasper Phraner, Piermont Potter, John A. King, John D. Shelton and Latham M. Jaggar 
shall compose the tirsr, board of education, and shall hold their office from one to five years; that is to 
Bay, one shall go out of office in each year, and in the order in which their names shall stand recorded 
in this section. 

2 3l At the first annual meeting in said district, and at each annual meeting thereafter, there shall be 
elected one member of said board of education, who shall hold his office for the term of five years; also 
a district collector, both of whom shall be residents and tax payers in said district; and said collector 
shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the treasurer of the board of 
education, in the same manner and upon the same conditions as the town collector. And the board of 
education shall appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said election, and of all other elections, 
as provided by this act, within thirty days next preceding -any such election. Such election shall be 



Jamaica. 865 

by ballot ; and notice thereof shall be given, the same shall be held and conducted, the votes shall be 
canvassed, and the result of the election shall be determined in the same manner as for village olhcers. 

§ 4. The said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting, choose one of their number for 
president, one for secretary, and one for treasurer, who shall hold office for one j'ear. The treasurer 
shall execute a bond conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties, in such form and with such 
sureties as the said board shall approve. An election for said officers shall be held thereafter on the 
same day of the same week of the same month on which the first election was held. If from any cause 
the election shall not take place on the day appointed, it shall be held within one week thereafter. 
Until such election the old officers shall continue to perform their respective functions. 

§ .•). The said board of education may make such by-laws as they may deem necessary for their own 
government; they shall have entire control and management of all the common schools within their 
said district, and all the property belonging to the same ; they shall have and possess, within the said 
district, all the rights, powers and authority of town superintendent of common schools. They shall 
require one of the members of said board to visit each school in said district at least once in each week, 
to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that 
the rules and regulations are strictly enforced. And the said board- of education shall have the power 
to take by purchase and devise, and to hold any real and personal estate necessary for the purposes of 
this act, and also to sell and convey the school-houses and sites now situated in said district, and to 
execute and deliver good and valid conve3'ances therefor. 

g 6. All moneys belonging to the said district shall be deposited in a bank or trust company, to be 
designated by the board of education, or loaned out on interest upon ample security, under the 
direction of the board. No money shall be paid out, or securities changed, except under the 
direction of the board of education, and then by order of the president, countersigned by the secre- 
tary. 

? 7. Wheneverthe said board of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school-houses 
in said district, and before they shall proceed to raise any monej', as provided for in section eight, they 
shall prepare an estimate, showing the location proposed, the cost of ground, a plan of the building, 
with the estimated cost of construction, and shall submit the same to the electors of said district, at a 
special meeting to be called for that purpose, in the same manner as other special meetings are required 
to be called, and if a majority of all the electors present shall vote in favor of the same, then said board 
may proceed to erect said school-house or houses in the manner proposed by said estimate ; and if the 
sum authorized to be raised by section eight of this act should be insufficient to pay the estimated cost 
of such erection or erections, and premises, with the expenses of grading and regulating the grounds, 
building the necessary out-houses and fences, with the cost of necessary books, stationery and appur- 
tenances for the school-house or houses and rooms, then the said board of education may raise, in addi- 
tion to the sum mentioned in section eight of this act, and in the manner therein authorized, a sum not 
exceeding one thousand dollars ; and they are also authorized to levy and collect such amount as may 
be necessary to pay the principal or interest of such additional sum or sums, as the same may become 
due, in the manner provided by section nine of this act. 

§ 8. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum not exceeding 
five thousand dollars for the purpose of erecting a school-house or houses in said district, either by tax 
on such district or a loan, to be secured by a mortgage upon the public school property of said district, 
to be executed by said board in their official capacity, signed by the president and secretary, or by the 
issue of certificates of loan, in sums of not less than one hundred dollars, the said certificates to be 
signed by the president of said board, and to be a lien upon the school district property. The comp- 
troller of the State of New York is hereby authorized to loan to said district any moneys in the 
treasury belonging to the capital of the common school fund as is authorized by this section to be bor- 
rowed. 

§ 9. The saia board of education, in addition to the other taxes which they are authorized to raise by 
this act, may levy and collect a sum sufficient to pay interest on loans as the same becomes due, and 
whenever any part of the principal of such loans becomes due, they shall levy and collect an amount 
sufficient to pay the same, which sums, when collected, shall be paid over by said board in discharge 
of such principal and interest. 

g 10. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax, in 
each year, such sum as may be necessary, upon all the taxable property in such district, not exceeding 
in amount one-fourth of one per cent on the value of such taxable property, as the same shall be 
assessed by the assessors of the town of Jamaica, and the said board shall add to the amount of any 
warrant for the collection of taxes such amount as they shall deem proper as the collector's fees for 
collection, which compensation, however, shall in no case exceed five per cent on the amount of any 
warrant. (As amended by chap. 8&7, Laws of l&Ci7 .) 

§ 11. The town superintendent of the common schools of the town of Jamaica shall pay over to 
the treasurer of the board of education all the public moneys to which said district shall be entitled for 
school purposes. 

g 12. The said board of education shall call an annual district meeting at such time in the year as they 
may think proper, by giving the notice now required by law for annual meetings in school districts, 
and at such meeting they shall submit thereto a full report, in writing, of their doings as such board ; 
and they shall state therein the number of children residing in said district for whom public money ia 
drawn, how many white children and how many colored ; they shall also state the number and condi- 
tion of the schools in said district under their charge, and the number of pupils attending the same, the 
studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State or other sources as well as the amount 
raised in the district for school purposes, and the expenditure of the same, and generally all the partic- 
ulars relating to the schools in said district. 

g 13. The board of education shall have control and charge of the district school library in said dis- 
trict ; they may employ a librarian, make such additions to the hbrary, and such regulations therefor 
as they shall deem necessary. 

g 14. A school lor colored children may be organized by said board, and be supported in the same 
manner as other schools shall be supported, under and by virtue of this act. 

g 15. The said board of education may call, special meetings of said district whenever they mav deem 
it necessary; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof, in at 
least SIX public places in said district, and by publishing the same in the newspapers published in said 
district, at least one week previous to the time fixed for such meeting, which notice shall state the 
time and place of such meeting, and the purpose for which the same is called; and no busi- 
ness shall be transacted at any such special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the 
same. 

g 16. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as they relate to 
the village of Jamaica. 

[Chap. .564, Laws of 1870.] 

Section 1. The board of education in the village of Jamaica, Queens county, in addition to the sum 
now allowed by law to be collected, shall have the power and are hereby authorized to levy and collect 

109 



866 Jamestown — Kingsto2!T. 

from the taxable property and inhabitants in said village, a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars 
annually hereafter, the same to be employed for the repair and insurance of the school building and 
property, janitor's wages, cost of fuel, and for the payment of such other expenses as the board may 
authorize. 

JAMESTOWN. 

[ Chap. 379, Laws of 1887.] 

Section l . The school district heretofore known as union free school district number one of the town 
of Ellicott in the county of Chautauqua, shall hereafter be known and designated as the union free 
school district of the city of Jamestown, and the territory and boundaries of the said city of James- 
town shall be and constitute the territory and boundaries of the said school district. Whenever the 
boundaries of said city of Jamestown shall be changed or altered, the act making such change or 
alteration shall be construed to change the boundaries of said school district so that at all times the 
boundaries and territory of said city and of said school district shall be the same. 

§ 2. The supervision and control of said union free school district shall be and remain in the existing 
board of education of the said district and their successors in ofiQce ; and the title to all school sites 
and property in the territory by this act annexed to said district shall be vested in the said board of 
education, the same as school sites and property now in said district. 

The annual school meeting of said district shall be held at the same time fixed by the general school 
law in this State for other union free school districts and the election of members of the board of 
education thereof shall be had on the day succeeding the annual school meeting, as heretofore. 

No change shall be made in the management, direction or supervision of said school district, includ- 
ing the raising, assessment and levying of taxes, or in the election or time of election, appointment 
or time of appointment, of any officer or officers thereof, by reason of the boundaries of said school 
district, corresponding with the boundaries of said city. The said union free school district shall be 
subject to all the provisions of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the Laws of eighteen hundred 
and sixty-four, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruc- 
tion," and the several acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, which are applicable to 
union free school districts whose limits do not correspond with the limits of an incorporated village or 
city, except so far as such provisions are inconsistent herewith; and provided further, that nothing 
herein contained shall be construed to repeal the provisions of the charter of the city of Jamestown, 
making the treasurer of said city the collector of said school district, and prescribing the manner in 
which the taxes thereof shall be collected. 

2 3. The board of education of said school district shall have power to appoint a superintendent of 
common schools of said city, who shall hold his office for the term of three years, unless sooner dis- 
charged by said board, at an annual salary fixed by said board of education. Said superintendent 
shall have, under the control of the said board of education, the general supervision of all the com- 
mon schools within the said city, with authority to license all teachers employed in the common 
schools thereof, and to perform generally all duties now imposed by law upon commissioners of com- 
mon schools. Whenever such superintendent shall be appointed, the said district shall be entitled to 
the benefits of the provisions of section six of title three of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the 
Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and the amendments thereto. 

§ 4. Chapter four hundred and forty-one of the Laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, is 
hereby repealed. 

2 5. This act shall take effect on the tenth day of August, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, 

JOHNSTOWN, No. 16. 
[ Chap. 379, Laws of 1881. ] 

SectioxI. The board of education of union free school district number sixteen of the town of Johns- 
town, Fulton county, is hereby authorized and empowered to employ, in behalf of said district, a 
superintendent of common schools, who shall have such powers and shall perform such duties as are 
provided by the laws of the State of New York to be performed by superintendents of common schools. 

§ 2. Said union free school district number sixteen of the town of Johnstown, Fulton county, shall, 
upon and after the passage of this act, have all the powers and possess all the privileges conferred upon 
cities and incorporated villages having a population of five thousand and upwards by section six of title 
three, of chapter five hundred and fifty-five, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled 
"An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," as the same was 
amended by chapter three hundred and seventy-four, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and seventy- 
six, entitled " An act to amend section nine, of chapter four hundred and sixty-seven, of the Laws of 
eighteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled ' An act to amend chapter five hundred and fifty-five, of 
the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled ' An act to revise and consohdate the general 
acts relating to public instruction.' " 

KINGSTON. 

{Chap. 300, Laws of 1863; as amended.'] 

Sectiox 1. From and after the last Monday in May, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, school dis- 
tricts numbers five, eight, eleven and fifteen of the town of Kingston, county of Ulster, are hereby 
consolidated for the purposes and to the extent in this act specified; and shall hereafter, for such 
purposes, and to such extent, form but one school district, to be called "'The Kingston School 
District." - . 

g 2. Said school districts, numbers five, eight, eleven and fifteen, shall remain and contmue separate 
and distinct for the purposes and to the extent in this lact specified, and shall be called " Primary 
School Districts," and shall not be subject to alteration, except by resolution of the board of education, 
hereinafter created. The school-houses in said primary districts shall be used for the instruction of the 
children residing in said districts, entitled to attend common schools, and when such children shall 
arrive at sufficient age and proficiency in learning they may be transferred, upon the proper testimo- 
nials, into the more advanced departments, created and authorized by this act ; the age, qualifications 
and testimonials to be prescribed by the laws, rules and regulations of the board of education herein- 
after created. ^ ^ ^ „ 

§ 3. A.bram Wood, residing in primary district number five, and whose term of office shall expire on 
the first Monday of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-five ; Edwin W. Budlngton, residing m 
primary district number eight, and whose term of office shall expire on the first Monday of January, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-six ; John W. Kerr, residing in primary district number eleven, and whose 



Kingston. 867 

term of office shall expire on the first Monday of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven ; and 
isaac Deilike, residing in primary district number fifteen, and whose term of office shall expire oa iiie 
first Monday of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, are hereby appointed trustees in and for 
laid primary school districts respectively; Charles W. Shaffer and Henry H. Reynolds, whose terms 
of office shall expire on the first Monday of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-five; William C. 
Hale and (Jeorge Southwick, whose terms of office shall expire on the first Monday of January, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-six ; and Marius Schoonmaker and Solomon S. Hommel, whose terms of 
office shall expire on the first Monday of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, are hereby- 
appointed trustees for and in behalf of said " Kingston School District. " 

§ 4. Whenever the term of office of trustee of any of said primary school districts expires on the- 
first Monday of January in any year, there shall be elected in and for the said primary school districts, 
on the first Monday of December preceding, in the manner that trustees of school districts are 
elected, one trustee who shall be a resident of said primary school district, and who shall hold his office 
for three years. There shall also be elected in said primary school district, at the time of electing 
trustee, a clerk who shall hold his office for three years. Within ten days after such election the clerk 
of said primary school district shall certify to the board of education hereinafter created, the names of 
the officers so elected. 

2 5. At the annual meeting in each year, after the present year, there shall be elected in the same 
manner that the trustees of school districts are elected, two trustees in and for the said Kingston 
school district, who shall hold their office for three years from the first Monday of January following. 
Every officer appointed or elected under the provisions of this act, shall hold his office until his suc- 
cessor is elected or appointed, and enters upon the discharge of the duties of his office. (As amended, 
sec. 3, chap. 40. Laws of 1864. ) 

§ 6. Notices of election and all other meetings of said districts shall be given by said board of edu- 
cation hereinafter created at least ten days before such election or meeting, by publishing notice in 
one or more of the newspapers published in the said Kingston school district, and by posting the same 
on the outer door of *^he school-house or houses in the district in and for which such election or meet- 
ing is to be held, and "at not less than five other public places in said district. 

§7. Incase of vacancy of any office or trustee mentioned in this act, occasioned by the death of 
such officer, his refusal to serve, removal out of the district for which he was appointed or elected, hl» 
incapacity, or any other cause, othpr than the expiration of the term of office ot persons elected, said 
board of education may make an appointment to fill such vacancy. The officer so appointed shall 
hold his office for the unexpired term of the person to supply whose place he shall be so appointed. 

? 8. Any trustee or other officer of the said " Kingston School District " may be removed from office 
for official misconduct by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the board of education hereinafter 
created; but a written copy of the charges preferred against him shall be served upon him at least 
ten days before the time appointed for a hearing of the same, and he shall be allowed a full and fair 
opnortunitv of refuting such charges before such removal. 

i 9. The said trustees of the said Kingston and primary school districts, and their successors to be- 
chosen and provided in this act, shall constitute a board, to be styled the " Kingston Board of Educa- 
tion," which shall be a body corporate with all the general powers of a corporation under the Revised'. 
Statutes. The first meeting of the board shall be held in the said village of Kingston, on the last 
Wednesday of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and the annual meeting-of said board shall be 
held on the last Wednesday of April in each year. At the first meeting of the board, and annually 
thereafter at the annual meeting, they shall elect one of their number president of the board, and when- 
ever he shall be absent a president pro tempore shall be appointed. The members of the said board 
shall not receive any compensation for their services; neither shall they be interested directly or 
indirectly In any contract for improvements or repairs which may be made by said board. The said 
board shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in every three months, and may 
adjourn for a shorter period. Special meetings may be called by the president, or in his absence, or 
on his refusal or inabiUty to act, by a majority of the members of the board, as often as necessary, by 
ffiving personal notice to each member of the board, or by causing a written or printed notice to be 
left at his place of residence at least twentj--four hours before the time for such special meeting. 

* § 11. The said board shall appoint a secretary, who shall be a taxable inhabitant of said district, 
and who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board. The said secretary shall attend the 
meetings of said board, and make and keep a record of the proceedings thereof in a book to be provided 
by the board for that purpose, and shall perform such other duties as the board may require. 

§ 12. The said board shaU have power, and it shall be their duty to appoint a treasurer and collector 
for the said " Kingston School District," who shall be a taxable inhabitant of said district, and who 
shall severally hold their appointments for |one year, and until others are appointed in their stead, 
unless sooner removed by the board for cause, and only one such appointment shall be held by the 
same individual at the same time. Such treasurer and collector shall severally, and within ten days 
after notice in writing of their appointment, and before entering upon the duties of their office, execute 
and deliver to said board of education, a bond in such penalty and with such sureties as the board may 
approve, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of their respective offices, and that they 
will well and truly account for and pay over on demand to said board of education all moneys which 
they may receive as such officers. 

? 13. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall he their duty to raise from time to 
time, by tax to be levied upon all the real and personal estate, in said " Kingston School District," 
which shall be liable to taxes for the ordinary county and town charges, in like manner as county and 
town charges or taxes are levied and raised, such sums as they may determine to be necessary and 
proper for the paNTuent of the salaries of the superintendent and teachers in the public schools under 
their charge, repairs of school-houses, fences, out-buildings and grounds belonging thereto, and all 
other necessary and contingent expenses for establishing and maintaining the said public schools, and 
the necessary and contingent expenses of the board of education, and they may also raise such addi- 
tional sums, not exceeding §10,000 in any one year, as the taxable inhabitants of said " Kingston School 
District " may, at any meeting regularly called, authorize or direct, for the purchase of school-houses, 
lots or sites for school-houses, and to defray the expenses of the erection of school-houses and their 
appurtenances, or for such other purposes as are included within the powers and duties of the board of 
education as hereinafter mentioned. (.4s amended by sec. 1, chap. 40, Laws of 1864, and chap. 761, Laws 



0/1871.) 
§ 14. Fc 



•"or the purpose of collecting any tax or taxes voted to be raised or levied by said board of edu- 
cation, such board shall make out or cause to be made out a tax list, in the manner by law provided 
in cases of school district ta.xes, and shall issue their warrant in like manner for the collection thereof, 
and shall deliver the same to the collector, which warrant may be renewed from time to time, bv said 
board, in their discretion. The collector, upon receiving such warrant, shall immediately proceed to 

* Evident clerical error in numbering, ? 10 being omitted altogether. 



868 KiKGSTON-. 

collect the taxes directl.v thereby to be collected ; and in making such collections, shall proceed in tlie 
same manner, possess the same powers and be entitled to the same fees as collectors of taxes in school 
districts. 

§ 15. All moneys raised or to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys 
by law appropriated to or provided for said Kingston school district, whether from the common school 
or literature fund, or under '"An act to establish free schools throughout the State," or otherwise, shall 
be paid to the treasurer appointed by said board. The said treasurer shall be liable to the same pen- 
alty, for official misconduct in relation to the said moneys, as the treasurer of the village of Kingston 
would be, for any similar misconduct in relation to moneys of said village. 

g 16. All moneys raised by virtue of this act, or received by said Kingston school district, for the use 
of the public schools therein, shall be deposited for safe- keeping with the treasurer appointed by said 
board, and the said treasurer shall keep all the funds which may come to his hands, separate and dis- 
tinct from all other moneys, and any violation of this section shall be deemed a misdemeanor and pun- 
ished accordingly. 

§ 17. The treasurer shall be furnished by the board of education with necessary books in which to 
enter and keep his official accounts ; and he shall keep a true account of all the monevs received and 
disbursed by him, and of the parties from whom received, and to whom and for what purpose paid 
out. He shall also keep an account with every teacher or other person employed by the board of 
education, and every officer of the district who shall receive any pay or compensation ; and shall make 
reports to the board whenever required by them. The drafts drawn on the treasurer shall be num- 
bered consecutively, and the treasurer, in any question of priority of pavment, shall pay all such drafts 
in the order of their respective numbers, unless otherwise specially directed by the board of education. 
The books of the treasurer, and also the records of the proceedings of the board of education, shall at 
all times be subject to inspection by the taxable inhabitants of said district. 

§ 18. No moneys shall be paid from the treasury, except on drafts drawn by the president and coun- 
tersigned bj' the secretary of the board of education, in pursuance of a resolution of said board, which 
draft shall be made payable to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive said moneys, and 
shall state on their face respectively the purpose or service for which the same are drawn. 

§ 19. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

First— To establish and organize in said Kingston school district so many primary school districts, 
primary departments or schools, and departments of higher grades, including an academical depart- 
ment, to alter and discontinue the same as they may deem advisable. 

Second — To hire or purchase school-houses, school-rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, or sites 
with buildings thereon, to be used as school-houses, and to fence and Improve such sites, and to sell 
the same with their appurtenances, as they may deem proper ; provided such sale be authorized by a 
vote of the district. 

Third—To build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, with their out-houses and appur- 
tenances, as they may deem advisable. 

Fourth— To have :he custody of the said school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture and appui le- 
nances, and to see that the ordinances in relation to the care and safe-keeping of the same be observed. 

Fifth— To contract with and employ all teachers in said public schools— the number of teachers not 
to be less than one for every fifty pupils attending such schools. 

Sixth— To pay teachers' wages after the application of the public money which may by law be 
appropriated and provided for that purpose, from the money authorized by this act to be raised for 
that purpose. 

Seventh— To defray all necessary and contingent expenses of establishing and maintaining the said 
pubUc schools, with proper furniture, library and apparatus, and the necessary and contingent expenses 
of said board of education. 

Eighth— To have in all respects the superintendence and management of the public schools of the 
said school district, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expe- 
dient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction : for the reception of 
pupils and their transfer from one department to another, and generally for their good order and gov- 
ernment ; to receive into said public schools pupils residing out of the said " Kingston School Dis- 
trict ; " to regulate the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils and to collect the same; to expel any 
scholar for misconduct or cause injurious to the interests of the school ; to regulate the transfer of 
pupils from one department to another ; to direct what text-books shall be used in said public schools ; 
to provide and keep in repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; to provide fuel and 
other necessaries for said pubhc schools, and to appoint assistant librarians, as they may fi-om time to 
time deem proper, and regulate their duties. 

§ 20. The said trustees shall be trustees of the school libraries in said school district, and all the pro- 
"visions of law relative to school district libraries shall apply to said trustees in like manner as to the 
trustees of any school district ; they shall also be invested with the same discretion as to the disposi- 
tion of the moneys appropriated by law, for the purchase of Ubraries, as is conferred by law upon the 
Inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide rooms for such libraries, and the neces- 
sary furniture therefor. The librarian shall report annually to the board the condition of the libraries 
under his charge ; and the said board shall make all purchases of books for said libraries, and direct 
the mode of their distribution, 

§ 21. The ti*le to the school-houses, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other 
school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the said board of education, and the same 
while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall notrbe subject to taxation, and shall not be levied 
on or sold b3' virtue of any warrant or execution, except for teachers' wages, and the purchase-price of 
articles bought by direction of said board, and except that the lien and all proceedings for enforcing 
the same, of mechanics and others for labor, and material furnished in erecting, altering or repairing 
buildings, and their appurtenances shall in no way be affected or impaired by this act : and the said 
board, in its corporate capacity, shall have full right and authority to take and hold any personal and 
real estate transferred to it by grant, gift, devise or bequest, subject to the limitations provided by 
law, intrust for the public schools or educational interests of said Kingston School District, whether 
the same be in terms to said board in its corporate name or by any other designations, or to any per- 
son, persons or bodies for the benefit of said public schools ; and all real or personal estate so trans- 
ferred shall be accepted, held, used and applied as specified in the article or deed of transfer. 

§ 22. The said board of education shall, once in each year, and at least fifteen days before the annual 
meeting for the election of officers, make a report to the inhabitants of the district, in which they 
shall set forth the whole amount and items of the moneys received, raised and collected by them during 
the vear preceding the date of such report, and the amount and items of the expenditures for the same 
time", also the number and condition of the various schools and departments in said school district; 
the number of pupils attending such schools and departments during the year, the number and names 
of the teachers employed bv them, and the text -books in use in such schools ; the number of volumes 
and condition of the books in the libraries of said district; and such other facts and information rela- 
tive to the affairs of said district as In their judgment may be of interest to the inhabitants thereof; 



KiiTGSTOiir. 869 

and shall have less than one thousand copies thereof printed and ready for the examination of, and 
distributioa among the taxaoie iuiiauiiauts of said district at the oQice of said board of education, at 
least one week prior to the time of the annual meeting for the election of officers in the said Kingston 
School District. (As amended by sec. 2, chap. 40, Laws of 1864.) 

2 23. Tbe academical department which may be established as aforesaid, shall he entitled to its dis- 
tributive share of the literature fund in like manner and on like conditions with the academies of the 
State ; and the same academical department shall be subject to the visitation of the Kegents of the 
University, in like manner with the other academies of this State. 

§ 24. It shall be lawful for tbe inhabitants of any school district in the town of Kingston, adjoining 
said Kingston school district, at any annual or special meeting, by a vote of a majority of the legal 
voters present, to declare said district to be a primary district, and to form a part of the said " Kingston 
School District." They shall then elect one trustee and one clerk, in the manner provided by this act, 
and shall hold their office for the term of three years from the first Monday of January following. 
The said trustee shall be a member of the said " Kingston Board of Education," and the said primary 
district shall be subject to all the conditions, rules and regulations of said *' Kingston Board of Educa- 
tion," the same as any other primary district included in the said "Kingston School District," but no 
such action of any school district shall take effect, or become operative for any purpose, until said 
"Kingston Board of Education" shall by resolution accept such school district as such primary dis- 
trict. 

§ 25. Nothing in this act shall be construed to affect or impair the powers or duties of the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, in relation to the school districts hereby consolidated, but the 
same shall apply and be in force as to the school district hereby created, and the school or schools 
which may be maintained in said districts, in like manner with the other districts and schools of this 
State. 

J 26. On the third Wednesday in May, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, a meeting shall be held at 
the court-house, in the said village of Kingston, of the persons qualified to vote at school district elec- 
tions in the several school districts mentioned in the first section of this act, at which the president of 
the board of trustees of the village of Kingston, or, in case of his non-attendance, any one of the trus- 
tees of said village to be designated by a majority of those present at the opening of the meeting, shall 
preside and regulate the proceedings, and decide all questions which may arise thereat, at the said 
meeting. And it shall then and there be determined by the vote of a majority of those who may attend 
and vote at the said meeting, whether the board of education, herein mentioned, shall or shall not 
organize*, the votes shall be by ballot — on each ballot shall be written or printed, "For the School 
Law," or "Against the School Law." The poll shall open at eight o'clock in the forenoon, and remain 
ooen to six o'clock in the afternoon, A clerk or clerks to be appointed by the presiding officer shall 
receive the votes, keep a proper poll list of the persons votmg, and canvass the votes given. The result 
of the said election shall be certified in due form by the presiding officer, and his certificate thereof be 
filed within twenty-four hours after the poll shall close.with the clerk or other proper officer of the said 
board of trustees. If a majority of the votes thus given be "For the School Law," the said board of 
education shall organize as provided by this act ; but if a majority of the said votes shall be " Against 
the School Law," then and thereafter the provisions of this act shall be of no further force or effect, 
and the said several school districts mentioned in the first section hereof, shall be and remain separate 
school districts, as they now are. • 

[.Sec. 3, Chap. 40, Laws of 1864.] 

5 3. The annual meeting of the Inhabitants of the Kingston school district, for the election of officers, 
shall be held at such times as is now or shall be hereafter designated in the general school law of this 
State for holding annual school meetings at such convenient place within the district as shall be desig- 
nated by the Kingston board of education. In case of the failure of the inhabitants of the Kingston 
school district from any cause to hold the annual meeting at the time specified, the same may be held 
at such other time thereafter as the board of education shall by resolution designate. And it shall be 
the duty of the board of education, after such failure, forthwith to make such designation and give the 
requisite notice thereof. 

iCliap. 342, Lawsofl^m.] 

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the president of the Kingston board of education, and of the super- 
visor of the town of Ulster, formerly Kingston, before any of the tax lists are prepared for the collec- 
tion of taxes in the Kingston school district in the county of Ulster, which district was created under 
and by virtue of the provisions of chapter three hundred and sixty-six, of the Laws of eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty-three, and embraces within its boundaries as part of the territory included in the city 
of Kingston, and also a part of the territory included in the present town of Ulster, formerly Kingston, 
to proceed to inquire and determine whether the valuation of real property upon the assessment-roll 
of said town is substantially just as compared with the valuation of real property upon the assessment- 
roll in the city ol Kingston, so far as said Kingston school district is concerned, and if determined not 
to be so, they shall alter the valuations of property lying in either town or city so as to make the ratio 
of valuation just and equal as near as may be throughout the entire Kingston school district. The 
assessment shall be based upon such equalized valuations. If the supervisor and president aforesaid 
are unable to agree, they shall summon a supervisor from some adjoining town who shall unite in 
sttch inquiry, and the finding of a majority shall be the determination of such meeting. Before pro- 
ceeding to equalize, the president of the board shall take and subscribe the usual oath administered to 
supervisors. The same compensation shall be allowed to said president as is now allowed by law to 
supervisors for such work. 

§ 2. Whenever any tax assessed upon any real estate in the Kingston school district appearing in 
the tax list delivered to the collector of said school district shall be unpaid at the time the collector is 
required by law to return his warrant, he shall deliver a statement of all such unpaid taxes to the 
Kingston board of education, accompanied by an affidavit made before any officer authorized to 
administer oaths, that the taxes mentioned in such account remain unpaid, and that after diligent 
efforts he has been unable to collect the same, and if said board shall be satisfied with the truth of said 
affidavit, he shall be credited by the said board of education with the amount thereof. 

§ 3. Upon receiving any such account from the collector, the said Kingston board of education shall 
compare the same with the tax list, and if they find it to be a true transcript, they shall attach thereto 
a general description of the lots and pieces of land upon which such taxes were imposed or assessed, 
and deliver the same to the treasurer of the county of Ulster, with a certificate of the correctness 
thereof. 

I 4. From the time of the delivery of such certificate to the county treasurer, the said taxes shall be 
a lien and charge upon the lands upon which they were respectively assessed, superior and anterior to 
any other liens, claims and charges thereon, and the same proceedings in all respects and with like 



S70 Little Falls an^d Man-heim — Lockport. 

effect shall be had for the collection of the taxes, interest and expenses by the sale of such lands 
by the county treasurer of Ulster county, as now are or hereafter may be provided by law in relation to 
county taxes. 

g 5. Any person having or claiming any interest in the lands included in such account can at any 
time before the sale thereof discharge such taxes and stay all proceedings against the same or any par- 
ticular parcel thereof, by payment of the amount of the tax charged thereon with ten per centum 
interest and accrued expenses, and after sale may redeem the same within the same time and upon the 
same terms as if sold for county taxes. 

§ 6. The county treasurer of Ulster county shall account for and pay over to the Kingston board of 
education all moneys received by him for taxes and interest under the provisions of this act. 

? 7. This act shall take effect immediately, except so much thereof as relates to the compensation to 
be paid to the president of the board of education, in relation to which it shall take effect on the expira- 
tion of the term of the present incumbent. 

LITTLE FALLS AND MANHEIM. 

[Chap. 193, Laws of 1866 ] 

Section 1, School district number one of the towns of Little Falls and Manheim, Herkimer county, 
is hereby constituted a free school district. 

§ 2. The trustees of said district and their successors in oflSce shall cause to be raised annually by tax 
on the taxable property of said district a sum not exceeding four thousand dollars, which sum, or so 
inuch thereof as may be necessary, shall be applied in addition to the public money appropriated to said 
■district, to the payment of qualified teachers' wages. 

§ 3. Any surplus of the moneys so raised remaining after the payment of all wages due to quaUfied 
teachers may be applied by said trustees and their successors in office to the purchase of fuel and neces- 
sarv appendages, books and apparatus for the use of the school in said district. 

14. The school commissioner of the commissioner district in which said school district number one 
Is situated shall have jurisdiction to alter the same in like manner with districts not under special act, 
provided, that no alteration whereby any property shall be set ofl:' from said school district shall be 
made without the written consent of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

LOCKPORT. 

[Laws of 1847, chap. 51 ; Laws of 1850. chap. 77 ; Laws of 1866, chap. 378.] 

Section 1. All the territory embraced in primary school districts numbers one, two, three, four, five, 
six and seven, as now constituted, which lies within the boundaries of the city of Lockport, and all 
other territory within the boundaries of said city, are hereby consolidated for the purpose and to the 
extent in this act specified ; and shall hereafter, to such extent, form but one school district, to be 
called the union school district of the city of Lockport. Such parts of any of said primary districts as 
now bounded, as are outside the boundaries of said city, shall be annexed to adjoining districts in the 
town of Lockport. 

§ 2. Said seven school districts shall remain and continue separate and distinct, for the purposes and 
to the extent in this act specified; and shall be called "primary school districts," and numbered as 
follows: Said district number one shall form primary district number one; said district number two 
shall form primary district number two ; said district number seven shall form primary district num- 
ber three ; said district number fifteen shall form primary district number four ; said d'istrict number 
eight shall form primary district number five ; said district number sixteen shall form primary district 
number six ; and said district number five shall form primary <listrict number seven. Said districts 
shall not be subject to alteration except by the acts of the Legislature, or by resolution of the board 
of education hereinafter created. The schools in said primary districts shall be useu as preparatory 
schools for the instruction of children until they arrive at a certain age, and attain a certain profi- 
ciency in learning, who shall then be transferred, upon the proper testimonials, into the union school 
hereinafter mentioned; the age, qualifications and testimonials to be prescribed by the by-laws, rules 
and regulations of the board of education hereinafter created. 

§ 3. Sullivan Cavemo, residing in primary district number one ; William G. M'Master, residing in 
primarj' district number two; Joseph T. Bellah, residing in primary district number three; Silas H. 
Marks, residing in primary district number four; Isaac C. Coulton, residing in primary district num- 
ber five ; John S. Woolcott, residing in primarj- district number six, and Edwin L. Boardman, residing 
in primary district number seven, are hereby appointed trustees in behalf of such districts respectively : 
and Nathan Da>*ton, Samuel Works, Jonathan L. Woods, Lyman A. Spaulding and Hiram Gardner 
are hereby appointed trustees in behalf of said union district. The trustees so named, and their suc- 
cessors, to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a corporation by the name of the 
board of education for the city of Lockport. 

2 4. On the first Monday of September next there shall be elected in the manner that trustees of 
school districts are now elected, by each primary district, one trustee (who shall be a resident of such 
primary district), to fill the places of those named in the last section, inbehalf of such districts respect- 
ively. On the first Monday of October next there shall -be elected in like manner, by a meeting of the 
persons quaUfied to vote for school district officers, residing within the bounds of said union district, 
five trustees, residents of said union district, to fill the places of those named in the last section in 
behalf of said union district. Annually thereafter on the daj-s specified for such elections, there shall, 
in like manner, be elected four trustees to fill the places of those whose turns shall next thereafter 
expire, as hereinafter provided. The trustees named in the third section above shall hold their offices 
until the first Monday of January next ; and until their successors shall be chosen and enter upon the 
discharge of their offices respectively. Every officer elected under this act shall enter upon the duties 
of his office on the first Monday of January next succeeding his election, and shall hold his office for 
the term hereinafter provided, and until his successor shall be elected and shall enter upon the dis- 
charge of the duties of his office. Within ten da3's after any such election the clerk of such district 
shall certify to said board of education the names of the officers so elected. All elections under this 
act for trustees and district clerks shall be held at some pubUc and convenient place in the second dis- 
trict, and in the union school district respectively; and the board of education shall, at their first 
regular meeting, after the first day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, by resolution desig- 
nate and appoint such places, and shall publish such resolution for three successive publications in 
each of the daily newspapers published in the city of Lockport, and the places so designated shall be 
and continue the places for the holding of such elections until changed by said board of education, 
and all changes therein shall be published bv said boT-d ,1= "foresaid. At all such elections of trustees 
and clerks in the several districts apart from the union district, the polls of such elections shall be 



Lock PORT 871 

op?nc(l at the hour of eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and remain open for the reception of ballots until 
the hour of two o'clock in the afternoon, when the polls shall he closert and shall be opened for the 
union district at twelve o'clock at noon, and continue open for the reception of ballots until four 
o'clock in the afternoon, when the polls shall be closed. (As amended by chapter 234, Laws of 1873.). 

g 5. Within ten daj's after the first election of trustees of said union district, as provided in the last 
section, all the trustees so elected by said primary and union districts, or a majority of them, shall meet, 
and cause the whole number of trustees so elected to be divided into three classes, to be severally 
numbered first, second and third. The term of othce of the first class shall expire at the end of one 
5'ear ; of the second class, at the end of two years; and of the third class, at the end of three years 
from the first Monday of January next. There shall also be elected in each of said districts, at the 
lime of so electing trustees, a clerk, who shall hold his office for one year, and until his successor be 
elected and enter upon the duties of his office. 

§ 6. There shall annually be appointed, by said board of education, a collector, librarian and treasurer 
of said union district, who shall each, within ten days after receiving notice in writing of his appoint- 
ment, and before entering upon the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of education 
a bond, in such penalty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful 
discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiv- 
ing such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and said board of education shall thereupon 
make an appointment to supply such vacancy. 

2 7. Notices for annual elections and all other meetings of said districts shall be given by said board 
of education, at least ten days before such election or meeting, by publishing such notice once in each 
of the newspapers printed in the village of Lockport ; and if such notice be for an election or meeting 
of said union district, by posting the same on the door of the school-house in each primary district ; If 
such notice be for an election or meeting of any primary district, then by posting such notice on the 
door of the school-house in such district. 

§ 8. In case of a vacancy of any office mentioned in this act, occasioned by the death of such officer, 
his refusal to serve, removal out of the district for which he shall have been elected or appointed, his 
incapacity, or any cause other than the expiration of the term of office of persons elected, said board 
of eaucation may make an appointment to fill such vacancy. The officer so appomted shall hold his 
office for the unexpired term of the person to supply whose place he shall be so appointed 

g 9. Said board of education shall be a corporate body, in relation to all the powers and duties 
conferred upon them by virtue of the provisions of this act ; a majority of the board shall form a 
quorum. 

g 10. Said board of education shall possess all the powers and he subject to all the duties, in respect to 
all of said school districts, that the trustees of common schools now possessor are subject to. and such 
other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. The clerk, collector and librarian of said 
union district shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to said union dis- 
trict, that like officers of common schools now possess or are subject to. and such other powers and 
duties as are given or imposed by this act. The offices of collector and librarian, and two of the trus- 
tees of each of the school districts hereby consolidated, shall be abolished from and after the time 
when said union school shall go into ooeration. In the mean time, such officers and the several dis- 
tricts in district meetings, shall continue to discharge such ordinary powers and duties as said board 
of education may by resolution prescribe ; but they shall not possess or exercise any right or power 
which may conflict with the provisions of this act, or impair the powers hereby intended to be con- 
ferred on said board of education, or in any way embarrass the said board of education in the exercise 
of the powers or in the discharge of the duties conferred or imposed upon said board by the provisions 
of this act. 

§11. Said hoard of education shall, at its first meeting, and annually thereafter, at their meeting 
held next after the first of January in each year, appoint one of their number president and another 
secretary. In the absence of either of such officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president 
or secretary may be appointed for the time being. 

S 12. The secretary shall keep a record ot the proceedings of said board of education, which record, 
or a transcript therefrom, certified by the president and secretary, shall be received in all courts as pre- 
sumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth. 

g 13. Each member of said board of education, and every other officer of said union district, before 
entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the Con- 
stitution of this State and file the same with the secretary of said board. 

g 14. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1 To establish and organize so many primary schools as they shall deem requisite and expedient, 
and to alter and discontinue the same ; 

2. To purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and improve 
them as they may think proper ; 

3. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any lot or site now owned by any primary district, to build, 
enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses out-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem 
advisable ; 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages; to 
provide fuel for the schools, and defray their contingent expenses and the expenses of the library and 
salary of the librarian. 

b. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages, and see that the ordinances and by-laws of said board in relation thereto be 
observed , 

6. To contract with and employ all teachers in all schools under their charge, and at their pleasure 
to remove them , 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public money and tuition fees to be received by them, 
according to the provisions of this act. so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the deficiency, if any, 
out of the moneys to be raised fo-- general purposes of education under and by virtue of the provisions 
of this act; 

8. To fix the rate of tuition fees in said union school, subject to the limitations and restrictions here- 
inafter contained, and to designate some person or persons to whom the same may be paid previous to 
issuing the warrant for the collection thereof; ami. by a resolution of said board, to be recorded by the 
secretary, to exempt from the payment of the whole or anv part of the tuition fees such persons as 
they may deem entitled to such exemption, from indigence or any other sufficient cause- and the 
said board may include the amount so exempted or remitted in the estimate of the amount necessary to 
be raised under the provisions of the fifteenth section of this act, and when collected the same shall be 
credited to the teachers' fund.* 

• Of course, this and the following paragraph are superseded by the general provisions of school law- 
making all schools free. . 



872 LOCKPORT. 

9. After the close of each quarter of said union school to make out a rate-bill containing the name o^ 
each person liable to pay tuition fees for tuition in said union school, who shall not have paid the same 
prior to making out such rate-bill, according to the provisions of the last preceding subdivision of this 
section, and the amount for which such person is liable, adding thereto a sum not exceeding Ave cents 
on each dollar for collector's fees (which fees shall be fixed by said board at the time of making out 
every rate-bill); to annex thereto a warrant for the collection thereof, to be signed bv the president of 
said board or a majority of the members thereof, and deliver the same to the collector, who shall col- 
lect the same in the same manner as collectors of school districts are by law authorized and required 
to execute like warrants issued by the trustees of common school districts, and who, in the execution of 
the same, shall be under the same protection, possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties as- 
such collectors now have, possess and are subject to in respect to like warrants ; and, for this purpose, the 
jurisdiction of said board of education and of said collector shall extend to any other district or town, 
and to any resident of such other district or town who may be liable for tuition in said union 
school, in the same manner and with the like authority as to said union district or residents of said 
union district; 

10. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of all the 
schools mentioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of this act ; to prescribe the course of 
studies therein, the books to be used, and establish an uniformity in respect to such course of studies 
and books ; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules, 
regulations and ordinances for the organization, government and instruction of such schools, for the 
reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, for the promotion of their good order, 
prosperity and public utility, for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school- 
houses, lots, sites and appurtenances, and all other property connected with or appertaining to such 
schools ; 

11. To cause such rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws to be published in such manner and 
form as they may deem best calculated to give general information ; to cause one copy thereof, together 
with a copy of this act, to be kept in each of said schools; and such parts thereof as relate to such 
schools, respectively, to be read therein at least once during each quarter ; 

12. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the visitation and control of the super- 
intendents of common schools of the town, county and State, In the same manner as the common 
schools in this State are subject. 

§ 15. Said boarfl of education shall, at the commencement of each year, make an estimate by the best 
means in their power, and determine by resolution the amount of money which will be needed for all 
the purposes of education in said union school district for the current year, and for all other purposes 
provided for by this act, over and above the moneys to be received from the Regents of the University 
from the State and for tuition, and shall transmit a copy of said resolution to the common council of 
the city of Lockport. and said common council shall assess and collect the amount so certified, by a tax 
upon all the taxable property of said city, upon the same assessment roll, and at the same time and In 
the same manner that city taxes are now required to be assessed and collected, and the amount so 
estimated and collected shall be paid by the city treasurer upon orders drawn in pursuance of resolu- 
tions of said board of education, such orders to be signed by the president of said board and certified 
toy its secretary. The amount of money so to be raised in any one year shall not be less than the 
amount received in behalf of all said districts from the State school tax for the year next preceding-, 
nor more than four times that amount, unless such greater amount shall De authorized by a vote of the 
inhabitants of said union district, at a regular meeting of such district ; and said board is hereby 
authorized, in making the estimate for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six, to include a sufiicient 
amount to pay all expenses contemplated by the foregoing provisions, which shall accrue before ttie 
first day of October, eighteen hundred and sixty -seven ; and whenever any money shall be needed for 
the use of any primarv or secondary district, for any of the purposes contemplated by thisaot. said board 
of education shall estimate and certify the same to said common council, whose duty it shall be to 
assess and collect the same by tax on the taxable property of such primary or secondary district, in 
the same manner as above provided for the assessment and collection of the general tax, and the mon- 
eys so collected shall be paid on orders drawn as above provided, and shall be applied for the benefit of 
the respective districts upon which the same shall have been assessed. 

§ 16. Said board of education shall have power and it shall be their duty, forthwith to purchase a 
suitable lot, so situated as best to convene the whole of said union school district, not to exceed ia 
cost the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars, and procure a clear title thereof, to be vested, by deed, in 
said board of education ; to cause said lot to be graded, fenced and otherwise properly improved; to 
erect thereon a suitable and proper building or buildings, to be built of stone or brick, not to exceed in 
expense the sum of eight thousand dollars, nor to cost less than five thousand dollars ; furnish the 
same with all proper, useful and necessary furniture, apparatus and appendages ; as soon as the build- 
ing is in proper condition, employ a suflBcient number of well educated teachers, male and female, and 
cause a school to be commenced therein, to be called " the Lockport union school," in which shall be 
taught only the higher branches of education. 

The tuition fee in said union school shall not exceed two dollars each per quarter for pupils whose 
parents or guardians reside within the territory of said union district ; for all other pupils, said tuition 
fee shall not be less than two dollars nor more than five dollars per quarter. No tuition fee shall there- 
after be charged, nor any rate-bill be made, for tuition in the primary schools, but the same ehall be 
free schools. (See no^e, p.&i\, ante.) 

1 17. Said board of education shall, as soon as practicable, make an estimate of the amount of money 
which, in their opinion, will be necessary for the purposes in the last section specified, and also for 
such purposes specified in section fourteen of this act as may be needed or required for the first year, 
and shall forthwith assess, levy and collect, the same, by tax upon real and personal estate, as specified 
in section of this act. They shall, for this and all other taxes to be raised by them, make oat a tax list. 
In the manner and form in which like tax lists are now made out by trustees of school districts, so far 
as such form is applicable : annex thereto a warrant, in like form, signed by the president or a majority 
of the members of said board, and deliver the same to the collector; which, when so made and signed, 
shall be as effectual, to all intents and purposes, as like tax lists and warrants when made by the trust- 
ees of common school districts Said board may, in respect to the collection of all taxes, conform to 
the provisions of the twenty-ninth, thirtieth, and thirty-first sections of the one hundred and eightieth 
chapter of the Session Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and require the collector to 
comply with the provisions of said sections, so far as the same are applicable. Said board may so far 
vary from thg provisions of said sections, as to time and places, as to render them applicable, and may 
make such warrants returnable at sixty or ninety days, in their discretion, instead of thirty days, as 
now required by law in respect to such warrants made by trustees of common school districts; but 
all property now exempt, by section twenty-two, title five, chapter six, part third of the Revised Stat- 
utes, from execution, shall be exempt from all such warrants. 

2 18. All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys bylaw appropriated to or provided 
for >;ti<i district, shall be paid tc'ithe treasurer of said boaid, who, together with the sureties upon his 



Lock PORT. 873 

official bond, shall be accountable therefor to said board of education. Said treasurer shall not pay out 
of any such moneys, except by resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the president and 
certified by the secretary, to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 

g 19. Said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, 
and may adjourn for a shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his 
absence or inability to act, by the secretary or any other member of the board, as often as necessary, 
by giving personal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be 
left at his last place of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour of meeting. No member 
of said board shall receive any pay or compensation for his services. It shall not be lawful for any 
member of said board, or any other officer of either of said districts, to become a contractor for build- 
ing or making any improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner directly or indi- 
rectly interested either as principal, partner or surety in any such contract. All contracts made in 
violation of tliis provision shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit the sum of 
fifty dollars, to be prosecuted for and recovered by said board. 

8 20. Instead of the report now required by law to be made by trustees of school districts to the town 
superintendent of common schools, the trustee to be elected for each primary district shall, within the 
time now required by law, make such report to said board of education, and shall therein embrace such 
other and further matters as may be required and prescribed by said board, or as such trustee may 
think the interests of such primary district or school may require. Said board of education shall annu- 
ally, between the first of January and the first of March in each year, make to the town superintendent of 
common schools a report containing all such matters relating as well to said union district and union 
school as to said primary districts and their schools, as is now or shall hereafter be required by law, or 
the regulations of the Superintendent of Common Schools, to be reported to said town superintendent, 
and such other and further matters as they may deem advisable. Such report shall be received, by said 
town superintendent, instead of the reports now required from each of said seven districts. A copy of 
such report shall be filed with the secretary of said board. 

§ 21. Said board of education shall, from time to time, appoint such and so many members of their 
board as they may deem proper, not less than three in number, a visiting committee, whose duty it 
shall be to visit said union school and each of said primary schools as often as once in each quarter, and 
make a report in writing to said board, showing the state and condition of each school, school-house, 
apparatus and appendages, and such other matters as said board may require of them, and such sug- 
gestions for the improvement of the same as they may deem proper and advisable; such reports shall 
be filed and kept among the papers of said board. Such board may, in their discretion, cause such 
reports, or any parts of the same or the substance thereof, and any and all other matters relating to said 
schools, to be pubhshed in such form as they may deem advisable. They shall, at the close of each 
year, publish in one or more of the village newspapers a report of the moneys received and expended 
by them during the year, and such other matters as they deem advisable. 

J 22. Whenever, in the opinion of said board, the interests of any primary district require the sale or 
exchange of the school lot therein, said board may cause such sale or exchange to be made, and hold 
the proceeds thereof for the use and benefit of such primary district. 

§ 23. The title of school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all 
other school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in said board of education ; and the same, 
while used for or appropriated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and 
shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution. Said board of edu- 
cation in their corporate capacity shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate 
transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise for the use of said schools or any or either of them ; 
provided, however, that said board shall noi have power to sell, grant, dispose of or incumber said 
union school lot. 

224. Every officer in this act mentioned, having at the time the possession, custody, care, charge or 
control of any property belonging to said schools or any or either of them, or any money raised by the 
provisions of this act or provided by law for the purposes of education in said village, shall, at the 
expiration of his term, or whenever such officer shall I'esign, be removed from office, cease to act, or 
his office be otherwise vacated, transfer all such property and pay over all such money to the board of 
education. 

g 25. Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall be made to the board of 
education ; and such resignation shall have no force or effect, nor in any degree excuse such officer 
from the discharge of his duties, imtil the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of said 
board. 

? 26. Any such officer may be removed from office for any official misconduct or neglect of official 
duty by resolution of said board, two-thirds of the members thereof concurring. Opportunity shall be 
given to every such officer to be heard in his defense before any such resolution shall be adopted. 

§ 27. Every person appointed or elected to any office mentioned in this act, who, without sufficient 
cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars ; and every pei-son so appointed 
or elected, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, 
shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of said board 
of education forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recov- 
ered to apply the same to the purposes of education in said village. All officers mentioned in this act 
shall be deemed public officers, within the intent and meaning of section thirty -eight of title six of 
chapter one, part four of the Revised Statutes, and, as such, liable to the penalty therein prescribed, 
in addition to the penalty in this section before provided. 

§ 28. The several Ubraries of the said seven districts ai-e hereby consolidated into one. Said board of 
education shall cause a suitable and proper room to be fitted up in said union school building, and fur- 
nished with necessary and suitable fixtures, furniture, apparatus and appendages, and transfer said 
library thereto, and put it under the charge of a librarian. They shall annually allow and pay to said 
librarian such salary as in their opinion shall be a fair and reasonable compensation for his services, 
but not to exceed the sum of fifty dollars in any one year. They shall pass such by-laws for the regu- 
lation and preservation of said library and for the discharge of the duties of the librarian as they may 
think necessary. The library money hereafter to be received in behalf of said districts shall be paid 
"by the town superintendent to the treasurer of said board. Said board shall expend such money 
entirely for the purchase of books and maps for the library. 

§ 29. Lands of residents and non-residents of said districts may be sold by said board for uncollected 
taxes, assessed thereon for school purposes by virtue of the provisions of this act, in the same manner 
and by like proceedings as the trustees of said village adopt to sell lands for unpaid taxes assessed for 
village purposes, and such sales shall have. the like effect as sales so made by the trustees of said vil- 
lage ; or, the lands of residents and non-residents of said districts said board may cause to be returned 
to the county treasurer, in the same manner as trustees of common school districts are now authorized 
by law to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non-residents of their districts for unpaid 
taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of such taxes out of 
any money in the county treasury raised for contingent expenses; and such proceedings, In all 

110 



B74 Lock PORT. 

respects, shall thereafter be had by said county treasurer and the board of supervisors of the county of 
Niagara, in relation to all lands so returned as they are by law required to take in respect to unoccu- 
pied and unimproved lands of non-residents when so returned by trustees of common school districts i 
but no lands shall be so sold or returned until a reasonable effort shall have been made to collect such 
taxes by warrant, as provided in section seventeen of this act, and the collector shall have returned 
that he cannot collect the same. 

2 30. Said board of education may cause a school for colored children to be taught in said village, and 
include the expenses thereof in the amount so to be raised annually by tax for contingent expenses and 
other purposes of education provided for in this act. 

g 31. Said board of education may organize in said union school a department for the instruction of 
teachers, for such parts of the year and under such rules and regulations as they may by their by-laws 
adopt relative thereto. 

} 32. Said board of education may at any time hereafter, whenever in their opinion the wants and 
interests of said schools shall require it, establish a class of so many schools, intermediate and primary 
and union schools, as they may deem advisable, to be called secondary schools; and for this purpose 
consolidate such and so many of said primary districts as they may deem advisable, prescribe the 
tuition fees and course of studies therein, and so arrange and regulate the system of instruction in all 
of said schools that the transfer of pupils shall thereafter be from the primary directly Into the sec- 
ondary, and thence into the union school ; and for this purpose, and for the organization, government 
and regulation of said secondary schools, said board shall have all such powers as are hereinbefore 
conferred upon them in respect to said primary and union schools, and their districts and property. 

J 34. Said board of education shall have power to borrow money, from time to time, whenever neces- 
sary, by reason of the non payment of taxes, or a failure to collect a sufiScient amount to pay the cur 
rent expenses of the schools under its charge, as contemplated and provided for in section fifteen of 
this act, as amended; but in no case shall they borrow a greater amount than the amount estimated 
and reported to the common council, as provided by this act as amended. 

[0iap. 77, Laws o/1850.] 

? 2. *' The said board of education for the city of Lockport " is hereby authorized to increase the rates 
of tuition fees in the union school under its charge and to graduate the same according to the branches 
of instruction pursued, and may require fees for tuition of non-resident pupils to be paid in advance. 

} 3. Said board of education is hereby authorized to appoint a superintendent of the schools under its 
charge, with such powers and duties and compensation as said board shall prescribe, and such superin- 
tendent shall have power to examine and give certificates to all teachers who shall be employed in said 
union school district, and such certificates so given by said superintendent shall have the same force 
and effect as certificates given by county or assembly district superintendents have heretofore had and 
now have. 

J 4. From and after the first day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, all secondary schools 
under the charge of the board of education for the city of Lockport shall be free, and no fees for tuition 
therein shall be charged or collected by said board. 

2 5. Said board shall not raise by tax. upon the property in the union school district, any money for 
the salaries of teachers in the union school district which shall accrue after the first day of April next, 

J 6 The acts and doings of said board of education, in accordance with the provisions of their act of 
incorporation, since the act entitled " An act establishing free schools throughout the State," passed 
March 26, 1849, took effect, are hereby ratified and confirmed. 

i 7. The public money which shall be apportioned to the districts included in the said union school 
district shall be paid to said board, and be applied by them to teachers' wages, in the several schools in 
their charge in said district, in proportion to the average number of scholars pursuing common school 
studies in each of said schools. The annual report of the receipts and expenditures, required to be 
published by said board, shall specify all sums received, and from whom, and all persons to whom pay- 
ments were made, and the general character of the demands paid. 

Upon the application of said board of education to '* the Regents of the University of the State of New 
York," said Regents may acknowledge and declare said union school to be an academy : and it shall 
thereafter be an academy, subject to and to be governed by the provisions of the act authorizing said 
union school, and subject to such rules and regulations as said Regents may prescribe. 

[ Chap 95, Laws of 1858. ] 

Section 1 . All taxes hereafter to be levied and collected within the bounds of the " union school dis- 
trict of Lockport," for contingent expenses appertaining to the union school, the secondary schools, 
the primary schools, and the colored schools, shall be levied and collected of all the taxable property, 
real and personal, in said union school district, as one general tax, and shall be expended for the benefit 
of the said several schools, under the direction of the board of education for the village of Lockport; 
and no separate tax on the union school district, the secondary school districts, primary school dis- 
tricts, or for ihe colored school, shall hereafter be levied or collected for contingent expenses, but the 
expenses of purchasing a lot, or lots, for secondary or primary schools, and the erection of buildings or 
other permanent fixtures thereon, shall be levied and collected of all the taxable property, real and per- 
sonal, ill each of the said several districts. 

{Chap. 365, Laws of 1865.] 

Section sixteen, of title nine, is as follows: 

§ 16. The boundaries of the union school district shall be and the same are hereby changed to include 
all the territory contained in the limits of the city of Lockport. not now included in the said district. 

[ Chap. 822, Laws of 1867. J 

Section 1. The common school report now required to be made by the board of education for the city 
of Lockport shall hereafter be made to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, instead of the 
school commissioner of the first assembly district of Niagara county, as the same has heretofore been 
made. 

\ 2. The public money apportioned to the union school district of the city of Lockport shall hereafter 
be paid to the treasurer of the board of education for the city of Lockport, instead of the supervisor of 
the town of Lockport, as the same has heretofore been paid. 



Long IsLAi^D City. 875 

iVhap. 729, Laws 0/I868.J 

Section 1 . The board of education for the city of Lockport is hereby authorized to unite any two or more 
primary school districts within the bounds of, " The Union School District of Lockport," for the pur- 
pose of purchasing a site and erecting a school-house for the joint use of such districts, and for the pur- 
pose of enlarging, repairing, or improving the same. And such districts, when so united, shall, for the 
purpose above-mentioned, be treated, in all respects, as one district. 

52. Said board of education is hereby authorized to raise, by tax, upon the taxable property of the 
primary and secondary districts included in said " Union School District," as prescribed by law, in 
addition to the amounts authorized to be raised by section fifteen of an act entitled " An act in relation 
to common schools in the village of Lockport," passed March thirty-one, eighteen hundred and forty- 
seven, such amounts as shall, from time to time, be needed for the purchase of sites and the erection 
of school-houses, and for the purpose of enlarging, repairing and improving the same. 

LONG ISLAND CITY. 

IChap. 461, Laws of 187L] 
TITLE IX. — OF THE CHARTER OF LONG ISLAND CITY. 

Of the laws relating to Public Instruction of Long Island City. 

Section 1. The mayor of Long Island City shall have the power and it shall be his duty to appoint 
one citizen from each ward of said city as a member of the board of education of Long Island City, 
under the name and title of commissioner of public instruction. The first appointment shall be made 
within ten days after the passage of this act. Said commissioners of public instruction shall serve as 
school commissioners for their respective wards ; and if any of said commissioners shall change his 
residence from the ward for which he had been appointed commissioner, he shall be deemed to have 
vacated his office, and the mayor of Long Island City shall appoint a commissioner of public instruc- 
tion to fill such vacancy. The commissioners of public instruction shall hold office for a term of not 
less than two nor more than four years, at the discretion of the mayor ; but in no case shall the term of 
office of more than three-fifths of the members appointed to the board terminate within any one year. 
The first commissioners of public instruction so appointed shall enter upon theduties of their office on 
the first Tuesday after their appointment, and the term of office of all commissioners of public instruc- 
tion shall thereafter expire on the last Monday of June ; but such commissioner shall continue to dis- 
charge the duties of his office until his successor shall quaUfy. 

Chapter IL 

Of the Board of Education, its powers and duties. 

Section 1. The commissioners of public instruction shall constitute a board of education for Long 
Island City. They shall meet on the last Tuesday in June of each year, except the first year, for the 
purpose of organization, and thereafter for the transaction of business as often as they may determine ; 
they shall elect one of their number president. 

§ 2. The board of education shall have power : 

1. To appoint a city superintendent of schools, whose duties, powers, salary and term of office, except 
SB herein otherwise provided, shall be regulated and determined by the board. 

Z. To employ and to discharge teachers, to designate their duties, and to fix their salaries ; to employ 
necessary workmen, and to provide necessary materials for repairing, altering and enlarging public 
school buildings, or other buildings connected therewith. 

3. To remove from office any school officer who shall have been, directly or indirectly, interested in 
the furnishing of any supplies or materials, or in the doing of any labor, or in the sale, purchase, or 
leasing of any real estate, or in proposal, agreement, or contract, in any case in which the price or con- 
sideration is to be paid, in whole or in part, either directly or indirectly, out of any school moneys ; or 
who shall have received, from any source whatever, any commission or other compensation in connection 
with any of the matters aforesaid ; and any school officer who shall violate the preceding provisions of 
this section shall be deemed guilty of having violated his oath of office, and, upon conviction thereof, 
shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment in the State prison, 
not exceeding two years, or both, and shall also be ineligible to a city office. Under this act, the 
board of education shall also have power to remove from office any school officer, who shall have been 
guilty of immoral or disgraceful conduct in any matter connected with his official duties, or which 
tends to bring discredit on his office, or the school system. If one or more school officers or tax payers 
of Long Island City shall present a written charge to the board of education, accusing any school offi- 
cer of a violation of any of the provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the said board to cause 
the same to be fully investigated. All testimony taken upon any such investigation shall be under 
oath ; and the board of education shall have the power to compel any witness who may have been duly 
summoned to appear and testify before the said board or any committee thereof. 

4. To establish new schools as hereinafter nrovided. 

5. To draw from the moneys, which shall be raised for the purpose of public education, such sums as 
may be required for the purpose of defraying the necessary incidental expenses of the board, and such 
further sums as may be required for the payment of the salaries of the superintendent and such 
teachers as may be appointed by virtue of the authority vested in the board by this act, and of such 
other expenses as may be necessarily incurred by the board in pursuance of the provisions of this 
act. 

6. To visit and examine the schools subject to the provisions of this act. 

7. To make rules and by-laws for the government of the board, its members and committees, 
and general regulations, to secure proper economy and accountability in the expenditure of the school 
moTiGys. 

8. To dispose of such personal property used in schools, or other buildings under the charge of 
the board, as the trustees or committees having the immediate charge shall certify as no longer 
required for use therein ; and all moneys realized by the sale of any such property shall be paid into 
the city treasury. 

9. And for the purposes of this act, the said board of education of Long Island city shall possess all 
the powers and privileges of a corporation, to sue and be sued in any of the courts of the State except 
that the title to all the property of the public or ward schools, both real and personal, shall be vested 
in the corporation of Long Island city. 

§ 3. It shall be the dutv of the board of education : 

1. On or before the first day of February, in each year, to report to the common council of said city 



8'?'6 Long Island City. 

an estimate of the amount which shall De requirea lor eacn ciistnct during the yea;r for the purpose oJ 
meeting the current annual expenses of public instruction in said city, for purchasing sites for erecting 
buildings, or for the leasing buildings, and for furnishing, fitting up, altering, enlarging and repairing 
the buildings and premises under their charge for the support of schools which shall have been organ- 
ized since the last annual apportionment of the school moneys made by the board, and of such further 
sum or sums as may be necessary for any of the purposes authorized by this act. 

2. To apportion all the school moneys which shall have been raised for the purpose of meeting the 
current annual expenses of public schools. 

3. To file witb the city clerk of said city, on or before the first Monday of April, in each year, a copy 
of their apportionment, stating the amount apportioned to each of the public schools of the city 

4. To provide evening schools for those whose ages or avocations are such as to prevent their attend- 
ing the day schools established by law, in such of the ward school-houses or other buildings used for 
school purposes in said city as they may from time to time deem expedient. 

5. To appoint teachers for the evening schools, and to furnish all needful supplies for such evening 
schools. 

6. Whenever it shall appear to the board of education that the trustees of anv ward are neglecting 
any school under their control, to the detriment of the pupils in said schools, the board of education 
shall have power to suspend from office such trustees until the next city election, when their success- 
ors shall be elected ; and the said board of education shall have power to take charge of such schools 
to manage the same, to furnish all needful supplies until the successors of said trustees enter upon the 
duties of their office. But the said board of education shall not take charge of any such school on 
account of any alleged neglect, until the board of trustees of the ward in which said school is situated 
shall first have been notified of the neglect charged, and have an opportunity of being heard before 
said board or its committees on the subject. 

7. To furnish all necessary supplies, or make regulations for furnishing such supplies, for the several 
schools under their care ; but when such supplies are furnished by the board of education, they shall 
be furnished by contract, with the lowest responsible bidder, proposals for which contract shall be 
advertised for the period of at least once a week for three weeks. 

8. To make and transmit, between the fifteenth day of November and the first day of December in 
each year, to the State Superintendent of PubUc Instruction and to the common council of Long 
Island City, a report in writing for the year ending on the thirtieth day of September next preceding, 
stating the whole number of schools within their jurisdiction; the length of time such schools shall 
have been kept open; the amount of pubyc money apportioned or appropriated to all the schools of 
the city ; the number of children taught in each school ; the whole amount of money drawn from the 
city treasurer for the purposes of education during the year ending at the date of their report, dis- 
tinguishing the amount received from the general fund of the State, and from all other and what 
sources ; the manner in which such moneys shall have been expended, and such other information as 
the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may from time to time require in relation to public 
instruction in Long Island City ; and the report which the board of education is hereby required to 
make shall be held and taken to be a full compliance with every law requiring a report from said 
board, and from any officer of Long Island City, except the city superintendent, relative to the schools 
in the said city, and any matters connected therewith. 

9. The clerk of the board of education shall have charge of the rooms, books, papers and documents 
of the board, and shall, in addition to his duties as secretary of the board, perform such clerical dutle* 
as may be required by its members or committees. 

2 4. It shall be the duty of each member of the board of education: 

1. To attend all the meetings ot the board ; and it any commissioner shall refuse or neglect to attend 
any three successive stated meetings of the board, after having been personally notified to attend, and 
If no satisfactory cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare his office vacant, and 
shall notify the mayor to fill such vacancy. 

2. To transmit to the board of education all the reports made to each of them by the trustees of 
their respective wards. 

3. It shall be the duty of each commissioner, in his respective ward, to examine in respect to every 
expense certified as correct by a majority of trustees of any ward, and to audit every such expense which 
may be just and reasonable, and no expense shal 1 be paid trustees unless audited in this manner. He shall 
also examine, at least once in every quarter of a year, all the public schools in his ward, in regard to 
the punctual and regular attendance of the pupils and teachers, the number, fidelity and competency 
of the teachers, the studies, progress, order, discipline and the cleanliness of the pupils ; the cleanli- 
ness, safety, warming, ventilation and comfort of the school premises, and whether or not the provi- 
sions, of this act relating to the teaching of sectarian doctrines or the use of sectarian books, or papers, 
have been violated, and to call the attention of the trustees, without delay, to every matter requiring 
immediate action. He shall also, on or before the thirty-first day of December in each year, make a 
written report to the board of education, and to the board of trustees, in respect to the condition, 
efficiency and wants of the ward, in respect to schools and school premises. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF TKUSTEES. 

3 5. It shall be the duty of the trustees for each ward, and they shall have the power 

1. To have the safe-keeping of all the premises and other property used for, or belonging to, the ward 
schools in their respective wards. 

2. Under such general rules and regulations, and subject to such limitations as the board of educa- 
tion may prescribe, to conduct and manage the said schools ; to furnish all needful supplies therefor, 
and to make all needful repairs, alterations and additions in and to the school premises, but shall not, 
without the written authorization of the board, expend more than twenty-five dollars a month. 

3. To procure as may be necessary blank books, in one of which a statement of the amount of all 
moneys received and paid by the trustees, or otherwise for, or on account of each of the schools con- 
ducted by them, and of all movable property belonging to each school shall be entered at large, and 
signed by such trustees ; and in one book minutes of their meetings shall be kept, and in other books, 
the principal teacher of each school, and each department in the school, shall enter the names, ages, 
residences of the scholars attending the school, the name of the parent or guardian of each scholar, and 
the days on which the scholars shall have respectively attended, and the aggregate attendance of each 
scholar during the j'ear ; also the days on which each school shall have been visited by the city super- 
intendent of schools, the school officers of the ward, and the members of the board of education, or any 
of them, which entries shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the principal teacher in such 
school or department. The said books shall be preserved by the trustees as the property of the schools, 
and shall be delivered to their successors. 

4. To make,'at least five days before the first day of January in every year, or such other days as may 
be designated by the board of education, in the case of aschool kept open after the twenty-fifth day of 
December, and transmit to the board of education a report in writing, dated the thirty- first day of 



LoKG Island City. 877 

December, which shall be signed and certified by a majority of the trustees, and which report shall 
state the whole number of schools within their jurisdiction ; the length of time each school shall be 
kept open , the whole number of scholars over four and under twenty-one years of age who shall have 
been taught free of expense to such scholars in their schools during the year ending with the date ol 
the report, which number shall be ascertained by adding the number of children on register at the 
commencement of each year, which shall be considered the total for that year ; the average number 
that has actually attended such schools during the year, to be ascertained by the teachers keeping an 
exact account of the number of scholars present every school time or half day, which being added 
together and divided by four hundred and sixty, or, if less than a year, by the number of school ses- 
sions, shall be considered the average of attending scholars, which average shall be sworn or affirmed 
to by the principal teacher of the school ; a detailed statement of the amount of moneys received for 
or paid on account of their respective schools during the years from or by the treasurer of the city, and 
of the purposes for and the manner in which the same shall have been expended, and a particular 
Account of the state of the schools and of the property and affairs of each school under their care, and 
the titles of all books used, with such other information as the board of education shall require ; 
and, for the purposes of this act, each department shall, whenever practicable, be considered as a sep- 

5, To render, at theexpiration of their respective terms of office, to their successors, a just and full 
account in writing of all moneys received by them for school purposes, and of the manner in which 
the same shall have been expended, and to pay any balance which may remain in their hands to their 
successors. 

6. To meet statedly at times to be by them appointed, and !to declare 'vacant, by the votes of a 
majority of the trustees of the ward, the seat of any person elected or appointed as a trustee, who 
shall refuse or neglect, without satisfactory cause shown by him to the said trustees, to attend any 
three successivf stated meetings of the board of trustees, after having been personally notified ; and 
to notify the clerk of the board of education, at least twenty days previous to any general city elec- 
tion, of any vacancy that will exist in the board of trustees for said ward, at the expiration of the cur- 
rent year, with the cause or reason of such vacancy or vacancies. 

OF THE CITY SUPERINTENDENT. 

J 6. The city superintendent ot schools shall be clerk to the board of education. He shall take and 
subscribe, before the city clerk, the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of the State. He shall 
hold office for the term of two years, and until his successor be appointed, subject to removal by the 
board, on complaint, for cause stated. He shall receive as a compensation for his services not more 
than one thousand five hundred dollars per annum, and shall be subject to such rules and regulations 
as the board of education may establish. 

J 7. It shall be especially the duty of the city superintendent : 

1. To visit all the schools of the city participating in the apportionment of public moneys, at least 
once in every month ; to inquire into all matter relating to the government, course! of instruction, 
books, studies, discipline and conduct of said schools, and the condition of the school-houses, and the 
school generally; to advise and to counsel with the trustees in relation to their duties, the proper stud- 
ies, disciphne and conduct of the public schools, the course of instruction to be pursued, and the books 
of elementary instruction to be used therein, and to examine, ascertain and report to the board of edti 
cation whether the provisions of this act in relation to reUgion, sectarian teaching, books and papers 
have been violated in any of the public schools of the city, and to make a monthly report to the board 
of education, concerning the schools^visited by him, andadding such comments, in respect to the matters 
above specified, as he may consider necessary and advisable ; and to transmit to the respective boards 
of trustees copies of so much of such reports as relates to public schools under their management. 

2. Under such general rules and regulations as the board of education may establish, to examine into 
the qualifications of persons proposed as teachers in any of the public schools, such examination shall 
be conducted by the city superintendent of schools, in the presence of two or more commissioners, or 
before all the members of the board should one of the commissioners require it, in which case the 
majority of the members shall decide as to the qualifications of such persons as teachers. Licenses 
shall be granted to those persons who may be employed as teachers, which shall be in the form pre- 
scribed by the by-laws of the board, and shall be signed by the city superintendent, and by at least 
three commissioners designated for the purpose, who shall certify that they were present at the exam- 
ination and concur in granting the license. The hcense of any teacher Imay be revoked for any cause 
aflecting the morality or competency of the teacher, by the written certificate of the city superintend- 
ent and a written concurrence of a majority of the members of the board, but no such action shall be 
taken until at least ten days' previous notice has been allowed ; nor shall it take effect until such cer- 
tificate of revocation has been filed in the office of the clerk of the board of education, and a copy 
served upon the teacher. It shall be the duty_ of the city superintendent to re-examine any teacher 
upon the written request of any two commissioners of the board of education, or of the three trustees 
of the ward in which the teacher is employed. The city superintendent, in his annual report to the 
board of education, shall include a list of the licenses granted and revoked, and, generally, by all tlje 
means in his power under the regulations of the board of education in respect thereto, to promote 
sound education, elevate the character and qualifications of teachers, improve the means of instruction 
and advance the interests of the schools committed to his charge. 

3. The city superintendent shall be subject to such general rules and regulations as the State Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction may prescribe, and appeals from his acts and decisions may be made 
to the State Superintendent, in the same manner and with like effect, as in ases now provided by law 
in respect of the county superintendent, and he shall make annually to the State Siiperintendent ol 
Public Instruction, at such times asshall be appointed by him, a report in writing containing the whole 
number of schools in the city, distinguishing the schools from which the necessary reports have been 
made to the board of education by the commissioners and trustees of common schools and containing 
a certified copy of the reports of the board of education to the clerk of the city, with such additional 
information as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may require. 

4. It shall be the duty of the board of education, by general rules and regulations, to provide a 
proper classification of studies, scholjn-s and salaries in such manner that, as near as practicable, the 
system of instruction pursued in the ptlbUc schools, and the salaries paid to the teachers shall be uni- 
form throughout the city. 

OF THE SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS. 

J 8. "Whenever the county clerk shall receive notice from the State Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion of the amount of moneys apportioned to Queens county for the support and encouragement of 
schools therein, the treasurer of Long Island City shall immediately lay the same before the board of 
supervisors of said county and shall apply for, and receive the school moneys apportioned to Long 
Island city, and shall place the same in the city treasury. 



878 Long Island City. 

J 9. The common council of Long Island City shall annually raise and collect by tax, upon all the 
taxable property of said city, a sum of money equal t o the sum specified in the estimated amount 
required by the board of education for public school purposes, not exceeding three-fourths of one per 
cent on one hundred dollars valuation of such taxable property, in the same manner as the contingent 
charges of the said city are levied and collected, to be apphed to the purposes and benefit of the public 
schools of the said city ; and the board of education shall apportion the money so raised to the public 
schools, according to the number of children over four and under twenty-one vears of age who were 
actual residents of Long Island City at the time of their attendance in such schools without charge, 
the preceding year ; and the average in all the schools in Long Island City shall be ascertained by 
adding together the number of such children present at such morning and afternoon sessions, and 
dividing the sum by a number corresponding to the actual number of morning and afternoon sessions 
held in any school since the last annual apportionment. The sum apportioned to any school under the 
charge of the board of education shall be paid by the treasurer of the said city upon the drafts drawn 
on him by the board of education, signed by the president and countersigned by the clerk of the board 
and by the commissioner of the ward for which the money is to be paid, and all drafts shall be made 
payable to the person or persons entitled to receive the same, except that the payment of wages and 
salaries may be made by pay rolls, upon which each person shall separately receipt for the amount paid 
to such person; and in every case of payment by a payroll, the draft for the aggregate amount of 
wages or salaries included therein shall be made payable to the officer designated for the purpose by 
the by-laws of the board of education. (As amended by chapter 428, Laws of 1873.) 

1 10. The board of education shall require from the executive committees conducting evening and 
other schools by the appointment of the board, and from the trustees, managers, or directors of the 
schools entitled to participate in the apportionment of school moneys, a report in all respects similar to 
that required from the trustees by the fourth subdivision of the fifth section of this title. 

§ 11. And in making the apportionment among the several schools, no share shall be allotted to any 
school from which no sufficient annual report shall have been received for the year ending on the last 
day of December preceding the apportionment. 

g 12. Whenever any apportionment of the public money shall not be made to any school, in conse- 
quence of an accidental omission to make any report required by law, or to comply with any other 
regulation or provision of law, the board of education may, in its discretion, direct an apportionment 
to be made to such school, according to the equitable circumstances of the case, to be paid out of the 
money on hand ; or if the same shall have been distributed out of the pubUc money to be received in 
a succeeding year. 

OF THE ERECTION OF SCHOOLS. 

2 13. The board of education m.ay authorize the erection of a new public school-house, upon the 
written application of a majority of the trustees for the ward. It shall be the duty of the board of 
education to decide finally upon every such application within thirty days after the same shall be pre- 
sented to It. 

5 14. Upon a decision favorable to the establishment of a school or schools in any of the wards of said 
city, it shall be lawful for the school officers of said ward to proceed to organize one or more schools, 
such as may be authorized by the board of education, and procure a school-house, by purchasing or 
hiring the same ; or by procuring a site and erecting a building thereon, according to plans and specifi- 
cations and contracts which shall have been duly filed with and approved by the board of education ; 
the erection of which said building, and the fitting up thereof, and the fitting up of any hired building, 
shall be done by contract wdth the lowest responsible bidder, proposals for which contract shall be 
advertised once a week, for three weeks, previous to deciding upon the estimates thereon, unless such 
fitting up shall not exceed the sum of twenty-five dollars j and the expense of establishing and organ- 
izing any school, as above mentioned, shall be paid out of the revenues levied and raised pursuant to 
the provisions of this act. 

§ 15. It shall not be lawful for the board of education of Long Island City, nor for any of the city 
authorities, to appropriate or to payout any of the public funds for the purchase or erection of frame 
buildings for pubUc school purposes in Long Island City. 

1 16. They shall, before erecting or enlarging any building to be owned and used for public school pur- 
poses, hold in fee simple in the name of the corporation of Long Island City, a strip of land lying 
parallel with and adjacent to either side of such public school building, at least twenty-five feet in 
width, by one hundred feet in depth, and as much more as the board of education may deem necessary 
for public school purposes, to be left free of all buildings and structures that may obstruct light, or 
ventilation ; and it shall be the duty of the board of education to have all the main stairwaj's, stair- 
cases, and halls of said schools rendered fire-proof, and the ceilings in all new pubUc school-rooms con- 
structed at least fifteen feet above the next floor below. 

i 17. No contract shall be made by the officers of public instruction of any ward for the purchase of 
any site without the consent of the board of education, or for the erection or fitting up, or repairing of 
any building, when such repairs shall exceed in amount the sum of twenty-five dollars as authorized 
in this act, until a statement in writing of the amount required for that purpose shall have been pre- 
sented to the board of education by said school officers, and, together with a copy of the working, 
drawings, plans and specifications of the work to be done, pursuant to the provisions of this act, shall 
have been duly filed and approved of, as herein required, and an appropriation shall have been made by 
the board of education therefor. 

OF THE DISCONTINUANCE OF SCHOOLS. 

5 18. Whenever, owing to any nuisance or other circumstances in the immediate vicinity of any 
public school, or to the small attendance of scholars therein, or any other sufficient reason, it shall 
appear to the board of education necessary and proper to discontinue such public school in any of the 
wards of this city, the said board shall give notice to the trustees of said school of its intention to con- 
sider the propriety of such discontinuance ; and in thirty days after such notice may proceed to inves- 
tigate the matter, and if a majority of the school officers of the ward shall consent to the same, and if 
said board shall determine, by a vote of a majority of all the members thereof, or without such consent 
by the unanimous vote of all the members of said board, that it is proper to close the same, it shall be 
the duty of said board to withhold all moneys which may have been apportioned or appropriated for 
the support of said school, and the said school shall not thereafter participate in any subsequent appor- 
tionment of the .school moneys. So soon as the same shall take effect the mayor of the city shall be 
notified thereof by the said joard, and the said school-house and site may thereupon be used or dis- 
posed of as a part of the general property of the city, 



LoJTG Island City. 879 

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

1 19. No compensation shall be allowed to the commissioners or trustees of any schools for any ser- 
vice performed by them ; but they shall receive any reasonable expenses which they may have incurred 
in attending to the duties of their ofiBce, to be audited and allowed by the board of education. 

§ 20. Every school oflScer who shall refuse or neglect to render an account, or to pay over any balance 
in his hands at the expiration of his term of office, shall, for each offense, forfeit the sum of fifty dollars, 
which sum, together with said unpaid balance, shall be sued for and collected by the board of educa- 
tion, who shall prosecute without delay for the recovery of said forfeiture, together with the unpaid 
balance ; and in the case of the death of such school officer, suit may be brought against his representa- 
tives, and all the moneys recovered after deducting expenses shall be placed at the disposal of the board 
of education. 

2 21. Every person in the employ of the board of education, and every school officer, and every oflJcer 
and teacher of a school or society, who shall willfully sign a false report to the board of education, 
shall, for each offense, forfeit the sum of twenty-five dollars, and shall be deemed guilty of misde- 
meanor ; and every such person or ofiBcer. who shall willfully misapply any of the public funds com- 
mitted to his care, shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement, and shall be punished by law. 

i 22. The following shall be substantially the form of oath or affirmation to be made by the teacher: 

A B, of Long Island City, teacher of No. department, being duly sworn or aflBrmed, 

declares and saj's, that to the best of (his or her) knowledge and belief, the average number of chil- 
dren actually residents of Long Island City, at the time of attending said schools, between the ages of 
four and twenty-one years, who attended said school or department each school time or half day, from 

the day of to the first day of January was ; said average having been obtained by 

adding together the number of scholars present each school term or half day, and dividing the total 
by four hundred and sixty, agreeably to the fifth section of this chapter." 

2 23. In any suit which shall hereafter be commenced against any commissioners or trustees of com- 
mon schools, for any act perfonhed by virtue of, or undercolor of their offices, or for any refusal or 
omissionlto perform any duty enjoined by law, and which might have been the subject of an appeal to the 
Superintendent, no cost shall be allowed to the plaintiff in cases when the court shall certify it 
appeared on the trial of It he cause, that the defendants acted in good faith. But this provision shall 
not extend to suits for penalties nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the State Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction. 

2 24. All children between the ages of four and twenty-one, residing in the city, shall be entitled to 
attend any of the public schools therein, and the parents, guardians or other persons having the cus- 
tody or care of such children shall not be liable to any tax, assessment or imposition for the tuitioa 
of any children in any public school in said city other than is hereinbefore provided. 

5 25. The clerk of the board of education is hereby authorized to administer oaths and take aflBdavits 
in all matters appertaining to the schools in Long Island City, and for that purpose shall possess all 
the powers of a commissioner of deeds, but shall not be entitled to any of the fees or emoluments 
thereof 

{ 26. On and after the passage of this act, the present limits of all school districts within Long Island 
CSty shall be abolished, and the limits of the various school districts shall hereafter correspond to the 
variona ward limits ot said city, and the Jurisdiction of the county superintendent of schools for 
Queens county shall cease within the limits of Long Island City. All the trusts, estates or property 
held by or vested in any of the public or district schools, or any of the boards of trustees and board of 
education, managers or directors thereof, as organized or existing under any special or general act, 
and all the rights, powers, duties and liabilities of said boards of trustees and boards of education, 
managers or directors shall remain and continue, and be vested, and is hereby vested in the board of 
education of Long Island City, which board is and shall be held as the lawful successors of the said 
boards of trustees and board of education, managers or directors, in the execution of every trust ; and 
the corporate existence of said boards of trustees, managers or directors is hereby merged in the said 
board of education of Long Island City, subject to the provisions and restrictions of this act. 

2 27. Any provision of law inconsistent with the provisions herein contained is hereby repealed. 

[Cfiap. 519, Laws of 1887. ] 
An act to provide for public school-houses in Long Island city. 

Passed June 3, 1887 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section 1. At any time after January first, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight. Long Island citv is 
hereby authorized to purchase lands in said city, and erect public school-houses thereon, but the aggre- 
gate amount to be expended for such purpose shall not exceed the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars. 
Thirty-five thousand dollars of said sum shall be expended for the purchase of land and the erection of 
a public school-house in the first ward of said city, fifteen thousand dollars for the purchase of land and 
the erection of a public school-house in the second ward of said city and twenty-five thousand dollars for 
the purchase of lands and the erection of a public school-house in the third ward of said city. The site 
or location of any public school shall be determined by the school trustees of the respective wards. 

2 2. No lands shall be purchased as aforesaid except the terms of such purchase have been advertised 
for one week in the corporation newspapers of said city and approved by the mayor ; all work to be 
done and materials furnished in and for said public school-houses shall be done bv contract with the 
lowest responsible bidder, with such sureties as such board shall require ; proposals for everv such 
contract shall be advertised once a week for three weeks in the corporation newspapers of said city, 
and the material, plan and construction of said public school-buildings shall conform to the require- 
ments of chapter four hundred and sixty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-one, entitled 
"An act to revise the charter of Long Island city," and the acts amendatory thereof. 

2 3. For the purpose of furnishing the money to meet the expenditure hereby provided for, bonds 
shall be issued by Long Island city, to be known and designated as public school bonds, signed by the 
mayor and city clerk of said city, said bonds shall be of the denomination of five hundred dollars each, 
payable in twenty j-ears, and the annual interest accruing thereon shall be collected as part of the city 
taxes for each and every year, the amount so collected shall be applied to the paj'ment of interest on 
such bonds ; said bonds shall bear interest at the rate of four and one-half per centum per annum, pay- 
able semi-annually, and shall not be sold for less than par. The said lands and public school-buildings 
are hereby specially pledged for the payment of the principal sum of the bonds authorized bv this act 
for such purpose. 

§ 4. Within two years before the maturity of said bonds, it shall be the duty of the common council 
of said city to provide, by a general tax, the amount necessarv to pay the principal of said bonds, the 
same to be collected as part of the city taxes ; and which sum shall be applied to the payment of said 
public school bonds, and for no other purpose. 

2 5. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 

§ 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 



880 LYOi!rs. 



LYONS. 

IC^p. 129, Laws of 1856, as amended by chap. 290, Laws of 1860, and by cTiap. 260, Laws of 1863.] 

Section 1, School district number six, in the town of Lyons, county ofWayne, shall, for the purposes 
In this act specified, be hereafter known and called " the Lyons union school." 

? 2. Said district shall not be subject to alteration, except by an act of the legislature, or by some 
resolution of the board of education hereafter created. 

§3. John T. Mackenzie, Saxon B. Garritt, Morton Brownson, Lyman Sherwood, Caleb Rice, Zebulon 
Moore, George W. Cramer, William H. Sisson. and Aaron D. Polhamus, residing in the said district, 
are hereby appointed trustees in behalf of said district. The trustees so named, and their successors 
in office, to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a corporation, by the name of 
" the board of education for the village of Lyons." 

\ 4. On the third Monday of December next there shall be elected, in the manner that school district 
officers are now elected, by a meeting of the persons qualified to vote for school district officers, resid- 
ing within the bounds of said district, nine trustees, residents of said district, to fill the places of those 
named in this act. Annually thereafter, on the days above specified, there shall, in like manner, be 
elected three trustees to fill the places of those whose terms shall next thereafter expire, as hereinafter 
provided. The trustees named in this act shall hold their offices until the first Mondav of January 
next, and until their successors shall be chosen and enter upon the discharge of the duties of their 
oflaces respectively. Every officer elected under this act shall enter upon the duties of his oflfice on 
the first Monday of January next succeeding his election, and shall hold his office for the term herein- 
after provided, and until his successor shall be elected, and shall enter upon the duties of his office. 
Within ten days after any such election, the clerk of such district shall certify to said board of educa- 
tion, the names of the officers so elected. 

I 5. Within ten days after the first election of trustees, as provided in the last section, all the trust- 
ees so elected, or a majority of them, shall meet and cause the whole number of trustees so elected to 
be divided by lot into three classes, to be severally numbered first, second and third. The term of 
office of the first class shall expire at the end of one year ; of the second class, at the end of two years; 
and of the third class, at the end of three years from the first Monday of January next. There shall 
also be elected in said district, at the time of so electing trustees, a clerk of said district, who shall hold 
his office for one year, and until his successor be elected and enter upon the duties of his ofiice. 

§6, There shall annually be appointed, by said board of education, a collector, librarian and treasu- 
rer of said district, who shall each, within ten days after receiving notice in writing of his appoint- 
ment, and before entering upon the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of education 
a bond, in such penalty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful 
discharge of the duties of his ofiice. In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiv- 
ing such notice, such office shall thereby become vacant, and said board shall thereupon make an 
appointment to supply such vacancy as often as it may occur. 

g 7. Notice for annual elections and all other meetings of said districts shall be given by said board of 
education, at least two weeks before such election or meeting, by publishing such notice once in each 
week in each of the newspapers printed in the village of Lyons, and by posting the same in at least five 
of +hp mo't public places in said district. 

? 8. In case of a vacancv from anv cause of any oflSce mentioned in this act, of persons elected, said 
board may make an appointment to fill such vacancy. The officer so appointed shall hold his office 
until the first Mondav of January following the next annual school meeting of said district : at 6uch 
annual meeting some suitable person shall be chosen to fill any unexpired term, continuing longer 
than to the said first Monday of January. In case any such vacancy exists at any time after the pas- 
sage of this act, on or before the first day of September in any year, and shall not be filled within twenty 
davs thereafter bv said board, it shall be the duty of said board forthwith to call a special meeting of 
said district, for the purpose of filling such vacancy, upon the usual notice for district meetings. If 
such board refuse or neglect to call such meeting as herein specified for the period of ten days, then it 
shall be the duty of the clerk of said district, upon like notice to call such meeting. The person elected 
at such special meeting, upon filing his acceptance and oath of office with said board, shall be entitled 
forthwith to enter upon the duties of such office and shall hold the same for the whole unexpired 
term of the person whose vacancy he was elected to fill. {As amended by chap, 2Jt Laws of 1878. ) 

1 9. Said board of education shall be a corporate body, for the purposes and in relation to all the pow- 
ers, conferred on them by virtue of the provisions of this act, and also by virtue of the provisions of an 
act entitled "An act in relation to school district number six in the town of Lyons, Wayne county," 
passed Aprill9, 1855, all of which said act, inconsistent with this act, is hereby repealed. A majority 
of said board shall form a quorum. 

g 10. Said board of education shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to 
said school district, that the trustees of common schools now possess or are subject to, not inconsistent 
with this act, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. The clerk, col- 
lector and librarian of said district shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect 
to said district, that like officers of common schools now possess or are subject to. not inconsistent with 
this act, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. The offices of trustees, 
collector and hbrarian in said district, at the time of the passage of this act, shall be abolished from 
and after the time when said union school shall go into operation under this act, excepting so far as it 
shall be necessarv for said trustees and collector to collect any tax heretofore voted, levied or assessed 
in said district, or any rate bill, or tax for exemptions, necessary to be raised for the payment of teach- 
ers' wages, that shall have accrued at the time of the passage of this act. or at the time said school 
shall go into operation under this act, or for any arrearages for taxes or rate bills, or other matters, the 
said trustees and collector are hereby authorized and required to continue their terms of office respect- 
ively, for the purpose of collecting such or any tax and rate bill, or either ; and if not already assessed 
and warrants issued, as required by law, time is hereby given them for that purpose, and closing up 
such arrearages as herein stated, and for .such purposes only said trustees and collector shall have 
all the powers, and be subject to all the duties and liabilities that like officers now possess and are 
subject to. 

§ 11. Said board of education shall, at its first meeting, and annually thereafter, at their meeting 
held next after the first of January in each year, appoint one of their number president and another 
secretarv. In the absence of either of such officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president 
or secretary may be appointed for the time being. ^ ^ ^ ^. ,..,. ^ 

§ 12 The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of said board of education, which record 
or a transcript therefrom, certified by the president and secretary, shall be received in all courts as 
presumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth. v. i .i- + • * k„*«,.^ 

§ 13. Each member of said board of education, and every other officer of said school distnct before 
entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the Con- 



Lyons. 881 

stitution of this State, and file the same, or a certificate thereof, signed by the officer administering 
the same, with the secretarj' of the said board ; but no fee or compensation shall be taken or demanded 
for administering such oath, 
g 14. The said board of education sliall have power, and it shall be their duty; 

1. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school lot and buildings belonging to said district, 
and to fence and improve the same as they may think proper; 

2. Upon such lot to alter, improve and repair the school building and out-houses thereon, and to 
build, enlarge, repair and improve out-houses and appurtenances thereon, as they may deem ad- 
visable ; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages; to 
provide fuel for the said school, and defray their contingent expenses and the expenses of the library 
and salary of the librarian ; 

4. To have the custody and safe-keepini; of the apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, and see 
that the ordinances and by-laws of said board in relation thereto be observed and enforced ; 

5. To contract with and employ all teachers in all tlae schools under their charge, and also a janitor 
and librarian, and at their pleasure to remove them ; 

6. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public money and tuition fees to be received by 
them, according to the provisions of this act, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the deficiency, 
if any, out of the moneys to be raised as provided for by this act ; 

7. To divide said school into four grades, according to the branches of instruction pursued therein ; 
commencing with the primary departments or grades, designating the same by numbers first, second, 
third and fourth, concluding with the academical department; 

8. To fix the rate of tuition fees in said school, subject to the limitations and restrictions hereinafter 
contained, and to designate some person or persons to whom the same may be paid previous to issuing 
the warrant for the collection thereof; and, by a resolution of said board, to be recorded by the secre- 
tary, to exempt from the payment of the whole or any part of the tuition fees such- persons as they 
may deem entitled to such exemption from indigence ; but no deduction for tuition fees shall be made 
by said board of education for the non-attendance of any pupil at said school after the time of the com- 
mencement of such pupil in any quarter until the close thereof, unless the same shall be satisfactorily 
excused to said board of education, within five days after the close of such quarter; 

9. After the close of each quarter of said school to make out a rate bill containing the name of each 
person liable to pay tuition fees for tuition in said school, who shall not have paid the same prior to 
making out such rate bill, according to the provisions of the last preceding subdivision of this section, 
for the amount for which such person is liable, adding thereto a sum not exceeding five cents on each 
dollar for collection fees (which fees shall be fixed by said board at the time of making out every rate 
bill) ; to annex thereto a warrant for the collection thereof, to be signed by the president of said board 
or a majority of the members thereof, and deliver the same to the collector, who shall collect the same 
In the same manner as collectors of school districts are by law authorized and required to execute like 
warrants, and, for this purpose, the jurisdiction of said board of education and of said collector shall 
be the same as trustees and collectors of common schools now possess ; 

10. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of all the 
schools mentioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of this act; to prescribe the course of 
studies therein, the books to be used, and establish an uniformity in respect to such course of studies 
and books; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules, 
regulations iand ordinances for the organization, government and instruction of such schools, for 
the reception of pupils and their transfer from one department or grade to another, for the promotion 
of their good order, prosperity and public utility, for the protection, safe-keeping and preservation of 
said school-houses, out-houses, lots and appurtenances, and all other property connected with or 
appertaining to such schools ; 

11. To cause such rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws to be published in such manner and 
form as they may deem best calculated to give general information. The matters contained in subdi- 
visions one, two and three of this section shall not embrace any outlays beyond the sum or sums voted 
in each year by said district, to be raised by tax therein ; 

12. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the visitation and control of the super- 
intendent of common schools of said town, and Superintendent of Public Instruction of said State, in 
hke manner as the common schools in this State now are ; 

13. Said board of education are empowered to establish, organize and maintain a classical department 
in the school under their charge in said district, agreeably to an act passed April nineteen, eighteen 
hundred and fifty-five, entitled " An act in relation to school district number six, in the town of 
Lyons, Wayne county." And the said Regents are hereby authorized and required, at their next 
apportionment of the literature fund, to add to the portion to which this school may be entitled, such 
sum as said school would have been entitled the previous year had they made their annual report in 
season ; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall affect the rights and duties of said board 
of education, granted or imposed by this act, or the statutes of this State relating to common schools. 

§ 15. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their d\;ty, to raise from time to time, 
by tax upon the real and personal estate within the bounds of said district which shall be liable to 
taxation for the ordinary taxes of said village, or for town or county taxes or charges, such sums as 
may be determined, by resolution of said board, to be necessary to meet any deficiency for fuel, for the 
payment of teachers' wages, salary of janitor 'and librarian, and for text-books for exempts, as contem- 
plated by this act, without a vote of the district, and also such other sum or sums of money as shall, or 
may at any time be voted by said district, for any purpose connected with the subject of education 
In said district, to provide for which, power shall be given to said board, bv the provisions of this act, 
the laws relating to common schools, or the rules and regulations of the Department of Public Instruc- 
tion of said State. Said board shall, at each annual meeting, submit an estimate of the amount of 
money which will, in their opinion, be needed for all the purposes of education and other purposes pro- 
vided for by this act (except to meet deficiency for the payment of teachers' wages, and purchase of 
text-books for exempts, over and above the moneys to be received from the town superintendent, tui- 
tion fees, and literature fund), to be voted at such meeting, and shall cause the sum or sums, so voted 
at such meeting, to be raised by one assessment and warrant, with power of renewal, as hereby granted 
to trustees. Such assessment inay be made and levied, and warrant issued, in any one year as often as 
such tax shall be voted. Taxes to meet any deficiency for the payment of teachers' wages, and the 
purchase of text-books for exempts, may be assej;sed, levied and collected by said board of education. 
In the same manner that taxes are assessed, levied and collected, as in this act provided, whenever the 
same shall be deemed necessary by said board. The taxable inhabitants of said district are hereby 
authorized, at any regular meeting of such district, to levy and raise, in the manner now provided by 
law for raising money by tax in school districts, from time to time, such sum or sums as shall be neces- 
sary for the purposes of education in said district. 

(Section 16 is repealed.) 

Ill 



882 LYON'S. 

} 17. Said board shall, as soon as practicable, after any tax shall have been voted by said district, for 
the purposes in this act expressed and intended, forthwith assess, levy and collect the same, bv tax 
upon real and personal estate, as specified in this act. They shall, for said tax and all other taxes to 
be raised by them, make out a tax list, in the manner and form in which like tax hsts are now made 
by trustees of school districts, so far as such form is applicable, using as a basis for all assessments the 
last completed town or village assessment roll or warrant, or both, as the case may in their opinion 
require, and annex to such tax list a warrant, in like form, signed by the president or a majority of the 
members of said board, and dehver the same to the collector; which, when so made and signed, shall 
be as eifectual, to all intents and purposes, as like tax lists and warrants when made by the trustees of. 
common school districts. 

1 18. All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropriated to or provided 
for said district, or to which the same shall at any time be entitled, shall be paid to the treasurer of 
said board, who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor to said 
board of education, when thereunto required. Said treasurer shall not pay out any of such moneys, 
except by resolution of said boa^d, and upon an order signed by the president and certified by the sec- 
retary, to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 

g 19. Said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each 
month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in 
his absence or inability to act. by the secretary, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each 
member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his last place of residence, at 
least twenty-four hours before the hour of meeting. No member of said board shall receive any pay or 
compensation for his services. It shall not be lawful for any member of said board, or any other offi- 
cer of said district, to become a contractor for building or making any improvement or repairs author- 
ized by this act, or be in any manner directly or indirectly interested, either as principal, partner or 
surety, in any such contract. All contracts made in violation of this provision shall be absolutely void, 
and the person so violating shall forfeit the sum of fifty dollars, to be prosecuted for and recovered by 
said board. 

§ 20. Said board of education shall, from time to time, appoint such and so many members of their 
board as they may deem proper, not less than three in number, a visiting committee, whose duty It 
shall be to visit said school as often as once in each quarter, and make a report in writing to said board, 
showing the state and condition of each department or grade of said school, the school-house, appara- 
tus, library and appendages, and such other matters as said board may require of them, and such sug- 
gestions for the improvement of the same as they may deem proper and advisable ; such report shall 
be made at least one week prior to the close of each quarter, and shall be filed and kept among the 
papers of said board. Such board may, m their discretion, cause such report, or any part thereof, and 
any other matters relating to said school, to be published in such form as they may deem advisable. 
They shall, at the close of each year, publish in one or more of the village newspapers a report of the 
moneys received and expended during the year, specifying therein all sums received, and from whom, 
and all persons to whom payments were made, and the general character of the demand paid, and such 
other matters as they may deem advisable. 

•2 21. The title to the present site, buildings, furniture, books, apparatus and each and every of the 
appurtenances, and all other school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in said board of 
education; and the same, while used for or appropriated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all 
taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or 
execution. 

t 22. Everj' officer in this act mentioned, having the possession, custody, care, charge or control of 
any property belonging to said district, or any money raised by the provisions of this act, or provided 
by law for the purposes of education in said district, shall, at the expiration of his term, or whenever 
such officer shall resign, be removed from office, cease to act, or his office be otherwise vacated, transfer 
all such property and pay over all such money to the board of education. 

2 23. Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall be made to the board ; and 
such resignation shall have no force or effect, nor in any degree excuse such officer from the discharge 
of his duties, until the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of said board. 

J 24. Any such officer may be removed from office for any official misconduct or neglect of official 
duty by resolution of said board, two-thirds of the members concurring. Written notice of the 
charges shall be served upon, and opportunity shall be given to every such officer to be heard in his 
defense before any such resolution shall be adopted. 

}25. Every person appointed or elected to any office mentioned in this act, who, without sufficient 
cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars ; and every person so appointed 
or elected, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, 
shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of said board 
of education forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recov- 
ered to applv the same to the purposes of education in said district. All officers mentioned in this 
act shall be deemed public officers, within the intent and meaning of section thirty-eight of title six 
of chapter one, part four of the Revised Statutes, and, as such, liable to the penalty therein prescribed, 
in addition to the penalty in this section before provided. 

5 26. The said board shall cause the library belonging to said district to be kept in a suitable and 
proper room in said school building or other place in said district, properly fitted up and furnished 
with necessary fixtures, furniture and appendages, and shall put the same under the charge of a libra- 
rian; they shall annually allow and pay to the said librarian such salary as in their opinion shall be a 
fair and reasonable compensation for his services ; they shall pass such by-laws for the regulation and 
preservation of said library and for the discharge of the duties of the librarian as they may think 
necessary. The library money hereafter to be received in behalf of said district shall be paid by the 
town superintendent to the treasurer of said board ; said board shall expend such money entirely for 
the purchase of books and maps for the library. 

2 27. Lands of residents and non-residents of said districts may be sold by said board for uncollected 
taxes, assessed thereon for school puiTsoses by virtue of the provisions of this act, in the same manner 
and by like proceedings as the trustees of the village of Lyons adopt to sell lands for unpaid taxes 
assessed for village purposes, and such sales shall have the like effect as sales so made by the trustees 
of said village; or, the lands of residents and non-residents of said district, said board may cause to be 
returned to the county treasurer, in the same manner as trustees of common school districts are now 
fluthori'^ed by law to return unoccupied and unimproved real property of non-residents of their dis- 
tricts for unpaid taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of 
such taxes out of any moneys in the county treasury raised for contingent expenses; and such pro- 
ceedings, in all respects, shall thereafter be had bv said county treasurer and the board of supervisors 
of the county of Wayne, in relation to all land so returned, as they are by law required to take in 
respect to unoccupied and unimproved lands of non-residents when so returned by trustees of com- 
mon school districts ; but no lands shall be so sold or returned until a reasonable effort shall have been 
made to collect such taxes by warrant, as provided in section seventeen of this act, and the collector 
shall have returned that he cannot collect the same. 



Maloke. 883 

§ 2^. Said board "of education may organize a department in said school for the instruction of teachers, 
for such parts of the year, and under such rules and regulations as they may by their by-laws adopt in 
relation thereto. 

[Chap. 550, Laws of 1855.] 

The following is the law referred to in sections nine and fourteen of the foregoing act : 
Section 1. The trustees of school district number six, in the town of Lyons, in the county of Wayne, 
and their successors in otflce, are hereby constituted a body corporate, by the name " of the Lj'ons 
union school," and empowered to establish, organize and maintain a classical department in the school 
under their charge, in said district, by that name, which department shall be subject to the visitation 
of the Regents of the University of this State, and to all laws and regulations applicable to the incor- 
porated academies thereof, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, and to share in 
the distribution of the moneys of the literature fund of this State, as the academies thereof; provided, 
however, that this act shall not affect the rights and duties of said trustees and district, under the 
statutes of this State relating to common schools. 

IChap. 260, Laws of 1863.1 

Section 1. The board of education of the village of Lyons shall not hereafter collect or receive any 
fees or compensation for the instruction in the school under the charge of said board, of pupils whose 
parents or guardians reside within the territory embraced in school district number six in Lyons, 
known as the Lyons union school ; the charges for tuition of all other pupils admitted into said school 
shall be regulated by said board from time to time, as they shall deem proper. 

§ 2. Any sums necessary for the payment of teachers' wages, after applying to that purpose any 
moneys, or income in the hands, or under the control of said board, applicable thereto, shall be levied 
and collected upon the taxable property of said district, as other taxes are now required by law to be 
levied and collected. 

' g 3. Section sixteen of chapter one hundred and twenty-nine of the Session Laws of 1856 is hereby 
repealed. 

[ Chap. 240, Laws of 1876, ] 

SectionI. The board of education of school district number six, of the town of Lyons,"Wayne county, 
shall not have anv right or power to incur, make or create any liability or debt, or make any contracts 
or agreements, ex'press or implied, for any purpose whatever, exceeding in the aggregate of all such 
debts, liabilities, contracts and agreements, the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars in any one year, 
without first having a vote of said district, at an annual or special meeting thereof, authorizing the 
same. This restriction shall not apply to contracts or agreements with teachers, janitor, librarian, 
or Habilities or debts for deficiency for fuel, or text-books for exempts. 

g 2. The fiscal year of said district shall end on the fifteenth day of November of each year, and it 
shall be the duty of said board of education, immediately thereafter, and before the succeeding first day 
of December, to make in writing, a full, accurate and detailed statement of all moneys raised or received 
by the said board or any of the officers of said district, specifying the sources from which moneys were 
received, the amounts paid or agreed to be paid to any and every teacher, janitor or other persons, the 
cause or object of such payment; the amount of demands outstanding and audited against said dis- 
trict, with the names of the persons to whom the same were audited, or those claiming the same, and 
the objects or purposes for which the same were audited or claimed, together with the estimates of 
said board of education of the expenses or amounts necessary to be raised or voted by the said district 
for the succeeding fiscal year; and such other matters necessary to inform the inhabitants of said dis- 
trict of the pecuniary or fiscal condition of said district as the said board ofedncation may deem proper 
to embody in such report. Said report shall be published once in each week in all the newspapers 
published in the village of Lyons, during the period between the first day of December and the suc- 
ceeding third Monday of that month in each year. A failure on the parfof the said board of education to 
make such report shall be sufficient cause for the removal of the members thereof, of either of them, 
from the office of trustees of said district. 

[Chap. 27, Laws of 1878,] 

§ 2. The clerk of said district shall hereafter act as the secretary of said board of education and may 
receive such reasonable compensation for his services as said board shall determine. 



MALONE-DISTRICTS, NOS. 1, 14, 15 AND 23. 
[CJiapter 370, Laws of 1858. ] 

Section \. School districts numbers one, fourteen, fifteen and twenty-three, in the town of Malone, 
In the county of Franklin, are hereby consolidated, for the pur{)oses in this act specified, and shall 
hereafter form but one school district, to be called "The village school district of the town of 
Malone. " 

g 2. Said district shall have five trustees, all of whom shall be resident freeholders, and any three of 
whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. On the first Tuesday in May next, 
after the passage this act, at seven o'clock in the afternoon, the legal voters of said consoHdated district 
shall assemble at the court-house in the village of Malone, and organize a school district meeting, by 
appointing a moderator to preside at said meeting, and a clerk to keep the minutes pf its proceedmgs. 
and shall then proceed to elect five trustees, a clerk, librarian and collector of said district, m the 
manner prescribed by law for the election of officers of school districts. The term of office of the 
clerk, librarian and collector of said district shall be one year, and those first elected, as above pro- 
vided, shall hold office for one year from the next annual meeting in said district ; and the term of 
office of the trustees of said district, who shall be elected after the first election, shall be five years. 
The said trustees elected at said first election shall determine by lot their respective terms of office, so 
that one shall serve one year, a second two years, a third three years, a fourth four years, and a fifth 
five years, from the next annual meeting in said district. There shall be elected in each year after the 
present, at the annual district meeting in said district, one trustee to supply the place of the trustee 
whose term of office will then expire. Vacancies in any of the offices in said district shall be supphed 
as provi'lpd bv law for filling vacancies in such offices in school districts. And sairt trustees shall pos- 
sess all the powers, and be subject to all the duties in respect to said district, that the trustees of school 



884 Maloke. 



ilistricts possess and are subject to, and to such other powers and duties as are conferred oi" imposed bjr 
this act, or may be conferred or imposed by law. The said meeting hereby directed to be held shall fix 
the time for holding the annual meeting in said district. 

g .3. The several school-houses, and all school district property belonging to the said several districts 
hereby consolidated, shall form, and after the passage of this act be, the property of the said consoli- 
dated district, to be h^ld, used and disposed of as the hke kind of property may be held, used and dis- 
posed of by other school districts. 

g 4. The said several school-houses, and such other as may from time to time be hired, purchased or 
erected in said district for that purpose, may be used for primary schools in said district, and the said 
district may, in the mode prescribed by law for hiring, erecting or purchasing school-houses, hire, pur- 
chase or erect, at suitable and convenient points in said district, school-houses for primary schools, and 
a school-house for a central school, for instruction in the higher grades of the English and common 
branches hereinafter prescribed, upon sites to be hired or purchased in the mode prescribed by law. 

2 5. The said schools shall be wholly supported by the moneys appropriated to said district, and by 
tax upon the taxable property in said district; and the said district shall receive its due pupil and 
library apportionments, according to the number of persons in said district over four years and under 
twenty-one years of age, authorized by law to be enumerated and reported with those forming the 
basis of the apportionment of public moneys, to said district, and district quotas according to section 
three, chapter one hundred and eighty of the Laws of eighteen hundred and flfty-six ; and all moneys 
apportioned or apportionable to the said several districts by this act consolidated, upon reports already 
made by the trustees of said districts, but not yet paid, shall be paid to the trustees of said consolidated 
district ; and the said consolidated district shall draw for the year eighteen hundred and fifty-eight its 
due pupil and library apportionments, according to the number of pupils in said district as aforesaid, 
without regard to the length of time that a school shall have been kept in said district by a qualified 
teacher, in said year eighteen hundred and fifty -eight, and from district quotas for said year. 

g 6. The legal voters of said district, at said meeting hereby authorized, without any other notice 
than the publication of this act in the several newspapers published In the village of Malone, at least 
one week before the said meeting, and at any annual, special or adjourned meeting, legally held, after 
such notice of any such annual, special or adjourned meeting, and of its objects as is by law required, 
may vote to raise such sums of money as they may deem expedient for hiring or purchasing school- 
houses or sites for school-houses, and erecting and repairing school-houses, and for hiring and paying- 
teachers, and purchasing maps, charts, globes and books, and providing fuel, and erecting and main- 
taining out-buildings, and inclosing and improving the grounds connected with the school-houses in 
said district, and defraying the contingent expenses of said schools. But no more than one thousand 
dollars shall be raised by taxation in any one year, over and above the sums necessary to be raised for 
the payment of teachers' wages. 

1 7. The trustees of said consolidated district are hereby authorized and empowered to make such 
by-laws and regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government of 
said schools, and to divide the same into primary and higher departments, and regulate the transfer of 
scholars from one department to another, and provide suitable instructors in each department, and 
direct what text-books shall be used in the same ; but no higher or other branches than reading, spell- 
ing, penmanship, geography, English grammar, arithmetic, history, English composition, and declama- 
tion, shall be taught in said schools ; and no person not a resident of said district, and authorized to be 
enumerated and reported with those forming the basis of the apportionment of public moneys to said 
district, shall be permitted to attend any of the said schools. 

§8. The said schools shall be free to all persons in said district authorized to be enumerated and 
reported with those forming the basis of the apportionment of public moneys to said district, and no 
charge for tuition shall be made against any such persons, or against their parents, guardians or employ- 
ers, either by rate bill or otherwise. 

§ 9. The trustees of said consolidated school district are authorized from time to time to make 
arrangements with the trustees or principal of the Franklin academy, in the village of Malone, to teach 
in any or all of the several branches of education herein prescribed, any number of the scholars in.said 
school district, on such terms and conditions as they shall deem expedient. 

2 10. The said district, and the officers thereof, and the schools therein, shall, in all respects, be sub- 
ject to the jurisdiction and control of the commissioners of common schools of the district in which the 
said consolidated district is located, and to the State superintendent of common schools, the same aS' 
other school districts, and the officers thereof, and the schools therein, and all the general laws and 
regulations of this State in relation to common schools, shall apply to the said district and its oflScers 
and schools, except as herein otherwise provided. 

[Chap. 7, Laws of 1867.] 

Section 1. The five existing trustees of the village school district of the town of Malone, associated, 
•with five trustees of the corporation of Franklin academy, in said village, and their respective success- 
ors in office, shall constitute a board of education for said village school district. 

g 2. Upon the passage of this act the board of trustees of said FrankUn academy shall elect five ot 
Its members, who shall be residents of said village school district who shall be associated with said 
school district trustees, to form the board of education established by the foregoing section. Said 
academy trustees, so elected, shall determine by lot their respective terms of office, so that one shall 
serve one year, one two years, one three years, one four years, and one five years, and in each case the 
period of service shall commence and end with that of the trustees of said village school district. After 
such first election the said board of trustees of Franklin academy shall, at the time of the aimual 
meeting of said village school district, elect one of its members to supply the place of the trustee whose 
term of office shall then expire. The trustees of said village school district shall continue to be elected 
as provided by section two of chapter three hundred and seventy of the Laws of eighteen hundred 
and fifty-eight. . . . , ,, 

g 3. The said board of education, when it shall be duly organized under the foregomg provisions, shall 
have the care, management and control of all the schools in said village school district, and also of the 
academy therein; but nothing in this act shall be held in any wise to affect or impair the separate cor- 
porate existence of said academy ofany rights or privileges appertaining to it at such corporation, except 
as herein expressly provided. And generally, except as qualified by this act, the said board of education 
shall have, possess and exercise all the powers and privileges conferred upon such boards, in school 
districts, other than those whose limits correspond with those of any city or incorporated village, by 
title nine of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four. The 
said district schools shall be free only to those persons residing in the district, authorized to be enumera- 
ted and reported with those forming the bases for the apportionment of public money to said district, 
and the said academy shall also be free to the persons above mentioned, and to all other permanent 
residents of the district. To all other persons, whether from within or without the limits of said dis- 
trict, a just and remunerative rate of tuition shall be charged, which rate shall, from time to time, be 
fixed by said board of education, (As amended by sec. 1, chap. 197, Laws 0/I88O. ) 



MEDmA. 8S5 

5 4. Except as modified by the foregoin? provisions, so much of title nine, of chapter five hundred 
and fifty-five of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, as relates to school districts, other than 
those whose limits correspond with those of any city or incorporated village, is hereby extended and 
made applicable to " the village school district of the town of Malone." 

g 5. So much of chapter three hundred and seventy, of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, 
being " An act to consolidate school districts one, fourteen, fifteen and twenty-three, in the town of 
Malone, in the county of Franklin," as conflicts or is inconsistent with the foregoing provisions is 
hereby repealed. 

iChap. 11, Laws of 1882.] 

Section 1. The village school district of the town of Malone may hereafter, at any annual school 
meeting, vote a tax upon the taxable property of said district, not exceeding one-half of one mill on 
the dollar of the assessed valuation of the property thereof, to be expended under the direction of the 
Ijoard of education, for the maintenance of the library of said district and of a reading-room connected 
therewith, for the care of the library building, and for the purchase of books, periodicals and news- 
papers, and for other necessary expenditures in connection with said library and reading-room. 

g 2. The sums voted in pursuance of the first section of this act shall be included in the annual tax- 
list of said district, and be levied and collected in the same mauner as the other taxes of the district. 

IChap. 35, Laivs of 1881.] 

Authorizes the borrowing of $15,000 for building, furnishing and heating a new school-house, and the 
issuing of bonds therefor. 

MEDINA. 

ILaws of 1849, chap, 286, as amended by chap. 381, Laws of 1850.] 

Section 1 . There shall hereafter be elected in school district number twelve, formed partly out oi 
the town of Ridgeway and partly out of the town of Shelby, in the county of Orleans, and lying princi- 
pally within the village of Medina, in the manner now provided by law, three trustees, who shall 
respectively hold their offices three years. Christopher Whaley, Silas M. Burroughs, John Ryan, 
Daniel Starr, Isaac W. Swan and Archibald Servoss are hereby appointed trustees of said district, and 
shall respectively hold said office as follows, namely : The term of office of Christopher "Whaley and 
Silas M. Burroughs shall expire at the same time that the term of office of Roswell Starr, astrustoe of 
said district, shall expire ; the term of oflice of John Ryan and Daniel Starr shall expire at the same 
time that the term of office of Isaac K. Burroughs, as trustee of said district, shall expire ; and the 
term of office of Isaac W. Swan and Archibald Servoss shall expire at the same time that the term of 
office of Nathan Bancroft, as trustee of said district, shall expire. 

g 2. The trustees of said district, and their successors in office, shall constitute a board of education 
for said district ; and, for the purposes of this act, in addition to the present powers and duties of trus- 
tees, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of" the board of edu- 
cation of the village of Medina ; " and said corporation shall have power to establish and organize a 
classical school in said village, to be known by the name of " the Medina academy," and such classical 
school shall be subject to all laws and regulations applicable to other incorporated academies of this 
State, and shall be entitled to share in the distribution of the moneys of the literature fund, upon the 
•same terms as other academies of this State ; and the Regents of the University shall recognize said 
academy as such, as soon as the required sum of money shall be expended in buildings and competent 
teachers employed therein. 

g 3. Said board of education shall appoint one of their number president of said board, who shall pre- 
side at the meetings of said board when present; when absent a president pro tempore shall be 
appointed in his stead. They shall also appoint one of their number secretary, who shall record all the 
acts, doings and resolutions of said board; and in the absence of the secretary a secretary pro tempore 
shall be appointed to discharge such duties. They shall also appoint a collector, librarian and treasurer 
of said district, who shall respectively hold their offices one year from their appointment, and until 
others are appointed in their places, unless sooner removed by said board ; such collector, librarian 
and treasurer shall each, within ten days after notice of their appointment in writing, and before 
entering upon the duties of their office, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond, in such 
penalty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the 
duties of bis office. In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiving such notice, 
such office shall thereby become vacated, and said board of education shall thereupon make an appoint- 
ment to supply such vacancy. 

g 4. The said board of education shall have power to fill any vacancy which may happen by rea- 
son of the death or removal from the said ^district of any member of said board, and the officer so 
^appointed shall hold his office for the unexpired time of the person to supply whose place he shall 
be so appointed. 

g 5. Said board of education shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to 
said district, that the trustees of common schools now possess, or are subject to, and such other powers 
and duties as are given or imposed by this act. 

g 6. The taxable inhabitants of said distrct, at any annual, special or adjourned meeting, legally held, 
may vote to raise such sum of money as they shall deem expedient for the purpose of purchasing a site 
and building a school-house in said district, or for the purpose of purchasing any suitable building for 
such purpose, and direct the trustees to cause the same to be levied and raised by installments, and 
make out atax for the collection of the same as often as such installments shall become due ; and the 
legal voters at any such meeting are authorized to fix the compensation for collecting and paying over 
to the said board of education the amount so levied. 

g 7. The inhabitants of said district shall have no power to rescind the vote to raise such sum of money 
at any subsequent meeting, unless the same be done within ten days thereafter ; nor shall they have 
power to reduce the amount of the same after the expiration of ten days from the time the tax was 
first levied, but may omit such sum as shall remain unappropriated after paying for the site and erec- 
tion of the house or purchase of suitable building. 

g8. The said board of education are hereby authorized to obtain by loan the whole or any part of the 
monev legally voted by said district, and secure the payment of the same by their official bond. 

g 9. The comptroller of this State is hereby authorized and directed to loan to the said board of educa- 
tion such sum as the said board of education shall certify to said comptroller to have been voted by 
the inhabitants of said district, in pursuance of this act, not exceeding the sum of five thousand dol- 
lars, out of the moneys in the treasury belonging to the capital of the common school fund, and for 
the purpose of purchasing a site and erecting or purchasing a suitable building for a school-house in 



886 MiDDLETOWN. 

said district ; and the money when loaned shall he charged upon the hooks of the comptroller to said 
district, and the same shall be paid over to said board of education, to be applied by them for the pur- 
pose of purchasing a site and erecting or purchasing: a school-house for said district. 

{ 10. The sum so loaned shall be paid to the Comptroller of this State, in annual installments 
thereafter, as determined by the vote'of said district raising such sum of money, with annual interest 
thereon. 

5 11. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to sell at public auction, to 
the highest bidder, the school-house and site thereof belonging to said district, by giving public notice, 
to be posted in ten public places in said district ten days previous to such sale, and appiy the proceeds 
arising from such sale toward purchasing a site and erecting a school-house in said district, or to such 
other purpose as said district shall direct ; such sale may be made upon such terms of credit as said 
board of education shall determine upon, and a bond and mortgage taken by said board for the whole 
or any part of the purchase-money, or price for which said site and house may be sold, and such bond 
and mortgage may be sold and assigned by said board at par, for money to be applied by them as herein 
provided. 

g 12. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to make such by-laws and 
regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government of said school, 
and divide the same into primary and higher departments, and regulate the transfer of scholars 
from one department to the other, and provide suitable iiistructors for each department, direct what 
text-books shall be used in the same, purchase fuel and other necessaries for the use of the school 
or schools in said district, and all contracts made by them in their official capacity shall be binding 
upon them and their successors in office ; to fix and regulate the terms of tuition fees In said primary 
and other higher branches in said school or schools ; to sue for and collect in their corporate name any 
sum of money due to said district; to receive and apply to the uses of said school or schools, or any 
department thereof, any gift, legacy, bequest or annuities given or bequeathed to said board, and apply 
the same according to the instructions of the donor or testator ; to take and hold any real estate given 
or bequeathed to said board for the purposes of said school or schools, or any department thereof, and 
apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the terms and instructions of the 
donor or testator; to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control 
of said school or schools, or any department thereof, and to hire, pay and discharge any teacher or 
teachers employed by them in said school or department thereof. 

§ 13. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the restrictions and control of the 
superintendents of common schools of the town, county and State, in the same manner as the com- 
mon schools in this State are subject. 

§ 14. Said board of education shall have power and are hereby authorized to receive into said 
academy, and cause to be instructed therein, any pupil or pupils residing in or out of said district, and 
to regulate and establish the terms of tuition fees of such resident or non-resident pupils ; and said 
board of education shall have power to regulate the tuition fees and rates of charges for instruction in 
the higher English and classical departments of said acadeuiy, and shall have power to make such 
application of the money raised for the support of common schools in said district, for the payment of 
teachers' wages, as said board shall determine, and may divide and apportion the same, in such man- 
ner as said board shall deem best, to pay the salaries of teachers employed in said academy, or the 
elementary English schools connected therewith, or maintained in said district under their supervi- 
sion. The rates of tuition in the elementary English branches, in the schools, maintained in said dis- 
trict, shall be subject to the general laws relating to common schools ; and, after applying such portion 
of the money received in said district, as said board shall determine, toward the support of such 
elementary English departments, such sum, not to be less than one-half of all the moneys received in 
said district for the support of common schools therein, the additional sum required to pay teachers' 
wages, and provide fuel and other contingent expenses necessary to the support of such elementary 
schools shall be estimated, assessed, collected and applied in the manner provided in chapters one hun- 
dred and forty and four hundred and four of the Session Laws of eighteen hundred and forty-nine, or 
in such other manner as shall be hereafter provided by law for the support of common schools. 

§ 15. All moneys raised in said district for the purposes of said school, and all moneys to be received 
by such district from the common school fund, or other source, shall be annually paid to the said board 
of education, and be applied by them for the uses of said school or schools, according to law. 

§ 16. The members of said board of education, before receiving any moneys belonging to said district, 
shall severally execute to the town superintendent of common schools of the town of Ridgeway their 
separate bonds, with two sufficient sureties, to be approved by said town superintendent, in a penalty 
at least double the amount to be expended by them for the benefit of said school during the next ensu- 
ing year, conditioned that such trustee giving such bond will faithfully account for the expenditure of 
all moneys he shall receive for said district, and pay over the balance remaining in his hands at the 
time of the expiration of his office to the other trustees ; and the district at any legal meeting thereof 
may require the penalty of such bond to be increased, or additional security to be given by either or 
all the trustees, if they shall deem the same insufficient ; and any trustee, treasurer of said district, or 
member of said board, who shall apply any moneys belonging to said district to his own use, shall be 
deemed guilty of embezzlement. 

MIDDLETOWN. 

[Chap. 431, Laws of 1867.] 

Section 1. Every district or common school located in the village of Middletown, and every school 
which may hereafter be located in said village under the provisions of this act, shall be free to all chil- 
dren between the ages of four and twenty-one years, residing in said village. 

§ 2. All that part of the town of Wallkill included within the corporate limits of the village of Mid- 
dletown shall hereafter constitute one school district. There shall be elected in said district, as 
soon after the passage of this act as the trustees of the village can order an election for that purpose, 
after giving two weeks' notice in two papers of said village, of the time and place of holding such 
election, nine persons, who shall constitute and be designated " the board of education of the 
village of Middletown," which board shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers conferred 
upon them by this act. The term of office of three of the members of said board shall expire on the 
first Tuesday in April, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight. The term of office of three others of the 
members of said board shall expire on the first Tuesday in April, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, ana 
the term of office of the remaining three shall expire on the first Tuesday in April, eighteen hundred 
and seventy. The term of office of the several members of said board shall be determined by lot at 
the first meeting of the said board after their election. And there shall be elected annually thereafter, 
at the time of-the election of officers of the village of Middletown. three members of said board of edu- 
cation. 



MiDDLETOWN. 887 

J 3. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all 
other school property in said village, in this act mentioned, shall be vested in said board of education, 
and such property shall not be subject to taxation for any purpose. And the said board of education. In 
its corporate capacity, may take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by 
gift, grant, bequest, or devise, for the use of the schools in said village, established by authority of 
this act. 

§4. The first meeting of the board of education shall be on the Tuesday next after their election ; 
and the annual meeting of the board thereafter shall be on the second Tuesday of April. A majority of 
the board shall constitute a quorum, and be competent to transact any business of said board. The 
said board shall elect one of their number president; and whenever he shall be absent, a president joro 
tempore may be appointed. The members of the board shall not, directly, or indirectly, receive any 
compensation for their services, nor for any services connected with said schools; nor shall they be 
directly or indirectly interested in any contract connected with said schools, or school property, or in 
furnishing supplies for the schools under their charge. The said board shall appoint a clerk, who shall 
hold his office during the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the board. 
The said clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as 
the board may prescribe. Such record or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and clerk, or 
by the jt)ro tempore president and clerk, shall be received in all courts as jorma/acie evidence of the 
facts therein set forth. The said board may appoint a superintendent, who shall, under the direction of 
said board, have the superintendence of all the schools under the charge of the board, and perform 
such other duties as the board may require, and who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the 
board, and whose compensation shall .be fixed by the board. {As amended by sec. 1, chap. 368, Laws 
0/1870). 

? 5. The trustees of said village shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, from time to 
time, by tax to be levied upon all the real and personal property in said village which shall be liable 
for the ordinarj' village taxes, such sum or sums of money as the board of education shall certify to 
the said trustees to be necessary for any or all of the following purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease, or improve sites for school-houses ; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and appurtenances ; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; 

4. To purchase fuel and pay the contingent expenses of the schools under their supervision, and the 
expenses of the libraries of said schools; 

5. To pay the wages of teachers, after applying to that purpose all the public school moneys and all 
the other moneys received by said board, or that shall be under their control, and which may by law- 
be appropriated and provided for that object; provided that no moneys shall be raised for the pur- 
chasing of any site, or the erecting of any school-house, or the enlarging of any school building already 
erected, unless the consent of a majority of the taxable inhabitants of said village, authorized to vote, 
and voting at an annual or special meeting called for that purpose, be first obtained ; 

6. The trustees of said village are hereby authorized and directed to raise by loan, in anticipation of 
the taxes, the mone3's to be levied and collected as herein provided. The taxes to be levied as afore- 
said, and collected by virtue of this act, shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner 
as other village taxes. 

2 6. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law 
appropriated to and provided for the schools of said village, shall be paid to the treasurer of the village 
of Middletown, who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor, 
in the same manner as for other moneys of said village, and who shall be liable to the like penalties 
for any official misconduct in relation to school as to other moneys of said village. Such moneys shall 
be deposited with such treasurer to the credit of said board of education, and shall be paid only by order 
of said board on drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the clerk, payable to the order of 
the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys; and said treasurer shall keep the funds received 
by him under this act separate and distinct from any other funds. 

il. The said board shall have the power and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize in saiil village such and so many free schools as said board shall deem 
requisite and expedient, and to change or discontinue the same in their discretion ; 

2. To hire school-houses or rooms for school purposes ; 

3. To alter, improve and repair school-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable, 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, 
and to defray the necessary expenses attending the same ; 

5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school buildings, out-houses, books, furniture and 
appendages, and to see that the ortlinances in relation thereto are enforced ; 

6. To contract with, license and employ all necessary teachers, and at their pleasure to remove 
them; 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and provided by law for that 
purpose ; 

8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including an annual salary to the clerk ; 
provided the account of such expenses shall be first audited and allowed by the said board for 
education; 

9. To exnend all moneys raised by virtue of this act for building school-houses, purchasing sites, and 
other purnoses for which the same may be raised, in such manner as they may deem proper ; 

10. To have the entire supervision and management of the schools in said village, established under 
and by virtue of the nrovisions of this act ; and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, 
as they mav deem exnedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, 
for the recention of nunils. and their transfer from one school to another, for their advancement 
from class to class, as their deeree of scholarship may warrant, and generally for the promotion of the 
good order and prosperity of said schools : 

11. To sell and dispose of any school buildings, lots or'sites, whenever in the opinion of the board it 
may be advisable ; 

12. To determine and certify to the trustees of the village, on or before the first day of March in each 
year, the sums of money in their opinion necessary to be raised, under the provisions of this act, for 
the year commencing on the first day of April following, specifying the purposes for which the same 
are required. 

2 8. The board of education shall have a regular meeting at least once in each quarter, and shall 
appoint at such meetings one or more committees, each to consist of not less than two of their mem- 
bers to visit all the schools under their supervision in said village, and such committee shall visit all 
such schools at least twice during each school term. 

g 9. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children of persons not resident 
(Within the village to attend any of the schools of said village under the control of said board upon 
such terms as said board shall by resolution prescribe. 

g 10. The said board of education shall be trustees of the school library or libraries in said village, 



888 Milton, 

and all the provisions of law relative to district school libraries shall apply to said board. They shall 
also be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of the moneys appropriated by law for 
the purchase of libraries as is conferred upon the inhabitants of school districts. It shall be the 
duty of said board, in their discretion, to provide rooms for the school libraries of said village. The 
clerk of the hoard shall be the general librarian. The hoard shall also appoint one or more librarians 
to have the care of the books, and to superintend the letting out and return thereof. The several local 
librarians shall from time to time inform tlie general librarian of the condition of their libraries, and 
the said board, or the general librarian, under the direction of said board, may make all purchases 
of books for the libraries of such schools, and exchange or cause to be repaired the damaged books 
belonging thereto. 

§ 11. It shall be the duty of said board, at least twenty days before the annual charter election in each 
year, to prepare and make to the trustees of the village a correct report of the receipts and disburse- 
ments of monej's under the provisions of this act, during the preceding year, in which accounts shall 
be stated under appropriate heads . 

1. The moneys raised by the trustees of the village under the provisions of this act; 

2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the village from the county treasurer; 

3. The moneys received by the board under the third section of this act; 

4. All other moneys received by the treasurer subject to the order of the board ; 

5. The manner in which such moneys shall have been expended, specifying the purpose for which 
each amount was paid, and the amount on hand, if any, specifying the fund to which the same belongs, 
or the deficiency, if any, specifying the fund in which such deficiency exists. And the said board 
shall cause such report to be published in one or more newspapers of said village ten days before such 
election. {Asamende.dhysen.2,chap.2>(>i,Lawsof\&lQ.) 

§12. The trustees of said village shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to pass such ordi- 
nances and regulations as the said board of education may report as necessary and proper, for the pro- 
tection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of the school buildings, lots, sites, appurtenances and 
appendages, libraries, and all property belonging to or connected with the schools in said village, and 
to impose proper penalties for the violation of the same, subject to the restrictions and limitations 
contained in the act to incorporate the said village, and all such penalties shall be collected in the same 
manner as the penalties for the violation of other village ordinances, and when collected shall be paid 
to the treasurer of the village, and be subject to the order of the board of education, in the same man- 
ner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

g 13. It shall be the duty of the trustees, within fifteen days after receiving the certificate of the 
board of education required by the fifth section of this act, of the sums necessary or proper to be raised 
under the fifth section of this act, to certify to said board of education that the amount will be raised 
by them for the year commencing on the first of April thereafter, for the purpose mentioned in said 
fifth section, distinguishing between the amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent 
expenses, and the amount to be raised for the repair of school-houses, which amounts shall be subject 
to the disposal of the board of education. 

2 14. It shall be the duty of the trustees of district number three, in the town of "Wallkill, within 
three months from the passage of this act, to transfer and convey to said board of education all 
school-houses, sites, lots, and all other school properly of whatever name and description, and to place 
in the care of the board of education all school-district records, account books, vouchers, contracts, 
papers, and all other school property , and the said school officers of the said district shall continue in 
office until the unfinished business of said district shall have been finally closed up, not exceeding three 
months after the passage of this act, with all the power and duties now by law imposed upon 
them. 

§ 15. The said board of education shall, annually, make a report to the school commissioner of the 
second assembly district of Orange county, in the form and within the time required by law, of the 
trustees of common school districts. And it shall be the duty of the school commissioners of 
Orange county to apportion for the use of the board of education of Middletown. such portions of the 
school and library moneys as it shall be entitled to by its annual report, in the same manner as such 
moneys are apportioned to towns, certifying the same to the county treasurer of Orange county. The 
said county treasurer of Orange county shall pay over to the treasurer of the village of Middletown, 
for the use of the hoard of education created bv this act. such proportion of the school and library 
moneys apportioned to the said county ot Orange, oy the Superintendent of Public Instruction for 
teachers' wages and libraries, as said school commissioners shall certify to be the just proportion of 
said board of education, in the same manner as school and library monevs are paid to supervisors of 
towns. 

[Chap. 468, Laws of 1880.] 

This chapter fixes by section the boundaries of the village of Middletown. Section two thereof pro- 
vides as follows : " All that part of the town of Wallkill included within the corporate limits of the village 
of Middletown, as defined and extended by the first section of this act, shall hereafter constitute one 
school district. " 

MILTON -DISTRICT No. 1. 

(Village of Ballston'Spa. ) 

I iChap. 874, Laws of 1872. ] 

Section 1. Union free school district number one, in the town of Milton, is hereby enlarged so as to 
include within its boundaries all that part of the towns of Milton and Ballston, Saratoga county, herein 
contained, to wit : Beginning at a point in the town line between the towns of Milton and Saratoga 
Springs, where the track of the Rensselaer and Saratoga railroad crosses the said town line; thence 
along the said town line south to the north-east corner of the town of Ballston; thence south along 
the town line between the towns of Ballston and Malta to a point in said town line due east from the 
south-east corner of the corporate limits of the village of Ballston Spa; thence due west to the said 
south-east corner of the corporate limits of the village of Ballston Spa; thence west along the south 
line of the village of Ballston Spa to the south-west corner thereof; thence due west from the south- 
west corner of the village of Ballston Spa to a point due south from the point in the town line between 
the towns of Milton and Ballston where the highway leading south from the house of Cornelius W. 
Leversee to the house of James Conner, intersects said town line; thence due north to said point of 
intersection ;- thence north along the center of said highway to the north-west corner of the dwelling- 
house in sai(l town of Milton, now occupied by Cornelius W. Leversee ; from the north-west corner 
of said dwelling house, due east, to the southerly bank of the Kayaderosseras creek ; thence along 
the said southerly bank to the dam across said creek, belonging to what is known as the "Chapman 



MiLTOJs-. 889 

factory:" thence alon? said dam across said creek to the northerly bank thereof, from the northerly 
bank of said creek at the end of said dam, in a straight line, to tlie rear end of the line between lots 
eighty-five (85) and eishtj'-six (St'ij, as laid down on a " map of lands owned by Blood & Thomas " (said 
map was filed March ninth, eighteen hundred and fifty-two, in the Saratoga county clerk's office, and 
reference is had to the same in this description); thence along the line between said lots eighty-flve 
(85) and eighty-six (86), and along the line between lots thirty-two (32) and thirty-three (33), and lots 
two hundred and thirty-two (232) and two hundred and thirty-three (233), to the southerly point of lot 
one hundred and eighty-nine (189), as laid down on said map, thence nearly north, along the rear line 
or west end of lots on said map, numbered consecutively from ninety-four (9t) to one hundred and 
twelve (112), and to the center of the highway running east and west by, andforming the north bounds 
of said lot one hundred and twelve (112); thence along the center of said highway, east, to the cen- 
ter of the highway running northerly by the east end of said lotone hundred and twelve (112) ; thence 
along the center of said highway, northerly, to a point in the same, which is due west from the place 
of beginning; from said point due east to the place of beginning; the said district so enlarged shall be 
known and designated as "union free school district number one, Milton." 

§ 2. The inhabitants of the said district so enlarged are hereby declared subject to all the duties, bur- 
dens and obligations, and are entitled to the same benefits and privileges which the inhabitants of the 
present union free school district number one now have and enjoy; and the present board of educa- 
tion of said union free school district miniber one shall be and continue during the respective terms of 
office for which thev have been elected the board of education of such enlarged district; but nothing 
herein contained shall affect any liability or claim which may have accrued previous to the passage of 
this act. As the terms of office of the respective members of said board of education shall expire, 
their successors in office shall be elected, pursuant to the provisions of title nine, chapter five hundred 
and fiftv-flve of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four. 

g 3. The title to all the real and personal estate, appertaining to the school herein mentioned, shall 
be vested in the board of education, and the said board of education shall be a corporate body in rela- 
tion to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of the provisions of this act, and a 
majority of the board shall form a quorum, 

2'4. The said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each 
month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetmgs may be called by the president, or, ia 
his absence or injibility to act, by the secretary or any other member of the board, as often as neces- 
sarv, by giving personal notice to each member thereof, or causing a written or printed notice tc be left 
at his place of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour of meeting. And if any member 
of the said board shall refuse or neglect to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, 
and if no satisfactory cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare his office vacant. 
No member of said board shall receive any pay or compensation for his services. It shall not be law- 
ful for any member of said board to become a contractor for building, or making any improvement or 
repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner, directly or indirectly, interested, either as princi- 
pal, partner or suretv, in anv such contract. All contracts made in violation of this provision shall be 
absolutely void, and the person violating shall forfeit the sum of five hundred dollars, to be prosecuted 
for and received and used by said board for school purposes. 

2 5. In case of a vacancy in any elective office mentioned in this act, occasioned by the death of such 
officer, his removal from the district, refusal to serve, his incapacity, or any cause other than 
the expiration of the term of office of persons so elected, said board of education may make an appoint- 
ment to fill such vacancy. The officer so appointed shall hold his office until the next annual election, 
when the inhabitants shall fill such vacancy by an election for the unexpired term thereof. 

2 6. Notices for annual meetings and all other meetings of said districts shall be given by the board 
of education, at least ten days before such meeting, by publishing such notice once in each of the 
newspapers printed in the village of BallstonSpa, and by posting the same on the door of each school- 
house in said district. 

2 7. Said board of education, and the clerk, the librarian, and the collector of said district, shall seve- 
rally possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties and liabilities in respect to all the schools in 
said district, that the trustees and other officers of common schools now possess or shall be subject to 
by law, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. 

2 8. Each member of said board shall visit all the schools in said district, at least twice in each year 
of his official term, and said board of education shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited 
by a committee of three or more of their number at least once in each term. 

} 9. When any officer of the saiil union district, or of the said board of education, shall have paid any 
moneys in or about the prosecution or defense of any suit commenced by or against him, in the dis- 
charge of the duties of his office, or for acts done by color thereof, it shall be the duty of said board of 
education, unless it shall appear to them that the same wer« paid in consequence of the willful neglect 
or misconduct of the claimant, to ascertain the amount thereof by the best means in their power, 
and to cause the same to be assessed upon and collected of the taxable inhabitants of said district, in 
addition to the sums authorized to be raised for school purposes in said district by this act, and when 
so collected to pay over the same to the person entitled thereto oy virtue of this act. 

2 10. The treasurer shall be furnished by the board of education with necessary books in which to 
enter and keep his official accounts ; and he shall keep a true account of all the moneys received and 
disbursed by him, and of the parties from whom he received and to whom and for what purposes paid 
out. But no money shall be paid from the treasury except on a draft, signed by the president and 
countersigned by the clerk, and sealed with the seal of the board of education, in pursuance of a reso- 
lution of said board, which draft shall be made payable to the order of the person or persons entitled 
to receive said moneys, and shall state on its tace the purpose or service for which the same is drawn. 
The treasurer shall keep, in a book furnished and prepared for that purpose, an accurate account of all 
drafts so drawn on and paid by him, stating the person to whom payable, and for what purpose and 
sum drawn and out of what fund payable. The drafts drawn on the treasurer shall be numbered 
consecutively, and the treasurer, in any question of priority of payment, shall pay all such drafts in the 
order of their respective numbers, unless otherwise specially directed by the board of education. The 
books of the treasurer, and also the proceedings of the board, shall at all times be subject to inspection 
and examination by the inhabitants of said district. The treasurer shall receive a compensation to be 
fixed by the board. He shall report in writing to the board of education, at least five days before each 
annual meeting, the aggregate sum of money received by him from all sources during the past year, in 
his official capacity, and the sums received on account of each particular fund, the amount disbursed 
by him, and to whom and on what account and for what purpose paid, and the amount remaining on 
hand, if any, with a statement of all drafts paid by him during said year, the person to whom and the 
fund out of which payable, respectively, which report shall be filed by the clerk with the official papers 
of the board. And, with each annual report, the treasurer shall return to the board the drafts paid by 
him during the preceding school year. 

? II. The clerk shall keep in a book to be provided him for that purpose, an accurate account of all 
drafts drawn by the president on the treasurer ; the person to whom payable, aud the fund out of 

112 



890 MiLTOif. 

■which the same is to be paid, and the purpose for which it is drawn. The said clerk, in addition to 
such other duties as are or may be imposed on him by law or required of him by the board, shall keep 
a record of the proceedings of said board of education, which record or a transcript thereof, certified 
by the president and secretary, shall be received in all courts and for all purposes as presumptive evi- 
dence of the facts therein set forth. 

§ 12. The said board of education is hereby authorized to borrow, from time to time, on the credit of 
said district, the sum of twenty thousand dollars, to be expended in purchasing, building or repairing 
school-houses in said district. 

§ 13. For the purpose of effecting such loan, and as evidence thereof, said board are authorized to issue 
the bonds or certificates of indebtedness of said district to the person or persons from whom the 
money may be borrowed, said bonds being issued only upon a resolution of the board, passed at a 
meeting thereof, at which at least a majority of its members shall be present, and shall be signed bv 
the president and countersigned by the clerk of the board, and sealed with the seal of the board of 
education. 

? 14. Said bonds shall not be negotiated at less than their par value ; they shall bear interest at the 
rate )f seven per cent, payable semi-annually. Five thousand dollars of said principal shall mature in 
the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, five thousand dollars in the year eighteen hundred 
and eighty-five, five thousand dollars in the year one thousand eight hundred and nlnetv, and five 
thousand dollars in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five ; and for the purpose of making such 
pavments said board is authorized and required annually to levy and collect, in the same manner as 
other school taxes are collected in said district, a sum sufficient to extinguish such amount of interest, 
or of such loan and interest as mature that year, in addition to all other moneys raised for said district. 
(As amended by chap. 341, Laws of 1873.) 

g 15. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To estabhsh and organize, whenever it shall be deemed advisable, an academical department 
within said district to be known by the name of the " Ballston Academy." which school shall be sub- 
ject to the visitation of the Regents of the University of this State, and to all laws and regulations ap- 
plicable to the incorporated academies thereof, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such acad- 
emies, and to share in the distribution of the moneys of the literature fund of this State, the same as 
the other academies thereof. 

2. To establish and organize such and so many primary schools in said district, including for that pur- 
pose the common schools therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discon- 
tinue, or change and consolidate the same. 

3. To build, purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence, im- 
prove, adorn and repair the same, as they may think proper. 

4. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any lots or sites, now owned by any school district within the 
limits of said union district, erected by this act, to build, enlarge, alter, improve, adorn and repair 
school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable. 

5. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, globes, maps, furniture and append- 
ages, books for the indigent pupils and for the school library, to provide fuel and lights, and defray the 
contingent expenses of the schools, of the board, the library and the salary of the librarian and clerk. 

6. To have the custody and safe-keepiug of the school-houses, out-houses, and all the real and per- 
sonal property belonging, or which shall belong, to said union school district and primary schools, and 
see that the ordinances and by-laws of said board, in relation thereto, be observed. 

7. To contract with, and employ, teachers competent in the several departments of instruction ; to 
remove them at any time for neglect of duty or immoral conduct, and to pay the wages of such teach- 
ers out of the moneys appropriated for that purpose. 

8. To pay the wages of sucli teachers out of the public monej's and tuition fees received for that pur- 
pose, and the deficiency, if any, out of the moneys to be raised by tax for general purposes of educatioft 
under this act. 

9. To fix the rates of tuition fees in said academy and to designate some person or persons to whom 
the same may be paid. 

10. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of all the 
schools nientioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of this act, to prescribe the course of 
studies therein, the books to be used, and to establish a uniformity in respect to such course of study 
and books; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules, 
regulations and ordinances for the organization, government and instruction of such schools, for the 
reception of pupils and their ti-ansfer from one school to another, for the expulsion of any pupil from 
any of said schools for misconduct, for the promotion of morals and good order in said schools, their 
prosperity and public utility, for the protection, safe-keeping and care and preservation of school- 
houses, lots, sites, fences, ornamental trees and shrubbery, and other appurtenances, and all other 
property coanecied wuu or appertaming to sueii scaool-houses, and to cause such rules, regulations, 
ordinances and by-laws to be printed and published in sucli manner as they may deem best calculated 
to give general information thereof. 

11. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, from time to 
time, by tax upon all the real and personal estate within the bounds of said district which shall be 
liable to taxation for town and county charges, such sums of money as may be determined by resolu- 
tion of said board to be necessary for any and all the purposes mentioned in this act, or to meet any 
deficiency for any purpose of education in said district, to provide for wiiich power is hereby given to 
said board by the provisions of this act, or any law relating t© common schools, or the rules, regula- 
tions orany order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

12. Said board of education shall, at the commencement of each year, make an estimate, by the best 
means ia their power, of the amount of money which will be needed for all the purposes of education, 
and other purposes provided for by this act over and above the public money and moneys to be received 
from the other sources, if any, and shall cause the same to be raised upon one assessment or warrant ; 
and not more than two taxes for such pucpose shall be raised in one j'ear. The amount of money so to 
be raised for teachers' wages, to be raised in any one year, shall not be less than the amount received 
from the State for the support of said schools for the year next preceding, nor shall more than four 
times that amount be raised bj' the board of education for such purpose unless such greater amount 
shall be authorized by a vote of the voters at school meetings of said school district at an annual or 
special meeting of such district, when they shall have power to vote such sum or sums as they may 
deem necessary for such purposes. 

§ 16. All the primary and intermediate schools and departments, and the academy in said school dis- 
trict, and which shall b3 under the charge of the board of education, shall be free schools, and no tui- 
tion shall be charged nor any rate bill made out for the tuition, in the regular or prescribed course of 
study of any pupils of lawful school age who are or may be actual residents of said free school district, 
but said board of education shall have power to establish or charge such rates of tuition as they shall 
see tit for non-resident pupils and for the instruction of all pupils in any branch of learning not em- 
braced In the regular course of study prescribed by said board of education. 



MlLTOJq^ — MONTICELLO. 891 

J 17. They shall, for all taxes raised bj' them, make out a list in the manner and form in which tax 
lists are or "shall be required by law to be made by trustees of school districts, so far as such form is ap- 
plicable, annex thereto a warrant in like form, signed by the president or majority of the members of 
said board, and deliver the same to the collector, which, when so made and signed, shall be as effectual 
to all intents and purposes as like tax Usts and warrants when made by the trustees of common school 
districts in this State. Said board may, in respect to the collection of taxes, conform to the provisions 
of the twenty-ninth, thirtieth, and thirty-first sections of chapter one hundred and eighty of Session 
Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and require the collector to comply with the pro- 
visions of said sections so far as the same are applicable. Said board may make their warrants return- 
able at discretion, not less than thirty days, nor more than ninety days from the issuing thereof. The 
said board may assess, levy and collect the amount of taxes to be raised under the preceding sections, 
in not more than two annual installments. All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys 
by law appropriated to or provided for said districts, shall be paid to the treasurer of said board, who, 
together with the sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable therefor to the said board of educa- 
tion. 

{ 18. The said board of education shall annually make a like report, in all respects, as required from 
trustees of common school districts to the school commissioners. A copy of the reports of said 
boards of education shall be filed with the clerk or secretary of the board. The said board of education 
shall, at the close of each school year, publish in one or more of the village newspapers, a report of the 
moneys received and expended by them during the year, showing the sources from whence received 
and the objects of expenditure, and such other matters pertaining to pubhc instruction in said district 
as they shall deem expedient. 

2 19. All the school property of said board of education, real and personal, while used for and appro- 
priated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to 
be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution. Said board of education, in their cor- 
porate capacity, shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it 
by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of said district or any schools under their charge. Said 
board shall not have power to sell, grant, dispose of or incumber said academy or school lots. No 
portion of the library monev paid to said board of education shall be expended for teachers' wages, but 
shall be appropriated exclusively for the increase and benefit of the library and for school appa- 
ratus. 

J 20. All the lands included in the bounds of said union district shall be subject to taxation therein 
under this act, without regard to the residence of the owners thereof, and the board of education may 
cause them to be returned to the county treasurer in the same manner as trustees of common schools 
are authorized to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non-residents of their districts for 
unpaid taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of said taxes 
out of any moneys in the county treasury not otherwise specifically appropriated, and such proceed- 
ings, in all respects, shall thereupon be had in relation to such taxes and lands as required by law in 
relation to such lands when so returned by trustees of common school districts. 

{21. The taxes imposed by the provisions of this act shall be a lien upon the lands taxed to be enforced 
and collected by sale in the manner that county taxes are upon a return to be made by the collector to 
the treasurer of the county of all unpaid taxes in sa'd district. 

2 22. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this act, the said district shall be regarded as organ- 
ized under and subject to all the provisions of title nine, chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the 
Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and of any amendments thereto that are or may hereafter 
be made. 

MILTON AND BALLSTON-DISTRICT No. 12. 

{Chapter 228, Laws o/1848.] 

Section 1. The trustees of school district number twelve in the towns of Milton and Ballston, 
in the county of Saratoga, are hereby directed and empowered to set apart from the school moneys 
appropriated to such district an amount equal to that which is drawn by the enumeration of children 
under the age of sixteen, who work in any manufacturing estabUshment in said district, for the pur- 
pose of establishing an evening school. 

} 2. The trustees of said district are hereby directed to employ a suitable teacher, who shall com- 
mence an evening school in the district school-house in the aforesaid district on the first Monday 
evening after the twentieth of Septeml)er in each year, and the trustees are hereby authorized and 
empowered to levy and collect in the usual manner school bills are now collected by law, a sum not 
exceeding fifty cents for every child attending the school for each quarter of thirteen weeks. The 
trustees shall not continue such school for a longer time than two quarters of thirteen weeks each, and 
no longer than sufficient money to pay the expenses of the same can be collected under the provisions 
of this act. 

MONTICELLO. 

[Chap. 664, Laws of 1873.] 

Section 1. The territory now comprising the village of Monticello, and so much of the contiguous 
territory as now forms a part of school d'strict number one, of the town of Thompson, is hereby con- 
stituted a separate school district for educational purposes. 

J 2. There shall be elected, on the first Monday of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and 
thereafter annually on the second Tuesday of October, three freeholders, who shall be trustees of said 
district, and who shall form a board of education ; also a treasurer, a collector and a clerk. The treas- 
urer and collector shall execute a bond, resnectivelv. to the tnT^tees. in sn^h cnm as the tnisf-ep<! may 
direct, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their duties. {As amended by chap. 382, Laws 0/1878.) 

§ 3. The school district shall be known as school district number one of Thompson, and be entitled 
to its share of public moneys, as the same are now distributed. 

J 4. The trustees elected at the annual election held on the second Tuesday of October, eighteen hun- 
dred and seventy-seven, are hereby authorized to purchase, or to acquire in the manner prescribed in 
chapter eight hundred, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, so much land, not exceeding 
one acre, lying contiguous to the present site, or elsewhere in the district as they may deem necessary, 
for the purpose of erecting a school edifice thereon, the title whereof shall be vested in the said trus- 
tees and their successors. Said trustees are also authorized to sell the present site, or any part thereof, 
and convey the same. {As amended by chap. 3S2, Laws of 1878. ) 

§ 5. For the purpose of raising money to purchase land as a site and to erect necessary buildings and 
fixtures, the said trustees are hereby authorized to levy, raise and collect on the real and personal 
property liable to taxation in said district, an amount not exceeding five thousand dollars, in such 
installments and at such times as they shall deem advisable, in the same manner and with the like 



892 MOIIRISAKIA — MOU^'T MOKRIS. 



0. {R( 

■1. So 



authority as that in and by which other school district taxes are raised, levied and collected, and to 
make out their tax list and warrant for the collection of such tax or installments. The money when 
collected shall be paid over to the treasurer of the district, and by him disbursed only upon the written 
order of the trustees. {As umeiided by chap. 382, Laws of 1878. ) 
" " Repealed by chap. 382, Laws of 1878. ) 

much of the general act in relation to common schools as is not inconsistent with the provi- 
sions of this act is hereby declared to apply to all proceedings of the trustees of the.- district hereby 
created. 

MORRISANIA. 

By chapter 613, Laws of 1873, the limits of the city of New York were extended so as to embrace the 
towns of Morrlsania, West Farms an-d Kings Bridge in Westchester county, and their schools were 
traasferred to the jurisdiction of the board of education, and made subject to the laws relating to com- 
mon or public schools in that city. See City of New York, post. 

MORRISVILLE. 

[Chapter 820, Laws of 1867,] 

Section 1. The trustees of school district number eight, of the town of Eaton, in the county of Madi- 
son, known as the Morrisville union school, are hereby .authorized to divide said school into two or 
more departments, and to establish therein an academical department whenever, in their judgment, 
the same is warranted by the demand forsuch instruction. Said trustees are also authorized to receive 
into said school any pupils residing out of said district, and to establish and regulate the tuition fees of 
said non-resident pupils in the several departments of said school. Said trustees are also authorized to 
regulate the transfer of scholars from the primary to the academical department in said school, and 
from class to class, as their degree of scholarship may warrant ; and to direct what text-books shall be 
used in the different departments of said school. Said trustees are also authorized to establish such 
rules and regulations concerning the order and discipline of the school in the .several departments 
thereof, as they may deem necessary and proper to secure the best educational results. 

MOUNT MORRIS. 
[Chjpter72^, Laws of 1%6.'] 

Section 1. School districts numbers one, three and fifteen, of the town of Mount Morris, county of 
Livingston, and State of New York, and all that part of district number two, in the same town, which 
lies north of the State road and east of the highway on which the residence of Reuben Weeks, late of 
Mount Morris aforesaid, deceased, stands, and east of a line in continuation of the center of said high- 
way extended northerly to the Genesee river, are hereby consolidated for the purposes and to the 
extent in this act specified ; and shall hereafter, for the purposes of this act, form but one school dis- 
trict, to he called and known as " the Mount Morris union free school district." And said consolidated 
district, for the purpose of the apportionment and distribution of school moneys from any source, shall 
be recognized and regarded as and shall be a school district under the general school laws of this 
State. 

i 2. The schools organized under this act, except the academical department herem provided for, 
shall be free to all pupils between the ages of five and twenty-one years residing in said consolidated 
district. Pupils not residents of said district, of the age above Indicated, may be admitted into any 
free school within said consolidated district only on the written consent of the board of education 
herein provided for, or a majority of them, and upon such terms and conditions as to tuition, and in 
other respects, as said board mav from time to time prescribe. All tuition received from non-resident 
pupils shall be applied to the pavment of teachers' wages in the primary department. 

§ 3. Said consolidated district may be divided into four convenient sub-districts by the board of edu- 
cation herein provided for, to be denominated primary sub-districts numbers one, two, three and four; 
and the school-houses in said sub-districts shall be used for the education of the children residing in 
said sub-districts respectively entitled to attend common schools, as far as practicable ; and when such 
children shall arrive at sufficient age and proficiency 'in learning, they may be transferred, upon the 
proper testimonials. Into the more advanced departments created and authorized by this act; the age. 
qualifications and testimonials to be prescribed by the by-laws, rules and regulations of the board of 
education hereinafter created. , . , r 

i 4. The schools in said consolidated district shall be under the direction, management and control of 
-nine trustees, who shall be taxable inhabitants of said district, to be chosen as hereinafter directed, 
and shall be denominated '' the board of education of the Mount Morris union free school." Said trus- 
tees shall be a body corporate in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by this act, 
and shall have a corporate seal, with such inscription and device thereon as the said board shall desig- 
nate, until the election of such trustees under this act as hereinafter provided. Clark B. Adams, 
Lorenzo J. Ames, Walter H. Noble, Loren Coy, Hiram P. Mills, Zara W. Joslyn, Ambrose B. Millard 
Charles L. Bingham, and Pomeroy Sheldon, shall be and act as such trustees of such consolidated 
district, and be such board of education, and shall discharge all duties and perform all acts necessary 
to be discharged and performed in pursuance hereof, for the purpose of carrying into effect the pro- 
visions of this act. The persons above named may organize by the appointment of a president and 
clerk, and such other officers herein provided for, as may be necessary in the discharge of their 

- 3 r^There shall be a meeting of the inhabitants of such consolidated district entitled to vote at school 
meetings, at the school house or at Livingston hall, in the present school district number one in the 
town of Mount Morris, on the second Tue.'^day of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, at seven 
o'clock in the evening of that day, at which the trustees herein provided for shall be chosen and elected 
ov a majority vote of such inhabitants present and voting at such meeting taken by ballot of whom 
ofie shall be a resident of each subdistrict hereby provided for and the balance shall Of taken 
from the consolidated district at large, and they shall by the order of such meeting, be divi- 
ded into three classes, the first class to hold for one, the second for two and the third tor three 
years; and thereupon the office of any then existing board of education in saicl consolidated district 
shall cease, except as hereinafter provided. The trustees so chosen and elected shall constitute a 
board of education for such consolidated district under the designation and ti le hereinbefore men- 
tioned. The term of office of all trustees elected under the provisions of this act, after the "yf;: fj-f^- 
tion as aforesaid, except in case of trustees chosen to fill vancies. shall be three years ; and thereafter 
three of such trusteesshall annually beelected. [As amended by chap. 199, Laws o/1887.J 



Mount Morris. 89^^' 



J 6. The meeting provided for in the last preceding section shall be called by publishing anotice thereof, 
stating the time and place of its assembling, in a newspaper published in the village of Mount Morris, for 
two successive weeks next before such meeting, and posting such notice, eitherprinted or written, on the 
outside of the outer door of each school-house in said consolidated district, including academy build- 
ing, if there be one, at least five days before such meeting; which notice so published and posted shall 
be signed by the trustees herein appointed, or a majority of them, and thereafter and after such meet- 
ing there shall be an annual meeting of the inhabitants of said consolidated district, on the second 
Tuesday of October in each year, notice of which shall be given as herein provided for the meeting 
hereinbefore appointed, except that the notice shall be signed by the president and clerk of the board 
of education, instead of the trustees ; and in case no newspaper be at such time published in the village 
of Mount Morris, then such notice shall be given by posting the same as herein provided. Any such . 
annual meeting may adjourn from time to time, and the proceedings of such adjourned meeting shall 
be in all respects as regular as if transacted at an original meeting. 

27. Special meetings of the inhabitants of said district may be called by publishing and posting a 
notice thereof, stating the time and place and object of such meeting, as herein provided for post- 
ing and publishing the notice of an annual meeting, which notice shall be signed by the president and 
clerk of the board of education ; and in addition to the posting herein above prescribed, such notice of 
such special meeting shall be posted in two public places in each of the sub-districts into which said 
consolidated district may be divided, at least five days before said meeting. 

5 8. The board of education herein provided for shall hold its first meeting on the first Tuesday after 
Its election, at an hour and place to be designated by a vote of the board ; and thereafter they shall 
hold annual meetings on the first Tuesday after each annual meeting of the district, and quarterly 
meetings on the first Wednesday after the commencement of each term of school in said district, at 
an hour and place to be fixed by the board, and such other special meetings as the board may see fit to 
call, which special meetings may be called by the direction of the president of the board, or, in 
case of his absence or his inability, neglect or refusal to serve, by a vote of the board. At each quar- 
terly meeting the board shall appoint a visiting committee of not less than three of its members, whose 
duty it shall be to visit all the schools, in said consolidated district, including the academical depart- 
ment, at least twice in each term. 

J 9. At the first meeting of said board of education, and annually thereafter at each annual meeting, 
they shall elect one of their number president of the board, whose duty it shall be to preside at all 
meetings of the board when present, and when absent, a president pro tempore may be appointed. 
The board shall also appoint a clerk, who shall be an inhabitant of said district, and shall hold his 
oflSce during the pleasure of the board, and receive a compensation to be fixed by the board. The said 
clerk shall attend the meetings of the board, and make and keep a record of the proceedings thereof in 
a book to be provided by the board of education for that purpose, and shall perform such other duties 
appertaming to his office as the board may require. In case the clerk shall be absent at any meeting 
of the board, the board may appoint any one of its members, except its president, clerk pro tempore. 

J 10. The said board shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to appoint a treasurer and col- 
lector, each of whom shall be an inhabitant of said district, and qualified to vote at school district 
meetings, and'who shall severally hold their appointment for one year, and until others shall have been 
duly appointed in their places, and shall have qualified by giving the security herein provided for, 
unless sooner removed by the board for cause. Only one of such appointments shall be held by the 
same individual at the same time. Such treasurer and collecto shall severally, and within ten days 
after notice In writing of their appointment, and before entering upon the duties of their offices, exe- 
cute and deliver to said board of education a bond payable to them in their corporate name, in such 
penalty and with such securities as the board may require and approve, conditioned for the faithful 
discharge of the duties of thier respective offices, and that they will well and truly account for and pay 
over, on the proper order, in accordance with the resolution of said board of education, all moneys 
which they may receive as such officers. The evidence of the approval of such board shall be the 
indorsement thereon of such approval, signed by the president of the board, and in case such bond 
shall not be given within the time specified, such oflSce shall thereby become vacant, and the board 
shall thereupon make other appointments to supply such vacancies. 

§11- The treasurer shall be furnished by the board of education with necessary books in which to 
enter and keep his official accounts; and he shall keep a true account of all the moneys received and 
disbursed by him, and of the parties from whom received, and to whom and for what purpose paid 
out But no money shall be paid from the treasury, except on a draft signed by the president and 
countersigned by the clerk, and sealed with the seal of the board of education, in pursuance of a reso- 
lution of said board, which draft shall be made payable to the order of the person or persons entitled 
to receive said moneys, and shall state on its face the purpose or service for which the same is drawn. 
The treasurer shall keep in a book furnished and prepared for that purpose, an accurate account of all 
drafts so drawn on and paid by him, stating the person to whom payable, and for what purpose and 
sum drawn, and out of what fund payable. The drafts drawn on the treasurer shall be numbered con- 
secutively, and the treasurer in any question of priority of payment shall pay all such drafts in the order 
of their respective numbers, unless otherwise specially directed by the board of education. The books 
of the treasurer, and also the record of the proceedings of the board, shall at all times be subject to 
inspection and examination by the inhabitants of said districts. 

The treasurer shall receive a compensation to be fixed by the board. Tie shall report in writing to 
the board of education, at least five days before each annual meeting, the aggregate sum of money re- 
ceived by him from all sources during the past year, in his official capacity, and the suras received on 
account of each particular fund, the amount disbursed by him, and to whom, and on what account, 
and for what purpose paid, and the amount remaining on hand if any, with a statement of all drafts 
paid by him during said year, the person to whom, and the fund out of which payable, respectively, 
which report shall be filed by the clerk with the official papers of the board. And, with each annual 
report, the treasurer shall return to the board the drafts paid by him daring the preceding school 
year. 

§ 12. The clerk shalr keep in a book, to be provided him for that purpose, an accurate account of all 
drafts drawn by the president on the treasurer ; the person to whom payable, and the fund out of 
which the same is to be paid, and the purpose for which it is to be drawn. 

§ 13. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize in said Mount Morris union free school district, and in the primary sub- 
districts thereof, primary departments or schools, and departments of higher grades; they shall also 
establish and organize an academical department when and as soon as they shall deem such academ- 
ical department necessary and advisable, and shall have power to alter and discontinue the same as 
they may deem advisable ; 

2. To hire or purchase school-houses or school rooms, and lots or sites for school-houses, or sites 
with buildings thereon to be used as school-houses, and to fence and improve such lots and sites, and 
to sell the same with their appurtenances, as and when they may deem proper, providing such pur- 
chase and sale be authorized by a vote of the district ; 



894 Mount Morris. 

3. To build, enlarare. alter, improve, furnish and repair school-houses, with their oUt-houses and ap- 
purtenances, as they raay deem advisable, providing such building and enlargement of school-houses 
are authorized by a vote of the district ; 

4. To have the custody and control of the 'said school-houses, out-houses, furniture and appurten- 
ances, apparatus and district books and to see that the ordinances in relation to the care and safe- 
keeping of the same be observed ; 

5. To contract with and employ all teachers in the public schools and the academical department 
(the number of teachers not to be less than one for every fifty pupils attending such primary schools), 
and for sufficient cause to remove any such teacher ; 

6. To pay teachers' wages after the application of the public money by law appropriated and pro- 
. vided for that purpose, and any tuition applicable thereto herein provided, from the money author- 
ized by act to be raised for that purpose : 

7. To pay all necessary contingent expenses of said schools, including a common corporate seal and 
district books, out of contingent fund herein provided for ; 

8. To fill any vacancy which may occur in said board by reason of the death, removal or refusal to 
serve of any member or officer thereof, and any vacancy arising from any cause except the expiration 
of the terra of office ; and the person appointed to fill such vacancv, if a trustee, shall hold his office 
until the next election of trustees in said district ; and if any other officer, until the time for the regular 
appointment by the board, unless sooner removed by the board ; 

9. To remove any member of the board for official misconduct; but a written copy of all charges of 
misconduct made against any such member shall be served upon him at least ten days before the time 
appointed for a hearing of the same, and he shall be allowed a full and fair opportunity to refute such 
charges before removal : 

10. To take and hold for the use of such schools, or of any department of the same, any real estate 
transferred to them or it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, or any gift, legacy or annuity of whatever 
kind given or bequeathed to the said board, and apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, 
according to the instructions of the donor or testator ; 

11. To have in all respects the superintendence and management of the public schools and academical 
department of the said consolidated district organized in pursuance thereof, and. from time to time, to 
adopt, alter, modify and repeal such by-laws, rules and regulations as they may deem proper and 
necessary for their regulation; and for the organization, government and instruction of said schools 
and academical department; and for the reception of pupils therein, and their transfer from one de- 
partment to another: and generally for good order and government; and to receive into said public 
schools and the academical department thereof, pupils not residing in said district and to prescribe 
and regulate the tuition of such non-resident pupils, and collect the same ; to expel any scholar either 
from the public schools or the academical department for misconduct or cause injurious to the inter- 
ests of the school; to direct what text-books shall be used in said schools and academical department, 
and provide for uniformity in the same ; to provide fuel and other necessaries for said schools ; to ap- 
point librarians and assistant librarians as they may from time to time deem proper, and regulate theit 
duties and fix their compensation, and generally to make and adopt such by-laws, rules and regula- 
tions as will enable them to carry into effect and exercise the powers herein conferred on them. 

§ 14. Whenever an academical department shall be organized under the provisions of this act, in said 
Mount Morris union free school district, the said board of education shall have the power, and it shall 
be their duty to fix and determine the rate of tuition for pupils attending the same in the different 
branches of learning they may pursue, which shall in no instance exceed eight dollars per term 
for pupils residing in said district; for non-resident pupils, the rates of tuiition may be as high for the 
different branches as the said board of education may determine; and said rates for non-resident pupils 
may from time to time be changed by said board, as they may deem expedient and proper ; and said 
board may at their discretion exempt any indigent pupil or pupils, either resident or non-resident from 
the payment of any tuition in said academical department, and indigent non-residents from the pay- 
ment of tuition in the free primary schools. (As amended by chap. 199, Laws of 1887.) 

^ 13. The academical department, which may be establishetl as aforesaid, shall be entitled to its dis- 
tributive share of the literature fund in like manner and on like condition with the academies of this 
State ; and shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University, in like manner with other 
academies of this State. 

§ 16. The necessary expenses of such academical department, to wit : teachers' wages, the expense 
of fuel, and other incidental and contingent expenses, necessary to the successful operation of the 
same, shall be paid by the board of education, by an application thereto of the literature fund drawn 
from the State, and the tuitions received from pupils therein ; and if these funds are insufficient 
to pay such expenses in full, the balance shall be levied upon the taxable property and inhabitants of 
said districts entitled to vote at district meetings, or by resolution of the board of education if such 
inhabitants refuse to vote the same, and as hereinafter provided. 

2 17. It shall be the duty of said board of education to present to the inhabitants of said district, at 
each annual school meeting, a detailed statement of the amount of money received into the treasury 
from all sources during the past year, ard the particular amounts from each particular source ; how much 
thereof, to whom and for what purpose, has been paid out and disbursed, and the amount remaining in 
the treasury, if any. Also a detailed statement of items of anticipated expenses for the coming year, 
for the support of the primary free schools, to pay which taxes may be levied, including teachers 
wages, after applying thereto the public money and any other money applicable to that purpose, and 
also including any sum necessary to procure suitable room or rooms for school libraries, and the pay- 
ment of librarians, clerk and treasurer, and the necessary expense or repairs of school-houses, out- 
houses, fences and appurtenances, and the particular object for which such moneys are needed, the 
indebtedness of said district, if any, for the necessary support of said primary free schools ; and any 
deficiency in the means applicable to the support of the academical department, including necessary 
repairs on the academy buildings and out-houses, the number of teachers in said schools, including the 
acedemical department during the past'year, and the salary paid to each ; the number of pupils attend- 
ing such schools in the different departments thereof, including the academical departments; the text- 
books used in said schools, the number of volumes and condition of the books in the libraries of said 
district, and such other facts and information relative to the affairs and condition of said schools and 
consolidated district as in their jud.gment may be of interest to the inhabitants thereof. In addition to 
the items of anticipated expenses which can be definitely estimated, and which said board are hereby 
required to present at such meeting, the board may also present an item not exceeding two hundred 
and fifty dollars for incidental andcontingentexpenses. which cannot be estimated in items, and which, 
when voted by the inhabitants of said district as herein provided, shall be collected and denominated 
the " contingent fund. " They may also recommend the raising of a sum not exceeding one hundred 
dollars in anyx)ne year for the purchase of books for the school libraries, or apparatus and maps for 
the use of said schools, or the academical department thereof 

2 18. The said board of education may also, at any annual meeting of the inhabitants of said district, 
or at a special meeting duly called for that purpose, present to such meeting an estimate of the neces- 



Mount Moreis. 895 

sary expenses of purchasing or hiring sites with buildings thereon, to be used as school-houses for the 
primary or acadeaiical departmeiiD in said consoliaateu district, or the sau-distncts tnereol, and 
improving such buildings and fencing such sites. 

§ 19. The inhabitants of such consolidated district entitled to vote at district meetings, when lawfully 
assembled at any annual meeting or any special meeting called for that purpose, shall have power to, 
and thev mav, by a majoritv vote of those present and voting, vote to raise by tax upon the taxable 
inhabitants and propertv of said consolidated district, any sum or sums recommended by the board ol 
education, as provided in the two preceding sections, for any or all of the objects or purposes recom- 
mended in said sections, or anv part of the sums so estimated and recommended, or a sum or sums larger 
than estimated and recommended bv said board, for any or all the objects and purposes enumerated in 
said sections, and to direct the said board of education to cause the said sum or sums so voted by them 
to be levied and raised bv tax upon the taxable inhabitants and property of said consolidated district, 
either in one or several iiistallmsnts, as they, the said board, may determine. And the inhabitants of 
said district shall have no power to rescind the vote to raise such sum of money, or to reduce the 
amount so voted, unless the same be done within ten days after the said sum shall have been first voted; 
and said inhabitants mav also when so assembled, by a majority vote of those present and voting, 
authorize and direct said board of education to purchase or lease sites on which to erect school-houses 
or buildings to be used as school-houses, including academical buildings, and to fence and improve the 
sites, erect buildings for school purposes on such sites, and improve, alter, repair and furnish any build- 
ings used bv said consolidated school district for school purposes. 

§ 20. If the said inhabitants, at anv such meeting, shall neglect or refuse to vote to raise the sum 
or sums estimated necessarv bv said board for teachers' wages, after applying thereto the public moneys 
and anv other monevs received bv them for that purpose, including tuition applicable thereto, or if 
thev shall neglect of refuse to vote to raise the sum or sums estimated necessary for ordinary and con- 
tingent expenses, including necessarv repairs on buildings and fences, the " contingent fund " estimated 
by the board, and the deflciencv reported in the academical department, the board of education may 
by resolution lew and collect the same bv tax upon the taxable inhabitants and property of said district, 
in hke manner as if the same had been voted by the said inhabitants, and direct the same to be col- 
lected either in one or several installments, as they may deem best. 

2 21. If anv question shall arise as to what are ordinary contingent expenses, which the inhabitants 
of said district are unable to settle, the same may be referred to the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, bv a statement in writing, signed bv one or more of each of the opposing parties upon th3 ques- 
tion, and the decision of the Superintendent shall be conclusive. 

S 22. Whenever the said inhabitants shall vote to raise any such sum or sums upon the taxable prop- 
ertv of said district, or the said board of education shall so levy any such sum or sums upon such tax- 
able propertv, on the neglect or refusal of said inhabitants to vote or raise the same, for the purpose of 
collecting ariv and all such sums so voted and levied to be raised by tax upon such property, the said 
board of education shall, within thirty days after such sums are so voted and levied, apportion the 
same upon the taxable propertv and persons in such consolidated district, and within the same time 
make, or cause to be made, a tax list, in the manner now provided by law in cas3 of school district 
taxes, and shall attach thereto their warrant for the collection of the same, either in one or several 
installments, as the case may be, and shall immediately upon the expiration of the said tims deliver 
such tax list and warrant to the collector of said district, which warrant may be renewed from time to 
time by said board of education. 

? 23. For the purpose of appropriating such tax the valuation of the taxable property of such district 
shall be ascertained as far as possible and practicable, from the last assessment roll of the town of 
Mount Morris, after revision by the assessors ; and no person shall be entitled to any reduction in 
the valuation of such property as so ascertained, unless he shall give notice of his claim to such reduc- 
tion to the president of said board of education before such tax list shall be made out, 

? 24. When such reduction shall be duly claimed, or when the true valuation of such taxable prop- 
erty cannot be ascertained from the last assessment roll of said town, or such valuation in such assess- 
ment roll is beUeved by such board to be erroneous, the said board of education shall ascertain the true 
value of the property to be taxed by the best evidence in their power, and may add to the same when 
in their judgment such additions will be just, giving notice to the persons interested, and proceeding 
in the sam.e manner as town assessors are required by law to proceed, in the valuation of taxable prop- 
erty, or proceeding to correct the assessment roll of a town. 

§ 25. All moneys receivable by virtue of this act, or received by said consolidated district or the board 
of education thereof, for the use of the public schools or acadeniical department therein, whether from 
the common schools, United States or literary funds, or State tax, or otherwise, shall be deposited 
with the treasurer herein provided for; and the treasurer shall keep said money so received by him, or 
which may come to his hands, separate and distinct from any other money ; and shall pay no money 
from the treasury except on drafts duly drawn, and any violation by him of this section shall be 
deemed a misdemeanor and be punishable accordingly. The money annually apportioned to said dis- 
trict by the Superintendent of PubUc Instruction and school commissioners, shall be paid to the treasu- 
rer of said board of education, by the supervisor of the town of Mount Morris, on the order of the 
president of the said board, countersigned by the clerk of said board. 

g 26. The said trustees shall be trustees of the school libraries in said school district and all the pro- 
visions of law relative to school district libraries shall apply to said trustees in like manner as to the 
trustees of any school district. They shall also be invested with the same discretion as to the disposi- 
tion of the moneys appropriated by law for the purchase of libraries as is conferred by law on the 
inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide rooms for libraries and the necessary 
furniture therefor. The hbrarian shall report annually to said board at least fifteen days before each 
annual district meeting the condition of the libraries under his charge, and the number of volumes 
therein, and the said board shall make all purchases of books for said libraries, and direct the mode of 
their distribution. 

§ 27. The title to the school-houses and lots, furniture, district books, apparatus and appurtenances, and 
all other school property in said districts and parts of districts hereby consolidated, shall be vested in the 
said board of education and their successors in office, in their corporate capacity, in trust for the use of 
said public schools and the academical department of said consolidated district ; and the same, while 
used for school purposes, shall not be subject to taxation, and shall not be levied upon or sold by virtue 
of any warrant or execution, except for teachers' wages; and the purchase-price of articles bought by 
direction of said board of education, and except that the lien and all proceedings for enforcing the 
same of mechanics and others for labor and materials furnished in erecting, altering or repairing such 
buildings and their appurtenances, shall in no way be affected or impaired by this act. 

g 28. It shall be the duty of the board of education to have reference, in all their expenditures and 
contracts, to the amount of money which shall be appropriated or subject to their order or drafts dur- 
ing the current year, and not to exceed that amount. And said board shall apply all moneys raised for 
or appropriated to the use of the primary or common schools in said consolidated district to the 
departments below the academical department, and all moneys from the literature funds or otherwise 
apjjropriated to the support of the academical department, to the latter department. 



896 l^EWBURGH. 

g 20. Nothing in tins act contained shall be construed so as to interfere with or prevent the collection 
ot any tax or rate bill, in any district or part of adistrict hereby consolidated, not now collected under 
the law in force at the time such rate bill or tax was placed in the hands of the collector for collection; 
and all contracts now existing not fully performed, made by former trustees of any such district, shall 
be carried out and performed by such trustees, and for that purpose and for the purpose of meeting 
anv liability incurred by them as trustees, they shall still be regarded as and shall be such trustees, and 
until such contract and liabilities are disposed of, their office shall not expire as provided in section five 
of this act. 

g 30. The said board of education may sue and be sued on any contract made in its corporate capacity, 
or any transaction connected with said schools, out of which accrues a cause of action for or against 
them, and such action may be brought in a. justice's court or court of record, according as such courts 
respectively have jurisdiction of the subject-matter in ordinary cases. 

§ 31 . Nothing in this act shall be construed to affect or impair the duties or powers of the Superintend, 
ent of Pubhc Instruction in relation to the school districts hereby consolidated, but the same shall 
apply and be in force as to the district and sub-districts hereby created. 

NEWBURGH. 

[Chapter 7S, Laws o/1865, amending chapter 156, Laws o/1852.] 

Section 1. Every district or common school located in the village of Newburgh, including the New- 
burgh high school, and everv school which may hereafter be located in said village under this act, 
shall be free to all children between the ages of five and twenty-one years, residing in that village. 

§2. All that part of the town of Newburgh, included within the bounds of the corporation of the 
village of Newburgh, shall hereafter constitute one common school district. John J. Monell, John 
Forsyth, Chas.Eastabrook. Geo. M. Clapp, Hugh McCutcheon, John Corwin, Egbert Alsdorf and Thos. 
Ximball are hereby appointed trustees of common schools in said village. The trustees herein appoin- 
ted, and thpir successors in office, shall constitute a board, to be styled the board of education ot the 
village of Newburgh, which shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers conferred and duties 
enjoined on them bv this act. The term of office of the several members of said board named in this 
act shall be determined bv lot, at the first meeting after their appointment, in this manner : The term 
of office of two of said trustees shall expire on the second Wednesday after the charter election in said 
village, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-six ; the term of two others shall expire on 
the second Wednesday after the charter election in said village in the year eighteen hundred and sixty- 
seven ; the term of two others shall expire on the second Wednesday after the charter election in said 
village, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-eight ; and the term of the two remainmg trustees 
shall expire on the second Wednesday after the charter election m said village, in the year eighteen 
hundred and sixty-nme. The trustees named in this act shall take and subscribe the constitutional 
oath and file the same with the clerk of said village before entering on the duties of their office. 

1 3. There shall be elected at the annual charter election of the city of Newburgh, in each year after 
the passage of this act, in the same manner as and upon the same ticket with the other officers of said 
city, two trustees of common schools to supply the places of those whose terms of office are about to 
exisire. The terms of office of all trustees of common schools elected, pursuant to this act, shall com- 
mence on the second Wednesday ^after such election, and shall continue for four years. {As amended 
by chapter 27, Laws o/1873.) 

? 4. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all 
other school property in said village in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the board of education, 
and the same shall not be subject to taxation or assessment for any purpose; and the said board of 
education, in its corporate capacity, may take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate trans- 
ferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise for the use of the common schools or of the free library in 
said village, except that no real estate held by said board for school purposes shall be sold or disposed 
of without the consent of the trustees of the village first obtained, as hereinafter provided. 

§ 5. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said village. Immediately after the election of any person as 
trustee of common schools, personally or in writing to notify him of his election; and if any such per- 
son shall not, within ten days after receiving such notice of his election, take and subscribe the consti- 
tutional oath and file the same with the clerk of said village, the trustees of said village may consider 
it a refusal to serve, and the person so refusing shall forfeit and pay to the village treasurer, for the 
benefit of the tuition fund, a penalty of ten dollars. 

2 6. The board of education shall have power, at any regular meeting, to fill any vacancies that may 
occur in the [number of trustees from any other cause than the expiration of their term of service. 
The person or persons so chosen must, within ten days after being notified by the clerk of said board of 
their election, take and subscribe the constitutional oath and file the same with the clerk of said 
village. 

g 7. Removal from the village, or failure to attend three successive regular meetings of the board, 
may be deemed a resignation of ths office of trustee of common schools under this act, and the vacancy 
may be filled as hereinbefore provided. Any trustee of common schools in said village, elected under 
this act, may be removed from office by the trustees of said village for official misconduct ; but a writ- 
ten copy of the charges against such trustee shall be served upon him, and he shall be allowed to 
refuse such charges of misconduct before removed. 

I 8. The annual meeting of the board of education shall be held on the second Wednesday next after 
the charter election, in each year, when they shall elect a president and vice-president, who shall be of 
their number, and a clerk, who may be of their number. The president shall perform such duties as 
are specified in this act, or as may be enjoined upon him by the by-laws of this board ; and in his 
absence the vice-president shall perform his duties. The clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings 
of the board, a book of account with the treasurer of the village and with the teachers or other persons 
employed by the board, and shall perform such other duties as may be specified by this act, or by the 
by-laws and instructions of the board. 

§ 9. A majority of the board shall form a quorum, and be competent to transact any business of said 
board. The members of the board shall not receive compensation for their services as trustees. The 
board shall have power to fix, from time to time, the compensation of the clerk, and of his necessary 
assistants. The records of the proceedings of the board, or a transcript thereof, certified by the presi- 
dent (or in his absence by the vice-president), shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of 
facts therein set forth, and such records, and all the books, vouchers, accounts, and papers of said board, 
shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the trustees of said village and of any committee 
thereof. 

§ 10. The board of education shall have a 'regular meeting at least once in each quarter. At the 
annual meeting the president shall appoint such standing committees as may be provided in the by- 
laws of the board. 



Kewburgh. 897 



? 11. The board of education shall have power, and it shall be it9 duty : 

1. To establish and orsanize In said village such and so many public schools and departments of 
higher grades (including an academical department), and schools for colored children, as said board 
shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same at its discretion ; 

2. To hire, purchase, and prepare houses or rooms for the purpose of free public schools ; 

3. To alter, improve and repair school-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable ; 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, 
and to defray the expenses of the free library ; 

5. To have the custody anil safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture and appen- 
dages, and to see that the ordinances of the trustees of the village and the rules of the board of educa- 
tion in 1 elation thereto are observed ; 

6. To contract with and emjjloy all necessary teachers, and at their pleasure to remove them ; 

7. To provide evening schools for those whose ages or avocations are such as to prevent their attend- 
ing the day schools established by this act ; 

8. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys from all sources appropriated and provided 
by law for this purpose ; 

9. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including the wages of Janitors ; 

10. To expend all n)oneys raised by this art for bulld'.ng school-houses, purchasing sites, and other 
purposes for which the same may be raised, in such manner as they may deem proper; 

11. To have the superintendence and management of the common schools in said village, and from time 
to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their 
organization, government, and instruction ; for the reception of pupils, and their transfer from one 
school to another, for their advancement from class to class, as their degree of scholarship may war- 
rant, and generally for the promotion of their good order, prosperity and public utility ; and if at any 
time an academical department shall be established by said board, it shall be entitled to its distributive 
share of the hterature fund, in like manner and on like conditions with the academies of tliis State, 
and shall be subiect to the visitation of the Regents of the University, in like manner with the other 
academies of this State. 

? 12. The common council of the city of Newburgh shall *iave the power, and it shall be their duty 
to raise from time to time by tax, or as hereinafter provided, to be levied equally upon all the real and 
personal property in said city which shall be liable for the ordinary city taxes, such sum or sums of 
inonoy as the board of education shall deem necessary for any or all of the following purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses. 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, and their out-houses 
and appurtenances. 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages. 

4. To procure fiul and pay the contingent expenses of the free schools, the expenses of the free 
library, and the annual salary to the clerk and his assistants. 

5. To pav the wages of teachers, due after the application of the public school moneys, and all other 
mbnevs received bv said board, or under their control, which may by law be appropriated and provided 
for that purpose. And the board of education are authorized and directed, when necessary, to raise by 
loan either in anticipation of the taxes to be levied as aforesaid in this section, or the bonds to be issued 
asprovidedfor in section thirteen of this act, the moneys to be raised, levied and collected as afore- 
said ; the taxes to be levied as aforesaid, and collected by virtue of this act, shall be collected at the 
same time and in the same mann'^r as other city taxes. (As amended hy section 1, chapter 122, Laws 
of 1809.) 

2 13. The board of education of the city of Newburgh shall determine and certify to the common 
council of said city, on or before the first day of October in each year, the sums in their opinion 
necessary or proper to be raised under the twelfth section of this act, specifying the sums required for 
the year, commencing on the first day of October, for each of the puriibses therein mentioned. And 
it shall be the duty of Siiid board of education in all its expenditures and contracts, to have reference 
to the amount of moneys which shall be subject to their orderduring the current year, and not to exceed 
that amount (except when in the opinion of said board of education a special emergency arises by rea- 
son of the destruction of any school building or buildings, or of the library building by fire or other- 
wise, then it shall be the duty of said board ot education, in a supplemental estimate, to determine and 
certifv to the common council of said city the sums necessary for the reconstruction of any such 
school binlding or buildings or library building, which sums shall be raised by said common council in 
the manner hereinafter provided) ; and all sums thus deemed necessary and proper shall be levied and 
collected in the same manner as other city taxes ; provided, however, that whenever the said board of 
education shall determine and certify to said common council, either annually or specially as afore- 
said, that it will be necessary to raise a certain sum or sums of money for the purposes of constructing 
any building or buildings in this act mentioned, then the said common council shall proceed to raise 
the amount of the sum or sums of money thus determined and certified by said board of education, 
and for that purpose shall have the power to raise three-quarters of said sum or sums of money on the 
credit of the city of Newburgh, and the said common council, for that purpose, are hereby authorized 
and shall ha%'e the power to issue bonds on the credit of the city of Newburgh ; but the time of the 
payment of any bonds thus issued shall not extend beyond a period of four years. And it is further 
provided that said common council shall provide for the payment of such bonds in four or a less num- 
ber of successive years, in annual installments, by levy and collection in the same manner as other city 
taxes. And it is also provided that during the period covered by the issue and payment of said bonds 
as aforesaid, the board of education shall not determine and certify to said common council (except 
in cases of special emergency as aforesaid, or for additions to or alterations of buildings), any sum or 
sums of money as necessary for construction, unless by and with the consent and concurrence of said 
common council. (As amended bu section 2, chaptn- 122, Laius of 18G9. ) 

I 14. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the village, within fifteen days after receiving the certifi- 
cate of the board of education, required by the thirteenth section of this act, of the sums necessary 
or proper to be raised under the twelfth section of this act, to certify to said board of education that 
the amount will be raised by them for the year commencing on said first day of October, for the pur- 
poses mentioned in said twelfth section, 

§ 15. It shall be the duty of the board of education on or before the first day of October in each year, 
to prepare and report to the trustees of the village a true and correct statement of the receipts and dis- 
bursements of moneys under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during the preceding year, 
in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 

1. The moneys raised by the trustees of the village under the twelfth section of this act . 

2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the village, under the distribution of the public 
moneys of the State ; 

3. The moneys received by the board under the fourth section of this act : 

4. All other moneys received by the treasurer, subject to the order of the board, specifjing the 

113 



898 New Eochelle. 

5. The manner in which said sums of money shall have been expended, specifying the amount paid 
under each head of expenditure ; and also in detail, so far as may he necessary, to give the name of 
each party, company or corporation to whom any money or ;monej-s may have been paid, together 
with the nature of the service or object for which such money or moneys were paid. And the said 
board shall cause the same to be published (within two weeks after making such report) in two of 
the newspapers published in the city of Newburgh. (As amended by sec. 3, ctiap. 122, Laws o/1869.) 

§ 16. The board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty to keep and maintain, in the 
bi;il<ling on the east side of Grand street between First and Second streets, in the city of Newburgh, 
recently erected by them, one free library, to be known as the " Newburgh Free Library " for the use 
of the pupils in the schools under their charge, and of the residents of said city. They shall receive all 
moneys which are now or may hereafter be appropriated to the district by virtue of any law relating 
to school district libraries, and shall expend the same in the manner provided by such law, and all the 
provisions of law which now are or hereafter may be passed relative to district school libraries, shall 
apply to said board. They shall have power to ex))end in the purchase of books, such moneys as may 
be received for the tuition of non-resident pupils, together with the moneys received for penalties 
incurred for the loss, injury or destruction of books, or of their detention or other cause, or any other 
moneys that may lawfully come to their hands applicable to said purpose. They shall have power to 
direct the sale or exchange of any books of which there are duplicate copies in the library, or that may 
he regarded as of improper character, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books: and shall 
keep the books of the library in good repair, and shall make such arrangements ns shall be necessary 
for their preservation and circulation. They shall have power to accept the donation of books or other 
property to such Hbrary, and to receive or hold, for the use of the public, the books of any library that 
may now or hereafter be granted for that puriwse, and to make provision for their preservation and 
repair. They shall have power, and it shall bo their duty to appoint a librarian, who shall have charge 
of the library under their direction and control, with power to appoint such assistant librarians as the 
said board may direct, and subject to their approval ; and the board shall annually fix the compensa- 
tion which the said librarian and his assistants shall receive, and which sum shall be raised as provided 
by subdivision four of section twelve of this act. 

2 17. Whenever, in the opinion of the board, it may be advisable to sell any of the school-houses, 
lots or sites, they shall report the same to the trustees of the village, and with the consent of the 
trustees shall sell and dispose of such school-houses, lots or sites to the best possible advantage. 

§18. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law 
appropriated to and provided for said village, shall be paid to the treasurer of the village of Newburgh, 
who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor, in the same man- 
ner as for any other moneys in said village. Such moneys shall be deposited with such treasurer to the 
credit of said board of education, and shall be drawn only in pursuance of a resolution of said board, by 
a draft drawn by the president (or vice-president, in his absence), and countersigned by the clerk, pay- 
able to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys; and said treasurer shall 
keep the funds received by him under this act separate and distinct from any other funds ; but nothing 
in this act contained shall be regarded as prohibiting the temporary loan, by the board of education, to 
the trustees of the village, of any surplus moneys which may stand to the credit of the board of educa- 
tion on the books of the treasurer, the trustees of the village replacing the same whenever it may be 
required by the said board. 

§ 19. The trustees of the said village shall ha've the power, and it shall be their duty, to pass such 
ordinances and regiilations as the said board of education ma}- report as necessary and proper for the 
protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and 
appendages, library, and all property belonging to or connected with the schools in said village ; and, 
to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained 
in the act to incorporate the said village ; and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner 
that the penalties for the violation of the village ordinances are by law collected, and when collected 
shall be paid to the treasurer of the village, and be subject to the order of the bo"rd of education in 
the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

g 20. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children of persotrs not residents 
within the village to attend any of the free schools of said village, under the care and control of said 
board, upon such terms as said board shall by resolution prescribe. 

g 21. The said board of education shall make an annual report to the school commissioner of the 
school commissioner's district in which said village is situated, containing the facts required to be 
reported by the trustees of school districts ; and said districts shall participate in the apportionment 
of the public school moneys in the same manner and upon the same conditions as common school 
districts. 

NEW ROCHELLE. 
[Chap. 133, Laws of 1857.] 

Section 1. School district number one In the town of New Rochelle shall form a permanent school 
district, and shal. not be subject to alteration by the district commis.sioner of common schools for the 
district in which it is located. 

§ 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board of trustees, to be styled " the board of 
education of school district number one, in the town of New Rochelle," which shall be a body corporate 
in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by this act; said board to consist of nine 
members of trustees, five of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 

g3. That the annual meetings of the voters of the said district shall be held at such place as the 
board of education may appoint, on the first Monday of April, in each year, and the first meeting under 
this act shall be held on the first Monday in April next, at the town-house in the said town, at which 
meeting the chairman or moderator thereof shall nominate three persons to act as inspectors of election 
at that meeting, and there shall then be elected by ballot nine trustees, who shall constitute the first 
board of education under this act, and who shall hold their offices as follows, viz. : Three for one year, 
three for two years and three for three years, so that there shall be electetl three trustees at each an- 
nual meeting thereafter; and immediately after the first election, as aforesaid, the chairman and sec- 
retary of the said meetiiig shall divide by lot the trustees so elected into three classes; those in the 
first class to hold their oHice for one year ; those in the second classfor two years and those in the third 
class for three years from the time of their election iis aforesaid ; and thereupon the office of any exist- 
ing trustees of said district shall cease, and notice of such meeting for the said first Monday in April 
next shall be given by the trustees of the said district, then in office, at least thirty days previous to such 
meeting, by posting a written or printed notice thereof in five public places in the said district. 

I A. AX the annual meeting of said district in each year, from and after the said meeting of first Mon- 
dav in April next there shall be elected three members of the district and entitled to vote therein, and 
shall hold their said office for three years ; there shall also be elected at said first meeting, and at each 



Kew Eochelle. 899 

annual meeting thereafter, a district treasurer and a district collector, who shall respectively hold 
offlco for one year; which said election and all other elections under this act, shall be Ijy ballot; and 
the qualifications of voters shall be the same a^; for voters at the election of school ofhcers ; ami notice 
of such annual meeting shall be given by posting up a written or printed notice thereof, signed by the 
president and secretary of said board of education, in at least five public places in the said district, at 
least thirty days previous to such annual meeting, which said notice shall state the time and place of 
meeting; and any ofticer elected under this act may be re-elected ; said board of education shall ap- 
point three inspectors of election, at least thirty days previous to any election under this act, after the 
first; and such inspectors shall receive the ballots and declare the result of the election. 

g 0. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem 
it necessary, or whenever petitioned for in writing by twent}--five of the legal voters of said district; 
and notice "of such special meeting shall be given In the same manner as hereinbefore mentioned for 
notice of annual meetings, which notice for special meeting shall state the time and place for hold- 
ing the same and the purpose for which the same is called ; and no business shall be ti-ansacted at such 
special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the samo. 

g6. The said board of education shall, at their first meeting (which shall be held within ten days 
after their election as aforesaid), choose one of their number for president and one for secretary of said 
board ; which said officers shall hold their said ofiices for one year, and such officers shall be chosen an- 
nually thereafter. In the absence of the president or secretary at any stated or special meeting of the 
board, a president or secretary may be appointed for the time being. 

§7. The district treasurer and collector, within ten days aftei receiving notice in writing of their 
election, signed by the inspectors, whose duty it shall be to give such notice, shall execute and deliver 
to the said board of education a bond, in .such penalty and with such sureties as the said board may- 
deem sutficient, conditioned for the faithful discharge of thc'r rospcctivedutics ; and in case such bond 
shall not be given within ten days after receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated; 
and the said board may make appointment to fill such vacancy ; and all moneys to be collected or re- 
ceived by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said district, shall 
be paid to the treasurer thereof, who, together with the sureties on his official bond, shall be account- 
able therefor to the said board of education, who may, whenever deemed necessary, sue for the sam.e 
in their corporate name ; and said treasurer shalll not pay out any such moneys except by a resolution 
of the said board and upon an order signed by the president and certified by the secretary, to be drawn 
in nursuance of such resolution. 

g"8. Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall he made to the board of 
education, and such resignation shall have no force or effect, nor in any degree excuse such officer from 
the discharge of his duties until the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of the said hoard ; 
and any such officer may he removed from his office for any official misconduct, by a resolution of the 
bosrd, two-thirds of the whole number constituting said board concurring: but a written copy of the 
charges against such officer shall be served upon him, and opportunity shall bo given to him to 
pe heard in his defense, before any such resolution for his removal shall be adopted. Vacancies in the 
hoard, occurring by resignation or any other cause, may be filled by the said boaixl until the next an- 
nual election, when such vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as those by expiration of term 
of office: and if from any cause the election of any officer does not take place on the day appointed, 
such office shall not thereby become vacant, but the old officers shall continue to discharge their respective 
functions until others are elected or appointed in their place. All officers mentioned in this act shall 
be residents of the district and entitled to vote therein, and shall be deemed public officers within the 
intent and meaning of section thirty-eight of title six of chapter one, part four of the Revised Statutes, 
and as such liable to the penalties therein prescribed. 

g 9. Every officer in this act mentioned, having in his possession, custody, care, charge or control, 
any property belonging to said district, or any money raised by the provisions of this act, or provided 
by law for the purposes of education in said district, shall, at the expiration of his term of office, or 
whenever such officer shall resign, be removed from his office, cease to act, or his office be otherwise 
vacated, transfer all such property and pay over all such money to the board of education. 

§10. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their own government. The 
said board shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may adjourn 
for any shorter term; special meetings maybe called by the president, or in his absence or incapability 
to act by the secretary, or any other member of the board, as often as may be necessary, by giving 
personal notice thereof, in writing, to each member, at least twenty -four hours before the hour of 
meeting, and if any member of the board shall refuse or neglect to attend any three successive stated 
meetings of the board, and if no satisfactory cause for his non-attendance be shown, the board m.ay 
declare his office vacant, and such vacancy maybe filled in the manner mentioned in the eighth section 
of this act. No member of the said board shall receive any pay or compensation for his services, and 
it shall not be lawful for any member of the said board to become a contractor for building or making 
any improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or to be in any manner directly or indirectly inter- 
ested, either as principal, partner or surety in any such contract, and all contracts made in violation 
of this provision shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit the sum of fifty dol- 
lars, and all forfeitures or penalties under this act, and all money payable to, or belonging to the said 
district, may be prosecuted for, by, and in the name of theboard of education, and on recovery shall be 
paid over to the treasurer of the district, for the use of the common schools therein. 

§ 11. The title to the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances in this, 
act mentioned, and all other school property in the said district, shall be vested in the said board of 
education, and the same while used for or appropriated to school purposes shall be exempt from all 
taxes or assessments, and shall not be liable to be levied upon and sold by any warrant or execution. 
And the said board of education, in its corporate capacity, may take, hold, and dispose of any real or 
personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest, or devise, for the use of the common schools in 
said district, or any or either of them, and may mortgage or incumber the same for school purposes, 
whenever authorized so to do by a majority attending any annual or special meeting duly called. They 
shall have and possess within the said distiict all the rights, powers and authority of district or county 
commissioners of common schools. They shall have tlie entire control and management of all the 
common schools in said district, and of all the property belonging to the same, and they shall require 
one of their number to visit the said schools at least once in each week, to render such assistance to 
the teachers and advice to the pupils as maybe necessary, and to see that all the regulations appertain- 
ing to the same are rigidly adhered to. 

g 12. The board of education shall have the control and charge of the district school library in said 
district; they may employ a librarian, make such additions to the library, and such regulations con- 
cerning the same, as they shall deem necessary and proper; provided such regulations shall not con- 
flict with the general rules and regulations established by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

§13. The said board of education shall have power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by 
tax, in each year, upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district (as the same shall be 
assessed by the assessors of the town in which said district is situate), such sum as shall be authorized 
by a majority of the voters at any special or annual meeting of the district, for the purposes specified 



900 IsTewtown. 



in spctinn*? fourteen and sixteen, and the said board shall add to their warrant for collection of taxes 
Buch amount as thej- may deem proper for fees for collection, not exceeding five per cent on the amount 
to be collected. Said board shall have the power to make all warrants for the collection of the taxes 
authorized as aforesaid, returnable at sixtj- or ninety days, in their discretion, and to renew the same 
whenever it shall become necessary. And in case it shall appear that the assessment roll does not 
include all the taxable property of such district, the property omitted shall be assessed by the said 
board in the mode required by law, and added thereto. 

§ 14. Whenever, in the opinion of the said board, it becomes necessary or expedient to build an addi- 
tional or new school-house or houses in the district, or to enlarge those already built, they shall sub- 
mit the plans and estimated cost of such builfling, and of furnishing the same, to the electors of the 
said district, at the annual meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose ; and if a majority of 
such electors present shall vote in favor of the same, the said board may proceed to carry the said 
improvements into full effect. 

§ ]r>. "Whenever, in the opinion of the said board of education, it mav be advisable to sell or exchange 
any of the school-houses, lots or sites, they shall i-eport the same to the electors of the said district, at 
an annual meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose, and if a majority of the electors 
present at such meeting shall be in favor of the same, the said board may sell or dispose of such school- 
houses, lots or sites, either at public auction or private sale, as they may deem most advantageous, and 
give good and valid conveyances for the same, in the usual form of conveyance by corporations ; and, 
on receipt of the purchase-money, shall piiy over the same to the treasurer of the district. 

? 16. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, out of the funds col- 
lected and paid as provided or mentioned in sections thirteen and twenty-one, and from any funds 
belonging to the said district, in the hands of the treasurer : 

1. To purchase or lease and improve sites for school-houses when authorized as aforesaid ; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and the proper out- 
houses and appurtenances, so as to afford ample and proper accommodations to educate all the chil- 
dren in said district ; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, maps, furniture and append- 
ages; 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the said schools and of the board of educa- 
tion- 

5. To hire teachers, and to pay the wages of such as shall be employed by them ; 

I'l. To defray the expenses of insuring all the school property belonging to the said district ; 

7. To cause to be made and adopt a common seal for the said corporation, with such device or inscrip- 
tion as they mav think proper. 

§17. The public schools in the district shall be free to all the children residing in the district; and 
the said board of education may permit persons not resident within the said district to attend such 
schools on such terras as they shall prescribe ; and the said board may, in their corporate name, and 
for the benetit of the said district, sue for and recover of the father or mother, master or mistress, or 
any person under whose charge such non-resident child or children may be, all such sums as shall be 
60 prescribed, with costs of suit. 

g 18. The supervisor of the town of New RocheUe, or such other officer as may be authorized to 
receive the school moneys from the county treasurer for said town, shall pay over to the treasurer of 
the said district all the public moneys in his hands apportioned to the said number one. 

§ 19. The said board of education shall prepare and submit, at each annual meeting of the district, 
an estimate of the amount necessary to be raised for defraying the expenses of the district for the 
ensuing year, specifying the purposes for which the same is to be expended. 

§ 20. A school for colored children may be organized by the said board of education, and be supported 
in the same manner as other schools shall be supported under and by virtue of this act. 

§ 21. The said board of education shall, at the annual district meeting, submit a full report, in writ- 
ing, of their doings at such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in 
said district under their charge, the number of teachers employed, the number of scholars attending 
the said schools, the studies pursued, and the amount of moneys received from the State and from 
other sources, as well as the amount raised in the district for school purposes, the expenditures of the 
same, and all other particulars in detail concerning said schools, with such suggestions as they may 
think proper to make in relation thereto; which report may, if the board think proper, be printed in 
pamphlet form and circulated among the voters of the said district, or published in some newspaper 
printed in the county. 

g 22. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as they relate to 
district number one, in the town of New Rochelle; but said district, and the officers thereof, shall con- 
tinue to be subject to the decisions, rules and regulations made and established by the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction. 

[Cfiap. 131, Laws of 1882.] 

Authorizes the district to borrow money and issue bonds to build new school-house. 

NEWTOWN. 
[Chap. 807, Laws o/'\867.] 

Sectiox 1. School district number three, in the town of Newtown, in the county of Queens, shall 
form a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the school commissioner of 
the school commissioner district in which said district is situated. ^ , ^ ,,j.t^ i^ j * 

? 2 Thp said district shall be under the control and direction of a board to be styled the board of 
education of district number three, Newtown," which board shall consist ot five members, three of wliom 
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business ; and it is hereby provided that the naembers 
oi the present board who have been elected prior to the passage of this act, may remain in office 
durin<^ their unexpired terms, and they shall have and possess all the powers conferred by this act. 
One of said board shall retire each year in order of their election. ^ ^. ^ . ^ v. f ,„«« 

a 3 A.t the annual election which shall be held on the first Tuesday of March in each year, between 
the hours of five and eight o'clock, p. m., at the school-house or other convenient place in said distnct, 
there shall be elected one member of the board of education for five years, and also one inspector of 
Smmon schools Ibr one year. None but citizens entitled to vote for State officers and iable to taxation 
in s^ddisric for school purposes shall vote at said school election Such election shall be held 
by three inspectors who shall have been elected at the preceding school election. . But ma 1 cases in 
which the s^id Inspectors refuse or fail to act, inspectors shall be appomted in their places by the board 
of education. The voting shall be by ballot, and the ballots shall be indorsed "board of education, 
district number three." Said election, and all other elections provided for by this act, shaU be con- 
ducted in the same manner as the annual election for village or State officers. 



NEWT0W2T. 901 

THE BOARD OP EDUCATION — ITS DUTIES AND ITS POWERS. 

2 4. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government ; they shall 
have the control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and all the 
property belonging to the same, and be subject to the supervision of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, as provided by the general school laws for trustees, and they shall provide for keeping a 
school or schools in said district, at least for twenty-eight weeks in each year, and as much longer as 
practicable. 

f 5._ The said board shall appoint a collector who shall perform the duties and have the powers of a 
district collector, or they may employ the town or village collector for that purpose, and such collector 
shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon the said district to the treasurer of the 
board of education, in the same manner and under the same conditions as are imposed by the laws of 
the town of village of which he is collector. 

§ 6. The said board of education shall provide for, and cause to be held, at least two general examina- 
tions of the pupils in each department of the schools, by a competent person or persons of recognized 
ability, with a view to mark the proficiency attained by the scholars. The first examination shall be 
held in the month of June, open to the public ; the second at such time as may seem most practicable 
in the judgment of the board, and previous to the semi-annual promotions. The said board shall also 
provide for an examination of the teachers employed, and for all others who may apply for appoint- 
ments to teach in the schools of the district, for the purpose of determining the grade and qualifica- 
tions ot such teachers. These examinations shall be made in accordance with such regulations as the 
board may adopt, with the concurrence of the school inspectors, and the results of all examinations 
shall be made known in writing by the authorized examiner, and shall accompany the report to be pub- 
lished annually by the said board of education. 

g 7. The said board shall appoint one or more of its members a committee to visit the schools at least 
once a week during the time they are in session, for the purpose of ascertaining if any and what sup- 
plies are needed, to see that the regulations are maintained and discipline properly enforced. 

2 8, Whenever additional school accommodations are required, the said board of education are hereby- 
authorized and empowered to raise a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, by tax on said district, 
to be levied and collected in the same manner as taxes are authorized by the general school law to be 
levied and collected in schoo' districts of this State. 

89. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered for the general purposes of 
this act, to levy and collect by tax in each year upon the taxable property of said district, such sum as 
may be necessary, not exceeding in amount the sum of one-half of one per centum on the value of 
such taxable property, as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town of Newtown ; and the 
said board of education shall add to their warrant for the collection of such taxes, such amount as they 
may deem proper for fees for collection, not exceeding five per centum on the amount collected. 

? 10. The supervisor of the town of Newtown shall pay over to the treasurer of the said board of educa- 
tion all the moneys to which said district number three shall be entitled for school purposes. 

§ 11. The said boai'd of education shall have the same control and charge of the district library, and 
be subject to the same regulations in regard to it, as are trustees of school districts ; they may appoint 
a librarian and make additions to the library, and, with the approval of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, such regulations for the management thereof as they may deem necessary. 

§ 12. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to buy land and to erect one or more 
school-houses in said district, they shall submit the plans and estimated cost of such land and build- 
ings to the electors of such .district, at a special meeting called for that purpose, of which meeting 
ten days' notice shall be given, by advertisement, or by posting of notices in five public places in said 
district, and no business shall be transacted but that stated in the notice calling said special meeting. 
And if a majority of such electors shall vote in favor of the proposed purchase of land and of the 
erection of the proposed new school-house or houses, the said board may proceed to make such pur- 
chase and to erect said school buildings, and if the sums authorized to be raised by sections eight and 
nine of this act shall be insufficient to pay the cost of such lands and buildings, then the said board are 
hereby empowered to raise and collect such additional sums,not exceeding five hundred dollars annually, 
until the debt incurred is liquidated ; such additional sums shall be levied and collected in the same 
manner as provided in sections eight and nine of this act. The said board shall advertise for proposals, 
and the contracts shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidders. 

? 13. The said board of education shall hold regular monthly meetings in the school-house or other 
convenient jiublic place, on the last Friday of every month, between the hours of six and ten o'clock 
p. M., which shall be open to the public for the purpose of hearing reports or complaints, and for the 
transaction of general business by the board. Special meetings may also be called by the presiden* of 
the board of education or any three members thereof. The clerk shall notify the school officers, and 
shall state in the call the object of the meeting, if otherwise than for the completion of unfinished 
business. 

§ 14. The board of education shall cause to be prepared, and submit in writing annually, a full report 
of their proceedings; and shall state therein the number of teachers employed, their names, residences 
and the salaries paid to each ; the number of schools, and of pupils attending the same ; the amount 
of school moneys received and from what sources and expenditure of the same ; and generally on all 
matters of interest relating to the schools in said district. The report shall be placed on record and 
preserved for future use, and shall be printed (with the inspector's report) for the information of the 
tax payers, in pamphlet form, or be published in some- newspaper published in the county. 

DUTIES AND POWERS OP THE SCHOOL INSPECTOR. 

? 15. The school inspector for said district number three shall take offics on the first day of April fol- 
lowing his election; he shall attend the regular and special meetings of the board of education, and 
may recommend or oppose any appropriations for school purposes, and confer with the board in the 
appointment of teachers and others, but shall not vote. He shall visit the schools in his district at 
least four times in each year, for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the school buildings, and 
the different departments of the schools, and to report on the same: 

1. In relation to their sanitary condition ; 

2. The number in the classes, and the studies pursued ; 
3 The proficiency of the pupils ; 

4. The attendance of teachers and scholars; 

5. The time of assembling and dismissing, and the number and length of the recesses allowed. 

It shall be the duty of the inspector to oversee all repairs made, and to note the quality and quantity 
of supplies and materials furnished by the order of the board. He shall audit all bills or claims for 
salaries, repairs, materials, books and supplies ; which, when so audited and passed by a vote of a 
majority of the board of education, shall be paid by the treasurer of said board of education. The 
inspector shall report annually, before his term expires, the amount of school moneys received from ' 
the State, as well as the amount raised in the district for school purposes, and also for what purposes 



902 Newtowk. '^ 

the same has been expended, the accommodation afforded, and the state of the school property, and 
also on all matters affecting the general management of the schools in his district, and shall in pursu- 
ance of his duties recommend such changes, alterations and improvements as may seem to be required, 
and in his judgment sufficiently important to insure the better discipline, the proper economy, and to 
extend the usefulness of the schools. 

? 16. Every person elected to the board of education, or as inspectors for said district number three, 
under this act, shall be entitled to receive, and the inspectors of election shall give a certificate, stating 
the time for which such candidate has been elected, and whether for a full term or to fill a vacancy, 
and every officer elected or appointed, neglecting or refusing to file his certificate, or refusing or neg- 
lecting to attend three successive meetings of the board of education of said district, without satisfac- 
tory cause being shown, the seat of such school officer ohall. be declared vacant, and the board shall 
proceed to fill such vacancy until the ensuing election. 

§17. No member of the board of education or inspector, elected or appointed under the provisions of 
this act, shall be or become directly or indirectly interested by way of commission or otherwise, in any 
contract or undertaking for the erection of new school-houses, for purchasing of land or for the fur- 
nishing of any books or other supplies or materials, or for the performing of any labor or work for any 
of the school sites or buildings under their charge, nor, shall the board hereafter employ or appoint 
any person to whom a salary is to be paid, who is within four degrees of relationship by blood or mar- 
riage to any member of said board of education, unless by a unanimous vote of said board. 

§ 18. All acts or parts of acts pertaining to said school district which are inconsistent with this act 
are hereby repealed. 

NEWTOWN -DISTRICT No. 11. 

\Chav. 535, Laws o/1879.] 

AN ACT to establish school district number eleven in the town of Newtown, Queens county. Passed 

June 20, 1879. 

Section 1. The territory comprised within the boundaries mentioned in the next succeeding section 
of this act, or so much thereof together with so much of the adjoining territory, if any, as shall be desig- 
nated therefor, as hereinafter provided, shall be and is hereby constituted a separate school district of 
the town of Newtown, in the county of Queens, and shall be known and designated as school district 
number eleven of the town of Newtown. 

§ 2. Until the boundaries of said district shall be modified or changed as hereinafter provided, said 
district shall be bounded and described as follows: Beginning at a point on the westerly line of the 
Trains Meadow road, opposite the residence of Alexander Baxter; running thence southerly to Wood- 
side avenue ; thence across said avenue to the southerly line thereof: thence along said line to a point 
where it intersects the eastern boundary line of land belonging to Francis Walker; thence along said 
last-mentioned hue south-westerly to the northerly line of land belonging to Joseph Cornell; thence 
south-easteriy and southerly along the easterly line of said Cornell's land to the northerly line of the 
Flushing and North Side railroad ; thence along said northerly line of said railroad to the southerly line 
of Thomson avenue ; thence westerly along the southerly line of said avenue to the eastern boundary 
line of land of Isaac Soper; thence southerly and westerly along said Sopor's land to the western boun- 
dary line of land of John J. Moore;- thence southerly and along said last-mentioned line to the 
northerly line of property now or lately belongmg to George G. Andrews; thence easterly along said 
northerly line to the western line of property of Herman Witle: thence southerly along said western 
line to the southerly line of the Calamus Creek road ; thence along the southerly side of said road to 
the westerly line of Fisk avenue ; thence southerly along the westerly line of said avenue to the 
southern boundary line of land of T. Burroughs Hyatt; thence along said boundary line westerly, 
northerly and north-westerly to a point where said boundary line intersects the eastern boundary line 
of land now or formerly belonging to James Maurice; thence along said last-mentioned line to the 
northerly line of the Bushwick and Newtown Turnpike or shell road ; thence along the northerly line 
of said turnpike to the easterly line of Belt's avenue, or Featherbed lane ; thence along the easterly 
line of said avenue or lane to the northerly line of Thomson avenue ; thence along said last-mentioned 
line to the easterly line of Greenpoint avenue ; thence north-westerly along said line to Woodside 
avenue: thence along the northerly side of said avenue to the westerly line of land belonging to the 
estate of Charles Meyers ; thence northerly along said westerly line to the southerly line of laud of S. 
Fiske Worthington ; thence westerly :along said southerly line to where said line meets the Trains 
Meadow road; thence along the easterly line of said Trains Meadow road to the point or place of be- 
ginning. 

g 3. Within twenty days after the passage of this act, the school commissioner in and for the second 
assembly district of Queens county shall prepare and serve upon a taxable inhabitant of the district 
hereby created, a notice in writing describing said district and appointing a time and place therein for 
the meeting of the inhabitants for the purpose of electing district officers for said district. 

§ 4. Upon receipt of such notice it shall be the duty of such inhabitant to notify the other 
inhabitants of such district, qualified to vote, of school meetings, of the time and place of such meet- 
ings by posting a copy of such notice in at least ten public places within such district at least six days 
before such meeting. 

§5. There shall be elected at such meeting three trustees, a district clerk, a librarian and a collector 
of taxes for such district ; the said district clerk, the librarian and the collector of taxes shall hold 
their respective offices from the time of such election until the second Wednesday of October, one 
thousand eight hundred and eighty ; and annually thereafter on said second Wednesday of October, 
their successors shall be elected for the term of one year. Of the trustees so to be elected at such 
meeting, one shall hold office from the time of saitl election until the second Wednesday of October, 
one thousand eight hundred and eighty, the other until the second Wednesday of October, one thou- 
sand eight hundred and eighty-one, and the third until the second Wednesday of October, one 
thousand eight hundred and eighty-two. The electors at such meeting shall designate by their votes 
the term for which each of said trustees is elected. On the second Wednesday of October, one thou- 
sand eight hundred and eighty and annually thereafter, one trustee shall be elected for such district 
to bold office for the terra of three years. 

\ 6. The annual meeting of such district shall be held therein on the second Wednesday of October in 
each and every year, at such time and place as the trustees or a majority of them shall elect. 

§7. As soon as practicable after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the school commis- 
sioner of the district in which the town of Newtown is situated, to revise, alter and change the boun- 
dai-ies aforesaid, and to alter said school district number eleven, as the public interest may require 
under and pursuant to the provisions of title six of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of 
eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to 
public instruction," and the several acts amendatory thereof. 



New York. 903 

5 8. At the annual school meeting to be held in each of the school districts in eaid town of Newtown 
in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, it shall be lawful for the persons duly qualiflod to vote 
at such meetings, respectively to vote for or against redistricting the town of Newtown. The chair- 
man and clerk of each meeting shall certify the number of votes so given for and against such redis- 
tricting to said school commissioner, and if a majority of the votes so given shall be in favor of redis- 
tricting said town, it shall be the duty of such conmiissioner to proceed as soon as practicable thereafter 
under and pursuant to the provisions of said act, to redistrict said town in such manner as will best 
promote public interests. 

? 9. For the purpose of altering said school district number eleven, as hereinbefore provided for and 
for the purpose of redistricting said town, in case such redistricting shall be ordered as aforesaid, the 
said school commissioner, the trustees of the several school districts in said town to be affected by such 
alterations respectfully, and the supervisor and town clerk of said town shall severally have and poss- 
ess all the powers, duties and functions conferred on such officers respectively by the acts above referred 
to for the alteration of school districts in towns, any thing in any statute in this State to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

2 10. The said school district number eleven and the several school districts in said town after the 
alteration thereof by redistricting the town, in case such redistricting shall be made as aforesaid and 
the officers of said school districts, and each of them shall severally have and possess all the 
powers, duties and functions, and be subject to all the provisions and restrictions prescribed by said 
acts for like school districts and school officers. 

5 11. This act shall take effect immediately. 

NEW YORK CITY. 

Sections of the New York Cut Consolidated Act of 1382, Applicable to the School System. 

Section 96. Any ordinance, act or resolution passed by the common council or the board of education, 
after January thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, authorizing the increase of the salary of any 
person or persons, whose salary is payable out of the city treasury, to take effect prior to the date of 
huch ordinance, act or resolution, shall be and tlie same is hereby declared to be void. (1865, chap. 10, 
2 2, Gomp. 146. ) 

title v.— appropriations and tub board of estimate and apportionment. 

Section 189. The mayor, comptroller, president of the board of aldermen, and the president of the 
department of taxes and assessments, shall constitute the board of estimate and apportionment. The 
first meeting of said board in every year shall be called by notice from the mayor, personally served 
upon the members of said board. Subsequent meetings shall be called as the said board shall direct. 
At such meetings the mayor shall preside, and one of the number shall act as secretary. The said 
board shall, annually, between the fii'st day of August and the first day of JJovember, meet, and, by 
the affirmative vote of all the members, make a provisional estimate of the amounts required to pay 

he expenses of conducting the public business of the city and county of New York, in each depart- 
ment and branch thereof, and of the board of education for the then next ensuing financial year. In 

uch provisional estimate they shall include such sum as may be necessary for the payment of the 
interest on the bonds of the said city and county which shall become due and pa^vable within said 
year, and such sum as shall be necessary to pay the principal of any bonds and stocks which may 
become due and payable fi-om taxes during said year, and also so much as may be necessary to pay the 
proportion of the State tax required to be paid by the city and county of New York in said year. Such 
provisional estimate shall be prepared in such detail as to the aggregate sum allowed to each depart- 
ment and bureau as the said board of apportionment shall deem advisable, l-or the purpose of mak- 
ing said provisional estimate, the heads of departments and the board of education shall, at least 
thirty days before the said provisional estimate is required to be made as herein provided, send to the 
board of "estimate and apportionment an estimate in writing, herein called a departmental estimate, of 
the amount of expenditure, specifying in detail the objects thereof, required in their respective depart- 
ments, including a statement of each of the salaries of their officers, clerks, employees and subordi- 
nates. The same statement as to salaries and expenditure shall be made by all oiher officers, persons 
and boards having power to fix or authorize them. A duplicate of these departmental estimates and 
statements shall be made at the same time to the board of aldermen. The board of estimate and 
apportionment shall consider such departmental estimates and other statements in making the pro- 
visional estimates herein provided, and in approving the salaries of the officers, clerks, and other per- 
sons before named. After such provisional estimate is made by the board of estimate and apportion- 
ment, it shall be submitted by said board, with their reasons for it in detail, within ten days, to the board 
of aldermen, wnereupon a special meeting of said board shall be called to consider such estimate, and 
the same shall simultaneously be published in the City Rccnrd; and it shall be their duty carefully to 
consider and investigate the said provisional estimate and the reasons assigned therefor; but such 
consideration and investigation shall not continue beyond fifteen days. Any objections to or rectifica- 
tions of said provisional estimate made by said board of aldermen shall be hiade by said board in 
writing, and transmitted by the clerk thereof to the board of estimate and apportionment, who shall 
proceed to the consideration of such objections or rectifications, and after such consideration shall 
make a final estimate. Should the said board overrule the objections or suggestions made by the 
board of aldermen, the reasons for such action shall be published in the City Record. After the pro- 
visional estimate has been returned by the board of aldermen to the board of estimate and apportion- 
ment, and before the final estimate is made, the said last-mentioned board shall fix such sirtlicient 
time or times as may be necessary to allow the tax payers of said city to be heard in regard thereto, 
and the said board shall attend at the time or times so appointed for such hearing. After the final 
estimate is made in accordance herewith, it shall be signed by the members, and when so signed the 
said several sums shall be and become appropriated to the several purposes and departments therein 
named. The said estimate shall be filed in the office of the comptroller and published in the City 
Record. (1873, chap. 335, § 112, Camp. 172. ) 

The Board of Education. 

IChap. 17.] 

Education. 

title I. — the public schools and their management. 

S 1022. There shall be in the city of New York a board of education, which shall, under that desig- 
nation, have full control of the public schools and the public school system of the city, subject only to 



904 ]^EW York. 

the Keneral statutes of the State upon education. Said board shall consist of twenty-one commission- 
ers of common schools, appointed by the mayor. On the third Wednesday of November, in every 
year, the mayor shall appoint seven commissioners of common schools, who shall t;ike office on the 
first day of January next succeeding, and hold office for the term of three years. Anv vacancy in the 
said office of commissioners of common schools, by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled by 
appointment by the mayor for the remainder of the unexpired term. Said commissioners shall hold 
no other office of emolument under either the citj', State, or national governments, except the offices 
of notary public and commissioner of deeds. (1873, chap. 112, §§ 2, 4, Comp. IZl.^ 

§ 1023. The city of New York is hereby divided into eight school districts, as follows : 

First district— First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth wards. 

Second district— Seventh, tenth, thirteenth, and fourteenth wards. 

Third district— Ninth and sixteenth wai'ds. 

Fourth district— Eleventh and seventeenth wards. 

Fifth district— Fifteenth and eighteenth wards. 
; Sixth district— Twentieth and twenty-first wards. 

Seventh district— Twelfth, nineteenth and twenty-second wards. 

Eighth district— Twenty-third and liventy-fourth wards. (1873, chap 112, ? 1, Comp. 737.) 

§ 1024. On the third Wednesday of Novembt^r in everv year, the mayor shall appoint in each school 
district one inspector of common schools, who shall take office on the first day of January next suc- 
ceeding, and hold office for the term of three years, Any vacancy in said office of inspector of com- 
mon schools, by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled by the mayor for the unexpired term. 
(1873. chap. G13, g 4. as amended 1874, chap. 329, Comp. 739. 1873, chap. 112, g 7, Comp. 738.) 

§ 1025. On the first Wednesday in December in each year, the board of education shall appoint one 
trustee for each ward, to hold office for the term of five years from the first day of January then next. 
Said trustees shall be residents of the ward for which they are severally appointed. Any vacancy in 
the said office of trustee of common schools, by denth. resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled by the 
board of education for the unexpired term. (1873, chap. 112, § 6, as amended 1873, chap. 221, § 1, 
Comp. 738.) 

g 1026. The members of the board of education shall meet on the second Wednesday of January in 
each year for the purpose of organization, and thereafter, for the transaction of business, as often as 
they may determine ; they shall elect one of their number president, and shall appoint a clerk, and as 
many assistant clerks and other officers for the transaction of the business of the board as may be nec- 
essary, who shall severally hold their offices during the pleasure of the board, and whose respective 
duties, powers and compensation shall be regulated and determined by the board. Said board shall 
have full control of the public schools and public school system of the city, subject only to the general 
statutes of the State upon education. (1851, chap. 836, g 2, as ayaended 1854, chap. 101, § 2, Gamp. 740. 
1873, chap. 112, §4. Comp. 738.) 

§ 1027. The boai-d of education shall have power: 
" 1. To take and hold property, both real and personal, devised or transferred to it for the purpose of 
public education in the city of New York. {See 1873, chap. 112, g 2. ) 

2. To appoint a city superintendent of schools, and one or more assistant superintendents, and also 
a superintendent of school buildings, whose respective duties, powers, salaries, and terms of office, 
except as herein otherwise provided, shall be regulated and determined by the board of education; 
and to employ, under the superintendent of school buildings, necessary workmen, and provide neces- 
sary materials for repairing, altering, and enlarging school or other buildings ; but this provision shall 
not be construed to compel the trustees of any ward to use or employ such workmen or materials for 
any purpose whatever. (1851, c/iap. 386, § 1, Comp. 741.) 

3. To appoint principals and vice-principals for the grammar, primary and evening schools under 
its control, upon the written nomination of a majority of the trustees of the ward, stating that the 
nomination was agreed to at a meeting of the board of trustees, at which a majority of the whole num- 
ber in office were present. In case the persons nominated for the positions of principal or vice-prin- 
cipal by the trustees, as hereinabove provided, are not appointed by the board of education wltbin 
twenty days after their nomination, the said board of education shall, after the expiration of that 
time, have the sole power to select and appoint such principal or vice-principal as said board may. by 
a majority of the whole number in oflice, at a general meeting or a special meeting called for that pur- 
pose, determine. (1S73, chap. 112, g8. Comv. 739.) 

4. To discontinue any school whenever, owing to any nuisance or other circumstance in the imme- 
diate vicinity of any school, or to the small attendance of scholars therein, or other sufficient reason, 
it shall appear to the board of education necessary and proper. But before discontinuing any school, 
the said board shall give notice to the trustees of the ward of its intention to consider the propriety of 
such discontinuance, and in thirty days after such notice may proceed to investigate the matter, and 
if a majority of the school officers of the ward shall consent to the same, and if the said board shall 
determine by a vote of a majority of all the members thereof, that it is proper to close the same, it 
shall be the duty of said board to withhold all moneys which mav have been apportioned or appropri- 
ated for the support of said school, and the said school shall not thereafter participate in any subse- 
quent apportionment of the school moneys. So soon as the same shall take eff'ect, the comptroller of 
the city shall be notified thereof by the said board, and the said school-house and site may thereupon 
be used or disposed of as a part of the general property of the city. (1851, chap. 386, § 27, as amended 
1854, chap. 101. g 2, Comp. blS.) 

■ 5. To draw from the moneys which shall be raised for the purposes of public education such sums as 
•may be required for the purpose of defraying the necessary incidental expenses of the board, and such 
further sums as may be required for the payment of the salaries of such clerk and other officers as may 
be appointed by virtue of the authority vested in the board, and of such other expenses as may be 
necessarily incurred by the board in pursuance of the provisions af this chapter. (1851, chap. 386, § 2, 
Comp. 741.) 

6. To visit and examine the schools subject to the provisions of this chapter. 

7. To make rules of order and by-laws for the government of the board, its members and commit- 
tees, and general regulations to secure proper economy and accountability in the expenditure of the 
school monoj's, 

8. To orL'-anize an institution for females similar to the free academy, as the same existed in eight- 
een hundred and fifty-one. When so organized, all the provisions of this chapter relative to the Iree 
academy shall apply to each and every one of the said institutions now existing or hereafter estab- 
lished as fully, completely, and distinctly as thev could or would if it was the only institution of the 
kind ; to distinguish each existing and future institution by an appropriate title; and to purchase, 
erect, or lease sites and buildings for each and all of the said Institutions, provided that no additional 
institution shall be authorized or organized by the board of education unless a majority of the whole 
number of fnembers of the said board shall vote in favor thereof. 

9. To u.se and control the premises known as the hall of the board of education, at the corner of 
Grand and Elm streets ; to direct the purposes for which the same may be occupied, and to make all 



New York. 905 

the repairs, alterations and additions in and to the same which the board may deem advisable ; and to 
provide such additional sites and buildings ns may be necessary for the purposes of this chaptc r, the 
title of which shall in all cases be vested in the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New 
York, but no such additional site or building shall be provided except with ttie consent, by vote, of 
three-fourths of all the members of said board. (18t9, chap. 473, g '3, Camp. 760. 1871, c/iup. 574, 'i 100, 
subd. 2, Comp. Ibl.) 

10. To dispose of such personal property, used in the school or other buildings under the charge of 
the board, as the trustees or committees having the immediate charge thereof shall certify is no longer 
required for use therein, and all moneys realized by the sale of any such property shall be paid into 
the city treasury. 

11. To remove from office any school officer who shall have been directly or indirectly interested in 
the furnishing of any supplies or materials, or in the doing of any work or labor, or in the sale or leas- 
ing of any real estate, or in any proposal, agreement or contract for any of these purposes, in any case 
in which the pi'ice or consideration is to be paid, in whole or in part, or directly or indirectly, out of 
any school moneys, or wlio shall have received, from any source whatever, any commission, or other 
compensation in connection with any of the matters aforesaid ; and any school officer who shall violate 
the preceding provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction 
thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment in the city 
prison not exceeding one year, and shall also be ineligiLile to any school office. The board shall also 
have power to remove from office any school officer who shall have been guilty of immoral or dis- 
graceful conduct in any matter connected with his official duties, or which tends to discredit his office 
or the school system. If one or more school officers or tax payers of the city of New York shall pre- 
sent a written charge to the board of education, accusing any school officer of a violation of, or a lia- 
bility to, any of the provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the said board to cause the same 
to be fully investigated. All testimony taken upon any such investigation shall be under oath ; and 
the court of common pleas shall have power, upon the application of the board of education, to com- 
pel any witness who may be summoned to appear and testify before the said board or any committee 
thereof. (1851, chap. 'i%, g 2, as amended 1864, chap. 351, § 13, Comp. 741.) 

12. Whenever it shall appear to the board of education that the trustees of any ward are neglecting 
any school under their control to the detriment of the pupils in said school, to take charge of such 
school, to manage the same, to furnish all needful supplies, and to appoint the proper teachers there- 
for, until the first day of January next succeeding. IJut the said board of education shall not take 
charge of any such school on account ot any alleged neglect until the board of trustees of the ward in 
which said school is situated shall first have been notified of the neglect charged, and have an oppor- 
tunity to be heard before said board or its committees on the subject. (1866, chap. 323, § 2, Comp. 756.) 

13. "With the consent qf a majority of the trustees for tht; ward, or without such consent, by a vote 
of two-thirds of the board of education, to discontinue any grammar, primary, evening or colored 
school ; and the said board may also authorize the establishment of a new school, upon the written 
application of a majority of the trustees for the ward. It shall be the duty of the board of editcation to 
decide finally upon every such application within thirty-five days after the syme is presented to it; 
and if the said board shall omit to do so, or shall deny the application, and a majority of the inspectors 
for the district shall certify that there is probable cause for granting the application, the trustees may 
appeal to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, whose decision in the matter shall be bind- 
ing upon all the parties, and if adverse to the application, the same shall not be renewed during the 
term of one year next thereafter. (!.>51, chap. 3S6. § 23, as amended 1864, chap. 351, § 17, Comp. 751.) 

14. And for the purposes of this chapter 'the said board shall possess the powers and privileges of a 
corporation. 

§ 1028. It shall be the duty of the hoard of education: 

1. To apportion all the school moneys which shall have been raised for the purposes of meeting the 
current annual expenses of public instruction, to the schools entitled to participate therein by the pro- 
visions of this chapter. (1851, chap. 386, § 3, as amended 1854, chap. 101, Comp, 742.) 

2. To file with the chamberlain of said city, on or before the first Monday of April in each year, a 
copy of their apportionment, stating the amount apportioned to the schools under the charge of the 
board of education, and to the trustees, managers and directors of the several schools enumerated in 
this chapter. 

3. To provide evening schools for those whose azes or avocations are such as to prevent their attend- 
ing the day schools established by law, in such of the ward school-hoitses or other buildings r^sod for 
school purposes, and in such other places in said city as they may from time to time deem expedient, 
and also to provide schools for colored children, and also a normal school or school for those desirous 
to become teachers, and for teachers which shall be attended by such of the teachers in coumion 
schools as the board of education, by general regulations, shall direct, under penalty of forfeiture of 
their situations as teachers by omitting to attend, which forfeiture shall be declared by the board of 
education ; and to appoint teachers for the normal and colored schools, and also upon the nomination 
of the trustees of the respective v.'ards to appoint teachers for the evening schools, and said board 
shall furnish all needful supplies for the evening, normal and colored schools. (As amended 1806, chap. 
323, foJHp. 744.) 

4. To furnish all necessary supplies, or make regulations for furnishing such supplies for the several 
schools under their care, but when such supplies are furnished by the board of education they shall be 
obtained by contract, proposals for which shall be advertised for the period of at least two weeks. 

5. To n)ake and transmit, between the fitteenth day of January and the first day of February in each 
5'ear, to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and to the common council of the city of New 
York, a report, in writing, bearing date on the thirtj'-first day of December next preceding, stating 
the whole number of schools within their Jurisdiction, specially designating the schools for colored 
children; the schools or societies from which reports shall have been made to the board of education 
within the time limited for that purpose ; the length of time such schools shall have been kept open; 
the amount of public monej' apportioned or appropriated to said school or society ; the number taught 
in each school ; the whole amount of money drawn from the city chamberlain for the purposes of 
public education duringthe year ending at the date of theirreport, distinguishing the amount received 
from the general fund of the State, and from all other and what sources ; the manner in which such 
moneys .shall have been expended, and such other information as the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction mav, from time to time, require in relation to common-school education in the city and 
county of New York ; and the report Avhich the board of education is hereby required to make shall 
be held and taken to be a full compliance with every law requiring a report from the said board, or any 
officer of the city and comity of New York, except the city superintendent, relative to the schools in 
the said city, or any matters connected therewith. If the board of education shall neglect to make 
such annual report within the time limited, the share of school moneys apportioned the city and 
county of New York may, in the discretion of the State Superintendent of Public Education, be with- 
held until a suitable report shall have been rendered. (,As amended bp 1854, chaps. 101, 207, § 1.) 

6. By general rules and regulations to provide the proper classification of studies, scholars and sala- 

lU 



906 Kew Yore. 

ties in such manner that, as near as practicable, the system of instruction pursued in the common 
schools, and the salaries paid to teachers, shall be uniform throughout the city. (I85i chan 386 § 13 
OS amewded 1854, c/tap. 101, Comp. 749.) ' ^' ' ' 

g 1029. The title to all school property, real and personal, purchased with any money derived from 
the disiribution or apportionment of the school moneys, or raised by taxation in the city of New York 
shall be vested in the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of said city, but shall be under the care and 
control ot the board of education, for the purpose of public education, and all suits in relation to the 
same shall be brought in the name of said board ; and no contract or contracts shall be made bv the 
school officers of any ward for the purchase of any site without the consent of the board of education 
or for the erection or fitting up or repairing of any building, when such repairs shall exceed in amount 
the sum of two hundred dollars, as authorized in this chapter, until a statement in writing of the 
amount required for that purpose shall have been presented to the board of education by said school 
officers, and, together with a copy of the working drawings, plans and spe^ ifirations of the work to be 
done, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, shall have been duly filed and approved of as herein 
required, and an appropriation shall have been made by the board of education therefor. 0851 chan 
386, § 25, as amended 1853, chap. 301, § 14, Comp. 752.) ' ^' 

1 1030. All the trusts and estates held by or vested in the Public School Society of the city of New 
York, as organized and existing previous to its several acts in compliance with the provisions of act 
entitled "An act relative to common schools in the city ot New York," passed the fourth day of June, 
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, which have not been conveyed by the said society, and all 
the rights, powers and duties of the said society which yet remain therein, shall continue and be 
vested in the board of education of the city of New York, which board is and shall be held to be the 
lawful successors of the said society in the execution of every trust. (1854, chap. 267, 2 2, Comp.758. 
1853. c/iap. 301.) 

g 1031. It shall be the duty of the commissioners of common schools : 

1. To attend all the meetings of the board of education, and if anv commissionet shall refuse or neg- 
lect to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, after having been personally notified 
,to attend, and if no satisfactory cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare his office 
vacant. 

2. To transmit to the board of education all reports made to them by the trustees and inspectors of 
their respective wards. 

3. To visit and examine all the schools entitled to participate in the apportionment. (1851, chap, 
386, ?S, Comp. 745.) 

§1032. Whenever, in any laws, the words "board of education" or "commissioners of common schools" 
shall occur, said words shall be taken to mean and comprehend, respectively, the board of education 
and commissioners of common schools as herein provided for. (1873, chap. 112, § 5, Comp. 738.) 

2 1033. The clerk of the board of education shall have charge of the rooma^ books, papers and docu- 
ments of the board, and shall, in addition to his duties as secretarv of the board, perform such other 
clerical duties as may be required by its members or committees, lie is authorized to administer oaths 
and take affidavits in all matters appertaining to the schools in the city and county of New York, 
and for that purpose shall possess all the powers of a commissioner of deeds, but shall not be entitled 
to any of the fees or emoluments thereof. (1851, chap. 386; §? 5, 37, Comp. 745, 755.) 

1 1034. It shall be the duty of the inspectors of common schools, or a majority of them, in their re- 
spective districts, to examine in respect to every expense certified as correct by a majority of the trus- 
tees of any ward in the district, and to audit every such expense which may be just and reasonable; 
and no expense shall be paid unless audited in this manner. They shall also examine, at least once in 
every quarter, all the schools in the district, in respect to the punctual and regular attendance of the 
pupils and teachers ; the number, fidelity and competency of the teachers ; the studies, progress, order 
and discipline of the pupils ; the cleanliness, safety, warming, ventdation and comfort of the school 
premises, and whether or not the provisions of the schooUaws, In respect to the teaching of sectarian 
doctrines, or, the use of sectarian books, have been violated, and call the attention of the trustees, 
without delay, to every matter requiring official action. They shall also, on or before the thirty-first 
day of December in each year, make a written report to the board of education and to the board of 
trustees, in p spect to the condition, efflciencv and wants of the district in respect to schools and school 
premises. (1851, chap. 386, 2 9, as amended 1S64, chap. 351, g 14, Comp. 745.) 

g 1035. It shall be the duty of the trustees for each ward, and they shall have the power : 

1. To have the safe keeping of ail the premises and other property used for or belonging to the ward 
schools and the ward primaries in their respective wards. (1S51, chap. 3<Ci, § 10, Comp. 746. ) 

2. To appoint, by a majority vote, at a meeting of the board of trustees, teachers other than princi- 
pals and vice-principals, and also janitors. (1864, chap, 351, § 21, Comp. 760. ) 

3. Under such general rules and regulations, and subject to limitations as the board of education 
may prescribe, to conduct and manage the said schools ; to furnish all needful supplies therefor, and to 
make all needful repairs, alterations and additions in and to the Svjhool premises. (1864, chap. 3.51, § 19.) 

4. To procure, as may be necessary, blank books, in one of which a statement of the amounts of all 
moneys received and paid by the trustees, or otherwise, for or on account of each of the schools con- 
ducted by them, and of all movable property belonging to each school, shall be entered at large and 
signed by such trustees ; and in one book minutes of their meetings shall be kept ; and in other books 
the principal teacher of each school and department shall enter the names, ages and residences of the 
scholars attending the school, the name of a parent or guardian of each scholar, and the days on which 
the scholars shall have respectivelj' attended, and the aggregate attendance of each scholar during the 
year; also the days on which each school shall have been visited by the city and assistant superin- 
tendents of schools, and the school officers of the ward, and the members of the board of education, or 
any ot them, which entries shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the principal teacher in such 
school or department. The said books shall be preserved by the trustees as the property of the school 
and shall be delivered to their successors. 

5. To make, at least five days before the first day of January in every year, or on such other day as 
may be df signated by the board of education, in the case of a school kept open after the twenty-fifth 
day of Docember, and transmit to the board of pducation, a 'report in writing, dated the thirtj'-flrst 
day of December, which shall be signed and certified bv a majority of the trustees, and which report 
shall state the whole number of schools within their jurisiiiction, especially designating the schools 
for colored children, the length of time each school shall have been kept open, the whole number of 
scholars over four and under twenty-one years of age who shall have been taught free of expense to 
such scholars in their schools, during the year ending with the date of the report, which number shall 
be ascertained by adding to the number of children on register, at the commencement of each year, 
the number admitted during that year, which shall be considered the total for that year ; the average 
number that has actually attended such schools during the year, to be ascertained by the teacht-rs 
keeping an e^act account of the number of scholars present every school time or half day, which, 
being added together and divided by four hundred and sixty, or if less than a year, by the number of 
school sessions, shall be considered the average of attending scholars, which average shall be sworn 



New Yoek. 907 

or afflrmed to by the principal teacher of the school ; a detailed statement of the amount of moneys 
received or paid for or on account of their respective schools during the year, from or by the chamber- 
lain of the city, and of the purposes for and the manner in which the same shall have been expended ; 
and a particular account of the state of the schools, and of the property and aftairs ot each school 
under their care ; and the titles of all books used, with such other information as the board of educa- 
tion shall require ; and for the purposes of this sectioQ each department shall, whenever practicable, 
be considered as a separate school. ^ , ,. ^ . . 

6. To hold, as a corporation, all personal property vested m or transferred to them for school pur- 
poses in their respective wards. . ^ J. 

7 To render, at the expiration of their respective terms of ottice, to their successors, a just and true 
account in writmg of all moneys received by them for school purposes, and of the manner in which, 
the same shall have been expeiided, and to pay any balance which may remain in their hands to their 
successors. . , , , . , . „ 

8. To meet statedly at times to be by them appomted, and to declare vacant, by a vote of a majonty 
of the trustees of the ward, the seat of any person elected or appointed as a trustee who shall refuse or 
neglect without satisfactory cause shown by him to the said trustees, to attend any three successive 
stated meetings of the trustees, after having been previously notified to attend. {As amended, 1854, 

2 1036. AH expenses incurred for the support of common schools in the respective wards shall be cer- 
tified bv the trustees of common schools in such wards, or a majority of them, and delivered to the in- 
spectors of said ward ; and it shall be the duty of said inspectors to examine and audit the same, and 
upon said Inspectors being satisfied of their correctness, to certify the same to the board of education. 
All bills audited and paid shall be filed with the board of education. (1651, chap. 386, g 29, Comp. 7o3. 
See 1864, chap. 351, § 12. ) , , , . . 

§ 1037. Upon a decision favorable to the establishment of a school or schools in any of the wards of 
the said city, it shall be lawful for the school officers of said ward to proceed to organize one or more 
schools, such as mav be authorized by the board of education, and to procure a school-house, by pur- 
chasing or hiring the same, or by procuring a site and erecting a building thereon, according to plans 
and specifications and contracts which shall have been duly filed with and approved by the board of 
education, the erection of which said building, and the fitting up thereof, and the fitting up of any 
hired building, shall be done by contract, proposals for which shall be advertised for two weeks previ- 
ous to deciding upon estimates thereon, unless such fitting up shall not exceed the sum of two hun- 
dred dollars. (1851, chap. 386, 2 24, Comp. 752.) 

§ 1038. The board of trustees tor the ward, by the vote of the majority of the whole number of trus- 
tees in office, may remove teachers employed therein, other than principals and vice-principals, and 
may also remove janitors, provided the removal is approved in writing by a majority of the inspectors 
for the district, and provided, further, that any teacher so removed shall have a right to appeal to the 
board of education, under such rules as it may prescribe, and the said board shall have power, after 
hearing the answer of the trustees, to reinstate the teacher. (1864, chap. a51, § 12, Comp. 760. ) 

§1039. The city superintendent shall be subject to such general rules and regulations as the State 
Superintendent of Pubhc Instruction may prescribe, and appeals from his acts and decisions may be 
made to the Superintendent in the same manner and with like effect as in cases now provided by law ; 
and he shall make annually to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, at such times as shall 
be appointed by him, a report in writing, containing the whole number of schools in the city and 
county, distinguishing the schools from which the necessary reports have been made to the board of 
education by the commissioners, inspectors and trustees of common schools, and containing a certified 
copy of the reports of the board of education to the clerk of the city and county, with such additional 
information as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may require. (1855, cJiap. 386, § 12, as 
amended 1854, chap. 267, § 1, Comp. 749.) 

I 1040. The city and assistant superintendents of schools shall take and subscribe, beforethe clerk of 
the board of education, the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of this State; shall each hold 
oflice for the term of two years, and until his successor is appointed, subject to removal by the board, 
on complaint, for cause stated; shall respectively receive such compensation as the board of education 
mav designate, which shall not be changed during the terra of ofiice of any incumbent ; and shall be 
subject to such rules and regulations as the board of education may establish. It shall be specially the 
duty of the city superintendent: 

1. To visit every school under the charge of the board of education as often as once In each year ; to 
inquire into all matters relating to the government, course of instruction, books, studies, discipline 
and conduct of such schools, and the condition of the school-houses, and of the schools generally, and 
to advise and to counsel with the said trustees in relation to their duties, the proper studies, discipline 
and conduct of the schools, the course of instruction to be pursueii, and the books of elementary in- 
struction to be used therein ; and to examine, ascertain and report to the board of education whether 
the provisions of the act in relation to religious sectarian teaching and books have been violated in 
any of the schools of the different wards of the city , and to make a monthly report to the board of 
education, stating which of the schools have been visited by him, and adding such comments, in re- 
spect to the matters above specified, as he may consider necessary and advisable, and to transniit to 
the respective boards of ward trustees copies of so much of such reports as relates to schools under 
their management. (1651, chap. 386, §11, Comp. 747. As amended, 1854, chap.lOl.) 

2. Under such general rules and regulations as the board of education may establish, to examine 
into the qualifications of persons proposed as teachers in any of the schools under the charge of the 
board. Such examination shall be conducted by the city superintendent of schools, or such one of his 
assistants as he may designate, in the presence of at least two inspectors of common schools, who 
shall be designated for the purpose by the by-laws of the board of education. Licenses shall be granted 
to those persons found, upon such examination, to be entitled thereto, which shall be in the form pre- 
scribed by the said by-laws, shall be signed by the city superintendent, and by at least two inspectors, 
designated for the purpose, who shall certify that they were present at the examination and concur in 
granting the license. The license of any teacher may be revoked for any cause alTecting the morality 
or competency of the teacher, by the written certificate of the city superintendent arid the written 
concurrence of two of the inspectors for the district in which the teacher is employed; but no such 
action shall be taken until at least ten days' previous notice has been allowed, nor sliall it take effect 
until such certificate of revocation has been filed in the office of the clerk of the board of education, 
and a copy served upon the teacher. It shall be the duty of the city superintendent to re-examine 
any teacher upon the written request of any two inspectors of the district, or three trustees of the 
ward in which the teacher is employed. Any teacher whose license has been revoked as aforesaid, 
may appeal to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, within ten days after service of a copy 
of a certificate of revocation, by the service of a written notice of appeal upon the city superintendent 
and in case such appeal is taken, the teacher shall not be disqualified until the revocation is confirmed 
by the State Superintendent. The city superintendent, in his annual report to the board of educa- 
tion, shall include a list of the licenses granted and revoked by him. {As amended, 1S64, cJiap. 351, § 16.) 



908 Kew York. 

3. Generally, by all the means in his power, under the regulations of the board of education in 
respect thereto, to promote sound education, elevate the character and oualitications of teachers 
improve the means of instruction, and advance the interests of the schools committed to his rhara-P 
(AS amended, 1654, diap. 101.) i-uaige. 

§ 1041. The superintendent of school buildings shall take and subscribe, before the clerlv of tbp hnnrd 
of education, the oath prescribed by the Constitution of this State, and give such security for the fe'th 
ful pertormauce of the duties of his office as the board of education may direct and the deDartnient 
under his charge shall be subject to such rules and regulations as the said board mav establish nT7p nf 




district, but only by a vote of three-fourths of all the members of said board (1864 chan -ii a 19 

Comp. 760; 1871, chap. 574, § 100, subd. 2, Coinp. 756: 1869, chap. 437, § 3, Comp. 700. h Hyn 177 ix^Y' 
chap. 386, § 33, as amendtd, 1854, chap. 267, ^ 1, Comp. 754. ) s^. i^jv. o j:iun, ut, i60l, 

g 1043. The following shall be substantially the form of oath or affirmation to be made bv the teirbpr- 
'• A. B. , of the city oi New York, teacher of No. depaitment btin-^^^^^ 

affirmed, declares and says that to the best of (his or her) knowledge and belief the average number of 
children, actual residents of the city ana county of New York, at the time of attending said school 
between the ages of four and twenty-one years, who attended said school or department, each school'- 
tinieor half day from the day of to the first day of Januarv, was 

Said average having been obtained by adding together the number of scholars present each school- 
time or halt day and dividing the total by four hundred and sixtv. " 

§ 1044. No compensation shall be allowed to the commissioners, inspectors, or trustees of common 
schools for any services performed by them, but the commissioners and inspectors .shall receive their 
actual and reasonable expenses while attending to the duties of their office, to be audited and allowed 
by the board of education. (1851, chap. SSfi, § 30, Comp. 753.) 

? 1045. No school officer shall be interested in any contract, payments under which are to be made, 
in whole or in part, out of any money derived from the school fund or raised by taxation for the sup- 
port of common schools. No teacher employed in any of the schools entitled to participate in the 
apportionment of the school moneys shall be eligible to the office of commissioner, inspector or 
trustee of common schools. (Id., ^SS. Comp. 7bb.) ' 

2 1046. Every school officer who shall refuse or neglect to render an account, or to pav over any bal- 
ance in his hands, at the expiration of his term of office, shall tor each ottense forfeit the sum of fiftv 
dollars, which sum, together with said unpaid balance, shall be sued for and collected bv the board 6t 
education, who shall prosecute without delay for the recovery of such forfeiture, together with the 
unpaid balance ; and in case of the death of such school officer, suit may be brought against his repre- 
sentatives, and all money recovered, after deducting expenses, shall be placed at the disposal of the 
board of education. (Id., ^ 31, Comp. 753.) 

§ 1047. Every person in the employ of the board of education, and every school officer, and every 
officer or tf>acher of a school or society, who shall willfully sign a false report to the board of educa- 
tion, shall, for each offense, forfeit the sum of twenty-five dollars, and shall be deemed guiltv of mis- 
demeanor ; and every such person or officer who shall willfully misapplv anv of the public funds com- 
mitted to his care, shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement. {Id., ^32, as amended, lb^,chap. 101, 
Comp. 754.) 

§ 1048. In anv suit which shall hereafter be commenced against the commissioners or trustees of 
common schools for any act performed bv virtue of, or under color of their offices, or for any refusal 
or omission to perform any duty enjoined by law, and which might have been the subject of an anpeal 
to the superintendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff in cases where the court shall certify 
that it appeared, on the trial of the cause, that the defendant acted in good faith. But this provision 
shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. (1S51, chap. 3.S6, § 34, Comp. 754. ) 

§ 1049, Every school officer shall, at the time of his election or appointment, be a resident of the 
district or ward for which he is appointed, and every trustee removing from the ward for which he is 
appointed, and every school officer removing from the city, shall thereby vacate his office. (1864, 
chap. ?,')!, I 8, Comp. 759.) 

21050. Every person appointed to a school office in said city shall, before entering on the duties of 
his office, and within fifteen days from the time of being notified of his appointment to fill a vacancy, 
take and subscribe, before the clerk of the board of education, the oath of office prescribed by the Con- 
stitution of this State, and the school office to which any person who shall omit to take the' said oath 
within the time and in the manner above prescribed, may have been appointed, shall be vacant at and 
from the expiration of the said fifteen days . {Id., § 10.) 

§ 1051. All children between the ages of five and twenty-one j'ears, residing in the city and county, 
shall be entitled to attend any of the common schools therein; and the parents, guardians, or other 
persons having the custody or care of such children shall not be liable to any tax, assessment, or impo- 
sition for the tuition of any children, other than is hereinbefore provided. (1851, chap. 386, §35, as 
amended, 1«78, chap. 106, g 1, Comp. 754.) 

§ 1052. All schools which hav> been organized under the act entitled " An act to extend to the city 
and county of New York the provision of the general act in relation to common schools,"passed April 
eleventh, eighteen hundred and forty-two, and the acts- amending the same, or organized or adopted 
under this chapter, shall be called common schools, " ward schools," or ward primaries, and each 
class shall be minibered consecutively according to the time of their organization or adoption, and all 
such schools shall be under the supervision and government of the commissioners, inspectors, and 
trustees of the ward in which they are located. (1842, chap. 150; 1851, chap. 3s6, § G, Comp. 745.) 

i 1053. The schools in the several wards shall be classified as grammar, primary, and evening schools. 
(ISfil, chap. 351, 'i 12, Comp. 750.) 

? 105*. Whenever the clerk of the city and county shall receive notice from the State Superintendent 
of Public Instruction of the amount of moneys apportioned to the county of New York for the support 
and encouragement of common schools therein, he shall immediately lay the same before the board of 
a.'dermen of said county: and the chamberlain of the said city shall apply for and receive the school 
moneys apportioned to the said county as soon as the same become payable, and place the same in the 
city treasury. (1&51, chap. 386, § 14, as amended, 1854, chaps. 101, 267, 1 1, Comp. 749.) 

TITLE II. — THE COLLEGE OF THE CITT OF NEW TORK. 

§ 1055. The College of the City of New York, formerly known as the Free Academy in the city of New 
York, shall continue to be a separate and distinct organization and body corporate and as such shall 
have the powers and privileges of a college, pursuant to the revised statutes of this State, and be sub- 



New York. 909 

Ject to the provisions of the said statutes relative to colleges, and to the visitation of the Regents of the 
University, in like manner -with the other colleges of the State. (1866, chap. 264, § 1, Comp. 761, 23 
Hun, § 68. ) 

§ 1056. The members of the said board of education, together with the president of the college, shall 
be ex-officio the trustees of the said college, and shall have and possess the powers conferred upon, and 
be subject to the duties required of the trustees ot colleges by the revised statutes. The president of 
the college snail be a member of the executive committee of the said trustees for its care, govern- 
ment, and management, ild. , g 1; 1872, chap. 631, \ 2, Comp. 762. ) 

§ 1057. All acts of the legislature which were in force on March thirtieth, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-si.K, in legard to the said Free Academy and to its control, management, support, and aftairs, 
and which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, and not since modified or repealed, are 
hereby declared to be auplicable to the said college. (1866, chap. 264, § 3, Comp. 761.) 

§ 1058. The College oi the City of New York shall be entitled to participate in the distribution of the 
Income of the literature and other funds in the same manner and upon the same conditions as the 
other colleges of the State, and the regents of the University of the State of New York shall pay annu- 
ally to the board of education of the city and county of New York, the distributive share of the said 
fiiuds to which the said College of the city of New York shall by law be entitled, and which shall be 
applied and expended for library books for the said college. (1851, chap. 386, §36, Comp. 754.) 

§ 1059. The trustees of the College of the City of New York shall annually, on or before the fifteenth 
day of November, report to the board of estimate and apportionment such sum, not exceeding one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars in any one year, as they may require for the payment of the salaries of 
the professors and officers of the said college, for obtaining and furnishing scientific apparatus, books 
for the students, and all other necessary supplies therefor, and for repairing and altering the college 
buildings, and for the support, maintenance, and general expenses of said college. (1866, chap. 637, 
§ 1, as amended, 1872, chap. 471, Comp. 761.) 

§ lo60. The board of education shall continue to furuish.'through the College of the City of New York, 
the benefit of education gratuitously, to persons who have been pupils in the common schools of the 
said city and county, for a period of time to be regu lated by the board of trustees not less than one year. 
And the trustees, upon the recommendation of the faculty of the said college, may grant the nsual 
degrees and diplonuis in the arts to such persons as shall have completed a full course of study In the 
said college. (1851, chap. 3S6. § 3, as amended, 1&")4, chap. 267, § 1, Comp, 7J3.) 

5 1061. The trustees of the College of the City of New York shall make and transmit annually, on cr 
before the first day of February in each year, to the board of aldermen, and also the secretary of the 
board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, a report, dated on the thirty-first day of 
December next preceding, which report shall state the names and ages of all the pupils instructed in 
such college durmg the preceding year, and the time that each was so instructed, specifying which of 
them have completed a full course of study therein, and which have received degrees, medals, and 
other special testimonials ; a particular statement of the studies pursued by each pupil since the last 
preceding report, together with the books such student shall have studied, in whole or in part, and if 
m part, what portion : an account or estimate of the library, philosophical and chemical apparatus, 
and mathematical or other scientific instruments belonging to such college ; the names of the instructors 
employed in said college, and the compensation paid to each ; what amount of moneys the board of 
education received during the year for the purposes of such college, and from -what sources, specifying 
how much from each, and the particular manner, and the specific purposes for which such moneys 
have been expended; and such other information in relation to education in the said college, and the 
measures of the board of trustees in the management thereof, as the board of aldermen, or the Regents 
of the University of the State of New York may, from time to time, require. (18.54, cJiap. 386, g 3, aubd. 
7, as amended, 1854, chap. 101, Comp. 743. ) 

TITLE m.— MISCELL.4.NE0TJS. 

1 1062. No school shall be entitled to or receive any portion of the school moneys in which the relig- 
ious doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect shall be taught, inculcated. 
or practiced, or in which any book or books, containing compositions favorable or prejudicial to the 
particular doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect shall be used, or which 
shall teach the doctrines or tenets of any other religious sect, or which shall refuse to permit the visits 
and examinations provided for in this chapter. But nothing herein contained shall authorize the 
board of education to exclude the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, or any selections there- 
from, from any of the schools provided for by this chapter : but it shall not be competent for the said 
board of education to decide what version, if any, of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, 
shall be used in any of the schools ; provided that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to 
violate the rights of conscience as secured by the Constitution of this State and of the United States. 
(1851, chap. 386. § 18, Comp. 750. ) 

§ 1063. The school established and maintained by the Five Points House of Industry in the city of 
New York, the school established and maintained bv the Ladies' Home Missionary Society ot the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, at the institution in Park street, near the place usually called the Five 
Points, in the said city, and the Industrial schools established and maintained under the charge of the 
Children's Aid Society, in the city of New York, shall participate in the distribution of the common 
school fund, in the same manner and degree as the common schools in the city and county of New- 
York, and shall be subject to the same regulations and restrictions as are now bv law imposed on the 
common schools of New York. (1855, chap. 405, § 1, Comp. 768; 1862. chap. 258, § 1, Comp. 768.) 

§ 1064. The board of education shall require from the executive committees conducting schools by 
appointment of the boai'd, and from the trustees, managers or directors of the corporate schools 
entitled to participate in the apportionment of school moneys, a report in all respects similar to that 
required from the trustees of each ward by section ten hundred and thirty-five of this act. And in 
making the apportionment among the several schools, no share shall be allotted to any school or society 
from which no sufficient annual report sliall have been received for the vear ending on the last day of 
December immediately "preceding the apportionment. (18.51, chap. 386', 2 20, as amended, 18^, chap. 
101, Comp. 760.) 

§ 1065. Whenever an apportionment of the public money shall not be made to any school, in conse- 
quence of any accidental omission to make any report required by law. or to comply with any other 
regulation or provision of law, the board of education may, in its discretion, direct an apportionment 
to be made to such school according to the equitable circumstances of the case, to be paid out of the 
public money on hand, or if the same shall have been distributed, out of the public money to be 
received in a succeeding year. (Id. , § 21 . ) 

§1066. The New York Orphan Asylum School, the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum School, the 
schools of the two half-orphan asylums, the school of the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile 
Delinquents in the city of New York, the school for the Leake and Watts Orphan House, the school 



910' New York. 

connected with the alms house of the said city, the school of the Association for the Benefit of Colored 
Orphans, the schools of the American Female Guardian Society, the schools established and maintained 
by the New York Juvenile Asylum, by the New York Infant Asylum, by the Nursery and Child's Hos- 
pital, including the country branch thereof, the school organized under the act entitled " An act to 
extend to the city and county of New York tht provisions of the general act in relation to common 
schools," passed April eleven, eighteen hundred and forty-two, or an act to amend the same, passed 
April eighteen, eighteen hundred and forty-three, or an act entitled " An act more etfectuaily to pro- 
vide for common school education in the city of New York." passed May seventh, eigliteen "hundred 
and forty-four, or any of the acts amending the same, and including such normal schools lor the educa- 
tion of teachers as the board of education may organize, and such schools as may be organized under 
the provisions of this chapter, shall be subject to th<.' general supervision of the board of education, and 
shall be entitled to participate in the apportionment of the school moneys as provided for in this chap- 
ter, but they shall be under the immediate direction of their respective trustee-*, managers and direc- 
tors, as herein provided. (1851, chap. 386, §22; 1851, chap. 332, g 3u, Comp. 1746; 1865, chap. 106, §24, 
Comp. 1773, as amended, 1853, chap. 301, ? 13, Camp. 751 .) 

§ 1067. 'L'he trustees, managers and directors of any of the corporate schools entitled to partici- 
pate in the apportionment of the school moneys, may at any time convey their school-houses and 
sites to the corporation of the city of New York, and transfer any of their schools to the board of 
education, on the terms and in the manner agreed upon and prescribed by the board of education, so 
as either to merge the said schools in the ward schools or adopt them as ward schools ; and the same 
shall then be ward schools, subject to all the rules, duties and liabilities, and enjoy the same rights as 
if they had been originally established as ward schools. (1851, chap. 386, § 29, as amended, 1853, chap. 
301, § 15, Comp. 752. ) 

g 1068. The board of education are authorized and directed to provide and maintain a nautical school 
in said city, for the education and training of pupils in the science and practice of navigation ; to fur- 
nish accommodations for said school, and make all needful rules and regulations therefor, and for the 
number and compensation of instructors and others employed therein ; to prescribe the government 
and discipUne thereof, and the terms and conditions upon which pupils shall be received and instructed 
therein, and discharged therefrom, and provide in all things for the good management of said nautical 
school. And the said board shall have power to purchase the books, apparatus, stationery and other 
things necessary or expedient to enable said school to be properly and successfully conducted, and may 
cause the said school or the pupils or part of the pupils thereof to go on board vessels in the harbor of 
New York, and take cruises in or from said harbor for the purpose of obtaining a practical knowledge 
in navigation and of the duties of mariners. And the said board are hereby authorized to apply to the 
United States Government for the requisite use of vessels and supplies for the purposes above men- 
tioned. (1873, chap. 28, § 1, Comp. 764. ) 

g 1069. The board of education is hereby authorized and required to distribute to the managers of 
the New York Institution for the Bfind a ratable proportion of the said school fund to ever}' blind 
pupil in said institution, without regard to age. (1839, chap. 200. § 4, Comp. 1786.) 

§ 1070. The said board of education shall appoint annually at leabt three of their number, who ^hall, 
subject to the control, supervision and approbation of the board, constitute an executive committee 
for the care, government and management of such nautical school, under the rules and regulations so 
pre-cribed. and whose duty it shall be, among other thnigs, to recommend the rules and regulations 
-which thev deem necessary and proper for such school. (1873, ch^^p. 28, § 1, Comp. 764. ) 

? 1071. After the establishment and organization of the said school, the expenses thereof, and of car- 
rying out the provisions of this chapter, shall be defrayed from the moneys raised by law for the sup- 
port of common schools in the city and county of New York. _ 

? 1072 The chamber of commerce of New York is authorized to provide for and appoint a committee 
of its members to serve as a council of the nautical school, whose duty it shall be, as tar asmay be, to 
advise and co-operate with the board of education in the establishment and management of such school, 
and from time to time to visit and examine the same, and to communicate m respect thereot wnh 
the board of education or such executive committee thereof, and to make reports to the chamber ot 
commerce which mav transmit to the State Superintendent of PuDlic Instruction such reports or any 
thereof, or an abstract of the same, with such recommendations as may be deemed advisable, (id., i 4.; 

[Chap. 8a5.] 
An act relating to the New York Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled. 

Passed May 22, 1872. 
The People of the State of New YorTe, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

? 3. The school established and maintained by the above-named society, for the education of crippled 
children, shall participate in the distribution of the common school fund in the same manner and de- 
gree as the common schools of the city and county of New York. 

iChap. 230.J 

An act relative to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. 

Passed April 21, 1874. 

The People of the State of Neio York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

% A T>io tnietPP<5 for the time being of said corporation shall have the sole and exclusive custody 
an^conJro ™f thrpersonsof fucho^^^ halt-orphans or indigent children of the age not e.xceed- 
fn^th rteen veaTs as the^^ maintain, provide for educate and instruct during the mi- 

nof-itv of luch orphans half-orphans and indigent children, provided that m respect to any orphan, 
uTleLl ail ardian or nearest relative, or one of the governors of the alnis-house, and in respect to any 
lalfT. h'ns or ?ndiS^ the parents or surviving parent or legal giiardian shall, consent m 

wriSn- t^such Chi d Kg^^^ for, educated and instructed by said society, or that 

^irh half-orSn or ndigent child shall be committed to the care and custody of said society by any 
rnnrt magistrate or police justice of the city of New York, In any case where such court, magistrate 
nrnoii^e histicrshXacquire jurisdiction under any law of this State; and m such case such court. 
ny^Srlti or police ustice shall have the like power and authority with tlie consent of said trustees 
?ornStta the care and custody of said corporation as can now be exercised in regard to anv other 
pubStitutionrand the said corporation can, by agreement and transfer from ev.ry other mstitu- 



New Yoke. 911 



tion baving the legal custody of any orphan, half-orphan or indigent children, obtain the care and cus- 
tody of such child or children in hke manner as by such aforesaid consent or commitment, and the 
said trustees shall have the power and authority, on the arrival of any such orphan, half-orphan or 
Indigent child at the age of thirteen years and upwards, to bind them out to be taught and instructed 
in some necessary or useful emplo.vment, on such terms and restrictions, and to such persons and 
upon such conditions, as the said trustees may deem proper ; and the said corporation is hereby vested 
in respect to the persons of all such orphans, half-orphans and indigent children, with all the powers 
and authority conferred upon, and shall enjoy the same benefits and receive for the care, education 
and maintenance of said orphans, half-orphans and indigent children, the like compensation nowpaid, 
and in the same manner as authorized by law, to the New York Juvenile Asylum by the acts passed 
June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, passed July eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty- 
three, passed April seventeenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and passed March thirtieth, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-six, so far as they are applicable to this section. 

iChap. 598.} 

An act to change the name of the "Association for Befriending Children" to " The Association for 
Befriending Children and Young Girls," and in relation to said Association, and to provide for the 
support of the persons cared for by such Association. 

Passed June 26, ISSO. 

?4. The schools established and maintained by the said association shall participaie in the appor- 
tionment and distribution of the moneys apportioned to the county of New York, for the support and 
encouragement of common schools therein, and also of the moneys mentioned in the fifteenth section 
as it now stands amended, of an act to amend, consolidate and reduce to one act the various acts rela- 
tive to the common schools of the city of New York, passed July third, eighteen hundred and fifty- 
one, as well as of the moneys mentioned in the sixteenth section and in the first subdivision of the 
third section of said act, as the same now stands amended, in the same manner and degree as the com- 
mon or public schools of the city and county of New York, and shall be subject to the board of educa- 
tion of the city of New York, and shall report thereto as do the schools of the New York Juvenile 
Asylum, Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society, The Ladies" Home Missionary Society of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, The American Female Guardian Society and other (so-called) cor- 
porate schools. 

lC7iap.89.J 

An act to authorize the commissioners of the sinking fund of the city of New York to sell lands no 
longer required for school purposes in said city. 

Passed April 8, 1881, 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: 

Section l. The commissioners of the sinking fund of the city of New York are hereby authorized, 
upon the application of the board of education, duly authorized and certified, to sell at public auction, 
at such time and on such terms as they may deem most advantageous for the public interest, any land 
or lands and the buildings thereon, owned by the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New 
York, occupied or reserved for school purposes, and no longer required therefor ; provided, however, 
that no property shall be disposed of for a less sum than the same may be appraised at by the commis- 
sioners of the sinking fund, or a majority of them, at a meeting to be held and on an appraisement 
made within one month prior to the date of the sale, and at least thirty days" notice of such sale, in- 
cludiuK a description of the property to be sold, shall be published in the City Record. 

§ 2. The money received in payment for ttie said lands and buildings shall be paid into the treasury 
of said city, and shall be at once appropriated by the board of estimate and apportionment of said city 
to the said board of education for the purpose of purchasing other property or erecting other school 
buildings for new schools, the establishment of which shall have been authorized according to law. 

§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 

[ Cliap. 202.] 

An act to authorize the board of estimate and apportionment of the city of New York to transfer 
certain appropriations upon the application of the board of education. 

Passed April 7, 1883 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as foliates: 

Section 1. The board of estimate and apportionment of the city of New York shall have power, at 
any time, upon the application of the board of education of said city, to transfer the whole or any un- 
expended part of an appropriation, in any year, for the purchase of ground for school purposes, or the 
erection or alteration of a school building, to and for the same purposes in a subsequent year. 

2 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 

iCliap.ioS.) 
An act to provide additional accommodations for the common schools in the city of New York. 

Passed June 3, 1884 ; three-fifths being present. 
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

51. The comptroller of the city of New York is hereby authorized, upon the application of the board 
of education of said city, and upon the approval of a majority of the board of estimate and apportion- 
meut of said city, to issue bonds In the name and on behalf of the mavor. aldermen and commonalty 
of the city of New York, dtiring the years eighteen hundred and eighty-four, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-five, and eighteen hundred and eighty-six, for an amount not exceeding two million dollars, 
par value, to be knowm as school-house bonds. 

g 2. Said bonds shall be issued, from time to time during said years eighteen hundred and eighty- 
four, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, eighteen hundred and eighty-sis, as they may be required by 



912 New Yoek." 

said board of education, sliall run for such term or terms of years as the said comptroller shall direct, 
but not longer than twenty years, and shall draw interest at not more than three and one-half per 
cent per annum. (As amended by chap. 494, Laws of 1885. ) 

§ 3. Whenever said bonds shall be issued, the comptroller of the city of New York shall invite pro- 
posals therefor, by public advertisement for not less than ten days, and shall award the same to the 
highest bidder, provided that no proposal or proposals tor said bonds shall be accepted for less than 
the par value of the same ; and said proposals shall be publicly opened by the comptroller in the pres- 
ence of the commissioners of the sinking fund, or such of them as shall attend at the time and place 
specitied in the said advertisement. The said comptroller, with the approval of said commissioners, 
shall determine what, if any, part of said proposals shall be accepted, and upon the payment into the 
citv treasury of the amounts due by the persons whose bids are accepted, respectively, certificates 
therefor shall be issued to them as authorized by law. 

g 4. The proceeds of said bonds, when received, shall forthwith be deemed appropriated for the pur- 
chase of new schiiol sites, for the erection of new school buildings, and additions to present school 
buildings, and for fitting up and furnishing the same for the use of the common schools of the said 
city of New York, and shall be thereafter disbursed by the comptroller of the city of New York, in 
payment of the liabilities incurred by the said board of education, for the purposes aforesaid, upon the 
requisition of said board, and in the same manner as other moneys appropriated for the maintenance 
of the common schools in said city are usually paid out. {As amended by chap. 494, Laws qf 1885.) 

(Chap. 248.) 
An act in relation to public education in the city of New York. 

Passed May 5, 1884 ; three-fifths being present. 
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

? 1. The colored schools in the city of New York now existing and in operation, shall hereafter be 
classed and known and be continued as ward schools and primaries, with their present teachers, 
unless such teachers are removed in the manner provided by law, and such schools shall be under the 
control and management of the school officers of the respective wards in which they are located, in the 
same manner and to the same extent as other ward schools, and shall be open for the education of 
pupils for whom admission is sought, without regard to race or color. 

§ 2. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

g 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 

( Chap. 67, Laws of 1887. ) 

Section 1. If the moneys appropriated by the board of estimate and apportionment of the city of 
New York for the support and maintenance of the common schools in said city for the year eighteen 
hundred and eighty-seven shall be deemed by the board of education of said city and the board of esti- 
mate and apportionment insuflacient to defray the necessary and legal expenses of public education 
during the year eighteen hundred and eightj'-seven, such deficiency may be appropriated and supplied 
by the board of estimate and apportionment of said city ; and said board last named is hereby empow- 
ered to raise by loan, in anticipation of the annual tax, such sum or sums as shall be necessary to 
meet such deticiencj% provided that the sum appropriated, with the amount already appropriated, 
shall not exceed the sum asked for in the estimate submitted by the board of education to the board 
of estimate and apportionment for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven; and provided, further, 
that the said board of education shall, by a two-third vote of said board, in all cases certify to the said 
board of estimate and apportionment the cause and amount of such deficiency. Provided, however, 
that the said board shall not reduce the salary to be paid to any teacher of any grammar or primary 
school during the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven., below the amount received by such teacher 
prior to the passage of this act. 

g 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 

{Chap. 119, Laws of 1887.) 

An act to provide for the establishment of an additional evening high school for males in the city of 

New York. 

Section 1. The board of education of the city of New York is hereby authorized to provide and main- 
tain an evening high scliool for males in said city, to be located in the twelfth ward of said city, and 
the said board of education is furtlier authorized to furnish accommodations for the said evening high 
school, and to make all needful rules and regulations therefor, and for the number and compensation 
of teachers and others employed therein, and to make it correspond in the number and grade of 
studies pursued, and as nearly as possible in all respects to the evening high school for males now 
maintained in the school buililing of grammar school number thirty-five, in the city of New York. 

§ 2. Said board of education shall have power to purcJiase the books, apparatus, stationery and 
other things necessary and expedient to enable the school to be properly and successfully conducted. 

§ 3. The board of estimate and apportionment of the city of New York is hereby authorized at any 
time after the final passage of this act and before the first day of September in the year eighteen hun- 
dred and eighty-seven, to meet and provide the necessary appropriation for the purpose of carrying out 
the provisions of section one of this act. 

g 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

( Chap. 240, Laws of 1887. ) 

An act to amend chapter three hundred and nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-six, 
entitled " An act to provide for the establishment of an additional evening high school for males In 
the city of New York." 

Section 1. Section one of chapter three hundred and nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
eightv-six, entitled " An act to provide for the establishment ot an additional evening high school for 
males in the citv of New York, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 

§ 1. The board of education of the city of New York are hereby authorized to provide and maintain 
an evening high school for males in said city, to be located on the east side thereof, in either the 
seventh, tenth, eleventh or thirteenth wards of said city, which location shall be left to the Judgment 



Ogdeksbukgh. 913 

and discrotion of the said board of education, 'Who are also authorized to furnish accommodations for 

said evening high school and make all needful rules and regulations therefor, and lor the number and 

compensation of teachers and others employed therein, and to make it correspond m the number and 

erade of studies pursued, and as nearly as possible in all respects to the evening high school lor males 

DOW maintained in the school building of grammar school number thirty-five in the city of New York. 

§2. Section three of said act is hereby amended so as to read as follows: . ^ ^ 

§3 The board of estimate and apportionment of the city of New York are hereby authorized to 

appropriate annually the necessary sum for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act. 

2 3. This act shall take effect Immediately. 

( Chap. 311, Laws of 1887. ) 
An act in relation to the powers of the board of education of the city of New York. 

Section 1. The board of education of the city of New York is hereby authorized and empowered to 
appoint the principal, vice-principals, teachers and Janitors of the evening high schools now existing, 
or which may be created. In said city. 

I 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 

OGDENSBURGH, 

[Chap. 382, Laws of 1857.] 

Section 1. All that territory comprised within the corporation limits of the village of Ogdensburgh, 
lying in the town of Oswegatchie, and those parts of school districts numbers one and twenty-one, ol 
the town of Oswegatchie, lying without the said corporation limits, are hereby consolidated and 
organized into one school district, subject to the control of a board of education as hereinafter pro- 
vided. 

g 2. The district hereby organized shall participate in the distribution of the school moneys and 
library money, in the same manner as other school districts. Whenever the board of education shall 
be organized under this act, the amount to which the district shall be entitled from the moneys dis- 
tributed by the State, shall be paid over to the treasurer of the village of Ogdensburgh, subject to the 
orders of the said board of education. The amount to which said district shall be entitled for the year 
eighteen hundred and fifty-seven shall be determined by the school commissioners of the county of 
St. Lawrence, and the supervisor of the town of Oswegatchie shall pay the amount so determined to 
the treasurer of said village, upon the order of said school commissioners. 

§ 3. The supervisor and town clerk, together with three of the justices of the peace of the town of 
Oswegatchie, shall, on or before the first day of May, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, meet and divide 
the moneys derived from the sale of the school lot in said town, between the school district hereby 
organized, and the remainder of said towns in proportion to the number of persons between four and 
twenty -one years of age, residing in the said village district and the said remainder; they shall also at 
the same time estimate and determine the value of the interest of the town of Oswegatchie exclusive 
of the interest of the village of Ogdensburgh in the academy building and grounds; they shall deduct 
the value of the interest of said town in such academy buildings and grounds from the share of the 
moneys derived from the sale of the school lot which would fall to the said district by this act organ- 
ized ; and shall make and subscribe a record of such division, estimate and deduction, and the result 
thereof; one copy of which shall be filed with the town clerk, and another with the village clerk. Such 
acts, when completed, shall divest said town, except the village of Ogdensburgh, of all interest In 
Ogdensburgh academy buildings and grounds. That portionof the said moneys arising from the sale 
of the school lot remaining to this district shall be subject to the control of the board of education, 
within the provisions of this act. 

1 4. On the second Wednesday of May, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, the electors of said village, 
in the same manner as the charter elections are held, shall meet and choose nine of their number as 
school commissioners, who, when organized as hereinafter provided, shall constitute the said board of 
education. Within eight days after notice of their election, they shall take the oath of office prescribed 
by the Constitution and file the same with the village clerk ; within ten days after their election, the 
persons so chosen and qualified shall meet and by lot arrange themselves into three equal classes, and 
class number one shall continue in office for one year, class number two for two years, and class 
number three for three years ; provided, however, that no term of ofiBce shall expire until a successor, 
is chosen and qualified ; and on the same day in each year thereafter, three persons shall be chosen a3 
school commissioners for the term of three years. Any person so elected or appointed to such office 
for neglect or refusal to serve without cause shall forfeit twenty dollars, to be sued for, collected and 
applied as other penalties provided for in this act. 

§ 5. One of said commissioners shall be selected by a majority of their number as president of the said 
board of education, which oflBlce shall continue for one year ; the president shall preside, when present, 
at all meetings of the board. 

5 6. The village clerk shall be ex-officio clerk of the board of education; he shall attend its meetings, 
make, engross and keep in a book provided for that purpose a record of all the doings, votes and reports 
of said board. 

§ 7. The board of education may elect any person not a member of their own body superintendent of 
schools, who, in addition to such other duties as may be devolved upon him by said board, shall visit 
and supervise the schools in said village, examine into and determine the qualifications of all teachers 
and grant certificates to such as are qualified as are now granted by school commissioners, but which 
shall be valid for only one year, and may be revoked for cause by himself or by resolution of said 
board; he shall make out all annual and other reports touching the condition of the schools and all 
matters connected therewith. The term of oflBce of such village superintendent shall be three 
years; his salary shall be fixed by the board of education, and be a charge upon said village of Ogdens- 
burgh. 

§8. In case of a vacancy in the said board of education, by refusal to serve or otherwise, the said 
board may supply the same by appointment until the next annual election, when a commissioner shall 
be chosen for the remainder of the unexpired term. 

? 9. The treasurer of the village of Ogdensburgh shall be ex-officio treasurer of the board of educa- 
tion; he shall receive all school moneys, and keep the same under the respective heads of "teachers' 
fund," " general fund," " special fund," and " academy fund," to which such moneys shall belong, to 
the credit of the board of education of the village of Ogdensburgh; he shall pay out the same only on 
the warrant of said board, in favor of the person entitled to receive it, signed by the president and 
clerk ; he shall report on the first day of each month, to said board, the receipts of all moneys since his 
previous report, from what source and to which fund, the sums paid out, from which fund and to 

115 



914 Ogde^^^sburgh. 

whose order, and the balance of each fund remaining on hand, with any general Information specially 
required in writing by said board ; he shall give bonds for the faithful perlbrmance of his duties in this 
oflace in a sum not less than double the amount of moneys to come to his hands ; the form, amount 
and sufficiency of the securities to be fixed and approved by said board of education, and he shall renew 
the same as often and whenever said board by resolution shall require. 

? 10. The board of education shall be a body corporate in relation to their powers and duties under 
this act ; five shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, except that when the question 
involves the appointment of school superintendent, or the removal of such superintendent or any 
teacher, the raising of money or the expenditure of over one hundred dollars, the assent of a majority 
of the whole board shall be requisite, and all questions shall be taken by ayes and nays, and the votes 
made a matter on record ; any member of said board of education, or any officer, superintendent 
or teacner appointed by it, may be removed for cause, after fiv^ days' notice, by resolution of said 
board. 

5 11. The members of said board of education shall not receive any compensation for their services 
as such, but shall be repaid all actual disbursements incurred by them as such officers, nor shall they 
be interested as principal, partner or surety, in any contract connected with the schools or institute 
under the charge of said board, nor in the making, erecting, furnishing or supplying any thing what- 
ever for the use of or connected therewith. Neither the superintendent nor any teacher in the schools 
organized under this act, nor any member of the board of village trustees, clerk, treasurer or collector, 
of said village, shall be eligible to the office of school commissioner. 

J 12. The trustees of the village of Ogdensburgh shall provide for the said board of education a suita- 
ble room in which to hold their meetings, together with the proper and necessary furniture, stationery, 
fuel, lights, and books for record ; said board shall meet as often as once in each month for the trans- 
action of business, and special meetings may be called by the president or any three members of the 
board. 

§ 13. The said board of education, when organized as herein provided, shall be and they are hereby 
invested with full and perfect title to all sites, lands, buildings and all and every other property belong- 
ing or pertaining to the school districts within the bounds of the district hereby organized, and of the 
Ogdensburgh academy, to be kept and used for school purposes, except as hereinafter provided, and 
said board of education is hereby authorized and empowered to take and hold any and all real and per- 
sonal estate or other things by grant, gift, devise, bequest, for the use of the schools or institute under 
its charge, and to use the same or sell and apply the proceeds as shall in its judgment best carry out the 
instructions of the donors, or subserve the interests of the schools. 

i 14. Within ten days after notice of an organization of the board of education, the trustees of the 
several districts hereby consolidated shall make , execute and deliver to the said board, a deed in fee 
simple of all lands, sites, buildings or fixtures owned or possessed by said districts, and shall also 
deliver to said board all school furniture and any and all school property, belonging to or connected 
with said school districts, and also all school moneys in hand or uncollected, and all tax and rate bills 
■uncollected, and at the same time report to said board an annual statement of all indebtedness of 
their respective districts, insurance, teachers employed, their names, compensation and period of 
contract. 

§ 15. The said board of education shall, within thirty days after receiving the reports required by sec- 
tion fourteen, from the trustees of said school districts, ascertain the amount of the indebtedness of 
each district, after the application of all its available means, and certify the same to the board of village 
trustees ; they shall also, within the same time, determine what improvements and alterations are 
necessary in the school-houses, and the cost of the same beyond any funds applicable to such purpose, 
and certify the same to said trustees ; and the said board of village trustees shall assess such several 
sums on all the taxable property in each of the respective districts where the money is to be used, and 
collect the same along with the first village tax collected thereafter, and place^the same to the credit of 
the board of education with the village treasurer. 

2 16. All the taxable property within the bounds of the district hereby organized shall be liable to 
taxation under this act ; and taxes shall be apportioned upon the property within the corporation 
according to the valuation In the last village assessment roll, and upon property lying without the vil- 
lage corporation, according to the valuation to be fixed by the village assessors, which they shall each 
year ascertain and assess as they do other property, and attach at the end of the village roll. 

§ 17. On or before the first day of May next, and on or before the first day of May in each year there- 
after, the board of education shall determine and certify to the trustees of the viUage of Ogdensburgh 
the amount of money over and above all other funds in hand applicable to that purpose, required for 
teachers' wages for the year commencing on the first day of April ; and said board shall at the same 
time determine and certify to the said village trustees what sum of money, exclusive of any applicable 
to such purposes, is necessary and requisite to defray for the year the expense for fuel, books for indi- 
gent scholars, school furniture and apparatus, insurance, leasing additional school-rooms, repairing of 
houses, out-houses, fences and other expenses ordinarily incident to the maintenance of such schools ; 
and the said trustees shall cause to be assessed the several sums of money so certified, on the taxable 
property and corporations within the district hereby organized, and collect the same along with the 
first village tax thereafter collected ; which sums shall be placed with the village treasurer to the 
credit of the board of education, the first sum to the "teachers fund," and the other sum to the "gen- 
eral fund," provided, however, in no case shall the assessments for these purposes, in any one year, 
exceed forty cents on the one hundred dollars, on the property valuation of the said assessment rolls 
liable for said tax; and, in addition thereto, for the v^ar eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, the sum of 
two thousand six hundred dollars, two thousand dollars of which shall be applied to the repairs of 
school buildings and six hundred dollars to cover present deficiencies ; and warrants to collect a 
greater sum shall be void. In addition to the sums heretofore authorized to be raised, the said board 
of education shall at the same time certify to the common council of the city of Ogdensburgh, the sum 
which they shall deem necessary to be raised to pav the salary of the superintendent of schools in said 
city not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars, and the said common council shall cause the 
same to be collected in the same manner as other moneys for the support of schools in said city, and 
place the same to the credit of the board of education in the general fund. Whenever the aforemen- 
tioned assessments are valid, if for any reason the collector is unable to collect the full amount of his 
warrant, the trustees shall supply any deficiency to these two funds, provided for by this section, out 
of any moneys which may come into the viUage treasury, and shall deposit the same as above pro- 
vided. (As amended by chapter 249, Laws of 1868, chapter 335, Laws of 1869, and chapter 186, Laws of 

im.) 

§ 18. The common schools and the Ogdensburgh Academy, hereafter to be kept and maintained in the 
district hereby organized, shall be free to all persons between the ages of four and twenty-one years, 
whose parents or guardinns are actual residents of the district. The superintendent of schools and 
city clerk are hereby authorized to administer oaths and take affidavits in all matters pertaining to 
the schools and academy provided for by this act, which shall have the same validity as if adminis- 
tered or taken by a justice of the peace, but they shall receive no remuneration therefor. (As 
amended by chap. 70, Laws of 1881.) 



Ogdensbuegh. 



915 



§ 19. The trustees of the Ogdensburgb academy shall, at the time specified in section fourteen, make, 

execute and deliver to the board of education, a deed in fee simple of the Ogdensburgh academy and 

grounds, and also deliver over to said board all property of whatever kind or nature pertaining to said 

, academy, with a report of all indebtedness, the names and compensation of its teachers and the time 

for which employed. 

J 20. The board of education shall, at the same time they make their certiflcates, as provided by sec- 
tion fifteen, determine what alterations or repairs to fit the academy building for the purposes of an 
institute, and furnish it, over and above all means at their disposal for such purpose ; and if they shall 
elect to fit up and furnish it, they shall certify the sum so required, to the board of trustees, who 
shall assess the same upon the taxable property within the district hereby organized, and cause the 
same to be collected along with the next village tax, and paid over, as other sums, to the academy 
fund. 

§ 21. As soon as practicable after the necessary buildings are prepared, the board of education shall 
organize a school to be designated the Ogdensburgh Academy, which said academy shall be entitled to 
participate in the distribution of the literature and other funds, as do other academies of the State, 
and the regents of the university shall pay annually to the board of education said academy's distribu- 
tive share of such funds. Said academy shall be subject to the visitation and control of said regents in 
like manner as other incorporated academies. The said academy is hereby invested with all the rights 
of the old Ogdensburgh Academy to any revenues derived from ferry licenses or other sources. (As 
amended by chap. 70, Laws of 1881.) 

§ 22. Whenever the board of education shall deem the erection of additional school-houses necessary 
for the common schools, or new and additional edifices for the Ogdensburgh Academy, they shall de- 
termine the kind of house or edifice, the sum required to erect the same, purchase the site and furnish 
the appurtenances, specifying the cost of each separately and certify the same to the board of trustees ; 
the board of trustees shall cause the application and specifications to be advertised for four weeks iu 
two of the newspapers published in said village, immediately preceding the next annual election for 
school commissioners; at such election the village trustees shall provide a box for ballots labeled 
" schools," and also ballots which shall be headed " schools," on which shall be written or printed 
" For the School Tax," and others so headed on which shall be written or printed "Against the School 
Tax ; " if more than one proposition is submitted at the same time, separate boxes shall be prepared, 
each so labeled as to designate its proper object, thus : " Schools," "An Appropriation for Academy,"* 
'• Schools," "An Appropriation for School- Houses," and the ballots shall be so headed and shall be in 
other respects as herein previously provided, and the inhabitants of said district hereby organized, 
entitled under the present charter of the village of Ogdensburgh to vote for village special tax, shall 
decide by ballot for or against such appropriation ; if a majority of such voters declare for any such 
appropriation, the trustees shall assess the same upon all the taxable property in said district hereby 
organized, and direct its collection with the next village tax, and when collected to be paid over to 
the credit of the " special fund; " provided, however, the board of village trustees may have the dis- 
cretionary powers now devolved in school districts to apportion said tax for two or more years up to 
four, and when so apportioned the board of education shall be authorized to borrow money on the 
credit of said tax. (As amended by chap. 70, Laws of 1881.) 

§ 23. All moneys raised, received or in any wise belonging to the academy, or to the school or district 
hereby organized, shall be under the control of the board of education ; but no moneys raised for a 
specified or particular purpose shall be applied to or used for any other purpose. Said board of educa- 
tion is hereby prohibited from contracting debts for any purpose whatever, and the lands, sites, build- 
ings and personal property belonging to said academy or schools, or used or kept for school purposes, 
shall be forever exempt from taxation and from levy and sale on execution. (As amended by chap. 
70, Laws of IS81.) 

I 24. The libraries of the several school districts hereby consolidated shall be subject to the control 
and direction of the said board of education ; they shall provide for their safe keeping, may keep sep- 
arate or consolidate them into one or more school libraries, dispose of any duplicates or unsuitable 
volumes and apply the proceeds, together with the library money arising from the common school 
fund, to the purchase of new books. 

§ 25. The board of education may prescribe the form and qualifications requisite to the admission 
into the Ogdensburgh Academy, the course of studies to be pursued and the text-books to be used, may 
fix the rates to be charged for tuition to those whose parents or guardians are not actual residents of 
the district, may demand such tuition bills in advance, and may, in their discretion, divide the said 
academy into male and female departments, and may grant diplomas to graduates of said academy. 
(As amended by chap. 70, Laws of 1881-) 

§ 26. The board of education shall have full power and it shall be their duty : 

1. To organize as many common schools in the village as shall be necessary for the accommodation 
of those who attend, and change, consolidate and discontinue them. 

2. To lease school rooms and furnish the same, to sell or exchange the present academy building and 
grounds, upon a vote of a majority of all the members of said board, and, when authorized as herein 
provided, to purchase sites and erect school-houses and academies. 

3. To provide books and stationery for indigent scholars, and all necessary instruments and apparatus 
for the academy and schools. 

4. To prescribe the course of studies in the schools, the text-books to be used therein, and to do such 
other acts as will best promote the eiBciency and utility of the same. 

5. To make rules and regulations for the protection of the buildings, furniture and grounds pertain- 
ing to the said academy and schools. 

6. To employ teachers and pay the same, to make rules and regulations for the reception of pupils, 
or their exclusion from school, or their transfer from one school to another, not Inconsistent with the 
general law securing the freedom of schools to all pupils residing in the district, and to amend or re- 
peal the same or to make others. 

7. To sue for and collect, in their corporate name, all penalties prescribed or authorized by this act, 
and for all destruction oi or injury to any schoul property. 

8. To eff'ect insurance on any or all school property. 

9. To make the reports required by law to the school commissioners and board of regents. 

10. To employ a suitable and competent person to take the census of persons within said district, 
over four and under twenty-one years of age, and pay him therefor. 

11. To cause to be prepared and presented to the board of trustees, between the first and fifteenth 
days of April in each year, a full report of all the acts of said board, wherein shall be set forth the 
number, kind and grade of schools kept ; the number of scholars, time each has attended and studies 
pursued ; the number of teachers employed and compensation to each ; the money received, from 
what sources derived, the amount disbursed and how expended, and what sums remaining on hand 
in each fund, and any other matters connected with the costs and operation of the schools and academy 
which they may deem proper, and the board of trustees shall cause the same to be published two 
weeks previous to the annual election in one of the newspapers published in said village. (As amended 
by chap. 70, Laws of 1881. ) 

? 27. This act shall take efiect immediately. 



916 ONOIifDAGA. 

ONONDAGA. 

IChap. 839, Laws of 1866,] 

Section 1. All that territory embraced in school districts numbers seven and twenty-eight in the 
town of Onondaga, county of Onondaga, is hereby consolidated and shall hereafter constitute one 
school district, and shall not be subject to alteration except by the legislature, or as hereinafter pro- 
vided, to be known hencefc rth by the name of " Onondaga free school district." 

2 2. George B. Clark, M. Roland Markham, James Longstreet, flalph Chaffee, Thomas T. Clark, Rich- 
ard R. Slocum, Nathaniel Bostwick, Cornell Cryslerand Truman K. Fuller, are hereby appointed trus- 
tees of said district, to be divided by lot, at their first meeting, into three classes, to be numbered one, 
two and three, and to hold their offices as follows : Class number one until the first annual meet- 
ing, which shall be held on the second Tuesday in October, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; class 
number two until the next annual meeting thereafter ; and at each annual meeting there shall be 
elected'three trustees to supply the places of those whose terms of office shall expire ; and each of 
those elected at the annual meetings shall hold his office for three years, unless elected to fill a vacancy. 
If at any annual meeting there should be a failure to elect, those whose terms of office would expire 
shall hold their offices until others are elected in their stead. Notice of the annual or special meet- 
ings shall be given by posting the same in five public places in the said district, and publishing the 
same in a newspaper, if one shall be at the time printed in said district. 

§ 3 The trustees of said district and their successors in office shall constitute a "board of education" 
for said school district, and for the purposes of this act, in addition to the dudes of trustees, are hereby 
constituted a corporation by the name of "the board of education of the Onondaga free school dis- 
trict ; " and the said board of education shall have power to establish and organize a classical school in 
Baid district, to be known by the name of the " Onondaga seminary ; " and such classical school shall 
be entitled to share in the distribution of the literature fund upon the same terms as incorporated 
academies of this State ; and the Regents of the University shall recognize said seminary as such as 
soon as the required sum of money shall be expended in buildings and apparatus, and competent teach- 
ers are employed therein. 

J 4. The board of education shall appoint one of their number president of the said board, who shall 
preside at the meetings of the said board when present, and when absent they shall appoint a presi- 
dent to perform the duties of president pro tempore ; they shall also appoint one of their number sec- 
retary, who shall record all the acts, doings and resolutions of said board, and in his absence a secretary 
•pro tempore to discharge such duties ; they shall also appoint a collector, librarian and treasurer, who 
shall hold their respective offices, unless sooner removed, for one year from their appointment, and 
until others are appointed in their places, unless sooner removed by said board. Such collector, libra- 
rian and treasurer shall each, within ten days after notice in writing of their respective appointments, 
and before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, execute and deliver to said board of edu- 
cation, a bond in such penalty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the 
faitbful discharge of their respective duties; and unless such bond shall be executed and delivered 
within ten days after such notice, such office shall become vacant, and said board may fill such 
vacancy. 

55. The said board of education shall have power : 

1. To pass such by-laws as they may deem proper for the regulation and exercise of their lawful 
business and powers, subject, however, to the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

2. To fill any vacancy which may happen by reason of death, removal or refusal to serve of any mem- 
ber or officer of said board, or of the district ; and the person so appointed to fill such vacancy shall 
hold his office until the next election of trustees, as by this act provided; 

3. To remove any member of their board, or any officer of their appointment, for official misconduct; 
but a written copy of all charges for such misconduct shall be served upon him at least ten days 
before the time appointed for a hearing, and he shall be allowed a full and fair opportumty to refute 
such charges before removal ; 

4. To take charge and possession of the school-houses, sites and lots, furniture, books, apparatus and 
all the school property within their district formerly owned by said consolidated districts, or either of 
them, or which may be acquired by said board under subsequent provisions of this act ; and the title 
of the same shall be vested in said board of education, and the same shall not be subject to taxation 
for any purpose whatever ; 

6. To take and hold for the use of said schools, or any department of the same, any real estate trans- 
ferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, or any gift, legacy, or annuity of whatever kind, given or 
bequeathed to the said board, and apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the 
instructions of the donor or testator; 

6. To receive into the said schools any pupils residing out of said district, and to regulate and estab- 
lish the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils in the several departments of said schools and also 
those of scholars residing in the said district and attending the seminary, to regulate the transfer from 
the primary to the academical department, and from class to class of all scholars, as their degree of 
scholarship may warrant ; to direct what text-books shall be used therein; to provide fuel, furniture, 
apparatus and other necessaries for the use of said schools, and sue for and collect all debts and 
demands due to said district, in the corporate name of said board of education ; and all contracts made 
by the members of the said board in their official capacity shall be binding on them and their successors 
in office ; 

7. To contract with and employ all teachers in the several departments of the school, and for 
cause to remove them ; to pay the wages of such t-eachers out of the moneys appropriated for that 
purpose ; 

8. To possess all the power, privileges and immunities, and to be subject to aU the duties in respect 
of the common schools, which the trustees of the common schools now possess and are now subject to, 
not inconsistent with this act, and to enjoy all the immunities and privileges now enjoyed by the acad- 
emies of this State ; 

9. The board of education are hereby authorized to convey the titles of the old sites and school- 
houses, vested in them by subdivision five of this section, to the purchasers thereof, and also author- 
ized and empowered to obtain by purchase, or by gift, grant or adoption, the grounds, buildings, 
apparatus, cabinet and all other school furniture and fixtures thereunto belonging, now known as the 
"Onondaga academy," and located within their district, provided that said academy, ground, build- 
ings, library, apparatus and other school property connected therewith, can upon negotiation with the 
board of trustees of said academy be procured for a sum not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars, or 
the present indebtedness of saidacademy ; and in case said academy, grounds, buildings, library, appa- 
ratus, and other property can be procured on the terms aforesaid, said board of education shall succeed 
to all the rights, titles, privileges, immunities and benefits, of every name and nature whatever, which 
now vest in or belong to said board of trustees as such, the same as if said academy had been adopted 
as the academical department of the free school of said district, under the general free school law of 



Okondaga. 917 

the State; and said board of education shall succeed to the charge and administration of all funds or 
endowments of said academy, wliichnow exist, and are in the possession or subject to the supervision of 
the said board of trustees of said academy in their corporate or ofllcial capacity, and shall apply the 
income or other part thereof exclusively to the support of said academy or the academical department 
of the free school of said district strictly in accordance with the will or devise of the donors of said 
funds or endowment, the same as it is now applied by said board of trustees; and in reference to said 
funds or endowments of said academy, the said board of education shall succeed to and be clothed with 
all the powers and duties in relation thereto, and in the application thereof, which are now possessed by 
and devolved upon said board, said board of trustees, by the terms or conditions of such bequests or 
endowments, as expressed in the gift or bestowal of the same ; and said board of trustees, by a majority 
vote of their number, are hereby empowered and enabled to transfer said academy, grounds, build- 
ings, library, apparatus, and other property or endowments, together with all their rights and titles 
thereto, to said board of education, and to vacate their offices in the same manner as if said academy 
had been adopted by the said board of education, under the provision of section twenty-four, title 
nine, chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the Session Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four. 

§ 6. It shall be the duty of said board to have reference, in all their expenditures and contracts, to 
the amount of moneys which shall be appropriated or subject to their order or draft during the current 
year, and not exceed that amount ; and the said board shall apply all the public moneys appropriated 
to the district, to the departments below the academical, and all moneys from the literature fund or 
otherwise appropriated for the academical department to the academy or seminary. 

§ 7. The board of education shall cause to be levied and collected upon the taxable property of said 
district, in the manner provided by law for the assessment and collection of school district taxes, 
a sum, which, together with the amount received from the apportionments made by the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction and the school commissioners, shall be sufficient to pay all teachers' 
and instructors' salaries and wages, who are employed in said school. The fuel and other necessary 
contingent expenses of the school shall be raised by tax upon the taxable property of said district, as 
is now provided for; and all warrants for the collection of taxes in the said district shall be issued 
under the hand and seal of ths president and secretary or a majority of said board. The moneys 
received from the literature fund shall be applied to the support of the academical department; and 
the tuition fees of non-resident scholars in the primary departments may be applied in such manner 
as the board of education shall direct, either to the support of the primary or academical departments 
of said school. 

I 8. All moneys raised in the said district for the purposes of the schools, and all the public school 
moneys received by such district from any source, shall be paid to the treasurer of the district, which, 
shall be applied to the support of said school, according to the provisions of this act. 

§ 9. The taxable inhabitants of said district, at an: annual, special or adjourned meeting legally held, 
may vote to raise a sum of money which they may deem expedient, not exceeding six thousand dollars, 
for the purpose of procuring suitable grounds and buildings for said schools in said district, and fur- 
nishing the same with necessary furniture, maps globes, and other suitable apparatus, and direct the 
trustees to cause the same to be levied aud collected by tax upon the real and personal estate in said 
district, which shall be liable to taxation for the ordinary taxes of town and county charges, and by 
such installments as the legal voter may direct, and make out a tax for the same and interest thereon, 
as often as such installments shall become due. 

g 10. The inhabitants of said district shall have no power to rescind the vote to raise such sum of 
money at any subsequent meeting, unless the same be done within ten days thereafter ; nor shall they 
have power to reduce the same after the expiration of ten days from the time that such sum was first 
voted to be raised; but they may remit such sum as may remain unappropriated after paying for 
suitable grounds and buildings, and furnishing and improving the same. 

§ 11. The said board of education are hereby authorized to obtain by loan, the whole or any part of the 
money legally voted by the said district, and secure the payment of the same, with interest, by their 
official bond. 

1 12. In making out a tax list for the collection of taxes in said district, the valuation of taxable 
property shall be ascertained, so far as possible, from the last corrected assessment roll of the town of 
Onondaga. 

g 13. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to sell at public auction, to 
the highest bidder, the school-houses and sites belonging to said districts, by giving public notice, to be 
posted in five public places in said district, ten days previous to such sale ; and the proceeds of such sale 
shall be used toward procuring suitable grounds and buildings for the schools of said district, or to such 
other purposes for the benefit of said schools as the district may direct ; provided that the proceeds of 
the sale of the school-house and lot in the old district number twenty-eight shall go so far in liquida- 
tion of any tax for school purposes, to be levied on the property of said old district, in case it should be 
found that the old district number seven has no title to its site and school-house longer than the same 
are used for school purposes. 

§ 14. The school commissioner of the school commissioner district in which the said district is located 
may, with the consent of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, alter said district by setting ofl'any 
portion or part thereof to any adjoining district or by forming such portion or part into a new district, 
providing that two-thirds of the taxable inhabitants, included in such portion or part, shall have peti- 
tioned to be set off. 

§ 15. This act shall take effect immediately for the purpose of enabling said board of education to take 
from said board of trustees the conveyance, transfer and assignment provided for in this act, but for no 
other purposes whatever ; but when such conveyance, transfer and assignment shall be made, thea this 
act shall immediately go into full effect 

[Chap. 259, Laws of 1868. ] 

Section 1. The " Onondaga Seminary," established and organized by the board of education of the 
Onondaga free school district, shall not hereafter be sustained by taxation upon the inhabitants of 
said district, except so far as to liquidate all outstanding indebtedness, and except so far as expendi- 
tures are required for fuel used in said schools, and for repairs to the building occupied by them ; and 
such repairs shall not exceed the sum of one hundred dollars per annum, unless upon a vote of the 
taxable inhabitants of said district. The said board shall have power to regulate and establish the 
tuition of resident and non-resident pupils, attending the academical department of said school, but 
they shall have no power to transfer pupils from the primary to the academical department, without 
the consent of the parent or guardian of such pupils. The free school department in said dis- 
trict shall have all the branches taught therein, as contemplated by the free school laws of this 
State. 

§ 2. The said board of education shall keep separate accounts of the receipts and expenditures 
received and incurred in the maintenance of the several departments of said school, and all moneys 
received properly belonging to the classical department, shall be expended in the maintenance of such 
department, and all moneys received, properly belonging to the free school department, shall bo 
■expended In sustaining such department. 



918 OKAi^GETOWK. 

5"3. The school commissioner of the school commissioner district, in which said free school is located^ 
may, with the consent of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, alter said district, by adding 
thereto any part or portion of an adjoining district, provided, that a majority of the taxable 
Inhabitants, included in such part or portion, shall petition in writing, to be added to said free school 
district. 

§ 4. The trustees to be elected in said district shall hereafter be elected by ballot, and the vote upoa 
all resolutions, authorizing the raising and expenditure of money, shall also be by ballot. 

2 5, All acta and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. 

ORANGETOWN. 

[ Chap. 303, Laws of 1859. p. 684, as amended by chap. 227, Laws of 1866.] 

Section 1. The union free school district number four, in the town of Orangetown, county of 
Rockland, shall form a district, and shall not be subject to alteration, except in the manner prescribed 
by law. 

2 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled the " board of education," 
which board shall consist of five members, and be a body corporate, a majority of whom shall consti- 
tute a quorum for the transaction of business. 

2 3. The proceedings of the meetings held in January, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, and ia 
December, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, in the election of the board of education, are hereby con- 
firmed, and the persons then elected shall continue to hold ofllce for the time for which they were 
respectively elected. 

5 4. There shall be elected at each annual meeting in said district, to be held on the second Tuesday 
of October in each year, two persons (except every third year, when only one shall be elected), who 
shall be residents and inhabitants Uable to pay taxes for school purposes in said district, to act as 
members of said board of education, and who shall hold their offices for the term of three years. The 
said election, and all other elections provided for by this act, shall be held by three inspectors, who shall 
be appointed by the board of education, at least thirty days preceding such election, which election 
shall be by ballot, and conducted in the same manner as general elections. (As amended by sec. 1, chap. 
227, Laws of 1866.) 

5 5. Said board shall have power to fill vacancies occurring in their own body, but the person so 
appointed shall hold his office imtil the next annual meeting of said district, when the vacancy shall be 
filled by election. 

2 6. The said board may make all necessary by-laws for their own government ; they shall have the 
entire control and management of all the common schools within said district, and all the property 
belonging to the same. They shall, at their first meeting, and at their first meeting after the annual 
election in each year, appoint one of their number president of said board, who shall preside at the- 
meetings of said board, when present ; when absent, a president pro tempore shall act in his steady 
they shall also appoint at said meeting one of their number secretary, who shall record all the acts and 
resolutions of the board, also act as clerk of school district ; in his absence a secretary pro tempore shall 
be appointed to discharge said duties; they shall appoint two of its members, to be styled the commit- 
tee of education, whose duty it shall be to visit the school in the district once in each month, to exam- 
ine and Ucense teachers, and such other duties as are specified in the by-laws of the board ; they shall 
also appoint a treasurer, collector and hbrarian of said district, who shall hold their offices respectively, 
one year from their appointment, and until others are appointed in their places, unless sooner 
removed by said board. Such treasurer and collector shall each, within ten days after notice in writing 
has been received of his appointment, and before entering on the duties of his office, execute and 
deliver to said board of education, a bond in a penalty of twice the amount of the estimated amount of 
the money coming into his hands, and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the 
faithful discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after 
receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and such board of education shall 
thereupon make an appointment to fill such vacancy. Such treasurer's bond shall shall be approved 
by the county clerk, and a copy thereof deposited in said county clerk's office. 

i 7. The said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business, on the first Monday in 
each month, or on such other day of the week as they shall fix upon for the year, and may adjourn for 
a shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or inability to act, 
by the secretary, or any other member of the board as often as is necessary, by giving personal 
notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his res- 
idence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour of said meeting ; and if any member of said board 
refuses or neglects to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, and if no sufficient 
cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare his office vacant. 

2 8. No member of the board of education, except the secretary, shall receive any pay or compensa- 
tion for his services, nor shall it be lawful for any member of said board to become a contractor for 
building or making any improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner, 
directly or indirectly, interested either as principal, partner or surety, in any such contract. All 
contracts made in violation of this provision shalb be absolutely void, and the person so violating 
shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars, which shall be collected by the board for the use of th« 
^strir*- 

{ 9. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem it 
necessary; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof in at 
least six public places in the said district, and by publishing the same in the newspapers pubUshed in 
said district, at least two weeks previous to the time fixed for such meeting ; which notice shall state 
the time and place of such meeting, and the purpose for which the same was called ; and no business 
shall be transacted at any such special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. One 
week's notice of the annual meeting shall be given in said newspapers. 

2 10. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, and all other school property in said 
district, shall be vested in said board of education, and the said board, in its corporate capacity, may 
take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise» 
for the use of common schools in said district. 

2 11. The public schools in said district shall be free to all children residing therein, but the board of 
education may permit children of persons not resident within said district to attend said schools on 
such terms as they may prescribe, and said board shall have power to sue for and recover such pre- 
scribed sum. Said board shall require one of their number to visit each school in said di«trict, at 
least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be 
necessary. 

2 12. Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall be made to the board of 
education, and such resignation shall not excuse said officer from the discharge of his duties until 
accepted by said board. 



Oswego. 919 

? 13. Said board of education shall cause an enumeration of the children between the ages of four and 
twenty-one years in said district, and make, once in each year, such a report to the school commis- 
sioner, at the time and in the manner required by law of trustees of school districts ; and any parent, 
or guardian, or housekeeper, refusing to give his or her own name to the person appointed by the said 
board to take such enumeration, and the number of the children between said ages living in his or her 
family, shall be liable to a penalty often dollars, said penalty to be sued for and recovered by said board 
and appropriated to school purposes. 

§ 14. The town supervisor shall, upon the written order of the president and secretary of said board, 
pay to the treasurer of said board, out of money in his hands belonging to said district, such sums as 
said order may specify, and all moneys to be received shall be paid to the treasurer of said board, who, 
together with sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable to said board of education ; said treas- 
urer shall not pay out any moneys except by resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the 
president and certified by the secretary, to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolation. 

§ 15. Said board of education shall have the entire control of the district library, and may make such 
regulations in regard to the purchase and distribution of books and management of said library as they 
shall deem proper. 

J 16. Said board of education shall have the power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by 
tax, once in each year, upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, as the same shall 
have been last assessed by the town assessors of the town in which said district is situated, such sums 
as said board shall estimate to be necessary for the following purposes, viz. : 

1. To pay any deficiency in teachers' wages, after pacing all the pubhc money appropriated o : -uch 
purpose ; 

2. To hire sites, school-houses and rooms for the use of said school district when necessary 

3. To alter, repair and improve the school-houses belonging to said district, .and their appurtenances ; 

4. To insure the school-houses and property belonging to said district ; 

5. To pay all debts and any necessary contingent expenses of said school district and of the board of 
education ; 

I 6. Any such sums as shall be authorized by a majority of the legal voters, at any special meeting of 
said district, for the purposes specified in section seventeen of this act, and the board shall add to their 
warrant for collection of taxes, such amount as they shall deem proper for fees for collecting, not 
exceeding five per cent on the amount to be collected ; said board shall have power to make all war- 
rants for the collection of taxes to be raised by them, returnable in sixty or ninety days, at their dis- 
cretion, and to renew the same whenever it shall become necessary ; such warrant to be signed by the 
president and secretary, pursuant to resolution of said board. In case It shall appear that the town 
assessment roll does not include all the taxable property of said district, the property omitted shall be 
assessed by the said board in the same mode required by law, and added thereto ; and the collector of 
said school district shall, in the collection of any tax authorized by this act, proceed in the same man- 
ner and have all the powers which collectors of town and county taxes now possess. 

2 17. Whenever, in the opinion of said board, it becomes necessary to procure a site and build a 
school-house, to enlarge those already built, or to raise money for any necessary purpose, not enumer- 
ated in this act, they shall submit the plans and the estimated cost of such building, site, and neces- 
sary appendages, to the inhabitants liable to pay taxes for school purposes of said district, at a special 
meeting called for that purpose; and if a majority of those present shall vote in favor of the same, 
the said board may proceed to carry the same into effect ; but no site purchased and house built after 
the passage of this act shall exceed in cost, jointly, the sumot ten thousand dollars, nor shall any addi- 
tion to school-houses in said district exceed that amount ; neither shall more than one school-house, 
or addition to any school-house in said district, be built in any one year, nor shall any addition be made 
to any school-house in said district the same year in which a new school-house is built ; nor shall a 
greater sum than four hundred dollars be raised in any one year, for purposes not enumerated in this 
act, by special meetings. (As amended by sec. 2, chap. 227, Laws 0/I866.) 

§18. Said board of education shall have the power to establish as many primary schools in said dis- 
trict as they may deem proper, and to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and man- 
agement of the public schools in said district : to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem 
expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, for the reception 
of pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for .their good order, prosperity 
and pubhc utility. 

2 19. Whenever" in the opinion of said board, it may be advisable to sell or exchange any school-house, 
lots or sites now or hereafter belonging to the district, they shall state such object in the notice of an 
annual ori special meeting, and with the consent of a majority of the inhabitants, liable to pay taxes 
for school purposes, present at such meeting, may sell or dispose of such school-houses, sites or lots, to 
the best advantage. 

2 20. Said board of education shall, at each annual meeting, submit a report, in writing, of their 
doings a-s such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district 
under their charge, and the number of scholars attending the same ; the studies pursued ; the amount 
of moneys received from the State and from any other source ; the expenditure of the same ; and all 
the particulars, in detail, relating to schools in said district ; which report may, if the board think best, 
be printed. 

J 21. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as relates to 
school district number four, in the town of Orangetown, Rockland county. 

OSWEGO. 

[_Chap. 463, Laws 0/I86O, as subsequently amended.'^ 

(From the city charter.) 

TITLE Vn. — OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

Section 1. At the annual election of the pity of Oswego to be held on the first Tuesday of March, 
eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, there shall be elected six commissioners of common schools whose 
term of office shall commence on the Tuesday next following said election and shall continue, two of 
them for the term of one year, two for the term of two years and two for the term of three years. At 
the first meeting of such commissioners after their election they shall determine by lot which com- 
missioners shall hold for one year, which for two yeai-s, and which for three years. And at each annual 
election in said city thereafter two commissioners shall be chosen to succeed the persons whose terms 
of office are about to expire. The said commissioners shall be elected by ballot by the electors of said 
city, but no elector shall place upon bis ballot the names of more than three persons for the office of 
school commissioner at the first election under this act, nor the name of more than one person for 



920 Oswego. 

such school commissioner at a suhsequent election, and the six persons voted for at the first election 
and eligible to the office who shall receive the highest number of votes shall be commissioners of 
common schools in said city as hereinbefore provided. And at each suhsequent election the two per- 
sons receiving the highest number ot votes shall be commissioners of common schools in said city to 
hold office for three years. And no ballot for commissioners shall be counted upon which more than 
three names at the first election and more than one name at any subsequent election shall be con- 
tained. The term of office of the present school commissioners of this city shall expire on the second 
Tuesday of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and thereafter the board of education shall be 
composed of the six commissioners elected as herein provided. The persons so chosen shall be officers 
of the city-at-large and not of any particular district or section of said city. The said commissioners 
shall be voted for upon a separate ballot to be endorsed "'school," which ballots shall be deposited in 
separate boxes to be provided in each ward, and to be marked " school. " (As changed by chap 46 
Laws of \879.) 

I § 2. In case of a vacancy happening in the office of school commissioner in said city, by the resigna- 
tion, death, removal from the city, failure to elect oy qualify, or for anv other reason, such vacancy 
shall he filled for the remainder of the term by the common council, who, upon the nomination of the 
mayor, shall appoint a suitable person or persons to fill said vacancy. (As changed from § 3 <o §2 6v 
chap. 46, Laws of 1879.) 

§ 3. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. (As changed by chap. 46, 
Laws of 1879.) 

§ 4. Any commissioner of common schools in said city may be removed from office for official mis- 
conduct by the board of education of said city, by a vote of two-thirds of the members thereof; but a 
written copy of the charges preferred against said commissioner shall be served upon him, and he 
shall be allowed an opportunity of refuting any such charges of misconduct before removal. 

§ 5. The board of education shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties con- 
ferred upon them by virtue of this act, to be styled the " Board of Education of the City of Oswego." 
A majority of the said board shall constitute a quorum. At each annual meeting of the board, on the 
Wednesday following the second Tuesday in March they shall elect one of their number president of 
the board, and whenever he shall be absent a president pro tempore may be appointed. The members 
of the board shall receive no compensation, nor shall they be interested directly or indirectly, in any 
contract for building, or for making any improvements or repairs, or for other expenditure whatever 
provided for by this act. The board of education shall have the care of the gospel and school lands, 
and the securities taken therefor, belonging to said city, and shall have power to sell the same, and 
apply the proceeds in such a manner as they shall deem most tor the interest of the schools of the city. 
{As amended by chap. 235, Laws of 1879.) 

§6. The annual meeting of said board shall be held on the Wednesday following the second Tuesday 
of March in each year. The board shall also meet for the transaction of business as often as once a 
month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings maybe called as often as may be 
•necessary by th'^ president with the written concurrence of four members of the board, or in his 
absence or inability to act, with like concurrence of any five members of the board, by causing a writ- 
ten or printed notice of such meeting, with the names of the members calling the same, to be given 
personally to each member of the board, or left at his last place of residence, at least twenty-four hours 
before the hour for such special meeting. Such notice shall specify the object of such special meet- 
ing, the action of which shall be limited to the object so specified, {As amended by chap. 235, Laws 
0/1879.) 

2 7. The said board shall appoint a secretary who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board, 
and whose compensation shall be fixed by the board ; the said secretary shall keep a report of the pro- 
ceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The said record, or 
a transcript thereof, certified by the secretary, shall be received in all courts as prim^ facie evidence of 
the facts therein set forth, and such records in all the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said 
board, shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council or any committee 
thereof. 

2 8. The books of the common school library of the city, now deposited and kept in the building of 
the Oswego city library in said city, may remain therein at the pleasure of said board, and subject to 
their control. The board may designate the librarian of the said common school library, and may 
limit and prescribe his powers and duties in respect thereto, and provide for his compensation. 

5 9. The common council of said city shall have power, and it shall be their duty to raise from time 
to time, by tax, such sums as may be determined and certified by the said board of education to be 
necessary and proper for any and all the following purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses. 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, and their out-houses 
end appurtenances. 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, 
"but the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the furnishing with class or text-books, 
any scholar whose parents or guardians shall be able to furnish the same. 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, and the expenses of 
the school library of said city, and the necessary contingent expenses of said aboard, including the 
salary of the secretary of said board. 

5. To pay teachers' wages after the application of public moneys, which [may by law be appropriated 
and provided for that purpose. 

1 10. The amount to be raided for the foregoing purposes in each year shall not be less than twenty- 
five thousand dollars, nor more than forty thousand dollars, which amount shall be levied and col- 
lected by the common council at the same time and in the same manner as the other general taxes of 
said city are levied and collected, and when collected shall be paid over to the treasurer of said city, 
■who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor, and for all other 
moneys received by him for the use of said board ot education or of the schools of said city, in the 
same manner as for other moneys of said city. The warrant issued to the collector by the common 
council for the collection of such taxes, shall specify what proportion of such taxes are for general city 
purposes ; and what proportion are for the support of the schools of said city ; and the collector, when- 
ever paying money collected for such taxes to the city treasurer, shall designate the part thereof col- 
lected for the support of said schools, and the treasurer shall credit the same to the board of education 
as a part of the public school fund of said city as hereinafter provided. 

The common council are authorized and directed to boirrow from time to time, in anticipation oi the 
collection of the moneys hereby authorized to be raised, or of the receipt of the State school moneys, 
such amount as shall be certified to them by resolution of the board of education to be necessary for 
the use of said schools. The interest or discount paid In effecting such loan shall be paid by the board 
as one of the contingent expenses of said schools. (As amended by chap. 235, Laws of 1879.) 

2 11. All moneys raised by virtue of this act. or received from the State, or from any other source, for 
the use of said schools, shall be paid to the treasurer of the city of Oswego in trust for the use oi said 



Oswego. 921 

schools, and shall be' credited by him to the board of education ; and shall bo known as the public 
school fund of said city, and shall be kept by him separate and distinct from other moneys, and shall be 
paid out by him only upon drafts drawn upon him on or after February 15, 1872, signed by the president 
and countersigned by the secretary of said board, which drafts shall not be drawn except in pursuance 
of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be made payable to the person or persons entitled 
to receive the money thereon, and shall express the purpose for which said money is to be paid, and 
HO interest shall be "^aid by said board upon or on account of any drafts drawn by said board or by 
their authority. 

The secretary shall keep an accurate account of all drafts so drawn, in a book to be kept by him for 
that purpose, and shall report at each monthly meeting of the board the amount of drafts drawn from 
the commencement of the fiscal year to the date of such report. The treasurer also shall report to the 
board, whenever required by them, the condition of the public school fund in his hands. 

So much of the amount levied for school purposes in any year by virtue of this title, as shall remain 
uncollected on the first day of the following January (less five per cent., however, of the amount 
so remaining uncollected, to cover such part of said uncollected moneys as may prove finally uncollect- 
ible,) shall be credited by the city treasurer to the board of education, shall become and be a part of the 
public school fund of said city, and subject to the drafts of said board. Such uncollected moneys when 
afterward collected, with any interest that may be received thereon, shall be paid to the treasurer, to 
the credit of the city of Oswego, and shall be subject to the orders of the common council thereon. lu 
case said treasurer shall at any time transfer or divert any part of the school moneys in his hands to 
any other purpose than the payment of the orders drawn by the said board of education, it shall be the 
duty of said board immediately to commence suit in the supreme court against said treasurer and his 
sureties, for the recovery of the sum so transferred or diverted, and costs shall be allowed against such 
treasurer and his sureties upon recovery of any sum against them, and such treasurer and his sureties 
are hereby declared to be liable on their oflacial bonds for any default, deficiency, neglect or misconduct, 
in relation to the trust created by this act. On or before the 20th day of February in each year the said 
treasurer shall report to the said board all moneys received by him during the last fiscal year for the 
use of the schools of said city (including the amount uncollected and transferred to the credit of said 
board, as hereinbefore provided,) the source from which the same was received with the date and 
amount, and shall also report the number, date and amount, of each draft paid by him during said fiscal 
year for said board, with the date when each of said drafts was paid, and said drafts shall be returned to 
and filed with the secretary of the board. 

gl2. The said board shall have power to and It shall be their duty: 

1. To organize and establish such and so many schools in said city, including the common schools' 
now existing therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the' 
same. 

2. To purchase and hire school-houses and rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and 
Improve them as they may deem proper. 

3. Upon such lots and upon such sites owned by said city, to build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair 
school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances as they may deem advisable. 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for indigent punils, furniture 
and appendages, and to provide fuel, for the schools, and defray the contingent expenses of the school 
library. 

5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture and 
appurtenances, and to see that the ordinances of the common council in relation thereto are observed. 

6. To contract with, license and employ all teachers in said schools, and at their pleasure to remove 
them. The ofiice of superintendent of schools in said citj' is hereby abolished. 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and provided by law for the 
support of common schools in said city, so far as the same shall be suflacient, and the residue thereof 
from the money authorized to be raised for that purpose ^by section nine of this act by tax upon 
said city. 

8. To defray the necessary and contingent expenses of the board, including the annual salary of the 
secretary of the board. 

9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the common schools 
of said city, and from time to time adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules 
and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, or the reception of pupils and their 
transfer from one school to another, and generally for tbeir good order, prosperity and utility. 

10. Whenever, in the opinion of the board of education, it may be advisable to sell any of the school- 
houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the city, to report the 
same to the common council. 

11. To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regulations as may be neces- 
sary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots and sites 
and appurtenances and all the property belonging to the city connected with or appertaining to the 
schools, and to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations, and 
annually, on or before the first day of May in each year, to determine and certify to the said common 
council the sum, in their opinion, necessary or proper to be raised under the ninth section of this act 
for the fiscal year commencing on the said fifteenth day of February, specifying the amount required 
for each of the purposes therein mentioned. (As amended by chap. 235, Lmvs of 1879. ) 

12. To cause an enumeration of all the children between the ages of five and twenty-one years, re- 
siding in said city on the thirtietli day of September next preceding, to be made between the first and 
fifteenth days of October in each year. 

13. Between the first day of October and the first day of November In each year to make and transmit 
to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, a report in writing, bearing date the first day of October 
In the year of its transmission, and stating : 

(1.) The number of school-houses in said city, and an account and description of all common schools 
kept in said city during the preceding year, and the time they have severally been taught. The num- 
ber of children taught in said schools respectively, and the number of children over the age of five 
years and under the age of twenty-one years, residing in said city on the thirtieth day of September in 
each year. 

(3.) The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said city during the preceding 
y^ar, distinguishing the amount received from the county treasurer from the city ax and from any 
other sources. 

(4.) The manner in which such moneys have been expended, and whether any and what part re- 
mains unexpended, and for what cause. 

(5. ) The amount of moneys received from tuition fees from foreign pupils during the year, and the 
amount paid for teachers' wages in addition to the public moneys, with such >ther information .elat- 
ing to the common schools of said city as may, from time to time, be required by the State Superin- 
tendent of common schools. 

2 13. Each school commissioner shall visit all the schools in said city at least twice in each year of 

116 



922 Oswego. 

his official term, and the said board of education shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited 
by a committee of three or more of theirnumber at least once in each term. 

g 14. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children of persons not resident in 
said city to attend the schools of said city under the control and care of said board, upon such terms as 
said board shall by resolution prescribe, fixing the tuition which shall be paid therefor. 

§ 15. It shall be the duty of said board in all their expenditures and contracts, to have reference to 
the amount of moneys which shall be subject to their order during the then current year, and not to 
exceed the amount except that by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to said board, a sum 
not more than one-half of the expenses of any building erected by said board for school purposes, may 
be contracted for or expended by said board, in addition to the amount applicable to that purpose in 
the year when such erection is made, which sum shall be raised and paid out of the amount applicable 
to that purpose in the year when such erection is made, which sum shall be raised and paid out of the 
moneys applicable to that purpose in the next fiscal year. The State school moneys appropriated for 
the use of the schools of said city shall belong to the fiscal year in which the same may be received by 
the treasurer of said city. 

It shall be the duty of the treasurer of said city to deposit all moneys in his hands belonging to the 
public school fund, in such incorporated bank as will pay him the highest interest therefor, and the 
interest received thereon shall be credited by him to the board of education and shall become and be a 
part of the public school fund of said city, and shall be stated by him in his annual report to the said 
board hereinbefore provided for, or at any other time when required by said board. (As amended hy 
chap. 235, Laws of 1879. ) 

§ 16. The said board of commissioners shall be trustees of the school libraries in said city, and all the 
provisions of law which are now or hereafter may be passed relative to school district libraries shall 
apply to said commissioners, in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district compre- 
hending said city ; they shall also be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of the moneys 
appropriated by the law of this State for the purchase of libraries which is therein conferred on the 
inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide room or rooms and the necessary fur- 
niture therefor. The librarian shall report to the board the condition of the city library or libraries 
under their charge, and the said board or secretary thereof under the direction and by resolution of 
said board, may make all the purchases of books for said library or libraries, and may direct the mode 
of their distribution,'and may cause to be repaired damaged books belonging thereto, and may sell any 
book in said library or libraries that may be deemed useless, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of 
other books for said library or libraries. 

§ 17. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances and all 
other school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the city of Oswego, and the same, while 
used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied or sold by virtue of any warrant or execu- 
tion, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever, and the said city in its corporate capacity 
shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any personal or real estate transferred to it by grant, gift, 
bequest or devise for the use of the common schools of said city, whether the same be transferred in 
terms to said city by its proper style or by any other designation, or to any person or persons or body for 
the use of said schools. 

2 18. The common council of said city shall, upon the recommendation of said board of education. 
Bell any of the school-houses, sites, lots or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to 
said city, upon such terms as the commou council shall deem reasonable ; the proceeds of all such sales 
shall be paid to the treasurer of said city, and shall be by said board expended in the purchase, repairs 
or improvement of school-houses, lots, sites or school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 

§ 19. It shall be the duty of said board, at least fifteen daj's before the annual election for commis- 
sioners in each year, to prepare and report to the common council true and correct statements of the 
receipts and disbursements of moneys under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during the 
preceding year, in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 

1. The moneys raised by the common council under the ninth section of this title. 

2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the county treasurer. 

3. The moneys received by the treasurer of the city under the ninth section of this title. 

4. All other moneys received by the treasurer of said city subject to the order of the board, specifying- 
the sources from which they have been derived. 

5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, specifying the amount under 
each head of expenditure; and the common council shall, ten days before such election, cause the 
same to be published iu all the newspapers of saitl city. 

§ 20. The common council shall have power, and it shall be their duty to pass such ordinances and 
regulations as the said board of education may report as necessary for the protection, preservation, 
safe-keeping and care of the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, libraries and all 
necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools of said city, and to impose proper penal- 
ties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the act to incor- 
porate the said city ; and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for 
the violation of the city ordinances are by law collected ; and when collected shall be paid to the 
treasurer of the city, to the credit of the said board of education, and shall be subject to their order in 
the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

§ 21. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said city, immediately after the election of any person as 
commissioner of common schools, personally or in writing, to notify him of his election ; and if any 
such person shall not. within ten days after receiving such notice of his election, take and subscribe 
the constitutional oath, and file the same with the clerk of said city, the common council may consider 
it as a refusal to serve, and proceed to supply the vacancy occasioned by such refusal ; and the person 
so refusing shall forfeit and pay to the city treasurer, for the benefit of the schools of said city, a penalty 
of ten dollars. 

2 22. No officer of said board of education, or any other person, shall have power to make, or shall 
make any purchases, create any liability, or contract any debt on the part of said board, unless specially 
authorized by the said board or by this title so to do, and no account, claim or demand shall be audited, 
allowed, or paid by the said board, unless the same was so authorized, nor unless the same shall be 
Terified in the same manner that town accounts are required to be verified. The secretary of the satd 
board shall have power to administer any oath, or to take any afiadavit in respect to any matter relat- 
ing to the business of said board or the affairs of the common council of said city. 

§ 23. The common council of said city are authorized and directed to raise by tax during the fiscal 
year beginning February 15, 1873, the sum of $12,573.61 or so much thereof as the board of education 
shall certify to be necessary to pay the deficiencies of the fiscal year ending at that time and to borrow, 
in anticipation of the collection thereof, so much of said amount as shall be certified to be necessary as. 
aforesaid. 



OwEGO. 923 

[Chap. 218, laws o/1873.] 

Section 1. The board of education in the city of Oswego may and shall certify to thecommon council of 
said city on or before the fifteenth day of May, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and on 
or before the first day of April in each subsequent year (instead of the fifteenth day of February as 
heretofore provided), the sums in their opinion necessary and proper to be raised for the purposes men- 
tioned in the ninth section of title seven of said acts as amended for the fiscal year, commencing on the 
fifteenth day of February preceding. 

2 2. The word " scholar as used in the tenth section of said title as amended shall be interpreted to 
mean "child." 

? 3. The registry of voters in the city of Oswego, made for the charter election in March, eighteen 
hundred and seventy-three, may and shall be used as the registry for the election of common school 
commissioners in May thereafter; and any person who shall have become a voter in any ward, subse- 
quent to the charter election, may vote at the succeeding election for school commissioners in such 
ward. The provisions of this section shall .apply and be in full force for all years subsequent to the 
year 1873. 

i 4. This act shall take efiect immediately. 

[Chap. 367, Laws of 1876, as amended by chap. 44, Laws of 1883.] 
(Amendments to city charter.) 

2 3. No person shall be ehgible or elected or appointed to any office in and for the city of Oswego, 
unless he shall be at the time an elector and resident of said city, and no person shall be eligible or be 
appointed or elected to any offlce in any ward in section one designated as a ward officer, unless he 
shall be at the same time an elector and resident of said ward ; and no person shall be eligible or elected 
or appointed to the office of mayor, alderman, school commissioner, commissioner of public charity, 
fire commissioner, police commissioner, commissioner of piiblic works, supervisor, collector of taxes 
and assessments or assessor, after the passage of this act, unless at the time of his election or appoint- 
ment he shall be a resident and elector for the district for which he is elected or appointed, end when- 
ever any officer shall cease to be a resident of the city or of the ward or district for which he is elected 
or appointed, his offlce shall thereby become vacant. 

g 28. No member of the common council shall be appointed to any office by the common council, nor 
shall any member of the hoard of education, common council, or any other city officer or member of a 
board of commissioners be interested in any contract in which the city is a party, neither shall any of 
the said officers furnish directly or indirectly to the city, or for its use in any of the departments, goods, 
wares, merchandise, teams, labor, materials or supplies, nor be interested, directly or indirectly, in any 
bill or claim therefor, under the penalty of the forfeiture of his offlce and the loss ol his claim. 

[Chap. 154, Laws of 1878.] 

Section 1. The board of education of the city of Oswego shall not purchase, and shall have no power 
to purchase, lots or sites for school-houses, or to build or enlarge school-houses upon lots or sites now 
or hereafter owned or acquired by said city, unless two-thirds of all the members of said board shall 
vote in favor of such purchases, building or enlargement. 

OWEGO. 

[Chap. 309, Laws of 1861, as amended by chap. 141, Laws of 1865.] 

Section 1. All school districts and parts of school districts lying within the corporate limits of the 
village of Owego, in the county of Tioga, in this State, are hereby consoUdated aud incorporated into 
one school district, which shall be called the union school district of the village of Owego. 

2 2. The schools organized under this act, to be designated the "union schools of the village of 
Owego," shall be free to all pupils between the age of five and twenty-one years residing in said union 
school district, and no rate bill shall hereafter be imposed therein. But non-residents of said union 
school district, if otherwise competent, may be admitted into any school within said union school dis- 
trict organized under this act, with the written consent of the board of school commissioners, or a 
majority of them, upon such terms and conditions as to tuition or otherwise, as such board may from 
time to time prescribe. 

§ 3. Said union school district shall be divided into five sub-districts, each ward of said village to 
constitute one sub-district, to correspond in number and boundaries therewith. 

§ 4. The said u,nion school district shall be under the control and direction of six commissioners, 
who shall be called the " board of school commissioners." Each sub-district shall be entitled to one 
commissioner, who shall be a resident thereof, and one shall be elected from the village at large, who 
shall be the president of the board. 

?5. Charles H. Everset of sub-district number one; John L. Matson, of sub-district number two; 
Andrew Coburn, of sub-district number three ; William Smyth, of sub-district number four : H. D. 
Pinney, of sub-district number five, and T. I. Chatfleld, at large, are hereby appointed commissionera 
until their successors are elected.as hereinafter provided. 

56. At the next election of corporaition offlcers of Owego, there shall be elected a school commis- 
Bloner from each district, and one at large, in the same manner and at the same time, as other cor- 
poration officers are elected, in place of those appointed in section five ; and thereafter at each annual 
charter election, two commissioners shall be elected to fill the places of the two whose terms of offlce 
will expire as hereinafter provided. 

§ 7. The board of commissioners shall be divided into three classes, and it shall be their duty within 
ten days after the first election under this act, to meet and determine by lot which two commission- 
ers shall serve for one year, which two shall serve for two years, and which two shall serve for threo 
years. 

§ 8. The board shall have power to fill all vacancies that may occur in their number, from any other 
cause than the expiration of their term of office, and the person so appointed shall hold his office until 
the next annual election of corporation officers. 

2 9. The board shall appoint a secretary and librarian, who shall hold their offlce at the pleasure of 
the board, and whose compensation shall be determined by them also. 

2 10. It shall be the duty of the board, previous to the fifteenth day of January, in each year, to esti- 
mate all the necessary expenses, over and above the pubUc moneys accruing to the said union school 
district for the following purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for houses, or sites with buildings thereon; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, improve and repair, school-houses, out-houses, fences or appur- 
tenances. 



924: OwEGO. 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, maps, charts, furniture and 
all necessary appendages, including books for indigent pupils only; 

4. To purchase fuel and pay teachers' wages ; also, to defray the necessary expenses of keeping the 
school-houses in order, including insurance, expenses of library and salary of librarian; to pay all 
expenses incurred by law, or necessary to carry into effect this act, and to refund loans legally con- 
tracted, and pay interest thereon. 

§ 11. It shall be the duty of the board of commissioners, after having made their estimates as above 
enumerated for the current year, to transmit the same to the trustees of the village of Owego, whose 
duty it shall be to incorporate the amount with the estimated corporation expenses of the village, and 
certify the same to the assessors of the corporation. 

§ 12. The additional amount so certified to the assessors shall be levied and collected at the same 
time, and in the same manner, and by the same officers, as the other village expenses are. 

§ 13. The board of commissioners shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To organize, establish and maintain such and so many schools in said union school district as they 
may deem necessary, or to alter or discontinue any of the same; 

To establish such rules and regulations concerning the order and discipline of said school, or schools, 
in the several departments thereof, as they may deem necessary to secure the best educational results ; 
to grade and classify the schools of the said union school district and to regulate the admission and their 
transfer from one class or department to another as their scholarship shall warrant ; to prescribe the 
text-books to be used in said schools, and to compel a uniformity in the use of the same, and to furnish 
the same to any pupil out of any moneys provided for that purpose ; 

2. To purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and improve the same ; 
also, to make loans when necessary, and pay all expenses legally incurred ; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, 
including books for indigent pupils, and provide fuel ; pay teachers' wages, insurance on buildings and 
property, salary of secretary and librarian, and defray contingent expenses of the schools and board of 
commissioners; 

4. To contract with, examine, license, and employ teachers in said schools, and at the pleasure of the 
board remove them. 

§ 14. It shall be the duty of the board to make an. annual report to the school commissioner of Tiosa 
county at the time, in the same manner, and to the same extent, as other schools are required by law to 
make. 

And said union school district, for the purposes of the apportionment and distribution of school mon- 
eys from any source, shall be recognized and regarded as a school district under the general school law 
of the State, and it is herein further provided that nothing in this act shall be construed to limit, 
restrain or annul the powers of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In all matters of dispute 
which shall be referred to him by appeal, and which shall arise uuder this act, or under and by virtue 
of any other act, which is now or shall hereafter be applicable to the school, school officers, teachers, 
patrons of schools, or school property of said union school district, his decision or orders shall be final 
and binding. 

§ 15, It shall be the duty of the supervisors of the town of Owego, on receipt of the public school 
moneys, to pay over the same to the treasurer of the village of Owego, whose duty it shall be to credit 
the same, with all other moneys that may come into his hands for school purposes, to the board of com- 
missioners, and pay out the same only on the orders of the board, signed by the president and counter- 
signed by the secretary thereof, which orders shall only be drawn in pursuance of a resolution of the 
commissioners. 

§ 16. All moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys appropriated to 
or provided for said union school district, shall be paid to the treasurer of the village of Owego. who, 
together with his sureties, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other funds of said 
village ; and the board of trustees, in fixing the amount of the treasurer's sureties, shall include the 
moneys received by virtue of this act. 

g 17. The amount raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses for any one year shall not be less 
than two nor more than four times the amount appropriated to said union school district, or the sev- 
eral districts and parts of districts composing the same, from all the common school funds of the State 
during the year previous; nor shall the amount to be raised in any one year, for the purchase of sites, 
erecting and repairing school-houses, and their appurtenances, exceed one thousand dollars, except as 
hereinafter provided. 

§18. It shall be the duty of the board, whenever in their Judgment it shall be necessary to raise 
more than the amount specified in the preceding section, to order an election for that purpose, and 
advertise the same for two weeks previous to said election in all the newspapers published in the said 
union school district, specifying the time when and the place where it will be held, and the object 
for which the money is to be raised; such election to be conducted by the board of commis- 
sioners, in the same manner and governed by the same rules and regulations as the usual charter 
election. 

2 19. The board are hereby authorized to make all needful rules, by-laws and regulations for their own- 
proceedings, and for the order and government of the schools and protection of the property under 
their control. 

§ 20. The title, safe-keeping and custody of all school-houses, sites and their appurtenances, books, 
furniture, and all other school property belonging to the said union school district, or to the former 
school districts and parts of districts included in and composing the same, shall be vested in the said 
board of school commissioners as a corporation, who shall have power to hold, dispose of, or transfer 
the same as the interest of the said union school district may seem to require. And said property while 
held for school purposes shall not be levied upon or sold, by virtue of any warrant, execution or other 
process, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose. 

§21. The various school offices in the several districts composing this union school district shall ter- 
minate whenever this act shall take effect, except so far as may be necessary to close up all unsettled 
business in their several districts. 

§ 23. It shall be the duty of the board of school commissioners to procure suitable blank books for the 
nse of the teachers to be employed in the schools under the charge of said board ; and it shall be the 
duty of each teacher, so employed, to enter in one of said blank books the names of the pupils attending 
his or her school or department thereof, their ages, the names of the persons who send them, and the 
number of days each pupil attends ; and also the facts and dates of each inspection of the school by the 
said board, or any member thereof, or other official visitor, any other facts, and in such form as_ the 
said board or the Superintendent of Public Instruction may require. And each teacher shall, by his or 
her oath or affirmation, verify his or her entries in such book ; and the entries so made and verified 
shall be regardedas prima facie correct, and shall constitute the record of facts herein required to be 
noted and kept ; also the school lists from which the daily, or average daily, attendance shall be deter- 
mined. And such oaths or affirmations may be taken before the president of the said board of school 
commissioners. And the president of said board of school commissioners shall have the power and_ it 
shall be his duty, when required, and without charge, to take any affidavit or administer and certify 



Oyster Bay. 925 

any oath or affirmation wittiin said union school district. In all cases pertaining to any school, school 
matter or proceeding under the charge or Jurisdiction of said board when any affidavit, oath, or affirma- 
tion may by law be authorized or required. 

g 24. Each member of the said board of school commissioners shall visit all the schools in said union 
school district under the charge of said board, at least once in each year of his official term, and the said 
board of school commissioners shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committee of 
their number at least once in each term, who shall report in writing to said board the condition of each 
school, and make such suggestions as they may deem useful or proper. 

§25. The record of the said board of school commissioners, or a transcript thereof, certified by the 
secretary under oath, shall be received in all courts and places as prima facie evidence of the facts 
therein set forth. 

g 26. Said board of school commissioners shall, at the end of each school year, submit a report in 
writing of their doings as such board for the preceding year, and shall state therein the number and con- 
dition of the schools in said union school district under their charge, and the number of scholars attending 
the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State, and from any other 
source, the expenditure of the same and for what purpose or objects, and all the particulars in detail 
relating to the schools in said union school district under their charge, and making any suggestions 
which they may think useful, which report may, if the board think proper, be published in one or more 
of the newspapers published in said union school district, the expenses of said pubUcation to be defrayed 
from any moneys in the hands of said board set apart for such purpose. 

§ 27. The board of school commissioners, in its corporate capacity, may take, hold and dispose of any 
real or personal estate, not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, transferred to it by gift, grant, 
devise, or bequest, for the use, benefit, or advantage of any particular school or schools organized under 
this act. 

g 28. Hereafter, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the village of Owego, immediately after the election 
of any person to the office of school commissioner, under this act, to notify him in writing of such elec- 
tion, and within ten days after receiving notice of such election (or in case the board appoint a com- 
missioner, one or more to fill a vacancy or vacancies, then within ten days after such appointment) : 
the said commissioner or commissioners, before he or they shall be permitted to discharge any of the 
duties of such office, shall take the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of this State, and file the 
same with the village clerk. 

§ 29. All former or existing acts, or parts of acts, repugnant to, or inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act, or the act to which this act is an amendment, are hereby repealed so far as relates to the said 
■union school district of the village of Owego. 

OrSTER BAY-DISTRICT No. 4. 

[Chap. 359, Laws of 1860. ] 

Section 1. School district number four in the town of Oyster Bay, in the county of Queens, shall form 
a permanent school district, and shall not be subject ;to alteration by the town superintendent, or 
school commissioners for the town in which said district Is situated. 

§ 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a hoard, to be styled " the board of education," 
which board shall consist of five members, three or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business. Daniel V. Weeks, Jacob F. Count and Jacob S. Underbill shall compose the 
first board of education, and shall hold their office from one to five years; that is to say, one shall go 
out of office in each year, and in the order in which their names stand recorded in this section. 

§ 3. There shall be elected in each year, in said district, one member of said board of education, who 
shall be a resident and taxable inhabitant of said district, and shall hold his office for five years. The 
said election shall take place at the annual meeting of said district; and the board of education shall 
appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said elections, and of all other elections provided for by 
this act, within thirty days next preceding any such election ; such election shall be by ballot, and 
notice thereof shall be given, the votes shall be canvassed, and the result of the election determined in 
the same manner as in the case of the annual election of town officers. 

§4. The board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government ; they shall have 
the entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and all the prop- 
erty belonging to the same; they shall have and possess, within said district, all the rights, powers, 
and authority of school commissioners. They may appoint a collector with all the powers and duties 
of a district collector, or may employ the town collector for that purpcse ; and such collector shall col- 
lect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district, to the treasurer of the board of educa- 
tion in the same manner and under the same conditions as are imposed by the laws of the town ol 
■which he is collector. They shall require two of the members of said board to visit each school in said 
district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teacher and advice to the pupils as 
may be necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly adhered to. 

5 5. The board of education of said district are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax 
in each year, upon all the taxable property in said district, such sums as may be necessary, not exceed- 
ing in amount one-half of one per cent on the value of such taxable property, as the same shall be 
assessed by the assessors of the town of Oyster Bay ; and the said boafrd shall add to the amount of any 
warrant for the collection of taxes such amount as they shall deem proper, as the collector's fees for 
collection of taxes, which compensation, however, shall in no case exceed five per cent on the amount 
of any warrant. (As amended by chap. 355, Laws of 1869.) 

2 6. The town supervisor of the town of Oyster Bay shall pay over to the treasurer of the board of 
education all the pubUc moneys to which said district number four shall be entitled for school 
purposes. 

§ 7. The said board of education shall call an annual district meeting at such time in the year as they 
think proper, and shall submit thereto a full report in writing of their doings as such board, and shall 
state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under their charge and the num- 
ber of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the 
State, as well as the amount required in the district for school purposes, and the expenditure of the 
same, and, generally, all the particulars relating to the schools in said district; which report shall, 
immediately after it is made, be pubhshed in a newspaper published in the town of Oyster Bay, for two 
weeks, and once in each week. 

2 8. The board of education shall have control and charge of the district school library in said dis- 
trict ; they may employ a librarian, make such addition to the library and such regulations In relation 
thereto as they shall deem necessary. 

2 9. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem 
it necessary ; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof in at 
least four public places in said village, and by publishing the same in a newspaper published in the vil- 
lage of Glen Cove, at least one week previous to the time fixed for said meeting, which notice shall 
state the time and place of such meeting, and the purpose for which the same is called ; and no busi- 
ness shall be transacted at any such special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. 



^26 Oyster Bay. 



OYSTER BAY -DISTRICT No. 5. 

(Village of Glen Cove.) 
[Chap. 573, Laws of 1857.] 

Sectiox 1. School district number five, in the town of Oyster Bay, in the countv of Queens. Including 
within its boundaries the village of Glen Cove, shall form a permanent school district, and shall not be 
subject to alterations by the town or county superintendent of common schools for said town of Oyster 
Bay, or said county of Queens. 

g 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled " the board of education ; " 
such board shall consist of five members, three of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 
of business. Isaac Coles, Joshua T. Wright, Stephen B. Craft, Joshua Kirk and Samuel Frost shall 
compose the first board of education, and shall hold their oflace from one to five years ; that is to say, 
one shall go out of office in each year, and in the order in which their names stand recorded in this 
section* 

§3. At the first annual meeting held in said district, and at each annual meeting thereafter, there 
shall be elected one member of said board of education, who shall hold his office for the term of five 
years ; also a district collector, both of whom shall be residents and tax payers in said district; and said 
collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the treasurer of the 
board of education, in the same manner and upon the same conditions as the town collector; and the 
board of education shall appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said election, and all other elec- 
tions as provided by this act, within thirty days next preceding any such election; such elections shall 
be by ballot, and notice thereof shall be given, the same shall be held and conducted, the votes shall 
be canvassed, and the result of the election shall be determined in the same manner as for town officers. 

§4. The said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting, choose one of their number for 
president, one for secretary, and one for treasurer, who shall hold office for one year. The treasurer 
shall execute a bond conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties, in such form and with such 
sureties as the said board shall approve. An election for said officers shall be held thereafter on the 
same day of the same week of the same month on which the first election was held. If from any cause 
the election shall not take place on the day appointed, it shall be held within one week thereafter. 
Until such election, the old officers shall continue to perform their respective duties. 

§ 5. The said board of education may make such by-laws as they may deem necessary for their own 
government; they shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools within 
their said district, and all the property belonging to the same ; they shall have and possess, within the 
said district, all the rights, powers and authority of town or county superintendent of common schools; 
they shall require one of the members of said board to visit each school in said district at least once in 
each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and 
to see that the rules aud regulations are strictly enforced. And the said board of education shall have 
the power to take by purchase and devise, and to hold any real and personal estate necessary for the 
purposes of this act, and also to sell and convey the school-house or school-houses, and site or sites, 
situated in the district, and to execute and deliver good and valid conveyances therefor, when author- 
ized by a majority of the votes of the tax payers of the said district present at a special meeting called 
for that purpose. 

§ 6. All moneys belonging to the said district shall be deposited in a bank or trust company, to bo 
designated by the board of education, or loaned out on interest upon ample security under the direction 
of the board of education. 

No moneys shall be paid out, or securities changed, except under the direction of the board of educa- 
tion, and then only by order of the president, countersigned by the secretary. 

g 7. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school-houses 
in said district, and before they shall proceed to raise any money as provided in section eight, they shall 
prepare an estimate, showing the location proposed, the cost of the ground, a plan of the building, with 
the estimated cost of construction, and shall submit the same to the electors of said district, at a special 
meeting to be called for that purpose, in the same manner as other special meetings are required to be 
called ; and if a majority of all the electors present shall vote in favor of the same, then the said board 
may proceed to erect said school-house or houses in the manner proposed by said estimate ; and if the 
sum authorized to be raised by section eight of this act should be insufficient to pay the estimated cost 
of such erection or erections and premises, with the expense of grading and regulating the grounds, 
building the necessary out-houses and fences, with the necessary books, stationery and appurtenances 
for the said school-house or houses and rooms ; then the said board of education may raise, in addition 
to the sum mentioned in section eight of this act, and in the manner therein authorized, a sum not 
exceeding one thousand dollars ; and they are also authorized to levy and collect such amount as may 
be necessary to pay the principal or interest of such addiaonal sum or sums, as the same may become 
due, in the manner provided by section nine of this act. 

i 8. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum, not exceeding 
three thousand dollars, for the purpose of erecting a school-house or houses in said district, either by 
tax on said district or a loan to be secured by a mortgage upon the public school property of said dis- 
trict, to be executed by said board in their official capacity, signed by the president and secretary, or by 
the issue of certificates of loan, in sums not less than one hundred dollars, the said certificates to be 
signed by the president of said board, and to be a lien upon the school district property. 

§ 9. The said board of education, in addition to the other taxes which they are authorized to raise by 
this acf, may levy and collect a sum sufficient to pay interest on loans as the same becomes due ; and 
whenever any part of the principal of such loans becomes due, they shall levy and collect an amount 
sufficient to pay the same ; which sums, when collected, shall be paid over by said board in discharge 
of such principal and interest. 

J 10. The said board of education is hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax !in 
each year such sum as may be necessary for teacher's wages and contingent expenses upon all of the 
taxable property in said district not exceeding sixty-five one hundredths of one per centum on the 
value of such taxable property, as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town of Oyster 
Bay, and the said board shall add to the amount of any warrant for the collection of taxes such 
amount as they shall deem proper, as the collector's fees for collection, which compensation, however, 
shall in no case exceed five per centum on the amount of any warrant. (Amended by chap. 236, Laws 
of 1869, and chap. 236, Laws of 1883.) 

§ 11. The town superintendent of common schools of the town of Oyster Bay, or the county superin- 
tendent of common schools of the county of Queens, whichever one it may be, shall pay over to the 
treasurer of the board of education all the public moneys to which said district shall be entitled for 
school purposes. 

§ 12. The said board of education shall call an annual district meeting at such time in the year as 



Palmyra. 92? 



they may think proper by giving the notice now required by law for annual meetings in school dis- 
tricts, and at such meeting they shall submit thereto a full report in writing of their doings at such 
board, and they shall state therein the number of children residing in the said district of whom public 
money is drawn, how many white children and how many colored ; they shall also state the number 
and condition of the schools in said district, under their charge, and the number of pupils attending 
the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State or other sources, as well 
as the amount raised in the district for school purposes, and the expenditures of the same, and generally 
all the particulars relating to the schools in said district. * 

g 13. The board of education shall have control and charge of the district school library in said dis- 
trict ; they may employ a librarian, make such additions to the library, and such regulations therefor 
as they shall deem necessary. 

2 14, A school for colored children may be organized by said board, and be supported in the same 
manner as other schools shall be supported, under and by virtue of this act. 

i 15. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem 
it necessary ; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof, in at 
least six public places in said district, and by publishing the same in the newspapers published in said 
district, at least one week previous to the time fixed for such meeting, which notice shall state the 
time and place of such meeting, and the purpose for which the same is called ; and no business shall 
be transacted at any such special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. 

g 16. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, as far as they relate to 
school district number five, in the town of Oyster Bay, county of Queens. 

IChap. 86, Laws of 1884.] 

Forming a new district from part of Districts Nos. 5 and 1, Oyster Bay. 

Section 1. The village of Sea Cliff, located in the present school districts numbers five and one of the 
towns of Oyster Bay, Queens county. New York, shall no longer constitute a, part of said districts, but 
the same shall hereafter be a separate school district, and known as school district number twenty-flve, 
of the town of Oyster Bay, Queens county. New York. The limits of said district shall correspond 
with and be the boundary lines of the village of Sea Cliff aforesaid, and shall include all the lands 
contained within the same. 

» 
PALMYRA. 

[Chap. 296. Laws of 1857-1 

Section 1. School district number one, in the town of Palmyra, Wayne county, shall form a perma- 
nent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the district commissioner of common 
schools, except by the consent and concurrent action of the board of education, hereinafter constituted 
for said district. 

2 2. The said consolidated district number one, heretofore comprising three districts in said town, 
shall receive such portion of the one-third of the public money distributed among the several school 
districts in pursuance of an act entitled " An act to establish free schools throughout the State," passed 
April twelfth, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, as such districts may be entitled to receive, estimating 
and computing each qualified teacher employed in said school for the period of six months, as a sepa- 
rate district. 

i 3. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled "the board of education of 
the Palmyra classical union school." And the said board of education as hereinafter organized, and 
their successors in office, are hereby constituted a body corporate, by the name of "the Palmyra classi- 
cal union school," and empowered to establish, organize and maintain a classical department in the 
school building now in said district in the village of Palmyra, by that name, which department shall 
be subject to the visitation of the Eegents of the University of this State, and to all laws and regula- 
tions applicable to the incorporated academies thereof, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such 
academies, and to a share in the distribution of the moneys of the literature fund of this State, as the 
academies thereof. And the said board shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties in 
respect to said district, that the trustees of common schools now possess or are subject to, together 
with such other powers and duties as are given and imposed by this act. 

The said board shall consist of nine members, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business, viz. : Stephen Hyde, Joseph W. Coming, Joseph C. Lovett, James Gallup, 
Martin Butterfleld, Lyman H. Tiffany, Ornon Archer, William F. Aldrich and George G. Jessup. The 
three first named shall constitute the first class and hold their office until the first Monday of Septem- 
ber, one thousand eight hundred and fiftv-seven ; the next three named shall constitute the second 
class, and hold their office until the first Monday of September, one thousand eight hundred and fifty- 
eight, the last three named shall constitute the third class, and hold their office until the first Monday 
of September, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine. 

There shall be elected on the first Monday of September of each and every year hereafter, three trus- 
tees to take the place of those whose term of office shall then have expired ; and all vacancies in the 
said board of education shall be filled at the annual meeting on the first Monday of September. The 
said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and 
may adjourn for any shorter time. 

Special meetings of the board may be called by the president, or, in his absence or inability to act, by 
the secretary of the board, as often as the interests of the school may demand, by giving personal 
notice to each member thereof, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his place of residence, 
at least twenty-four hours before the hour of meeting. And if any member of this board shall refuse 
or neglect to attend any three successive meetings of the board without satisfactory cause of non- 
attendance being shown, the board may declare his office vacant, and appoint some other person to fill 
such vacancy until ihe next annual meeting. No member of said board shall receive any pay or com- 
pensation for his services. 

I 4. There shall be elected at the first and at all subsequent annual meetings, a collector and a clerk,' 
■who shall hold their office for one year, and said election of officers shall be by ballot. Notice of the 
annual meetings shall be given by the clerk of said district at least one week previous to the time of 
holding said meeting, by publication in the village papers, and by posting notices thereof in at least 
five public places in said district. The president of the board of education shall preside at the annual 
meetings, and the clerk shall keep the record of their doings, as well as of all adjourned meetings. The 
officers of the meeting shall conduct the canvass of the ballots cast, declare the result, and the result 
shall be entered by the clerk in his book of records. 

J 5. The collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon the said district to the 
treasurer of the board of education. He shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties of 
A town collector, and shall, within ten days after receiving notice of his election, execute and deliver 



928 PEi^iT YAif. 

to said board of education, a bond, in such penalty and with such sureties as the said board may 
require, coaditioned for the faithful discharge ot his duties ; in case such bond shall not be given 
within ten days after receiving such notice, such office shall become vacated, and said board may ap- 
point a collector to supply such vacancy. 

§ 6. The said board of education shall, at their flrst meeting after the annual district meeting, choose 
one of their number for president, one for secretary and one for treasurer, who shall hold their offices 
for one year. In the absence of either of such officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president 
or secretary may be appointed for the time being. The election of such officers shall be held thereafter 
annually. If from any cause the election shall not take place on the day designated, it shall be held 
within one week thereafter, and until such election shall take place, the old officers shall continue to 
perform their respective duties. The treasurer shall, within ten days after receiving notice of his 
election, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond, with such penalty and with sureties as 
they may require. In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiving such notice, 
such office shall thereby become vacated, and said board of education may make an appointment to fill 
such vacancy. The record of the clerk of the district and the record of the secretary of the board, or a 
transcript thereof, certified by the president and clerk, shall be received in aU courts as ijrt/wa/acie evi- 
dence of the facts therein set forth. 

§ 7. The said board of education shall, at the annual district meeting in each year, submit a fiill 
report in writing of their acts as such board, and shall state therein the condition of the school in said 
district under their charge, the number of scholars in attendance, the amount of moneys received from 
the State and from all other sources, as well as the amount received from the district for school pur- 
poses, the expenditure of the same, and all matters of interest in detail relating to the schools in said 
district. 

5 8. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax, in 
each and every year, upon all the taxable property in said district, such sums of money voted to be 
raised at the annual and special meetings of said district. And in no instance shall the district be au- 
thorized to raise a sum exceeding the one-half of one per cent on the value of such taxable property, 
as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town as taken from the last assessment roll. Such 
sums of money shall be appUed to the payment of teachers' wages, the necessary contingent expenses 
of the school, insurance and repairs of school buildings in said district. An estimate of the amount of 
moneys to be raised by tax for the operation of the school shall be prepared by said board and presented 
at each annual meeting. 

§9. The title of all real and personal property belonging to said district shall be and the same is 
hereby vested in said board of education, and the said board in its corporate capacity may take and 
ho'd any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise for the use of the 
school in said district, also dispose of the same under the direction of a resolution passed at any annual 
meeting. They shall have power to divide the school into four grades or departments, including the 
academical department, and to fix the rate of tuition in each grade, and have the exclusive control and 
management of all public schools within said district. Said board shall have power to make all war- 
rants for the collection of taxes to be raised by them returnable in sixty days, and to renew the same 
whenever it shall become necessary, also be empowered to direct that the several, sums assessed may 
be raised in two or more installments. 

2 10. There shall be no more than four terms or quarters in each year of said school. The tuition fee 
in the several departments or grades in said school shall not, for the pupils whose parents or guardians 
reside within the territory of said district, exceed per term or quarter for each pupil as follows : that is 
to say: In the first grade or department such tuition fee shall not exceed one dollar; in the second 
grade, one dollar and twenty-five cents ; in the third grade, two dollars; and in the fourth grade, two 
dollars and fifty cents. The tuition for all other pupils admitted to said school shall be regulated by 
said board from time to time, as they shall deem necessary, and such amounts as they shall think 
proper. 

§ U. All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropriated to or provided 
for said district, shall be paid to the treasurer of said board. Said treasurer shall not pay out any of 
such moneys except by resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the president and certi- 
fied by the secretary, to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 

2 12. All moneys belonging to said district, or to which said district may be entitled for school or 
other purposes, in whosesoever hands the same may be, shall be paid over to the treasurer of said 
board of education. 

§ 13. The said board of education may call special meetings of the inhabitants of said district when- 
ever they may deem it necessary, and it shall become the duty of the clerk of the district, upon the 
requisitionof said board of education, to give public notice thereof by publishing the same in one or 
more newspapers published in the district, and by posting printed notices of the same in at least ten 
public places in the district. 

1 14. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as relates to 
school district number one, in the town of Pahnyra, aforesaid. 

PENN TAN. 

[Chap. 765, Laws of 1857.1 

Section 1. All that part of the county of Yates, including the village of Penn Yan, comprised within 
the following limits, that is to say : Beginning on the town line of Benton and Milo, at the north-east 
comer of lot number thirty-two, township number seven, in the first range in the said town of Milo ; 
thence south on the Une of lots to the south-east corner of lot number thirty-one in said township num- 
ber seven ; thence west on the line of lots to the center of a small gulf on or near Alfred Brown's land ; 
thence down the stream which runs in Said gulf to the road leading from the foot of the Crooked lake 
to Penn Yan, called Lake street ; thence along said road or street north-easterly toward Penn Yan, until 
it strikes the south-west line of a lot of land conveyed by Henrietta J. Monell to Calvin Carpenter : 
thence along said Carpenter's south-west Une to the Crooked Lake canal; thence up said canal to the 
lake ; thence along the north and west shore of said lake to a point where the west line of fraction lot 
number fifty-two, in the town of Jerusalem, strikes the lake ; thence north along the west line of said 
lot number fifty-two, and the west Une of lot number thirty-eight, in said township number seven, to 
the town Une of Benton and Milo ; thence westerly on the town line to the south-west corner of lot 
number sixty-three, in township number eight, first range, in the town of Benton ; thence north on the 
west Une of said lot number sixty-three to the north-west comer thereof; thenceeasterly on the line of 
lots, to the north-east corner of lot number forty-seven in said township number eight ; thence south 
along the line of lots to the place of beginning, shall hereafter, for the purposes in this act mentioned, 
form but one school distriet, which shall be called the Penn Yan union school district. 

2 2. The board of education hereinafter created shall have power, by resolution of said board, to alter 
and change the boundaries of said district, by and with the written consent of the school commissioner 
in Yates county. 



Penk Ya2T. 929 

2 3. The following named persons, to wit: Daniel W. Streeter, Martin Spqncer, George Wagener, Levi 
0. Dunning, Benedict W. Franklin, Darius A. Ogden,Ebenezer B. Jones, Charles C. Sheppard and Jere- 
miah S. Gillett, resident in the said district, and their successors to he chosen as hereinafter provided, 
are hereby constituted a corporation by the name of " The board of education for the village of Penn 
Yan." The three persons first named in this section shall hold their office until the first Monday of 
January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine ; the three persons next named shall hold their 
office until the first Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty, and the three persons 
last named shall hold their office until the first Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and 
sixty-one, and until their successors shall be chosen, and enter upon the discharge of the duties of their 
offices respectively. 

2 4. The term of office of the trustees to be elected under the provisions of this act shall be three 
years from the first Monday of January next succeeding their election, and until their successors shall 
enter upon the discharge 6i the duties of their offices respectively. The annual meeting of said district 
shall be held on the first Monday of October in each year, at such time and place in said district as the 
board of education shall previously appoint. The president of the board, or, in his absence, the presi- 
dent for the time being, shall preside, and the district clerk, or, in his absence, the clerk for the time 
being, shall act as secretary thereof. 

2 5. At the annual meeting in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, three trustees shall 
be elected to fill the places of the three persons first named in the third section of this act. The places 
of the next three shall be filled at the annual meeting in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty- 
nine, and of the next three in like manner in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty, and an- 
nually thereafter on the day above specified for the first election, there shall in like manner be elected 
three trustees to fill the places of those whose terms of office shall next thereafter expire, as herein pro- 
Tided. Every officer elected under this act shall enter on the duties of his office on the first Monday of 
January next succeeding his election. Within ten days after any such election, the clerk shall certify 
to the board of education the names of the officers so elected. 

§ 6. Said board of education, and their successors in office, shall be a corporate body in relation to all 
the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of this act, or of any law, and a majority of the 
board shall form a quorum. 

2 7. There shall annually be appointed by said board of education a clerk, collector, librarian, and treas- 
urer of said union district, who shall each within ten days after receiving notice in writing of his ap- 
pointment, and before entering upon the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of edu- 
cation a bond, in such penalty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the 
faithful discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given within teo days 
after receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and said board of education shall 
thereupon make an appointment to supply such vacancy, 

2 8. Notices for annual elections and all other meetings of said district shall be given by said board of 
education at least ten days before such election or meeting, by publishing such notice once in each of 
the newspapers printed in the village of Penn Yan, and by posting the same on the door of each school- 
house in said district. 

29. In case of a vacancy in said board, orof any other office mentioned In this act occasioned by inca- 
pacity or any other cause other than the expiration of the term of office, said board of education may 
make an appointment to fill said vacancy for the unexpired term. 

2 10. Said board of education shall pos'sess all the powers and rights, and be subject to all the duties 
in respect to said district, and all the schools under their charge, that the trustees of common schools 
now have or may possess or be subject to, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed 
by law. The clerk, collector, and librarian of said district shall possess all the powers and be subject 
to all the duties in respect to said district that like officers of common schools now have or may 
possess, or be subject to, and such other powers and duties as are or may be given or imposed by 
law. 

2 ll.^From and after the first meeting of the board of education under this act, the office of trustee, 
librarian and collector, in each of the school districts included within the limits of the said union 
school district, shall be abolished, and the title of the property of the said school districts, and of the 
said union district, real and personal, shall from thenceforth become the property of and be invested in 
the said board of education in its corporate capacity, as created by this act ; and said board shall settle 
all business of the several school districts and parts of districts iii said union district, then remaming 
unsettled. 

? 12. The said board of education shall, at its said first meeting, and annually thereafter, at their 
meeting held next af'er the first Monday of January in each year, appoint one of their number presi- 
dent. The clerk of said union district shall act as secretary to said board. In the absence of either 
of said officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president and secretary may be apijpinted for the 
time being. 

2 13. The said clerk, in addition to such other duties as are or may be imposed on him bv law, or 
required of him by the board, shall keep a record of the proceedings of said board of education, which 
record, or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and secretary, shall be received in all courts, 
and for all purposes, as presumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth. 

2 14. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize a classical school in the village of Penn Yan, to be known by the name 
of "the Penn Yan academy," which school shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the 
University of this State, and to all laws and regulations applicable to the incorporated academies there- 
of, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, and to share in the distribution of the 
moneys of the literature fund of this State, as the academies thereof; 

2. To establish and organize such and so many primary schools in said district, including for that 
purpose the common schools therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedient; and to alter and dis- 
continue, or change antl consolidate the same ; 

3. To build, purchaso or hire school-houses, rooms, lots, or sites for school-houses, and to fence, im- 
prove, adorn and repair the same, as they may think proper ; 

4. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any lot or site now owned by any school district within the 
limits of said union district erected by this act, to build, enlarge, alter, improve, adorn and repair 
school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable ; 

5. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, globes, maps, furniture and appen- 
dages, books for indigent pupils and for the school library, to provide fuel and lights, and defray the 
contingent expenses of the schools, the expenses of the library, and the salary of the librarian ; 

6. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, and all the real and per- 
Bonal proijerty of the said union school district and primary schools, and see that the ordinances and 
by-laws ot said board in relation thereto be observed ; 

7. To contract with and employ all teachers in any of the schools under their charge, and in all 
branches or departments thereof and at their pleasure to remove them ; 

8. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public moneys and tuition fees received by them, 
and the deficiency, if any, out of the moneys to be raised by tax for general purposes of education 

under this act; 

il? 



930 PENif YAjH. 

9. To fix the ratio of tuitjon fees in said academy, if any sliall bo cliarged, and to designate some 
person or persons to whom the same maybe paid previous to issuin,:? the warrant for the collection 
thereof, and, by a resolution of said board, to be recorded by the secretary, to exempt from the whole or 
any part of the tuition fees, such persons as they may deem entitled to such exemption from indigence 
or any other sufficient cause, and to graduate such tuition fees according to branches of instruction 
pursued ; 

HI. To make out a rate bill as often as they shall deem proper, containing the name of each person 
liable to pay tuition fees, for titition in said academy, who shall not have paid the same prior to making 
out such rate bill, and the amount for which such person is liable, adding thereto a sum not exceeding 
livo cents on each dollar foi collector's fees (which fees shall be fixed by said board at the time of 
making out every rate bill), to annex thereto a warrant for the collection thereof, to be signed by the 
president of said board, or a majority of the members thereof, and deliver the same to the collector, 
who shall collect the same in the same manner as collectors of school districts are by law authorized 
and required to execute like warrants issued by the trustees of common school districts, and who, in 
the execution of the same, shall be under the same protection, possess aU the powers, and be subject 
to all the duties, as such collectors may have or possess, and be subject to in respect to like warrants ; 
and for this purpose the jurisdiction of said board of education and of said cohector shall extend to any 
other district or town, and to any resident thereof who may be liable for such tuition in said academy, 
in the same manner, and with like authority, as to said union district or residents thereof ; 

11. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of aU the 
schools mentioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of this act ; to prescribe the course of 
studies therein, the books to be used, and establish an uniformity in respect to such course of study 
and books ; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify, and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules, 
regulations and ordinances, for the organization, government and instruction of such schools; for the 
reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another; for the expulsion of any pupil from 
any of said schools for misconduct; for the promotion of good order in said schools, their prosperity 
and public utility ; for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots,_sites, 
fences, ornamental trees and shrubbery, and apptirtenances, and all other property connected with or 
appertaining to such schools ; and to cause such rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws to be 
prmted and pubhshed in such manner as they may deem best calculated to give general informa- 
tion. 

§15. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall he their duty torth with to purchase a 
suitable lot, so situated as best to accommodate the whole of said union district so far as practicable, 
and procure a clear title thereof, to be vested by deed in said board of education; to cause said lot to 
be properly graded, fenced, planted with trees and otherwise properly improved; to erect thereon a 
suitable and proper building or buildings and necessary out-houses, to furnish the same with all proper, 
useful, and necessary furniture, apparatus and appendages, as soon as the building is in a proper condi- 
tion, employ a safflcient number of well qualified teachers, and cause a school to be commenced 
therein to be called "the Penn Yan academy," in which shall be taught only the higher branches of 
education. All the other schools in said union district, including the common schools therein, and 
which shall be under the charge of the board of education, shall be known as primary schools, in 
which no tuition fee shall be charged, nor any rate bill made out. but the same shall be free schools. 
Said primary schools shall be used as preparatory schools for the instruction of children until they 
arrive at a certain age, or attain a certain proficiency in learning, who shall then be transferred, upon 
proper testimonials, into the academy aforesaid, the age, qualifications, and testimonials to be pre 
scribed by the by-laws, rules and regulations of the board of education. 

§ 16. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, from time to time, 
by tax upon all the real and personal estate within the bounds of said union district which shall be 
liable to taxation for town and county charges, such sums of money as may be determined by resolu- 
tion of said board to be necessary for any and all the purposes mentioned in this act, or to meet any 
deficiency connected with the subject of education in said district, to provide for which, power 
shall be given to the said board by the provisions of this act or any law relating to common schools, or 
-the rules and regulations of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Said board of education shall, at 
the commencement of each j^ear, make an estimate, by the best means in their power, of the amount 
of money which will be needed for all the purposes of education, and other purposes provided for by 
this act, over and above the public moneys, and moneys to be received from other sources, if any, and 
shall cause the same to be raised by one assessment or warrant, and not tit '- than two taxes for such 
purpose shall ever be raised in one year. For the collection of such taxes the board of education may 
employ the village or town collector at their discretion. The said board of education shall not have 
power to raise by tax, in any one year, for the purpose of this act, except to carry into effect section 
fifteen of this act, any further or greater sum than twelve hundred dollars,;unless they shall be author- 
ized to do so by a vote of a meeting of the persons qualified to vote in said union district for school dis- 
trict taxes, at an annual meeting of the said district, or at a special meeting of the inhabitants to be 
called by the board of education for that purpose. .^ ,. ^ 

1 17. For the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of section fifteen of this act, the said board 
of education shall, as soon as practicable, make an estimate of the money which will in their opinion 
be necessary therefor, and shall assess, levy, and collect the same, by tax upon the real and personal 
estate as specified in section sixteen of this act. They shall for this, and all other taxes raised by them, 
make out a tax list in the manner and form in which tax lists are required to be made by trustees ot 
school districts, so far as such form is apphcable, annex thereto a warrant in like form, signed by the 
president or a mnjoritv of the members of said board, anddeUver the same to the collector, which waen 
so made and si'-cned >-hall be as eflectual, to all intents and purposes, as Uke tax lists and warrants when 
made by the trustees of common school districts. Said board may, in respect to the collection ol 
taxes conform to the provisions of the twenty-ninth, thirtieth, and thirty-first sections of chapter one 
hundred and eighty, of Session Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and require the 
.collector to coniplv with the provisions of said sections, so far as the same are applicable. Said board 
may make their warrants returnable at discretion, not less than thirty days, nor more than ninety days 
from the issuing thereof. The said board may assess, levy, and collect the amount ot taxes to be raised 
under this section, in not less than three annual installments. 

2 U All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropriated to or provided 
^r«aid district, shall be paid to the treasurer of said board, who, together with the sureties upon 
Ihis official bond, shall be accountable therefor to the said board of education ; said treasurer shall not 
pay out any of such monevs except bv resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the presi- 
dent and certified by the.secretary, to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 



inabi 



'd 19 Special meetings of the board of education may be called by the president, or, in his absence or 
^i^ability toact, by the secretary or any member of said board, as often as necessary, by giving per- 
sonal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be lett ^t bis place 
of residence at least twenty-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. No member ot said 

oard shall receive any pay orcompensation for his .services. 

1 20. Said board of education shall annuady make a like report In all respects as required from trustees 



Peni^ Yan. 931 

of common school districts to tlie school commissioner. They shall make reports only of the number 
of scholars attendins any school in said union district, and the ages thereof, so far as the same shall be 
necessary to ascertain and apportion the public money to be paid to said district. Such reports shall 
be received by the school commissioner instead of the reports now made by trustees of the school dis- 
tricts included iu said union district. The supervisors of the several towns from which the said union 
district is takeashall, in making their apportionment of school or library moneys, allot to said union 
district its proportion of said moneys according to law, regulating its apportionment to districts formed 
out of two or more towns, and the report of its board of education shall be regarded as the reports ol 
its trustees. All such sums shall be paid by said supervisors to the treasurer of said board of educa- 
tion, at the same time and in the same manner as to trustees of school districts. A copy of the re- 
ports of said board of cdtication shall be filed with the clerk or secretary of the board. The board of 
education shall, at the close of each year, publish in one ormore of the village newspapers a report of 
the moneys received and expended by them during the year, showing the sources from whence re- 
ceived, and the objects of expenditure. 

§ 21. Whenever, in the opinion of said hoard, a sale or exchange of any primary school-house or house 
and lot would be proper, said board may cause such sale or exchange to be made, and may buy a new- 
site, or may at any time build a new house for the accommodation of any portion of said district. 

? 22. All the school property of said board of education, real and personal, while used for and appro- 
priated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to 
be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution. Said board of education, In their corpo- 
rate capacity, shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, transferred to it by 
gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of said district, or any schools under their charge. Said board 
shall not have power to sell, grant, dispose of or Incumber said academy school lot. No portion of the 
library money paid to said board of education shall be expended for teachers' wages, but shall be appro- 
priated exclusively for the increase and benefit of the library. 

§23. All the lands included in the bounds of said union district shall be subject to taxation therein 
under this act, without regard to the residence of the owners thereof, and the board of education may 
cause them to be returned to the county treasurer in the same manner as trustees of common school 
districts are authorized to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non-residents of their dis- 
tricts for unpaid taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of 
such taxes out of any moneys in the county treasury not otherwise specifically appropriated, and such 
proceedings in all respects shall thereupon be had in relation to such taxes and lands as required by 
law in relation to such lands when so returned by trustees of common school districts. 

§ 24. The said board of education may permit children of persons not resident within said union dis- 
trict to attend any school in said union district on such terms as they may prescribe ; and said board 
may in their corporate name sue for and recover of the persons liable therefor all such sums as shall 
be so prescribed, with costs of suit. 

? 25. The said board of education are hereby authorized to obtain by loan the whole or any part of 
the moneys required to be expended by them in section fifteen of this act, and to repay the same, 
with interest, when collected Jby tax under the provisions of section seventeen of this act. All the 
moneys authorized to be raised or loaned by this act for the purposes of said section shall not exceed 
the sum often thousand dollars, exclusive of interest. 

§ 26. The said board of education are hereby authorized to raise by tax, according to the provisions of 
said section seventeen, the annual interest of the above-mentioned loan or loans, and to pay over the 
same in discharge of such interest, and also in each year in which an installment of said loan or loans 
shall become due, a sum equal to that installment, and to pay over the same in discharge thereof. 

§27. The taxes imposed by the provisions of this act shall be a lien upon the lands taxed, to be en- 
forced and collected by sale in the manner that county taxes are, upon a return to be made by the col- 
lector to the treasurer of the county of all unpaid taxes in said district. 

? 28, "Whenever any officer of the said union district, or of the said board of education, shall have paid 
any moneys in or about the prosecution or defense of any suit commenced by or against him, in the 
discharge of the duties of his office, or for acts done by color thereof, it shall be the duty of the said 
board of education, unless it shall appear to them that the same were paid in consequence of the willful 
neglect or misconduct of the claimant, to ascertain the amount thereof by the best means iu their 
power, and to cause the same to be assessed upon and collected of the taxable inhabitants of said dis- 
trict, in addition to the sums authorized to be raised for school purposes in said district by this act; 
and when so collected to pay over the same to the person entitled thereto by virtue of this act. 

2 29. The provisions of sections twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty -four, twenty-five and twenty-eight 
of chapter one hundred and twenty-nine, and of section three, chapter one hundred aud eighty, Laws 
of eighteen hundred and fifty-six, shall apply to aud form a part of this act. 

\_Chap. 5.] 

An Act to enable " the Board of Education for the village of Penu Yan " to raise money for school 

purposes. 

Passed February 2, 1886 ; three-fifths being present. 
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

Section l. " The board of education for the village of Penn Yan " shall, within thirty days after the 
passage of this act. assess upon the taxable property in " the Penn Yan union school district " the sum 
of four thousand eight hundred dollars and make out the tax-list therefor, and annex thereto their 
warrant for its collection. The valuations of taxable property for such assessment shall' be ascertained 
so far as possible, from the assessment-rolls of the towns in which said school district is situated for 
the year eighteen hundred and eighty-four, but otherwise such assessment shall be made in accordance 
with existing laws. 

2 2. The said " board of education " shall have the power to borrow, from time to time, and until 
the tax provided for in the preceding section of this act shall be collected, upon the credit of said 
district, a sum not exceeding four thousand eight hundred dollars, upon such term of credit not ex- 
ceeding one year, and at a rate of interest not exceeding six per cent per annum, as shall seem to them 
for the best interests of said school district ; and to secure the payment of said loan, said " board of 
education" are authorized to make, execute and deliver notes or other obligations, which shall be 
signed by the president and secretary of said board ; and said notes or other obligations shall be a valid 
liability against the taxable property in said district ; the said money so borrowed shall be appropriated 
by said board to paying the expenses of supporting and maintaining the schools in said school district 
during the school j'ear, commencing August twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five and 
ending June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and for no other purposes. ' 

g 3. This act shall take eflect immediately. 



932 Phelps — Phcenix, 

PHELPS. 

iChap. 553, Laws of 1855.] 

Section 1. The inhabitants of school district number eight, in the town of Phelp=5. county ^-^f Ontario 
shall, at the next election of a trustee of said district, and at such election everv third year thereafter' 
elect two additional trustees thereof, making the whole number of trustees thereof five The two' 
additional trustees shall respectively hold their offices for three years, and until others are elected in 
their respective places. 

2 2. The trustees of said district shall have authority to make regulations respecting the attendance 
of the children of the district in the departments thereof, the transfer of them from one department to 
another, and the instruction and studies to be given and pursued in the departments thereof. 

§ 3. The said trustees and their successors in office are hereby created a body corporate, by the name 
of " Phelps union and classical school," and empowered to establish and organize a classical school by 
that name in said district and village of Phelps ; which school shall be subject to the visitation of the 
Regents of the University of this State, and to all laws and regulations applicable to the incorporated 
academies thereof, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, and to share in the dis- 
tribution of the moneys of the literature fund of this State, as the academies thereof; provided how- 
ever, that this act shall not affect the rights and duties of said trustees and district under the statutes 
of this State relating to common schools. 

[Chap. 54, Laws of 1865.] 

Section ]. The trustees of school district number eight, of the town of Phelps, in Ontario county 
shall not, hereafter, collect or receive any fees or compensation foi instruction in the school under the 
charge of said trustees of said district, of pupils whose parents or guardians reside within the territory 
embraced in said district. The charges for tuition of all other pupils admitted into said school shall be 
regulated by the board of trustees thereof, from time to time as thev shall deem proper. 

52. Any sums necessary for the payment of teachers' wages, after applying to that purpose any 
moneys or income in the hands or under the control of the said board of trustees, applicable thereto, shall 
be levied and collected upon the taxable property of said district, as other taxes are now or may here- 
after be required by law to be levied and collected, and such sums may be levied and collected for the 
year in advance, or otherwise, as may be deemed advisable. 

PHCENIX. 

[ Chap. 45», Laws o/ im5.] 

Sectiox 1 . All that part of the town of Schroeppel now included in the village of Phcenix, and all that 
shall hereafter be added thereto, and all the territory now included in what is known as school district 
number twelve, shall hereafter form but one school district, to be known as the " Phoenix free school 
district," for the purpose and to the extent in this act specified, 

52. The following named persons, to wit : John N. Gillis, Edmund Merry, Governeur M. Sweet, 
Alfred Morton, Mathew S. Cushman and Enoch S. Brooks, and their successors in office, to be chosen 
as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a corporation by the name of " the board of education 
for the Phoenix academy and free school." 

2 3. Two of said persons shall hold office until January first, eighteen hundred and sixty-six. two 
until January first, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and two until January first, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-eight, and the persons holding such terms shall be designated by lot on the first meeting of 
said board of education. 

1 4. The annual meeting of the electors of said free school district shall be held on the second 
Tuesday in October in each j'ear. at such hour and place in said district as the board of education 
shall designate. The president of the board of education, or, in his absence, the president forthe time 
being, shall preside, and the clerk, or, in his absence, the clerk for the time being, shall act as secretary 
thereof. 

85. At the annual meeting to be held in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, two 
members of the board of education shall be elected to fill the places of the two persons first named in 
section three of this act. The places of the next two shall be filled at the annual meeting to be held in 
the year one thousand eig-ht hundred and sixty-six, and annually thereafter, on the second Tuesday 
of October, there shall in like manner be elected two members to fill the places of those whose terms 
of office shall next thereafter expire. Every officer elected under this act shall enter on the duties of 
his office on the first Monday of January next succeeding his election, and shall continue in office for 
the term of three years. At the first regular meeting of the board of education after any such elec- 
tion, the clerk shall certify to the board the names of the officers so elected. 

2 6. Said board of education shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties con- 
ferred upon them by virtue of the provisions of this act, and a majority of the board shall form a 
quorum. 

27. At the first regular meeting of the board of education, held in January in each year, they shall 
appoint a clerk, librarian, collector and treasurer of said district, the last two of whom shall each within 
twenty days after receiving written notice of his appointment, and before entering upon the duties of 
his office, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond in such penalties and with such sure- 
ties as the said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. 

2 8." In case of a vacancy in any elective office mentioned in this act, occasioned by the death of 
such officer, his removal from the district, refusal to serve, his incapacity, or any cause other than the 
expiration of the term of office of persons so elected, said boanl of education may make an appoint- 
ment to fill such vacancy. The officer so appointed shall hold his office until the next annual election, 
when the inhabitants shall fill such vacancy by an election for the unexpired term thereof. 

2 9. Notices for annual meetings and all other meetings of said district shall be given by the board of 
education at least ten days before such meeting, by publishing such notice once in each of the news- 
papers printed in the village of Phoenix, and by posting the same on the door of each school-house in 
said school district. 

2 10. Said board of education and the clerk, the librarian, and the collector of said district, shall sev- 
erally possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties and liabilities in respect to all the schools 
in said district, that the trustees and other officers of comm on schools now possess or shall be subject 
toby law, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. 

§11. From and after the first meeting of the board of education under this act, the offices of trustees, 
librarian, clerk and collector in each of the school districts included within the limits of the said free 
school district shall cease, and the title of the property of the said school districts, real and personal 



PHa:Nix. 933 

shall from thenc?forth become the property of, and be vested iti, the sf\i'l board of education in Us 
corporate capacity, as creatert by this act ; and said board shall settle all business of the school districts 
forming said free school district then remaining unsettled. 

§ 12. The said board of education shall, at their said lirst meeting, a«d uniformly thereafter at their 
meeting to be held next after the first Monday of January, in each year, appoint one of their number 
president. The clerk of said district shall act as secretary to said board. In the absence of either ol 
said officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president and secretary may be appointed for the 
time being. 

2 13. The said clerk, in addition to such other duties as are or may be imposed on him by law 
or required of him by the board, shall keep a record of the proceedings of said board of education, 
which record, or a transcript thereof certified by the president and secretary, shall be received in all 
courts and for all purposes as presumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth. 

2 14. The said board of education shall have power and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize a classical school in the village of Phoenix, to be known by the name ot 
" the Phoenix academy," which school shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the Univer- 
sity of this State and to all laws and regulations applicable to the incorporated academies thereof, and 
shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies and to share in the distribution of the moneys 
of the literature fund of this State the same as the other academies thereof; 

2. To establish and organize such and so many primary and intermediate schools or departments in 
said district, including for that purpose the common schools therein, as they shall deem requisite and 
expedient, and to alter and discontinue or change and consolidate the same ; 

3. To build, purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school -houses, and to fence, 
improve, adorn and repair the same as they may think proper ; 

4. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any lots or sites, now owned by any school district, within the 
limits of said district erected by this act.to build, enlarge, alter, improve, adorn and repair school- 
houses, out-houses and appurtenances as they may deem advisable ; 

5. To purchase, exchange and improve and repair school apparatus, globes, maps, furniture and 
appendages, books for indigent pupils, and for the school library, to provide fuel and lights and defray 
the contingent expenses of the schools, of the board, the library, and to pay the salary of the librarian 
and clerk ; 

6. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, and all the real and perso- 
nal property belonging or which shall belong to said district and primary schools, and to see that the 
ordinances and by-laws of said board in relation thereto be observed ; 

7. To contract with and employ teachers competent and legally qualified in the several departments 
of instruction, to remove them at any time for neglect of duty or immoral conduct, and to pay the 
wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated for that purpose ; 

8. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public moneys and tuition fees received for that pur- 
pose, and the deficiency, if any, out of the monej'S to be raised by tax for general purposes of educa- 
tion under this act ; 

9. To fix the rates of tuition fees in said academy and to designate some person or persons to whom 
the same may be paid ; 

10. To have In all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of all the 
schools mentioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of this act, to prescribe the course of 
studies therein, the books to be used, and to establish a uniformity in respect to such courses of study 
and books, from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules, 
regulations and ordinances for the organization, government and instruction of such schools, for the 
reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, for the expulsion of any pupil from 
any of said schools for misconduct, for the promotion of morals and good order in said schools, their 
prosperity and public utiUty. for the protection, safe-keeping and care and preservation of school-houses, 
lots, sites, fences, ornamental trees, and shrubbery, and other appurtenances, and all other property 
connected with or appertaining to such school-houses, and to cause such rules, regulations, ordinances 
and by-laws, to be prmted and published in such a manner as they may deem best calculated to give 
general information thereof; 

11. The said board of education shall have power and it shall be their duty to raise, from time to 
time, by tax upon all the real and personal estate within the bounds of said district which shall be 
liable to taxation for town and county charges, such sums of money as may be determined by resolution 
of said board to be necessary for any and all the purposes mentioned in this act, or to meet any defi- 
ciency for any purposes of education in said district, to provide for which power is hereby given to said 
board by the provisions of this act, or any law relating to common schools, or the rules, regulations, or 
any order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; 

12. Said board of education shall, at the commencement of each year, make an estimate, by the best 
means in their power, of the amount of money which will be needed for all the purposes of education 
and other purposes provided for by this act, over and above the public money ani moneys to be 
received from the other sources, if any, and shall cause the same to be raised upon one assessment or 
warrant, and not more than two taxes for such purpose shall be raised in one year. 

The amount of money so to be raised for teachers' wages, to be raised in anyone year, shall not be less 
than the amount received from the State for the support of said schools for the year next preceding, 
nor shall more than four times that amount be raised by the board of education for any purpose, unless 
such greater amount shall be authorized by a vote of the voters at school meetings of said school dis- 
trict, at an annual or special meeting of such district, when they shall have power to vote such sum 
or suras as they may deem necessary for such purposes. 

5 15. All the primary and intermediate schools and departments, and the academy in said school dis- 
trict, and which shall be under the charge of tlie board of education, shall be free schools, and no 
tuition shall be charged, nor any rate bill made out for the tuition in the regular or prescribed course 
of study of any pupils of lawful school age, who are or may be actual residents of said free school dis- 
trict, but said board of education shall have power to establish or charge such rates of tuition as they 
shall see tit for non-resident pupils, and for the instruction of all pupils in any branch of learning not 
embraced in the regular course of study prescribed by said board of education. 

§ 16. They shall, for all taxes raised by them, make out a list in the manner and form in which tax 
lists are or shall be required by law to be made by trustees of school districts, so far as such form is ap- 
pUcable, annex thereto a warrant in like form signed by the president or majority of the members of 
said board, and deliver the same to the collector, which, when so made and signed, shall be as effectual 
to all intents and purposes as like tax lists and warrants, when made by the trustees of common 
school districts in this State. Said board may, in respect to the collection of taxes, conform to the pro- 
visions of the twenty-ninth, thirtieth and thirty-first sections of chapter one hundred and eighty of 
Session Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-flve, and require the collector to comply with 
the provisions of said section so far as the same are applicable. Said board may make their warrants 
returnable at discretion, not less than thirty nor more than ninety days from the issuing thereof 
The said board may assess, levy and collect the amount of taxes to be raised under the preceding sec- 
tions in not more than two annual installments. 



934 Plattsburgh. 

bond, shall be accountable therefor to the said board of education ; said treasurer shall not pay out any 
of such moneys except in accordance with a resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the 
president and certified by the secretary, to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 

§ 18. Special meetings of the board of education may be called by the president, or. in his absence or 
inability to act, by the secretary or anymember of said board, as often as necessary, by giving personal 
notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his place of 
residence at least twenty-four hours before, the hour for such special meeting. No member of said 
board shall receive, directly or indirectly, any pay or compensation for his services. 

§ 19. The said board of education shall annually make a like report in all respects as required from 
trustees of common school districts to the school commissioner. .Such report shall be received by the 
school commissioner instead of the reports now made by trustees of the school districts included in the 
said union district. 

The school moneys received for said district by the supervisors shall be paid by tl>e said supervisors 
to the treasurer of said board of education. A copy of the reports of said boards of education shall be 
filed with the clerk or secretary of the board. The board of education shall, at the close of each 
school year, publish, in one or more of the village newspapers, a report of the moneys received and 
expended by them during the year, showing the sources from whence received and the objects of ex- 
penditure, and such other matters pertaining to public instruction in said district as they shall deem 
expedient. 

g 20. Whenever, in the opinion of said board, a sale or exchange of any primary school-house or house 
and lot would be proper, said board may cause such sale or exchange to be made, and may buy a new 
site, or may at any time build a new school-house for the accommodation of any portion of said dis- 
trict when authorized thereto by a vote of a majority of the taxpayers of said district, present and vot- 
ing at any annual or special meeting called together as herein provided. 

?21. All the school property of said board of education, real and personal, while used for and appro- 
priated to school purposed, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to 
be levied upon or sold by virtue of any execution. Said board of education, in their corporate capacity, 
shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, grant, 
bequest, or devise, for the use of said district or any schools under their charge. Said board shall not 
have power to sell, grant, dispose of or incumber said academy or school lots. No portion of the li- 
brary money paid to said board of education shall be expended for teachers' wages, but shall be appro- 
priated exclusively for the increase and benefit of the library and for school apparatus. 

2 22. All the lands included in the bounds of said district shall be subject to taxation herein under 
this act, without regard to the residence of the owners thereof, and the board of education may cause 
them to be returned to the county treasurer in the same manner as the trustees of common schools are 
authorized to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non-residents of their districts for un- 
paid taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to the treasurer of said board the amount 
of said taxes out of any moneys in the county treasury not otherwise specifically appropriated, and 
such proceedings in all respects shall thereupon be had in relation to such taxes and lands as required 
by law in relation to such lands when so returned by trustees of common school districts. 

§ 23. The caxes imposed by the provisions of this act shall be a lien upon the lands taxed, to be en- 
forced and collected by sale in the manner that county taxes are, upon a return to be made by the 
collector to the treasurer of the county of all unpaid taxes in said district. 

i 24. The board of education of said district is hereby empowered, and it shall be their duty at their 
first regular meeting after the passage of this act, to levy a tax in accordance with the twelfth article of 
the fourteenth section of this act, for the support of the schools in said district, for the current 
school year, and to settle and pay all demands and accounts of the old school district. 

§25. The district hereby created shall, except as hereinbefore specially provided, be possessed of all 
the powers and be subject to all the provisions of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the Laws or 
eighteen hundred and sixty-four, so far as the same are applicable thereto. 

1 Chap. 179. Laws of 1883. and chap. 189, Laws of 1886 ] 
Authorize the borrowing of money to enlarge the school-house and to pay indebtedness, 
PLATTSBURGH— DISTRICTS Nos. 1, 2 AND 5. 
{Chap. 810, Laivs o/1867, ] 

^Section 1 All that contiguous territorv comprised in school districts numbers one, two and five. In 
the town of Plattsburgh, is hereby consolidated into one school district, under the name and descrip- 
tion of free union school district number one, of the town of Plattsburgh (it being the village of 
Plattsburgh and some additional territory) ; and hereafter all the schools therein, including the acad- 
emy shall be under the superintendence, care, management and control of one board ot education and 
its successors, to be constituted and organized as hereinafter provided. ^ ^ ^ , ^ ^r^ « f 

? 2 Except as modified by this act, so much of title nine of chapter five hundred and fittj'-five, of 
the Laws of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, as relates to school districts, other than those 
whose limits correspond with the limits of any city or incorporated village, is hereby extended and 
made aonlicable to free union school district number one aforesaid ; and the board of education tliere- 
for as provided in section seven of said title nine, shall-be and is hereby as thereby created a body cor- 
porate and, except as qualified by this act. shall have and possess all the powers conferred upon such 
boards in .such district^ in and by said title nine. And it shall be the duty of said board to exercise 
these powers thus qualified, together with any additional powers and duties conferred or imposed by 

*^' 3^ Whenever the existing trustees of the academy of Plattsburgh shall signify their assent thereto, 
it shall bo the duty of the said boaai of education forthwith to establish an academical department of 
the said union free school district in the said academy; but nothing in this act contained shall be 
deemed or held to affect or impair the separate corporate existence and continuance of the said 
academv or any rights or privileges appertaining to it as such, except as herein expressly provided; 
and the said board of education shall succeed to, have, possess and execute all the duties and powers 
had or possessed by or incumbent upon the board of trustees of the said academs'to^do or perform, 
touching the said academy as a corporate body, the real and personal estate riiereof, its fiscal concerns, 
and the duties required to be performed by the rules and regulations of the Regents ot the University, 
and to which said academy shall remain subject in its course of education, and all matters pertaining 
thereto And the said board of education shall become, on the organization thereof, the acting 
trustees of the said academy, charged with all the duUes and powers of the former trustees (except as 
herein provided), and all the powers and duties conferred by this act and the said title nine of the act 
of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, as modified by this act ; and to enable said board fully to 
execute said trust, the legal title to the academy lot, the structures thereon, and to all the personal 
nrooertv belonging to the said academy as a corporation, and the care and custody of all existing 
Records and pafer! of the said board of trustees of the aca<lemy, shallpass and vest in the said i;oard 



Plattsburgh. 935 

of education on the organization thereof, in trust as aforesaifl. The pn?si.1ont, secretary, trea'^nror, 
collector and other officers of the board of education, shall hold the same positions respectively in the 
board of acting trustees of the academy, and a separate record shall be kept of all matters relating to 
the separate existence of said aoademy. 

§ 4. It shall be the especial duty of the said board of education to keep the said academy open, and 
in operation as an academy, four quarters every year; and the contingent expenses arising therefrom, 
including necessary furniture, apparatus, additions to library, proper instruments, fuel, lighting, neces- 
sary repairs, cleansing and the disbursements of the board of education in the execution of their 
duties, and the wages of a janitor to be employed by the board for the academy and the wag<'s of 
teachers therein, so far as not hereinafter otherwise provided for, shall be cared for by the said board of 
education, and the requisite funds therefor be supplied by the said free union school district, in the 
manner provided in section ten of the said title nine, in respect to any money thereby allowed to be 
raised and collected for any of the purposes therein expressed; and in default thereof, then the said 
board of education shall collect the said requisite funds as they may collect funds for similar objects in 
and by section seventeen of said title nine, or acts amendatory thereof. 

g 5. The said district schools shall be free only to those persons residing in the district, authorized to 
be enumerated and reported with those forming the basis for the apportionment of public money to 
said district; against all others, whether from within or from without the limits of the said district, 
attending said schools,just and remunerative rates of tuition shall be charged and paid. And against 
all from without the district or from within, and being over twent^'-one "years of age, attending the 
academy, the rates of tuition shall also be fully remunerative, but against all those from within the 
district under twenty-one years of age, the rates of tuition shall be so adjusted as to be compensatory 
for tuition, as far as may be, and at the same time keep the said academy in operation up to its capacity, 
and any deficiency of means to pay the teachers therein, after applying moneys derived from other 
sources, shall be charged over upon the district, and be raised and collected as moneys are allowed or 
directed to be raised and collected by section ten, or section seventeen of said title nine, and said sec- 
tions are extended and made applicable to any such deficiency and to the powers of the districts, and 
of the board of education in respect thereto. 

§6. The qualified voters of the said free union school district shall have power, upon the recom- 
mendation of the said board of education, to vote such other taxes additional to those to be supplied as 
contingent expenses hereinbefore named, as the majority may by resolution approve, for the purchase 
of additions to the site of the academy buildings, or additions to those structures, or any of thtm, or 
improvements thereof, and for the erection of new structures, and for supplying the proper fixtures, 
furnishing, furniture, library, apparatus and instruments therefor, and maj' direct the same to to be 
collected in one sum or by installments, and the said board of education shall cause all such resolutions to 
be fully executed in the manner and with the means specified in said title nine, in respect to like 
objects. 

1 7. The said board of education shall be constituted and composed of five trustees, selected from the 
existing board of trustees of the Plattsburgh academy, associated with five trustee of the free union 
school district, to be elected by the qualilied voters of the district. 

§8. Upon the passage of this act, the board of trustees of said Plattsburgh academy shall elect five of 
Its members, who shall be residents of said village school district, to be associated with the five school 
district trustees, to form the said board of education. The said academy trustees so elected by the said 
board shall determine by lot their respective terms ot office, so that one shall serve until one year from 
the second Tuesday of October next, one two years, one three years, one four years and one five years, 
after the said second Tuesday of October next. After such first election, the trustees of the Platts- 
burgh academy shall, on the second Tuesday of October, in every year after the year one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-seven, or on such other day as shall be prescribed by law for the annual meet- 
ing of said district, elect one of their number to supply the place of a trustee in the board of education, 
whose term of office shall then expire; and they shall at all times supply vacancies occurring from 
other cause, in the five so elected from time to time by t>aid board of trustees of said Plattsburgh acad- 
emy ; and on the first Tuesday of May next, after the passage of this act, at seven o'clock in the after 
noon, the legal voters of the said consolidated district qualified to vote for school district trustee, shall 
assemble at the town-hall in the village of Plattsburgh, and organize the school district meetin.g by 
appointing a moderator to preside at said meeting, and a clerk to keep the minutes of its proceedings, 
and shall then proceed to elect by ballot five trustees in the manner prescribed by law for the election 
of trustees of school districts. Each trustee shall be elected by a separate ballot, and at least one 
trustee shall be located in each district at the time of his election. The said trustees so elected shall 
determine by lot their respective terms of office, so that one shall serve until the second Tuesday in 
October, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, or for one year, one for two years, one for three years, 
and one for four years thereafter, and there shall be elected at every annual, meeting on the second 
Tuesday of October, in and after the year A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, one trustee to sun- 
ply the place of the trustee whose term of office shall thus expire ; and said five so elected shall, from 
time to time, fill, by appointment, any and all vacancies that may occur in their number, and the per- 
son so appointed shall hold his office until the next annual meeting, when such vacancy shall be filled 
by election. The elections from the board of the academy, and of the school district trustees at the 
district meeting thus to be had, shall be duly respectively certified by the board and by the officers of 
the meeting, and filed with the said board of education on its organization, and with the town clerk of 
the town of Plattsburgh, the school commissioner of the district and the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of the State; and the duration of the term of office of each trustee of each class shall also 
be certified by the five of each class to the town clerk of Plattsburgh, to the said board of education on 
its organization, and to the said resident commissioner; and on the election and classification of the 
said ten trustees, they and their successors in office shall constitute the said board of education for the 
said free union school district number one of the town of Plattsburgh, and they shall forthwith organ- 
ize as such board. 

g 9. On the organization of the said board of education, the trustees of the Plattsburgh academy, and 
their successors in office, shall continue as a board of trustees, for the purpose of electing from their 
number, from time to time, the successors of the said five deputed to form a component part of the 
board of education aforesaid, and to fill vacancies occurring in said five. 

§ 10. On the organization of the said board of education, the said board shall succeed and perform the 
respective duties of the local trustees of the said three districts in respect to any unexecuted, contract 
ortluty, and said three districts shall have continuance under said board for the mere purpose of clos- 
ing unfinished business, and the office of local trustee shall cease on the due organization of said 
board of education. 

§ 11. Additional territory may be annexed to the school district number one as prescribed by law for 
alterations in school districts, and, when so enlarged, all the provisions of this act remaining in 
force shall apply. 

{aiap. 528, Laws of 1874.] 

Authorized the board of education to issue bonds for certain purposes euumerdted. 



936 Port Byrox. 

PORT BYRON. 
[ Chap. 305, Laivs of 1857, as amended.^ 

Section 1. All that territory embraced in school districts mimDers six and fifteen, Mentz, Caviiga 
county, and so much of lot number forty-piu'ht, Mentz, as lies south of the north line of the New YoVk 
Central Railroad lands, and east of the Owasco creek, is hereby consolidated and shall hereafter 
constitute one permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration except by the Legis- 
lature of the State of New York, to be hereafter known by the name of " Port Byron free school 
district." 

§2. David B. Smith, Amasa K.King, Jame.s D. Button, Finlay M. King, Alfred Mead, Jacob D. 
Schoonmaker, William D. Osborn, George Randall and Wilham A. Halsey, are hereby appointed trus- 
tees of said district, to be divided by lot at their first meeting into three classes, to be numbered one, 
two and three, and hold their offices as follows : Class number one until the first annual meeting, 
which shall be held on the first Tuesday in May, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight ; class number two 
until the next annual meeting thereafter, and class number three until the next annual meeting 
thereafter; and at each annual meeting there shall be elected three trustees to supply the places of 
those whose terms of office shall expire, and all those elected at the annual meetings shall each hold 
their offices for three years unless elected to fill a vacancy. If at any annual meeting there should 
he a failure to elect, those whose terms would expire shall hold their ofiBces until others are elected in 
their stead. Notice of the annual or special meetings shall be given by posting the same in three pub- 
lic places in the said district, and by publishing the same in a newspaper, if one is printed in said 
district. 

23. The trustees of said district, and their successors in office, shall constitute a board of education 
for said school district, and for the purposes of this act, in addition to the duties of trustees, are hereby 
constituted a corporation by the name of " the board of education of the village of Port Byron ; " and 
the said board of education shall have power to establish and organize a classical school in the said vil- 
lage, to be known by the name of the Port Byron academy, and such classical school shall be subject 
to all laws and regulations apphcable to other incorporated academies of this State, and shall be 
entitled to share in the distribution of the literature fund upon the same terms as other academies 
of this State; and the Regents of the University shall recognize said academy as such as soon as the 
required sum of money shall be expended in buildings and apparatus, and competent teachers employed 
therein. 

§ 4. The board of education shall appoint one of their number president of the said board, who shall 
preside at the meetings of the board when present, and when absent a president pro tempore shall be 
appointed in his stead. They shall also appoint one of their number secretary, who shall record all 
the acts, doings and resolutions of said board, and in his absence a secretary pro tempore shall be 
appointed to discharge such duties. They shall also appoint a collector and treasurer, who shall each, 
hold their offices for one year from their appointment and until others are appointed in their places, 
unless sooner removed by the said board. Such collector, librarian and treasurer shall each within ten 
days after notice in writing has been received of their appointment, and before entering upon the duties 
of their offices, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond^in such penalty and with such 
sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his oflace, and 
unless such bond shall be executed and delivered within ten days after such notice such office shall 
become vacated and said board may fill such vacancy. 

J 5. The said board of education shall have power : 

1. To pass such by-laws as they may deem proper for the regulation and exercise of their lawful busi- 
ness and powers; 

2. To fill any vacancy which may happen in said board by reason of death, removal or refusal to serve 
of any member or officer of said board, and the person so appointed to fill such vacancy shall hold his 
office until the next election of trustees, as by this act provided : 

3. To remove any member of their board or any officer of their appointment for official misconduct ; 
but a written copy of all charges for such misconduct shall be served upon him at least ten daj-s before 
the time appointed for a hearing, and he shall be allowed a full and fair opportunity to refute such 
charges before removal ; 

4. To take charge and possession of the school-houses, sites and lots, furniture, books, apparatus and 
all the school property within their district ; and the title of the same shall be vested in the said board 
of education, and the same shall not be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever ; 

5. To take and hold for the use of said schools or any department of the same any real estate trans- 
ferred to It by gift, grani, bequest or devise, or any gift, legacy or annuity of whatever kind, given or 
bequeathed to the said board, and apply the sum or the interest or proceeds thereof according to the 
instructions of the donor or testator; 

6. To receive into said schools any pupils residing out of the said district, and to regulate and estab- 
lish the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils in the several departments of said schools, and also 
those of scholars residing in the said district and attending the said academy; to regulate the transfer 
from the primary to the academical departments, and from class to class, of all scholars as their degree 
of scholarship may warrant; to direct what text-books shall be used therein; to provide fuel, furniture, 
apparatus and other necessaries for the use of the said schools, and sue for and collect all debts and 
demands due to said district in the corporate name of said board of education, and all contracts made 
by the members of said board in their official capacity shall be binding on them and their successors in 
office; 

7. To contract with and employ teachers competent in the several departments of the schools ; to 
remove them at any time for neglect of duty, immoral conduct or for any other cause by the said 
board deemed sufficient, and to pay the wages and salaries of such teachers and instructors out of the 
monevs appropriated for that purpose : 

8. To possess all the powers, privileges and immunities and be subject to all the duties in respect to 
the common schools which the trustees of the common schools now possess and are now subject to. 
not inconsistent with this act, and to enjoy all the immunities and privileges now enjoyed by the 
academies of this State; 

9. The board of education are hereby authorized to convey the title of the old sites and school-houses 
to purchasers, and also purchase new sites and build school-houses and other necessary buildings, and 
purchase the necessarj' apparatus for the said schools, and to fence and improve the grounds thereof; 
provided, that it shall require the votes of seven members of the board of education, to be given and 
recorded by ayes and noes, to fix or establish any site for the building or buildings of said school. 

26. It shall" be the duty of said board to have reference in all their expenditures and contracts to the 
amount of. moneys which shall be appropriated or subject to their order or drafts during the current 
year, and not exceed that amount. (As amended by section I, chapter 448, Laws of 1877.) 

2 7. The board of education shall cause to be levied and collected upon the taxable property of the 
said district in the manner provided by law for the assessment and collection of school district taxes 



Port Byron. 937 

in the several towns of this Slate, a sum which together with the amount received from the common 
school fund, the literature fund and other sources, shall be sufficient to pay all teai:liers" and instruct- 
ors salaries and wages, who are employed in the several departments of the school. The fuel and 
other necessary contingent expenses of the school shall be raised by a tax on the taxable property of 
the said district as is now provided for, and all warrants for the collection of taxes in the said district 
shall be issued under the hand and seal of tne president and secretary, or a majority of the said board, 
and may be renewed by the said board or a majority of them, from time to time, as they may deem 
necessary and expedient. And if any tax on any real estate in said school district mentioned in the 
tax-list delivered to the collector, wliether the same be non-resident lands or not, or the taxes upon 
nou- resident stockholilers in banking associations organized under the laws of congress, shall be unpaid 
at the time he is required by law to return his warrant, he shall deliver to the board of education of 
said school district an account of the taxes so remaining unpaid containing a description of the lots 
and pieces of land upon which such taxes were imposed as the same were stated in his tax-list, together 
with the amount of tax assessed on each, with seven per cent added thereto, and upon making oath 
before any justice of the peace or judge of any court of record that the taxes mentioned in such account 
remain unpaid, and that after diligent efforts he has been unable to collect the same, he shall be cred- 
ited by said board of education with the amount of taxes so remaining unpaid, and upon receiving anj' 
such account from such collector, the said board of education shall compare it with the original tax- 
list, and if they find it to be a true transcript, the said board of education shall add to such account 
their certificate to the etfect that they have compared it with the original tax-list and found it to be 
correct, and shall iiiimediately transmit the account, with seven per cent added thereto, affidavit and 
certificate to the treasurer of the county of Cayuga, and thereupon the said county treasurer shall pay 
to the said board of education the amount of taxes so returned as unpaid, with said seven per cent 
added thereto, out of any moneys in the said county treasury raised for contingent expenses ; and such 
affidavit, certificate and account of unpaid taxes, with seven per cent added thereto, shall be laid by 
the county treasurer before the board of supervisors of said county, who shall cause the amount so 
returned, with seven per cent of the amount in addition thereto, to be levied upon the lands upon which 
said taxes were imposed, and if imposed upon the lands of any incorporated company then upon such 
company, and when collected the same shall be returned to said county treasurer to reimburse the 
amount advanced, with the expenses of collection, and any person whose lands are included in such 
account may pay the same with interest, at any time before the supervisors shall direct the same to be 
levied, to the said county treasurer, and the same proceedings, in all respects, shall be had for the col- 
lection of the amounts so directed to be raised by the board of supervisors as are provided by law in 
relation to county taxes. ((As amended by chap. 448, Laws o/1877, and chap. 598, Laws of 1887.) 

^8. All moneys raised in the said district for the purposes of the schools, and all moneys to be re- 
ceived by such district from the common school fund or other sources, shall be paid to the treasurer of 
the district, to be paid by tdm on the warrant of the said board of education, and to be applied by them 
for the use of said schools, according to the provisions of this act. 

§9. The taxable^inhabitants of the said district, at any annual, special or adjourned meeting, legally 
held, may vote to raise such sum of money as they may deem expedient, not exceeding eight thousand 
dollars, for the purpose of purchasing a site and building a school-house or houses in said district, and 
furnishing the same with necessary furniture, maps, globes, and other suitable apparatus, and direct 
the trustees to cause the same to be levied and collected by tax upon the real and personal estate la 
the said district which shall be liable to taxation for the ordinary taxes of town and county charges, 
by such installments as the legal voters may direct, and make out a tax for the same as often as such 
installments shall become due. 

2 10. The inhabitants of said district shall have no power to rescind the vote to raise such sum of 
money at any subsequent meeting, unless the same be done within ten days thereafter ; nor shall tbey 
have power to reduce the same after the expiration of ten days from the time that such sum was first 
voted to be raised ; but they may remit such sum as shall remain unappropriated after paying for the 
site and erection of the buildings, and fencing and filling the grounds. 

§ 11. The said board of education are hereby authorized to obtain by loan the whole or any part of the 
money legally voted by the said district, and secure the payment of the same by their official bond. 

§12. The Comptroller of this State is hereby directed and authorized to loan to the board of education 
of the village of Port B3'ron, the sum of five thousand dollars, out of the common school fund, and re- 
ceive their bond in their official capacity, secured by mortgage on the site, which must be unincum- 
bered, and by such other security as the Comptroller may deem adequate for the repaj-mentof the 
same in six annual payments, with annual interest at seven per cent on the sum unpaid. The sum so 
loaned shall be expended by the said board for the purchase of a site in the village of Port Byron, and 
the erection of school buildings thereon. 

§ 13. There shall be levied and collected by the board of education hereby created, upon the real and 
personal estate of the Port Byron free school district, in the same manner as other village, town and 
county taxes are levied and collected, the sum of five thousand dollars in six equal annual installments, 
the first installment to be levied and collected in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, and the 
residue in five annual installments thereafter, together with the interest annually upon the whole 
sum unpaid, which shall be paid to the Comptroller of this State in satisfaction of said loan. And 
there shall be levied and collected by said board of education, upon the real and personal estate of said 
school district, in the same manner as town and county taxes are levied and collected, on or before the 
first day of November, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, a sum sufficient to pay the accrued interest 
on the bond and mortgage given by said board of education to the Comptroller of the State, in pursu- 
ance of said act, to secure a loan to said school district, and there shall also be levied and collected in 
like manner by said board a sum or sums sufficient to pay the principal and interest accruing on said 
bond and mortgage in four equal installments in the years eighteen hundred and eighty, eighteen 
hundred and eighty-one, eighteen hundred and eighty-two and eighteen hundred and eighty-three, and 
the times for the payments of said bond and mortgage are hereby extended accordingly. (As amended 
by sec. 3, chap. 448, Laws o/1877.) 

§ 14. The loan mentioned in the eleventh and twelfth sections of this act shall not be made unless 
thesame shall be authorized by a vote of the electors in said district entitled to vote therein for school 
taxes, at an annual or special meeting in said district. 

§ 15. In making out a tax list for the collection of ta.xes in said district, the valuation of taxable prop- 
erty shall be ascertained, so far as possible, from the last assessment roll of the town of Mentz. 

§ 16. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to sell at public auction to the 
highest bidder, the school-houses and sites belonging to the said districts, by giving public notice, to be 
posted in ten pubUc places in the said district, ten days previous to such sale, and the proceeds of such 
sale shall be used toward purchasing a site, erecting the necessary school buildings, fencing and im- 
proving the grounds, or to such other purpose, for the benefit of the said schools, as the district shall 
direct ; such sale may be made on such terms of credit as the said board of education shall determine, 
and a bond and mortgage taken, by the said board, for the whole or any part of the purchase-money, 
and such bond and mortgage may be sold and assigned by the said board at par, for money, to be ap- 
plied by them as herein provided. 

118 



938 Port Richmond. 

§ 17. The members of the board of education, before receiving any moneys belonging to said district, 
shall severally execute to the president of the village of Port Byron their separate bonds, with two 
sufficient sureties to be approved by said president, in a penalty at least double the amount to be 
expended by them for the benefit of said district the next ensuing year, conditioned that such trustee 
giving such bond will faithfully account for the expenditure of all moneys he shall receive for said dis- 
trict, and pay over the balance remaining in his hands to the other trustees at the expiration of his 
term of office ; and any trustee or treasurer who shall apply any moneys belonging to said district to 
his own use shall be deemed guilty of fraud or embezzlement. 

§ 18. This act shall take effect on the first day of April eighteen hundred and fifty-seven. 

[Chap. 118, Laws of 1879.] 

Entitled " An act to authorize the issue of bonds by the board of education of the village of Port 
Byron in the county of Cayuga, to pay a bond and mortgage to the State on the school prcpertv in 
said village, and to raise money by tax on the Port Byron free school district for the payment of such 
bonds." 

[Chap. 173, Laws of 1880.'] 

Entitled " An act conferring Jurisdiction on the canal appraisers to determine the amount of dam- 
ages to which the Port Byrou school district, in the town of Mentz, in the county of Cayuga, is entitled 
by reason of certain acts of the State." 

[Chap. 519, Laws of 1885.] 

Section 1. From and after the passage of this act, all village and school taxes in the village of Port 
Byron, Cayuga county, shall be collected by the proper village and school officers appointed for that 
purpose in the same manner as other taxes are collected in Cayuga county by the town and county 
officers. 

PORT RICHMOND. 

IChap. 363, Laws of 1875. J 

Section 1. From and after the passage of this act the territory now known as union free school dis- 
trict number six, in the town of Northfleld, in the county of Richmond, shall constitute a separate 
school district, to be know as the Port Richmond union free school district, 

1 2. The board of education of said school <iistrioi, heretofore known as number six, shall have tlic 
power to borrow a sum of money, not exceeding thirty thousand dollars, and to expend the same in pur- 
chasing a new school-house site in said district, and erecting thereon a new school-house building, and 
in furnishing and in fitting up the same for school purposes. 

§3. The said board of education and their successors, in their official capacity, shall have the power 
to issue bonds, in such sum or sums as they may deem proper, but not exceeding in amount thirty 
thousand dollars (under and within the restrictions hereinafter mentioned), to such person or persons, 
body or bodies corporate, as shall loan the said sum of money, or any part thereof, pledging the faith 
and credit of the said school district for the purpose ot securing the repayment of such sum, or such or 
any part thereof as may be borrowed as aforesaid, together with the interest that may become due 
thereon, at a rate not to exceed seven per cent per annum; the principal of said bonds shall be made 
payable within twenty years, and in equal annual installments; the first installment shall be due on 
the first day of May in the year next succeeding the issue of said bonds, and the remaining install- 
ments in equal, annual payments on each first day of May in each year thereafter, until all the bonds 
Issued shall have been paid. The said bonds shall not be sold for less than their par value. 

§4. The said board of education and their successors in office, for the purpose of paying said bonds 
and the interest that may grow due thereon, are authorized and empowered to raise by tax upon the 
taxable property of said school district, such principal and interest as follows, viz. : They shall annu- 
ally, until the principal and interest of said bonds be fully paid, in addition to such sum as they may be 
entitled to raise, levy and collect, under the statutes of the State of New York relating to common 
schools, and in the same manner and at the same time as it is now provided by said statutes, levy, raise 
and collect a sum sufficient to pay the Interest of all outstanding bonds for the year ; and in addition 
to said sums they shall annually raise the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, to pay the principal of the 
bonds falling due in such year. 

J 5. The said board of education, and their successors in office, shall have the sole power to select, and, 
•with the moneys so raised, to purchase such new school-house site, and for the purpose of erecting 
thereon a new school-house building, and to select a plan or plans and to award all contracts for the 
building of said new school-house, and to furnish and fit up the same for use, expending the sum of 
money so to be raised in such proportions for the various purposes above mentioned, as to them shall 
seem proper. And they and their successors shall have generally sole charge and control of and over 
all the work and proceedings incident to the purchasing said site, and the building and furnishing said 
school-house. The said work, however, of constructing said school-house shall be done under and by 
contract with the lowest bidder or bidders, and sealed proposals for doing all the carpenters, masons 
and painters work required shall be soUcited by advertisement, to be printed once in each week in the 
newspaper published in the said village of Port Richmond, and the newspaper in the adjoining village 
of New Brighton, for at least four weeks before the awarding of such contracts, and in such other man- 
ner as the said board of education may think proper. And the said board of education, or their suc- 
cessors, may establish such rules or terms in the awarding of such contracts as to them may seem 
necessary to promote the interests of said school district. 

2 6. The said board of education and their successors shall have the power to sell and dispose of the 
present school-house and site, in and belonging to said district, at public sale, on such terms and con- 
ditions as to them shall seem most proper'aiid advantageous, and to execute all needful conveyance 
therefor ; and all moneys and proceeds arising from such sale shall, with the moneys so borrowed, be 
expended toward the purchase of such new site, and the erection, completion and furnishing said new 
school building hereinbefore provided for. 

§7. The said board of education and their successors shall take no steps in pursuance of the pro- 
visions of this act, until the same shall be approved by a majority of voters of said school district 
number six, known in this act as the Port Richmond union free school district, entitled to vote at 
school district meetings, voting at a special or annual school district meeting, to be called and held by 
said board of education at the present public school-house in said district, after giving at least twenty 
days' notice of such meeting by posting the same in at least ten public and conspicuous places in said 
school district, and by publication of such notice in the newspaper of said village of Port Richmond, 



POUGHKEEPSIE. 939 

and in the newspaper in the ac1|oining village of New Briahton, once in each week for two weeks. 
The said meeting shall he held from the hour of two o'clock in the afternoon, until seven o'clock in the 
evening, during all which time the poll shall be open and shall be conducted in all other respects as 
now provided by law. The said board of education shall provide a box for said meeting in which to 
receive the ballots hereinafter mentioned. The ballots shall contain the words : " In favor of new 
school-house," or " Opposed to new school-house." If a majority of the ballots cast at such election 
shall contain the wonls, " In favor of a new school-house," the approval aforesaid shall be considered 
as given. Said ballots voted as aforesaid shall be canvassed by the said board of education, or a 
majority of its members ; and the said board shall keep a record of the proceedings of such meeting, 
and shall file the same, together with a certificate of the result of such election in the office of the 
town clerk of said town, within five days after such meeting shall be held. In case at the election so 
held the approval aforesaid shall not be obtained, it shall be lawful for the said board of education to 
call and hold subsequent elections within two years after the passage of this act, in all respects to be 
called and conducted as prescribed for said first election, but no succeeding election shall be held within 
six months of the time of holding a preceding election under this act. 

2 8. Any and all devises, bequests or gifts, by will or otherwise, to said school district number six, or 
to the trustees of board of education thereof, s'hall be valid and effectual devises, bequests and gifts to 
the said board of education of the Port Richmond union free school district. 

POUGHKEEPSIE. 

[ Chap. IG, Laivs of 1870.] 

Section 1. " The Trustees of the Academy of Dutchess County, in Poughkeepsie," are hereby author- 
ized and empowered to sell at public auction all that portion of their lot on the north-east corner of 
South Hamilton and Montgomery streets, in the city of Poughkeepsie, lying within the outside fences 
thereon as they now stand, but all the rest and residue of said lot as conveyed to said trustees may, in 
and bv the deed given pursuant to the sale hereby authorized, be dedicated forever to the public use 
for the purposes of the adjacent streets and sidewalks, and shall not he included in or conveyed by said 
deed. 

g 2. The said trustees are hereby authorized to execute to the purchaser on such sale a deed of said 
premises so sold, conveying to him a perfect title in fee simple to the same, free from all conditions 
and restrictions, except as above provided, and such deed shall be executed by the president or senior 
trustee of said academy and its treasurer, for and on behalf of said academy, and under its corporate 
seal. 

2 3. "When the board of education of the city of "Poughkeepsie, in accordance with the provisions of 
the charter of said city, shall have purchased a lot in the central part of said city, for the purpose of 
erecting thereon a building for a city library and high school combined under the same roof, then the 
said trustees are hereby authorized and directed to apply so much of the proceeds of said sale as may 
be necessary therefor to pay for the said lot so purchased, the title whereof shall be taken in the name 
of said city and held by it in the same manner as other school premises therein, and also to pay over 
to the president of said board of education the balance of said proceeds together with all other moneys 
then held by said trustees, and the same shall be applied by said board exclusively toward the erection 
on said lot of the building aforesaid ; and also to transfer and deliver to said board of education, for the 
use and benefit of said city, the library, philosophical apparatus, desks and all other personal property 
of said academy (except its records, papers, account books and seal), and in the meantime, until said 
proceeds and monej's are thus applied and paid over by said trustees, they are hereby authorized to 
deposit the same or any part thereof in any savings bank or trust company, in the name of their treas- 
urer, and whatever interest may be obtained thereon shall be paid over to the president of said board 
of education, for the same purposes, and as if it were a part of said proceeds or other moneys aforesaid. 
All moneys paid over to the president of the board of education under this section shall be deposited, 
paid out and drawn for by him in the same manner as other moneys received by him from said 
city. 

§ 4. When, as above directed, the said proceeds and other moneys aforesaid shall have been duly 
applied and paid over, and said library, philosophical apparatus, desks and all other personal property 
aforesaid have been duly transferred and delivered, then the said board of education, by its president, 
shall execute in due form a certificate thereof, and deliver the same to said trustees, and thereupon the 
said academy shall be dissolved, and it and its trustees discharged trom all duties and liabilities what- 
ever ; and the said city shall become charged with all the pecuniary and other obligations, if any, of 
said academy, to an amount not exceeding the amount and value of said proceeds, money and property 
realized from it as above, by said city and board of education. 

{Chap. 380, Laics of 1874.] 

Subjects the Poughkeepsie high school to the visitation of the Board of Regents, and entitles it to a 
distribution from the literature fund, etc. 

\Chap. 359, Laws of 1877.] 

Authorizes the board of education to appoint a superintendent of schools under their charge and fix 
his salary. 

1 Cliap. 523, Laws of 1883. ] 

(Extract from the Charter.) 

TITLE X — OF SCHOOLS .4.ND EOAED OF EDUCATION. 

§ 187. There shall be elected in said city at every annual election four commissioners of schools, who 
shall hold office for three years. 

§ 188. The said commissioners shall meet at the board rooms on the first dav of January, unless it 
he Sunday, and then on the next day, and organize a board of education for the year by electing one 
of their number president. 

§ 189. The board of education shall have the charge and control of the public schools and public 
school property, and public library of the city, and shall have power : 

1, To appoint a clerk, a librarian and superintendent of the public schools. And it may appoint the 
same person to any two of said offices. 



940 POUGHKEEPSIE. 

2. To fix the salar}' of each of said officers and pay the same from the public funds under its charge. 

3. To remove any officer or agent appointed or employed by it at pleasure. 

4. To exercise the powers and discharge the duties in respect to said schools of trustees of school 
districts under the statutes of this State. 

5. To appropriate for the purchase of books and periodicals for the benefit of said library, out of the 
moneys annually raised in said city by. the school tax, an amount not exceeding five hundred dollars, 
in addition to the library money received from the State. 

6. To examine and license persons to be employed by it as teachers in public schools of the city, and 
any license granted by it may be revoked at the pleasure of the board. 

7. To employ all necessary agents, make all needful rules and regulations, and do all things subject 
to the provisions of this act, requisite for the care, maintenance and protection of the public schools 
and library of the city. 

§ 19(1. The board of education shall, on or before the first day of October in each vear, estimate and 
certify to the common council what amount of money, added to the amount which will be received 
from the State, will be needed for the support of the schools under its superintendence and mainten- 
ance of the public library for the next year, specifying in detail the objects for which the same will be 
required and the amount for each object. All such moneys shall be kept in a separate fund, to be 
known as the school fund. 

§ 191 . It shall be the duty of the board of education to make to the common council a report on the 
thirty-first day of December of each year, setting forth the number of children of each school under 
its charge, and containing an exact and accurate account of all monevs received by it, and the sources 
from whence received, and of its expenditures, and of all debts incurred by it which are unpaid, and 
the objects for which such debts were incurred, and to which such expenditures were applied, and the 
persons to whom they were paid during the preceding year, such report to specify, as far as practica- 
ble, the cost of maintaining each school, and to give all other particulars relating to the schools. 

§ 192. If the board of education deem the purchase or erection of an additional school-house proper 
or necessary, it may recommend the same in its annual report, or in a special report adopted at a reg- 
ular meeting of said board, by two-thirds of the members of said board concurring, stating the loca- 
tion it proposes, the cost of a lot, and apian and estimate for a building. The council may, there- 
upon, by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members, submit the question of the purchase or 
erection of such school-house to the electors, being tax payers entitled to vote special taxes under this 
act, at an election to be held in the manner to be provided by this act in voting special taxes. The 
said electors shall vote by ballot, in which shall be written or printed ' ' for a school-house," " against 
a school-house." If a majority of the votes cast shall be cast for a school-house, and not otherwise, 
it shall be the duty of the common council to certify to the board of education the result of such elec- 
tion, and the said board of education shall forthwith proceed to purchase a lot and erect a building, or 
purchase a lot and building suitable for a school-house, in '^uch location as such board of education 
shall deem best. The title to such lot shall he taken to and shall vest in the city of Poughkeepsie ; 
and the cost of building and furnishing such school-house, including the lot, shall in no case exceed 
the amount estimated by the board of education, in its recommendation to the common council : and 
the expense thereof, including the lot, shall be defrayed by a general tax, which the council shall levy 
and collect in the same manner as other school taxes; or if said council shall deem best, such money 
may be raised by loan on the credit of the city, which the council is hereby authorized to pledge for 
such purpose, in the same manner as is by this act provided in relation to loans by said city ; said loan 
to be paid in annual installments, with interest, within the period of twenty years, from which time 
said council shall have power, and it is hereby authorized to pledge the credit of said city, or for such 
less times as to the said council shall seem proper ; and the installments, with interest, shall be levied 
and collected, together with the annual taxes, as the said installnients become due. 

1 193. The treasurer of the city of Poughkeepsie is hereby designated as the person to receive all 
public money which the said city, or the schools therein, are or shall be entitled to receive from the 
State, or by tax or loan from the city, and he shall deposit such school moneys in the bank or banks 
designated by the board, to the credit of the board of education, and it shall only be paid out upon 
resolutions of said board, certified by the clerk, by draft or check, to the order of the person to whom 
the same is due, and the date of the meeting when the resolution directing the payment of the same 
was passed by said board and signed by the clerk and presiding officer of said board and not otherwise. 

§194. The president of such board shall, between the first and fifteenth day of October, make to the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction a report for the preceding school year of all matters and things 
which trustees of school districts are by law required to report, and of all such other matters and 
things as the said superintendent shall trom time to time require. 

§ 195. The said commissioners of schools, or any of them, shall not be concerned or interested 
directly or indirectly, in the sale of any books, merchandise or other articles furnished or provided 
for the use of the schools, nor shall such commissioners, or either of them, take or receive any profit, 
reward or emolument for or on account of any books, merchandise or other articles furnished or pro- 
vided for the use of the schools by any person other than said commissioners; it shall not be lawful 
for the said commissioners, or either of them, to be concerned or interested, directly or indirectly, in 
the sale or lease of any real estate, or the sale of any materials, or in any contract or contracts for 
building or repairing any school-house. Every violation of the provisions of this section shall be 
deemed a misdemeaner, punishable by fine and imprisonment. 

g 196. The said board may make regulations respecting the use and imposing fines or penalties for 
abuse of books belonging to the city library.and any person incurring any such fine or penalty shall 
be liable to an action for the same by the city, and the amount received shall be applied to the use of 
the library. 

§ 197. The title of all property, real and personal, now held by the board of education of the city of 
Poughkeepsie is hereby vested in and confirmed to the city of Poughkeepsie. 

[Chap. 19, Laws of ISSi.l 

Section 1, The "board of education of the city of Poughkeepsie is hereby authorized to sell so much 
of the rear end of the lot situate on the west side of North Clinton street in said city, occupied by 
public school number five, as the board shall determine to be unnecessarj' for public school purposes, 
but not exceeding fifty feet in depth. 

§ 2. The parcel sold shall be conveyed to the purchaser thereof in fee by deed or deeds of conveyance 
from the city, executed under the direction of said board and attested by its seal with the signature of 
its president; and the consideration therefor shall be received by said board and placed in a separate 
firnd and be-used by the board for the repair or improvement of the public school property of the city, 
or in the purchase of additional school property for the city, and for no other purpose. 



PULASKT. 941 



PULASKI. 

\Chap. 305, L(nm of 1853, as amended by chap. Sfi?, Laws of 1S55. ] 

Section 1. All that part of school districts numbers twenty-flve, seven and thirty, lyinpr within the 
village of Pulaski, and the parts of the districts adjacent thereto, lying within the boundaries of said 
village, are hereby consolidated, and shall hereafter form but one school district, to be called " the Pu- 
laski school district," provided that the consolidation of said districts and parts of districts into one 
district shall not interfere with the rights, privileges and duties of the trustees of the said respective 
districts and parts of districts in relation to the past winter terms of said schools respectively; but for 
the purpose of closing said terms and collecting and paying teachers' wages and all other charges relat- 
ing thereto, or any other arrearages or debts, their powers and duties shall remain and continue as if 
this act had not passed. 

? 2. Charles H. Cross. Hiram Murdock, Anson R. Jones, George Garley, Don A. King, Anson Malby, 
Newton M. Wardwell, Samuel Woodruff and William H. Lester are hereby appointed trustees of said 
district, to be divided by lot, at their first meeting, into three classes, to be numbered one, two and 
three, to hold their ofHces as follows : Class number one until the next annual meeting, which shall be 
held on the first Tuesday of October next, at which there shall be elected three trustees to supply their 
place; class number two until the next annual meeting thereafter; and class number three until the 
next annual meeting thereafter; and at each annual meeting there shall be elected three trustees to 
supply the place of those whose terms shall then expire. If at any meeting so annually held there 
shall be a failure to elect said trustees, the class whose term would then expire shall hold until others 
are duly elected in their stead. Notice of the annual or any special district meeting may hereafter be 
given by posting the same in three public places in said village, and also publishing in the newspaper 
printed in said village, if any shall be published therein, and the same shall be deemed a valid and suffi- 
cient notice for all purposes. 

5 3. The trustees of said district and their successors in office shall constitute a board of education 
for said district, and, for the purposes of this act, in addition to the present powers and duties of 
trustees, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of " the board of 
education of the village of Pulaski; " and said corporation shall have power to establish and organize a 
classical school in said village, to be known by the name of " the Pulaski academy ; " and such claeslcal 
school shall be subject to all laws and regulations applicable to other incorporated academies of this 
State, and shall be entitled to share in the distribution of the moneys of the literature fund upon the 
same terms as other academies of this State ; and the Regents of the University shall recognize said 
academy as such as soon as the required sum of money shall be expended in buildings and competent 
teachers employed therein. 

24. Such board of education shall appoint one of their number president of said board, who shall 
preside at the meetings of said board when present; when absent a president pro tempore shall be 
appointed in his stead. They shall also appoint one of their number seci-etary, who shall record all the 
acts, doings and resolutions of said board, and, in the absence of the secretary, a secretary pro tempore 
shall be appointed to discharge such duties. They shall also appoint a collector, librarian and treasurer 
of said district, who shall respectively hold their offices one year from their appointment, and until 
others are appointed in their places, unless sooner removed by said board; such collector, librarian and 
treasurer shall each, within ten days after notice of their appointment in writing, and before the enter- 
ing upon the duties of their office, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond, in such pen- 
alty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the 
duties of his office; in case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiving such notice, 
such office shall thereby become vacated, and said board shall thereupon make an appointment to sup- 
ply such vacancy. 

J 5. The said board of education shall have power to fill any vacancy which may happen by the reason 
of death or the removal from the said district, or otherwise, and the officer so appointed shall hold his 
office for the unexpired time of the person to supply whose place he shall be so appointed. 

2 6. Said board of education shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to 
said district, that thetrustees of common schools now possess or are subject to, and such other powers 
and duties as are given or Imposed by this act, in addition to the powers now vested in them by law. 

§ 7. The taxable inhabitants of said district, at any annual, special or adjourned district meeting, 
legally held, may vote to raise such sum of money as they shall deem expedient, not exceeding nine 
thousand dollars, for the purpose of purchasing a site, and building a school-house or school-houses 
in said district, or for the purpose of purchasing any suitable building for such purpose, and furnishing 
the same with the necessary furniture, maps, globes and other suitable apparatus, and direct the 
trustees to cause the same to be levied and raised, by tax upon the real and personal estate within the 
bounds of said district which shall be liable to taxation for the ordinary taxes of said village or for town 
and county charges, by installments, and make out a tax for the collection of the same as often as such 
Installments shall become due ; and the legal voters at any such meeting are authorized to fix the 
compensation for collecting and paying over to the treasurer of said boai'd the amount so levied. They 
shall have power also in like manner to raise such sum or sums as shall be deemed necessary for the 
payment of teachei's' wages or the general purposes of education in said village. (Asamendedby sec. 1, 
chap. 567, Laws o/1855.) 

2 2. The inhabitants of the town of Richland are hereby authorized to raise by tax on the said town. 
In the same manner as other town taxes are levied and collected, a sum not exceeding four thou- 
sand dollars by annual installments or otherwise to be determined bv said inhabitants at any town 
meeting legally assembled, and the same, when so raised and collected, shall be paid to the treas- 
urer of the board of education in said village, to be expended by said board for the purposes men- 
tioned in the first section of this act. {Section 2, chapter 567, of 1855. The section referred to is the 
preceding.) , 

2 8. The board of education are hereby authorized to obtain by loan the whole or any part of the 
money, legally voted by said district, for the purchase of a site and the erection of buildings, and secure 
the payment of the same by their official bond. 

2 9.- The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to sell at public auction to the 
highest bidder, or at private sale, the school-houses and sites thereof belonging to or situated in said 
district, the title to all of which is hereby vested in them, and hold and use the proceeds therefor for 
the benefit of said district. 

2 10. The said board of education are hereby empowered and authorized to make such by-laws and 
regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government of said school, 
and to divide the same into primary and higher departments, and regulate the transfer of scholars from 
one department to the other, and provide suitable instructors for each department; direct what text- 
books shall be used in the same ; to establish such primary or infant school or schools as they shall 
deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same ; to purchase or hire school-houses. 



942 EOCHESTER. 

rooms, lots or sites for school -houses, and to fence and improve the same as they may think proper ; to 
purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, hooks, furniture and appendages; to pur- 
chase fuel and all other necessaries for the use of the school or schools in said district, and to pay the 
contingent expenses thereof; to pay the wages of all teachers employed in the school or schools in said 
district out of the public money and funds applicable thereto ; to fix and regulate the terms of tuition 
fees in said primary and other higher bi-anches in said school or schools ; to sue for and collect in their 
corporate name any sum of money or tuition fees due to said district ; and all contracts made by them 
in their oflicial capacity shall be binding upon them and their successors in office ; to receive and apply 
to the use of said school or schools, or any department thereof, any gift, legacy, bequest or annuities 
given or bequeathed to said board, and to apply the same according to the instruction of the donor or 
testator; to take and hold any real estate given or bequeathed to said board for the purpose of 
said school or schools, or any department thereof, and apply the proceeds thereof according to the 
terms and instructions of the donor or testator: to have in all respects the supervision, manage- 
ment and control of said school or schools, and any and every department thereof, and hire, pay 
and discharge any teacher or teachers employed by them in said school or schools or department 
thereof. 

? 11. The report now required by law to be made to the town superintendents of common schools 
shall be made by said board of education, and the pubUc moneys payable to said district shall be pay- 
able by him to the treasurer thereof. 

§ 12. Said board of education shall have power and are hereby authorized to receive into said acad- 
emy, and cause to be instructed therein, any pupil or pupils residing in or out of said district, and to 
regulate and establish the terms of tuition fees of such resident or non-resident pupils, and said board 
of education shall have power to regulate the tuition fees and rates of charges for instruction, and to 
graduate the same according to the branches pursued in the higher English and classical departments of 
said academy. (As amended by chapter 159, Laws of 1864, p. 336.) 

§ 13. After applying the public moneys applicable thereto to the support of said school or schools in 
said districts, in payment of the salaries and wages of teachers employed therein, said board of educa- 
tion shall, unless the same shall have been previously raised, cause such additional fsum as may be 
required, to pay said wages and salaries of teachers and other contingent expenses necessary to the 
support of such academy and school or schools, to be assessed and levied upon the taxable property 
of said district, and collected in the manner provided by law for the collection and assessment of school 
district taxes in the several towns of this State ; not more than two taxes for such purpose shall ever 
be raised in one year ; warrants for the collection of taxes in said district to be issued under the hand 
and seal of the president or the major part of said board. 

g 14. All moneys raised in said district lor the purpose of said school or schools, and all moneys to be 
received by such district from the common school fund or other source, shall be paid to the treasurer 
of said district, to be paid by him on the warrant of said board of education, and to be applied by them 
for the use of said school or schools, according to the provisions of this act. 

§ 15. The libraries of said districts number twenty-five, seven and thirty are hereby consolidated into 
one, and the title thereto vested in said board of education, as trustees of said district; and the library 
money payable to said district shall be paid to the treasurer thereof, and drawn on the warrant of and 
expended by said board for the use of said trustees. 

ROCHESTER. 

IFrom the amended city charter, chap. 14, Laws of 1880, as amended by chap. 120, Laws of 1882, chap. 302. 
Laws of 1884, and chap. 493, Laws of 1886.] 

Sections 6 and 7 relate to the office and term of service of the commissioners of common schools. 

<>prtion'; 16 and 17 provide for the method of then- election by ballot. 

Mictions 21 tnd 24 provide for the commencement of their term of office and for fllhng vacancies. 

KSlon 48 su&*'the proSings?/the board of education to the approval or veto of the mayor. 

TITLE VI. 

Z 12'-' The several wards of the citv of Rochester shall constitute one school district, for all purposes 
exVept as hereTn otherwise provided, and the schools therein shall be free to all children between the 
airponf fivp and t,wentv-one years residing in such wards. , , , 

f 124 The tine of the schoothouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances and 
all other school property in this act mentioned, shall remain and continue to be m the said city of 
Rochester. council of said city may, upon the recommendation of the board of education 

hereinkfterroeiSed sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites, or any other school property now or 
hP^eXr bek.Srto said d council may deem reasonable. 

KnroLS of luch sales shall blpaid to the treasurer of the city, and shall be by the said common 
Council Sn expended in the purchase, repairs or improvements of other school-houses, lots, sites or 

'tl26 'Thf conlmfsSerl of coTmon schools in said "city shall constitute a board to be styled "The 
BSofEdS^n of the city of Rochester," which shall be a corporate body m relation to all the 
nnwers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of this act. They shall meet on the first Monday 
of Tachtnd eve y moiit"^^^^^ oftener as they shall from time totime appomt ; a majority of 

^aid board shall c^ons?ute a quorum for the transaction of business The said board shall appoint one 
of their nurnber president, who shall, when present, preside at all the meetings of said board and 
shall ha^enower to call special meetings of the board in the manner prescribed by this act for the 
caflin- of spedll meetings of the common council. In the absence of the president, the board shall 
aSntsomf other member to preside at such meetings and perform the duties of the president. No 
Sber ofTaid boa"d of education shall, during the period for which he was elected, be appointed to 
o be comnetentto hold any office of which the emoluments are paid from the city treasury or paid by 
fees di>e?ted tSbe paid by anv act or ordinance of the board of education, or be directly or indirectly 
fnterestedin anv co^n tract as principal, surety or otherwise the expenses or consideration whereof are 
to he naid under anv ordinance, resolution or order of the board ot education. ,.,...„ xv, 
9127 The safd commissioners shall appoint a city superintendent of common schools, in the month 
of June in the yeafeighteen hundred and eighty -two, and in every second year thereafter, who shall 
be competent to instruct in any and all of the grades of the city schools, who shall hold his office for 
two vXs from and including the fifteenth day of July next after his appointmont and whose com- 
nlnsatiori shall be paid by said board. The said superintendent of public schools shall have charge of 
the sfhool systems and methods of instruction, and the power to suspend teachers for incompetency 
S ineffidency subfect to the action of the board of education, and he shall have the recommendation 



Rochester. 943 

of the number of teachers necessary for each of the several schools. He shall also collect and pay 
into the city treasury monthly all tuition fees, and he shall annually report to the common council in 
the month of May in each year the amount of money required for building school-houses and for 
repairs of each school building, specifying the particular building or buildings, and the amount to be 
expended thereon respectively, for the ensuing year. The said superintendent sliall officiate as clerk 
of the board, and shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, and shall perform such other 
service and duty as the board shall, from time to time, direct. The said record or transcript thereof, 
certitied by the president and clerk, shall be received in all courts a?, prima facie, evidence of the facts 
therein set forth, and such records and all the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said board shall 
at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council and of any committee thereof, {As 
amended by cfiap. ]20, Laws of 1882J 

g 128. The said commissioners may appoint a policeman who shall hold his ofHce during the pleasure 
of Slid board, and whose salary shall be tixed and paid by the board of education from the fund- raised 
for its use, and who shall have the same powers as other policemen of said city, and shall perform such 
duties as said board of education may impose. 

§ 129. The common council of said city shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to raise from 
time to time by tax, to be levied equally upon all the real and personal estate in said city, which shall 
be liable to taxation for the ordinary city taxes, or for ciDy or county charges, such sum or sums of 
money as may be necessary for anyor all of the following purpose'- : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses, 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, improve, alter and repair school-houses, and their out-houses 
and appurtenances. 

3. To purchase, improve, exchange and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages. 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools. 

5. To pay the wages of teachers due after the application of the public moneys which may by law be 
appropriated and provided for that purpose, provided, nevertheless, that the tax to be levied as afore- 
said and collected by virtue of this act shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as 
the other city taxes. 

6. The amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses in any one year shall not be 
less than six dollars nor more than fourteen dollars per capita, based on the average number of resi- 
dent pupils enrolled in the several public schools of said city, for the school year ending on the first day 
of May next preceding the levying of the general city taxes in each and every year. A sworn state- 
ment of such number of pupils so enrolled shall be made by the superintendent of schools according 
to the verifieil monthly reports of the principals of said schools. Nor shall the amount to be raised ia 
any one year to lease, alter, improve and repair school-houses and their out-houses and appurtenances, 
exceed ten thousand dollars. Nor shall the amount raised in any one year to purchase and improve 
sites, and build or enlarge school-houses, exceed fifteen thousand dollars; and the common council of 
said city are authorized and directed, when necessary, to raise by loan, in anticipation of the taxes, 
the money to be raised, collected and levied as aforesaid. 

2 130. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law 
appropriated to or provided for said city, shall be paid to the city treasurer thereof, who, together with 
the sureties upon his official bond shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other 
moneys of said city. The said city treasurer shall be liable to the same penalties for any official mis- 
conduct in relation to the said moneys as for any similar misconduct in relation to other moneys of 
said city. 

§ 131. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize in the several wards of said city such and so many schools (including the 
common schools now existing therein), as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and 
discontinue the same. 

2. To hire school-houses and rooms and improve them as they may deem proper. 

3. To alter, enlarge and improve and repair school-houses and appurtenances as they may deem 
advisable. Whenever such board shall build, enlarge, re{)air or furnish a school-house or school- 
houses, or make any improvement or repairs, the cost of which will exceed two hundred and fifty dol- 
lars, the board shall proceed as follows : 

[1.] Said board shall advertise for bids for the period of two weeks, at least twice in each week, i-n 
two newspapers published in the city of Rochester, and which resolution providing for the same shall 
be entered in full bv the clerk on the record of the proceedings of said board. 

[2.] The bids, duly sealed up, shall be filed with the clerk by twelve o'clock noon of the last day as 
stated in the advertisement. 

[3.1 The bids shall be opened at the next meeting of the board and publicly read by the clerk. 

[4.J Each bid shall contain the name of every person interested in the same, and shall be accom- 
panied by a sufficient guarantee of some disinterested person, that if the bid is accepted, a contract 
will be entered into and the performance of it properly secured by bonds duly approved. 

[5.] If the work bid for embraces both labor and materials, each must be separately stated, with the 
price thereof. The board may, in its discretion, accept any bid for both labor and material which shall 
be most advantageous to the city, or ii may reject any and all bids, as the interest of thecity may require. 

4. To purchase, exchange or improve and repair school apparatus, furniture and appendages, and 
to defray their contingent expenses. 

5. To have the custody and safe keeping of the school-house-, out-houses, fences, books, furniture 
and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of the common council in i-elation thereto be observed. 

6. To contract with, license and employ all teachers in said schools, and at their pleasure remove 
them. 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and provided by law for the 
support of schools in said city, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue thereof, from the 
money authorized by this charter to be raised for that purpose by tax upon said city. 

8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including an annual salary to the 
superintendent. 

9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the common schools 
in said city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules 
and regulations for their organization, government, visitation and instruction, for the reception of 
pupils and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of their good 
order, prosperity and public utility. 

JO. Whenever, In the opinion of the board, it may be advisable to sell anv of the school-houses lots 
or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the city, to report the same to the 
common council. 

11. To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regulations as mav be neces- 
sary or proper for the protection, safe keeping and preservation of the school-houses, lots and sites and 
appurtenances, and all the propertv belonging to the city connected with or appertaining to the schools 
.and to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations, and annually, on" 



^44 Pi OCH ESTER. 

or before the sixteenth day of May in each year, to determine and certify to said common council the 
sums, in their opmion, necessary or proper to be raised for the several purposes hereinbefore mentioned 
specifyinsthe sums required (for the year commencing on the first Monday of the previous April) for 
each of said purposes, including the sums necessary for the payment of teachers' wages and also for 
contingent expenses, and the reasons therefor. 

12. On or before the second Tuesday of October in each year, to make and file with the county clerk 
or such officer as may be designated by law, a report in writing, bearing date the first day of October 
in that year, and stating : 

[1.] The number of school-houses in said city, and an account and description of all the common 
schools kept m said city during the preceding year, and the time thev have been severally taught 

[2.] The number ot children taught in said schools, respectively, on the last school dav of Seo- 
teniber previous. ' '^ 

[3. ] The whole amount of school moneys received by the city treasurer of said city during the vear 
preceding, distinguishing the amount received from the county treasurer from the city tax and from 
any other source. 

[4. 1 The manner in which such moneys have been expended, and whether any. and what cart 
remain unexpended, and for what cause. ' 

[5. J The amount of money received for tuition fees from foreign pupils during the year and the 
amount paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the public moneys, and such other information relating 
to the common schools of the said city as may from time to time be required by the State Superintend- 
ent of Common Schools. 

? 132. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children of persons not resident 
within the city to attend any of the schools of said city, under the care and control of said board upon 
such terms as said board shall by resolution prescribe, fixing the tuition which shall be paid theretor. 

g 133. It shall be the duty of said board, in all their expenditures and contracts, to have reference 
to the amount of moneys which shall be subject to their order during the then current vear for the 
particular expenditure iii question, and not to exceed that amount; and they shall applv'the moneys 
raised and received by them for the support -f common schools in said citv, in such a manner as shall 
secure equal educational ailvantages to all the children over five and under twenty-one years of age, 
by continuing the schools in each district an equal period, as near as may be. 

g 134. The said board of commissioners shall be trustees of the school library or libraries in said city, 
and all the provisions of the law which are now or hereafter mav be passed relative to the district 
school libraries, shall apply to the said commissioners. They shall also be vested with the same dis- 
cretion as to the disposition of all moneys appropriated by any laws of this State for the purchase of 
libraries which is therein conferred upon the inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to 
provide for the safe keeping of the library or libraries. The superintendent of schools shall be the 
general librarian, who shall have the care of the books and supervise the letting out and return 
thereof, and the said board, or the general librarian under the direction or by the resolution of said 
board, may make all purchases of books and exchange, have bound, or cause to be repaired, the dam- 
aged books belonging thereto, and to sell any books which may be deemed useless, applying the pro- 
ceeds as ordered by resolution of the board. 

§ 135. It shall be the duty of the said board, at least twenty days before the annual city election for 
commissioners in each year, to prepare and report to the common council true and correct statements 
of the receipts and disbursements of money under and in pursuance of provisions of this act, during 
the preceding year, in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads: 

1. The moneys raiseil by the common council under the provisions of this title. 

2. The school moneys received by the citv treasurer from the county treasurer, or the State. 

3. The moneys received by the common council under the provisions of this title. 

4. AH other moneys received by the city treasurer subject to the order of the board, specifying the 
same, and sources. 

5. The manner in which such sums of moneys hall have been expended, specifying the amount paid 
under each head of expenditure. And the common council shall, ten days before each election, cause 
the same to be published in at least two of the newspapers pubhshed in said city. 

§ 136. The common council of the said city shall have the power to pass such ordinances and regula- 
tions as the said board of education may report as necessary or proper for the protection, safe keeping, 
care and preservation of the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, libraries, arid 
all necessary property belonging to, or connected with the schools in said city, and to im.pose proper 
penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in this charter ; 
and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for the violation of city 
ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and be 
subject to the order of the board of education, in the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to 
this charter. 

§ 137. It shall be the duty of the common council within fifteen days after receiving the certificate of 
the board of education hereinbefore required, of the sum necessary or proper to be raised for school 
purposes, to determine and certify to said board of education the amount that will be raised by them 
for the year commencing on the first Monday of the previous April, for the purposes mentioned in 
said certificate, distinguishing between the' amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent 
expenses, and the amount to be raised for the repair of school-houses. The amount raised for school 
purposes shall constitute four separate and distinct funds, namely : teachers' fund, contingent fund, 
building fund and repair fund : and in case the said common council shall neglect or fail to certify to 
the board of education the amount that will be raised by them, within thirty days, as above specified, 
then the common council shall raise the several amounts embraced in the certificate of the board of 
education, as specified therein, which amounts shall be subject to the disposal of the board of education. 

§ 1.38. All moneys, required to be. raised by virtue of this act, or received by the said city for or on 
account of the common schools, shall be deposited for the safe keeping thereof with the city treasurer 
of said city, to the credit of the board of education, and shall be drawn out in pursuance of a resolution 
or resolutions of said board, by draft drawn by the president and countersigned by the clerk of said 
board, payable to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such money, and every 
draft so drawn shall designate the particular fund from which it shall be paid, and said city treas- 
urer shall keep the? funds authorized by this title to be received by him separate and distinct from 
any other fund which he is or may by law be authorized to receive. 

? 139. The said board of education shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties and 
responsibilities of trustees of common schools in the towns of this State, in respect to the schools 
mentioned in the' last preceding section, so far as the same are applicable and are not inconsistent with 
this act, and shall pay the compensation of the teachers of the said schools, and all other expenses 
thereof, out of the moneys raised by tax under this act for the support of common schools. 

ji 140. No member of the board of educ.ition shall vote for the payment of any money out of any of 
■ the funds authorized to be raised by this title of the city charter, knowing that such fund is without 
money to pay the same, or by vote or otherwise create any debt or liability beyond the amount of any 



EOME. 945 

particular fund, for the then current fiscal j'ear. And any person violating this provision shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor ; and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars, nor 
more than one hundred dollars, or to be imprisoned in the Monroe county penitentiary for the period 
of ten days. And the district attorney of the county of Monroe is hereby specially directed, and it 
shall be his duty, to prosecute all persons violating this provision upon the complaint of any tax payer 
of said city. 

§ 141 . Whenever said board of education shall have established, in connection with the public schools 
of said city, a high school for the accommodation of pupils pursuing the branches of education usually 
taught in academies, the Regents of the State of New York may, upon the application of said board 
of education, acknowledge and declare said high school to be an academy; and it shall thereafter be 
an academy, subject to such rules and regulations as said Regents may prescribe ; provided, however, 
that nothing in this section shall affect the rights and duties of said board of education, granted or 
imposed by this act, or the statutes of this State, relating to common schools. 

§285. The board of education is hereby authorized to organize a "teachers' class" in the free 
academy or high school of said city, which shall be entitled to an annual allowance from the "litera- 
ture fund" of the State of New York, on the conditions and rules of the Regents of the University, 
adopted for the distribution of said fund in other academies of the State in which such classes are 
instructed. 

[Chap. 94, Laws of 1887.] 

An Act to authorize the city of Rochester to levy a tax for the purpose of erecting new school 

buildings. 

Section 1. The common council of the city of Rochester is hereby authorized and empowered to 
levy a tax of fifty-five thousand dollars in the general tax levy for the year eighteen hundred and 
eighty-seven in addition to the amount provided for by subdivision six of section one hundred and 
twenty-nine of the charter of said city for the purpose of erecting new school buildings and the pur- 
chase of the necessary sites therefor during the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven. 

§ 2. Said amount of fifty-five thousand dollars shall be used as follows : Ten thousand dollars thereof 
for the erection of a new school building in district number twenty ; twenty thousand dollars thereof 
for the purchase of a necessary hite and the erection of a school building in district number thirty-one ; 
and twenty-five thousand dollars thereof for the erection of a school building upon the site of the one 
now condemned in district number fourteen of the tenth ward, and said additional building fund shall 
be used for no other purpose than as specified in this act. 

i 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 

ROME. 

[Chap. 25, Laws of 1870.] 
(City Charter, Title X, relates to Public Schools.) 

TITLE X. 

Section l. The public schools within the " corporation tax district," including all the territory within 
such district and the residents therein shall constitute one school district, and be known as the "' union 
free school of the city of Rome," and be under the charge and control of six commissioners of schools, 
who shall be residents of such district and shall be the board of education of the cit3' of Homo, but 
such district shall be subject to the jurisdiction of, and have the same relations to the commissioner 
of schools of the third district of Oneida county and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as a 
union free school district under the general school laws of the State. The title of all school property, 
real and personal, therein shall be vested in the city of Rome. The schools in said city, outside of the 
"corporation tax district," shall exist and be controlled under the general school laws of the State in 
all respects as in towns. (As amended by g 24, chap. 49, Laws of 1871.) 

? 2. The union free schools of the village of Rome as now constituted with the territory enlarged, as 
specified in section one of this title, shall be the union free school of the city of Rome, and sections 
seven, eight, nine, eleven, twelve, thirteen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-three, 
twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty-six of title nine and all the sections of title ten of chapter five 
hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four so far as apphcable are hereby 
declared applicable to said union free school of the city of Rome, and the present board of education 
shall remain as now and the members thereof hold for their respective terms as now classified and 
until their successors are elected. On the second Tuesday of October in each year, or if that day should 
pass without an election, on such subsequent day, and at such place as the board of education shall 
appoint, an election of members of the board of education shall be held under the direction of three 
members of said board designated by the board, and by the votes of electors of said city having the 
(jualiflcations of voters for trustees of school districts. The polls shall be kept open during the hours 
which the board shall prescribe, and the election be conducted in the usual manner of elections for 
trustees of school districts, and a certificate of the result thereof shall be made and signed by the mem- 
bers of the board presiding thereat, and filed in the office of the chamberlain. At every such election 
two members of the board of education shall be chosen for the term of three years from the second 
Tuesday of October, on which the terms of their predecessors expired, and any vacancy existing 
in the board»at the time of any such election shall be filled thereat by an election for the unex- 
pired term. No person shall vote at any such election of members of the board of education unless a 
resident within said school district. (As amended by § 25, chap. 49. Laws of 1811. ) 

§ 3. The board of education shall have power to appoint a superintendent of schools and to fix and 
pay his compensation and to prescribe his duties ; the superintendent shall be appointed annually, and 
shall be subject to removal by said board at any time for cause. He shall examine all teachers to be 
employed in the union free schools of the city of Rome, in the manner and at the times directed by the 
board of education; shall grant certificates of their qualifications therefor, and upon approval of such 
certificates bv said board no other examination or certificate shall be necessary. {As amended by § I, 
chap. 352, Laws of 1885. ) 

g 4. The amount to be raised for school purposes in said district shall be determined by the common 
council, on the estimates of the board of education, as provided by law in the case of a union free 
school district whose territory is the same as that of the village or city corporation in which itis 
located, and the same shall be levied and collected by the common council in the same manner as city 
taxes, as provided in title five of this act. Provided, however, that the board of education shall 
yearly, and whenever required so to do by the common council, make and deliver to the common 

119 



946 Sag Harbor. 

council a detailed statement showing and accounting for all the moneys that have fceen received or 
expended by or through them since the date of their then last report thereof to the common council. 
{Added by § 2';, chap. 49, Laws of 1811, and araended by § 26, chap. 576, Laws o/1875.) 

§ 4. The amount to be raised for school purposes in said district shall be determined by the common 
council, on the estimates of the board of education, as provided by law in the case of a union tree school 
district whose territory is the same as that of the villages or city corporation in which it is located, and 
the same shall be levied and collected by the common council in the same mauner as city taxes as 
provided in title five of this act. {Added by ? 26, chap. 49, Laws of 1871.) 

ih. Upon the petition of the owners or occupants of any territory contiguous to said district, and 
the written consent of the school commissioners of the third district of Oneida county, th« board of 
education may attach such territory to said district, and thereafter such annexed territory, and the 
residents therein, shall be included in the assessment and collection of the school tax of said district. 
(Addfid by § 26, chap. 49, Laws of 1871.) 

J 27. The vacancy created in the board of education by the passage of this act (one member thereof 
not being a resident of the district as established by this act) may be filled by appointment of said 
board fur the residue of the term. The board of education shall have the jurisdiction and charge of the 
schools of the whole city, as before the passage of this act, until the close of the present winter term 
of said schools, and for the purpose of receiving the school moneys for the whole city from the State, 
payable in the winter or spring of eighteen hundred and seventy -one, and of paying all expenses of 
said schools to the close of said term. {Added by g 26, chap. 49, Laivs of 1871.) The numbering of 
this section is evidently a mistake and should be § 6. 

[The following was added by chap. 457, Laws o/1870.] 

Section 1. The school tax of the city of Rome maybe assessed by the common council, and the 
warrant for the collection thereof Issued in the month of May or June in the present year, and in any 
year hereafter, and shall be assessed upon all the taxable real and personal property in said city, 
according to the valuation of the city assessment-roll of the preceding year, and for the present j-ear, 
according to the valuation of the assessment-roll of the town of Rome for the year eighteen hundred 
and sixty-nine. The city chamberlain shall make out the assessment-roll and apportion the tax, and 
make a copy thereof for the collector, for which he shall receive such compensation as the common 
council may determine. All the provisions of law in relation to the assessment and collection of taxes 
and the return of the same, if collected at the time provided in the charter of said city, shall, so far as 
applicable, apply to the assessment, collection and return of said school-tax at the time provided in 
this section. 

[ Chap. 200, Laws of 1887.] 

An act to separate the union free schools of the city of Rome from the third school commissioner's 

district of Oneida county. 

Section 1. All that part of the city of Rome, known as the "union free schools of the city of Rome," 
as at present constituted, shall hereafter be excluded from the third school commissioner's district of 
Oneida county; and no person residing within the bounds of said " union free schools of the city of 
Rome" shall be entitled to vote for school commissioner for said third school commissioner's district 
ot Oneida county. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 

SAG HARBOR. 
[Chap. 441, Laws of 1862, as amended hy chap. 295, Laws of 1864, and chap. 251, Laws of 1881.] 

Section 1. School districts number twenty-one and eleven of the town of Southampton, and num- 
ber nine of the town of East Hampton, and so much of the abandoned school district of the town of 
Southampton lying contiguous to the union school district ot Sag Harbor as shall be designated for 
that purpose by an order of the school commissioner in whose district such school district is to be, 
filed with the clerk of the town of Southampton on or before the thirty-first day of August, eighteen 
hundred and eighty-one, are hereby consolidated for the purposes in the act specified, and shall here- 
after, for such purposes, form but one school district, to be called "the union school district of Sag 
Harbor." The portion of school district number nine of the town of East Hampton not embraced in 
the corporation limits is hereby attached to the adjoining school district of the tov^n of East Hampton. 
(As amended by chap. 295, Laws of 1864, and chap. 251, Laws of 1881.) 

§ 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board to be stjded "the board of education," 
which board shall consist of six members, four or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business. Cleveland S. Stillwell, Brinley D. Sleiarht, Oliver R. Wade, William H. Glea- 
son, Stephen B. French and Jonas Winters, shall compose the first board of education, who shall be 
divided into three classes, each class containing two members, and shall determine by lot their respect- 
ive terms of office, so that the first class shall serve to the first annual meeting ensuing, the second 
one year, and the third two years from said meeting. 

§ 3. At the annual meeting of said district to be held on the second Tuesday of October in each year, 
which, as well as all special meetings, shall be held at the corporation hall, or at such convenient place 
in said district as the board may in their previous notice designate, there shall be elected by ballot, for 
three years, two members of said board of education, who shall be residents and taxable inhabitants of 
said district. The polls of said election shall be kept open for one hour from the time of opening the 
same, or such longer time as the board may in their previous notice indicate. {As amended by chap. 
295, Laws of 1864. ) . ^ ^, 

2 4. Said board of education shall possess the powers and authority and be subject to the same duties 
and liabilities in respect to said district as trustees of common schools in this State ; 

2 5. Said board of education shall also have the power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To appoint a clerk and librarian, who maybe of their number, who shall hold office during the 
pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by a vote of the taxable inhabitants of 
said district ; ^ , 

2. To divide the said school into primary and higher departments ; to regulate the transfer of scholars 
from one department to the other ; to provide suitable instructors for each department, and direct what 
text-books shall be used therein ; , ^ , , , 

3. To fix and regulate the rates of tuition for resident scholars m said primary and other higher 
branches in said school or schools, to sue for and collect, in their corporate name, any sum of money 
due to said district, and to levy a tax upon the taxable property of said district for .anv deficieijcy which 
may exist for the payment of teachers' wages. {As amended by chap. 205, Laws of 1864.) 



Sag Harbor. 947 

4. To establish and canse to be kept a school in said village for the instruction of colored children. 

5. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of said school or 
schools, and to hire, pay and discharge any teacher employed by them in said school; 

6. To purchase fuel and other necessaries for the use of the school or schools in said district; and all 
contracts made by them in their official capacity shall be binding upon them and their successors in 
office, provided that no contract shall be made for a longer period than two years, except contracts relat- 
ing to the construction of buildings authorized by this act, and the loans which may be necessary to 
effect that purpose ; 

7. To make such by-laws as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government 
of said school; 

8. To receive and apply to the uses of the said school or schools, or any department thereof, any gift, 
legacy, bequest, devise or annuities, given, bequeathed or devised to said district for the purposes of 
said school or schools, and apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the terms 
or instructions of the donor or testator ; 

9. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board. Including an annual salary to the 
clerk : 

10. To til! any vacancy which may happen in said board by reason of death, removal or refusal to 
serve, of any member or officer of said board ; and the person so appointed in the place of any member 
of the board sliali hold his office until the next annual meeting of said district ; 

11. To prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recovered to apply the same 
to the purposes of education in said district. 

§6. The said board may declare vacant the place of any member thereof who, without satisfactory 
cause, shall omit to attend the legally called successive meetings of the board. 

§7. Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall be made in wnlting to the 
president of the board of education, and such resignation shall have no force or effect, nor in any 
degree excuse such officer from the discharge of his duties, until the same be accepted and approved 
by a resolution of said board. 

§ 8. The several schools under the care of the said board shall, as to the common school department 
thereof, be subject to the supervision of the commissioner of common t;chools in like manner as the 
other common schools in this State. 

§ 9. The clerk of the said board shall attend all school meetings of the inhabitants of said district, r,nd 
also all the meetings of the board, and act as secretary thereof. He shall notify all officers elected or 
appointed of their election or appointment within two days thereafter. He shall keep a record of the 
proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as they may prescribe. The said record or tran- 
script thereof, certified by the president and clerk, shall be received in all courts as isn'nia/acie evi- 
dence of the acts of said trustees. 

g 10. The village collector shall be ex-ojfficio collector of said school district, and shall possess the 
powers and authority, and be subject to the same duties and obhgations, as such officer in the several 
school districts of this State. 

?]1. The village treasurer shall be ex-o#cto treasurer of said school district, and all moneys to be 
raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys or other funds by law appropriated 
to, or provided for the schools of said village, shall be paid to him as such treasurer. He shall be liable 
to the same penalties for any official misconduct in relation to said moneys as for any similar miscon- 
duct in relation to the other moneys of said village. He shall keep the funds authorized by this act to 
be received bv him separate and distinct from any other fund which he is or may by law be authorized 
to receive. He shall pay out all school moneys, on the warrant of the board of education, signed by 
Its president and clerk. He shall receive for all moneys that he shall disburse upon said warrant one- 
half of one per cent ; provided that for all service required of him under this act he shall not receive an 
amount exceeding twenty-five dollars in any one year. 

2 12. Such treasurer and collector shall severally, before entering upon the duties of their offices, ex- 
ecute and dehver to the said board of education a bond, with such sufficient penalty and sureties as the 
board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of their respective offices. And 
in case such bond shall not be given, such offices shall thereby become vacant, and said board shall 
thereupon make other appointments to supply such vacancies. 

§ 13. It shall be a sufficient notice of any annual, special or adjourned district meeting, to publish 
euch notice in the papers printed in said village, and by affixing a copy of the same on the outer door 
of the district school-house (if there be any), and posting a copy of the same in five other public places 
in such district ; the posting of said notice to be done at least five days before such meeting, and no 
other notice of any such meeting need be given. 

§ 14. The legal voters of said district, at any annual, special or adjourned meeting legallv held, may bv 
a three-fitths vote raise such sum of money as they shall deem expedient, not exceeding the sum of 
ten thousand dollars, for the purpose of purchasing a site and building a school-house in said district, 
or for the purpose of purchasing any suitable building and site for such purpose ; to erect out-buildings, 
to inclose the same with a fence, and for such other improvements as may be considered necessary, and 
may also direct the board of education to cause the same to be levied by installments, and make out a 
tax list for the collection of the same as often as such installments shall become due ; and the said 
board of education are hereby authorized to obtain, by loan, the whole or any part of the monev legally 
voted by said district, and secure the payment of the same by their official bond as representatives of 
said district, as also to collect by tax from said district a sum sufficient to pay interest on said loans. 

g 15. The valuations of taxable property in said district shall be ascertained, as far as possible, from 
the last assessment roll of the said village. (As amended by chapter 295, Laws of 1864.) 

§ 16. The said board of education shall have power to establish and organize a classical department 
in said school, to be known by the name of the "' Sag Harbor academy," and such academical depart- 
ment shall be under the visitation of the Regents of the University, and shall be subject in its course 
of education and matters pertaining thereto (providing said district comply with the provisions of the 
statutes now in force relating to the organizing and chartering of academies or academical depart- 
ments), and to all the regulations made in regard to academies by the said Regents ; and in such 
department the qualifications for the entrance of any pupil shall be the same as those established by 
the said Regents for admission into any academy of the State under their supervision. And such 
academical department shall share in the distribution of the income of the literature fund and of the 
income of the United States deposit fund, with the academies in the State subject to the visitation of 
the Regents. 

§ 17. The trustees of said districts numbers twenty-one and eleven, of the town of Southampton, and 
number nine of the town of East Hampton, holding office at the time of the passing of this act, shall, 
within three months after the organization and estabUshment of the union school under this act, sell 
at pubUc auction or private sale, as they may deem expedieat, the d»strict property in their respective 
districts. 



948 Salem, 

SALEM. 

ILaws of 1851, chap. 206.] 



1 88. The board of trustees (of the village of Salem) aforesaid shall, within twenty days after the pas- 
sage of this act, appoint six commissioners of schools. The persons so appointed shall, within five 
days after their appointment, take the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of this State for 
State officers, and file the same with the clerk. 

1 89. The board of trustees shall divide the said commissioners into three classes, to be denominated 
first, second and third, and shall designate to which class each person so appointed shall belong. The 
term of office of the first class shall expire on the last Monday in April next thereafter; of the second, 
in one year ; and the third, two years from the snid last Monday in April. 

§ 90. There shall be elected at the next annual election thereafter two commissioners of schools, and 
each year thereafter a like number, to supply the places of those whose term is about to expire ; and 
the term of office shall be three years, except when (elected or) appointed to fill a vacancy. (As amended 
by chap. 31 of 1853. ) 

§91. The board of trustees may make appointments to fill Tacancies which may occur from any cause 
other than the expiration of the term of office of those elected. The commissioners so aopointed shall 
hold their offices for the unexpired term of those to supply whose places they are appointed. 

2 92. The president of the board of trustees, together with the said commissioners, shall constitute a 
board to be styled *• the board of education of the village of Salem," and shall be a corporate body in 
relation to all the powers and duties conferred or imposed by law. In the absence of said president, 
such board may appoint one of their number to preside. A majority of such board shall be a quorum. 
No member of such board shall receive any compensation for his services. The cierk of said village 
shall be clerk of said board, 

2 93. The clerk of said board of education shall keep a record of the proceedings thereof, and perform 
such other duties as the board may prescribe; such record or a transcript thereof, certified by such 
clerk under the seal of the said board, shall be presumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth ; and 
such record, and ail the books, accounts and proceedings of said board, shall be subject to the inspection 
of said board of trustees, and of any committee thereof. Such clerk shall also perform all the duties, 
and shall be vested with all the powers conferred or imposed by law on clerks of school districts in 
towns so far as su3h laws may be applicable and can be appUed to such village, and are not inconsistent 
with this act. He may appoint a deputy, who shall be vested with the same powers. 

{ 94. The board of trustees aforesaid shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise from time 
to time by tax, upon the taxable property and persons in such village which shall be liable to taxation 
for county purposes, in addition to the amount now or hereafter to be provided by law for common 
schools in said village, such sums as may be determined and certified by said board of education to be 
necessary for any or all of the following purposes: 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses and appurtenances ; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and their out-houses 
and appurtenances ; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, maps and charts, furniture 
and appendages; provided, however, that class or text-books shall not be furnished for any scholars 
whose ptirent or guardian shall be able to furnish the same ; 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of schools and of the school library ; 
."j. To pay teachers' wages ; 

6. To pay charges or expenses incurred by law or necessary to carry this act into effect, or to refund 
loans contracted by law and to pay the interest thereon, or to pay such sums as shall be required to 
fulfill any contract duly made under the provisions of this act. 

§ 95. The board of trustees shall cause the amount of such school tax to be added, in a separate 
column, to the assessment roll for ordinary taxes in said village; and they shall cause the same to be 
assessed, levied and collected at the same time and by the same warrant, and in the same manner with 
the taxes raised for village purposes as aforesaid. 

§96. All moneys raised for school purposes in said village, and all belonging thereto payable from 
other sources, shall be paid to the treasurer of said village, who, together with the sureties on his offi- 
cial bond, sliall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other moneys of the said village. 
The treasurer shall also be liable to the same penalties, for any official misconduct in relation to such 
moneys, as for any similar misconduct in relation to other moneys of said village. 

I 97. The treasurer shall keep a separate account of all moneys in his hands or received for school 
purposes, to be called the "school fund." No payment shall be made out of that fund, except upon 
orders duly drawn, in pursuance of a resolution of said board of education, and certified by the clerk 
and countersigned by the president of said board. The treasurer shall in his annual report state fully 
the account of all receipts and disbursements from thai fund during the year, and the balance, if any, 
in his hands. His account as to the school fund shall be examined by the board of education annually, 
who shall report thereon to the trustees. 

§ 98. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize such and so many schools in said village, including the common schools 
therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue or change and con- 
solidate the same ; 

2. To purchase or hire school-houses and rooms and lots or sites for school- houses, and to fence, 
Improve and repair them as they shall judge expedient; 

3. Upon such sites or lots, or upon any lots owned by said village, to build, enlarge, alter, Improve 
and repair school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable; 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for indigent pupils and for the 
school hbrary, to provide fuel and lights, furniture and appendages for the schools and defray their con- 
tingent expenses and the expenses of library. 

5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses and all the school property aforesaid, 
and to see that the ordinances of the board of trustees in regard thereto be observed, and to report to 
them any violation thereof; 

6. To contract with, examine, license and employ all teachers in the schools, either high or common, 
and in all branches or departments thereof, and at their pleasure to remove them ; 

7. To pav the wages of such teachers out of the school moneys which shall be appropriated and pro- 
vided by the said village, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue thereof from the money 
authorized to be raised by this act by tax as aforesaid ; 

8. To deff-ay the necessary contingent expenses of the board of education. i^Aa amended by chap. 393, 

9 To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the schools aforesaid; 
to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organi- 



Salem. 949 

zation, frovernment and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to 
another, and generally for their good order, prosperity and public utility ; 

10. Whenever in the opinion of the board of education it may be advisable to sell any of the school- 
houses, lots or sites, to report the same to the board of trustees ; 

11. To prepare and report to the hoard of trustees such ordinances and regulations as may be neces- 
sary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of property held for school pur- 
poses, and to suggest proper penalties for the violation thereof; and annually to determine and certify 
to said board the sums in their opinion necessary to be raised for the several school purposes specified 
in this act ; 

12. To provide for the payment to any adjoining school district, or any person or persons entitled 
thereto, of any sum on account of such person, or any part of said district being or having been 
included or connected with territory not now included in said village. 

U. (Eepcaledhy chap. 3i)Z, Laws of ISm.) 

14. To establish, organize and maintain in said village, whenever in their opinion it shall he necessary, 
a union or consolidated school, composed of primary and secondary schools, and a high school, on such 
plan and under such discipline and management as they shall deem advisable, and in such case to pre- 
scribe the course of studies therein, and so arrange and regulate the system of instruction in each of 
said schools that the transfer of pupils shall thereafter be from the primary directly into the secondary, 
and thence into the high school or otherwise, as they shall deem advisable. And for the purpose afore- 
said, said board shall be vested with all the powers and charged with all the duties and liabilities above 
specified in regard to schools generally. 

And said board may organize and maintain primary, secondary or high schools or either of them in, 
or cause the same to be taught in connection with, the Washington academy, on such terms and con- 
ditions, and for such time, not exceeding ten years, as shall he deemed expedient by and between said 
board of education and the trustees of such academy; such arrangement shall, if made, be by contract 
duly executed by said parties, but no such contract shall be made without the assent of the board of 
trustees of said village; and in such case said board of education are vested with power to make such 
rules and regulations as they shall see fit as to age or degree of scholarship required to enter said sev- 
eral departments, the compensation and payment therefar, and other terms thereof, and the time of 
continuance therein. 

g 99. Such board of education shall have a standing committee, consisting of not less than three mem- 
bers, whose duty it shall be to visit said schools and each department thereof as often as twice every 
term, and to make report in writing to said board in regard thereto. 

g 100. The said board of education may permit children of persons not resident within said village to 
attend said schools on such terms as they shall prescribe ; and said board may, in the name of said vil- 
lage, sue for or recover of the father, or mother, master or mistress, or other person under whose charge 
such child or children may be, all such sums as shall be so prescribed, with costs of suit. 

§ 101. The board of education shall be trustees of the district library or libraries in said village. All 
the provisions of law which now or hereafter may be passed, relating to school district libraries, shall 
apply to the said commissioners and board of education, so far as the same are applicable and can be 
appHed, and are not inconsistent with this act, in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school 
district composed of the said village. They shall he vested with the discretion as to the dispositioa of 
library moneys which is by law conferred upon the inhabitants of school districts, and they may con- 
solidate the said libraries, or dispose of parts thereof, as deemed best. It shall be their duty to provide 
a library room or rooms, and the necessary furniture therefor, appoint a librarian, make all purchases 
of books, exchange or cause to be repaired all damaged books, and sell those deemed useless or of an 
improper character, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of others. 

8102. No trustee of said village or member of said board of education shall be a contractor or be inter- 
ested in any contract for building or making any erections or repairs authorized by this act, or furnish- 
ing materials therefor. All contracts made in violation hereof shall be void, so far as any benefit may 
be realized therefrom by the offender, and such person shall forfeit to said village fifty dollars, to be 
recovered by them before any court having cognizance of the same, with costs. 

§ 103. The board of trustees of said village may pass such ordinances and regulations as they may 
deem necessary, or as shall be reported by said board of education, for the protection, safe-keeping, 
care and maintenance of the school-house or other property connected with the schools, or property 
held or occupied or used for school purposes; and to impose penalties for the violation thereof, 
subject to the restrictions contained in this act, and all such penalties shall be collected in the same 
manner as other penalties imposed by said board, and when collected shall be paid to the treasurer, to 
the credit of the school fund, and be subject to the order of the board of education. 

§ 104. Whenever the said board of education shall report to the trustees that it is advisable to sell any 
of the school property as aforesaid, the said trustees shall sell the same as soon as may be, and upon 
such terms as said trustees shall deem best. The proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the treas- 
urer, to the credit of the school fund. 

2 105. The title of the school-house and other school property aforesaid shall be vested in the trustees 
of the village of Salem; and the same, while used or kept for use for school purposes, shall not he levied 
on or sold by virtue of any process, or be subject to taxation for any purpose; nor shall the same be 
Incumbered or in any way disposed of, except as authorized by this act. The said village, in its corpo- 
rate capacity, may take, hold, dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant or 
devise, for the use or benefit of said schools, or anv of them, and whether the same shall he transferred, 
given, granted or devised in terms to said villag'e by its proper style, or by any other designation, 
or to any other designation, or to any person or persons, or body or otherwise, for the use or benefit of 
said schools or either of them. 

§ 106. The superintendent of common schools in which said village is situated, in making the appor- 
tionment of school and library moneys among the sereral districts in the town of Salem, shall allot to 
said village such sums as shall be its proportion of such moneys, considering said village as a regular 
school district of said town ; and the report of the board of education as the report of the trustees, and 
the allotment made bv said superintendent in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-five is hereby 
confirmed, and all sums so alloted, including the apportionment aforesaid of eighteen hundred and 
sixtv-five, shall be p;iid by the supervisor of said town to the treasurer of said village to the credit of 
the "school fund, at the same time and in the same manner so far as applicable as to trustees of school 
districts in said town. (As amended by chap. 393, Laws of 1866.) 

§ 107. The said board of education shall, between the first and fifteenth of October in each year, 
make and transmit a report in writing, verified by the president or clerk, or one of said board, to the 
superintendent of schools of the district in which said village is situated, and containing the facts 
required bv law to be stated in similar reports from ordinary school districts, so far as such require- 
ments are applicable to said board of education ; such report shall be the only report required to be 
made in order to entitle said board to the allotment of school and library moneys, required to be made 
in and by section one hundred and six. Said schools in said village and said board of education shall 
not in anv other respect be bound to report to said superintendent, nor shall said schools or the teacher 
thereof be in anywise under his control or supervision. (As amended by chap. 393, Laivs of 1866. ) 



950 Salina. 



J 108. In case said board of education shall contract with the trustees of the Washington academy, as 
authorized in this act, they are further empowered to lease from said trustees the academy buildmg 
and grounds adjacent, or contract for the joint or several occupation of the same, or so much thereof 
or such privileges therein or appertaining thereto, on such conditions, and for such time, not exceed- 
ing two years, as they shall deem advisable. And they may pay in advance to such trustees such gross 
sum for the rent thereof, for such terra as, being calculated with a proper rebate for the advance pay- 
ment, shall be deemed by said board no more than a fair equivalent for the use and occupation thereof 
for the purposes required under this act. And such sum as shall be necessary for the purposes afore- 
said, not exceeding one thousand dollars, may be loaned by the comptroller to said village out of any 
moneys belonging to ihe common school fund, on receiving from the board of trustees of said village 
the bond of said village therefor, payable in five equal payments with annual interest. The moneys 
received thereon shall be paid to the treasurer, to the credit of the school fund, and shall be drawn out 
in the same manner as other moneys in that fund ; provided, however, that no such contract shall be 
made, nor any loan obtained by said board of education, without the previous assent of the board of 
trustees of said village. In case said loan shall be made, said trustees shall annually raise during each 
of said five years by tax, in the same manner and at the same time as other village taxes are 
raised^such sum as, over and above the expenses of collection, will pay the several installments so to 
grow due on such loan, with the interest. (See chap. 31, Laws of 1853.) 

g 109. Any contract, lease or agreement made or executed by said board of education with the trustees 
of the Washington academy, under the provisions of this act, may be vacated, modified or renewed by 
the parties aforesaid, by and with the assent of the board of trustees of said village; provided no 
renewal thereof shall be made for a term exceeding ten 3'ears at any one time. 

1 110. All the property, real and personal, belonging to the districts numbers eleven and twelve shall 
be and is hereby transferred to and vested in the trustees of the village of Salem for school purposes ; 
and they are authorized to take the same into their possession, and hold, use and occupy the same, and 
exercise the same powers in regard thereto, as if they had purchased the same for school purposes 
under this act ; and the present trustees and ofiicers of said district are hereby required to deliver pos- 
session thereof, and of all books, papers and vouchers connected therewith, to said board, and said 
board may sue for and recover the same with costs of suit of any person having the same or any part 
thereof. 

§ 111. All debts and legal liabihties of said school districts number eleven and twelve shall be audited, 
paid, satisfied and discharged by said board of education out of the school fund. 

J 112. Each and every of the "schools established or maintained under this act shall be free to the 
children of al! residents of said village ; provided, however, that said board of education may cause 
the tuition fee to be charged and collected of the father or mother, master or mistress, or other person 
(in whose charge such pupil may be), residing in said village, of any pupil over sixteen years of age, or 
who shall pursue studies which said board shall deem should not be tuition fee. For the purpose of 
collecting such fees such board shall by general rules provide for the keeping of proper registers, in 
which shall be entered the name of every such pupil, and his father or mother, master or mistress, or 
other person in whose charge such pupil may be, the length of time such pupil shall attend such school, 
and the tuition fee chargeable therefor. Immediately previous to the issuing of the warrant for the 
collection of the annual village tax, said board of education shall cause to be presented to the board of 
trustees ah abstract from such registers, containing a statement of names of every such father or 
mother, master or mistress, or other person residing in such village, from whom any sum or amount 
was due for such tuition fees at the close of the term previous to the presentation of such lists. The 
annual tax list shall contain a column headed "tuition fees," in which shall be entered, opposite th« 
name of such person, the amount so returned as aforesaid, which sum shall be included in the aggre- 
gate column to be collected under such warrant; and the same proceedings shall be had for the collec- 
tion thereof as for other village taxes; and when collected the same shall be paid to the treasurer, to 
the credit of the school fund; but such return so made shall not include the name of any person who 
shall, in the opinion of the board, be in indigent circumstances; any person specified in such return 
may, at any time before the collection of said tuition fee, apply to said board of education for a remission 
of the same ; and if said board shall deem proper, they may, by resolution, duly passed, remit the same 
in whole or in part, and the clerk shall certify such remission to the collector, and no further proceed- 
ings shall be had for the collection of the sum so remitted. 

§ 113. Nothing in this act contained shall prevent the trustees of the Washington academy from 
receiving from the Regents of the University any sum or allowance for pupils pursuing classical studies 
therein, or for organizing and maintaining a teachers' department therein. And any pupil in any of 
the departments organized in said academy under the provisions of this act pursuing such classical 
studies as are required by the Regents aforesaid, in order to be entitled to an allowance, and being 
of sufficient age, shall be included in the returns of said trustees to said Regents, and they 
shall be entitled to the same allowance for such pupil or pupils,as for other classical pupils hereto- 
fore. 

[By chapter 31, Laws of 1853, page 38, the boundaries of the village were so altered as to exclude 
therefrom the lands then occupied by Wm. McKie, and lying on the westerly side of lands owned and 
occupied by the Troy and Rutland R. R. Co. And by chapter 143, Laws of 1863, page 226, the bounda- 
ries were again altered so as to exclude lots 55 and 150, of Turner's Patent, and also the lands mentioned 
in a deed of conveyance from Thomas J. Boyd and Ellen his wife to James CoUins, dated April 1, 1861. 
And by section 4. of the last-named act, the lands thus excluded from the village were made part of the 
school and highway districts of which they formed a part prior to the passage of chapter 206, Laws of 
1851.] 

By chapter 152, Laws of 1872, the board of education was authori/ed to borrow money for certain 
purposes. 

[Ghap. 31, Laws of 1853.] 

g 3. The length of time specified in section one hundred and eight of said act, for which said board 
of education may lease the academy buildings and grounds adjacent, or make the contract therein 
mentioned, is hereby extended not exceeding ten years. 

SALINA— DISTRICT No. 6. 

{Chap. 756, Laws of 1867.] 

Section 1. All that part of the town of Salina bounded and described as follows, viz. : " The terri- 
tory bounded on the west by the east hue of the village of Liverpool ; on the south by the north shore 
of the Onondaga lake ; on the east by the west bounds of the city of Syracuse ; and on the north, from 
the point where the Onondaga salt springs reservation line strikes the city line, westerly to the north- 
west corner of the farm of Hiram L. Hawley ; thence south and west on the line of said farm to the 
east line of the vilage of Liverpool," is hereby made and constituted into a separate school district, to 



Saratoga Sprin'gs. 951 

be hereafter known and designated as school district number six of the town of Salina; and Simon 
Stevens, Oscar L. Soule and Hiram L. Hawley shall be the tirst trustees, and David S. Earll shall be 
the first clerk of said school district ; said trustees shall hold their otfices in the order in which they are 
named herein, for the term of one, two and three years respectively, after which times, and upon each 
vacancy the ofiflcers of said school district shall be elected in the manner now prescribed by law. This 
district shall be subject to alteration by the school commissioner in like manner as other school 
districts. 

§ 2. Said school shall be free to all persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years residing in 
said district. AH payments for teachers' wages shall be by tax and not by rate bill. 

§3. The trustees of said district shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to provide a good site for 
a school-house for the purposes of said school, and said site shall embrace not less than three-fourths 
of an acre; and they shall have power and are hereby required to raise by tax, to be levied equally upon 
all the real and personal property in the district liable to taxation for school purposes, not less than the 
sum of three thousand dollars and not exceeding five thousand dollars, as they shall deem necessary for 
the purpose of building, erecting, fencing in and suitably furnishing a school-house on said site, which 
school-house shall be built, erected and furnished with no unreasonable delay, aud from time to time in 
like manner, to raise from year to year such (moneys) as the trustees shall deem necessary for the pay- 
ment of teachers' wages and other incidental expenses of said district, after having applied all other 
moneys belonging to said district which may be applicable to teachers' wages. 

§ 4. So much of act, chapter two hundred and eleven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty, en- 
titled " An act to constitute school district number one, in the town of Salina and county of Onondaga, 
a free school, " passed April ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty, as may be inconsistent with ttiis act, is 
hereby repealed. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS. 

[Chap. 353, Laws of 1867.] 

Section 1. All school districts or parts of school districts within the corporate limits of the village of 
Saratoga Springs, in the county of Saratoga, are hereby consolidated into one school district, to be 
called the " union tree school district of Saratoga Springs," and said school district, for the pui-pose of 
the apportionment and distrioution ol scuool money which, from any source, may be couecced or 
received, shull be a school district under the general school laws of the State. 

J 2. Ttie school or schools in said school district shall be unJor tho management and control of nine 
trustees, being taxable inhabitants of said district, who shall be denominated " the board of education 
of the union free school of the village of Saratoga Springs ; " and said board is hereby constituted a 
body corporate, with all the powers conferred and duties enjoined upon them by this act, and shall 
have a corporate seal such as said board may designate. The tirst board of education under this act 
shall be constituted as follows : Oliver L. Barbour, Augustus Bockes and John Shipman, as trustees of 
the first class, whose term of service shall expii-e on the fourth Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-eight; Joseph A.Shoudy, Thomas Flanagan and Aaron Hill, as trustees of the second class, 
whose term of service shall expire on the fourth Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine ; 
John Woodbridge, John Palmer and Charles S. Lester, as trustees of the third class, whose term of 
service shall expire on the fourth Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and seventy, and thereafter 
the term of service of the class which has served the longest period shall expire on the fourth Tuesday 
of October in each year. The trustees of the village of Saratoga Springs shall order a special election, 
to be holden on the second Tuesday of October in each year, except the year eighteen hundred and 
sixty-seven, at one of the school-houses, under the inspection of said trustees, to elect three trustees as 
members of said board of education, at which election any vacancies that may have occurred during 
the year may be filled. At said election the polls shall be open from ten o'cIoc'k a. m. until four 
o'clock p. M. of that day, and only those entitled to vote at ordinary school elections shall be entitled 
to vote. 

§ 3. The board of education above named shall hold its first meeting within two weeks after the pas- 
sage of this act at a time and place to ba designated by tho member of tho board first named in the 
second section of this act. The members of the board shall take the usual oath of offlcc, and shall elect 
a president from among their number, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board. No 
member of the board shall receive compensation for any official service, nor shall he be interested, 
directly or indirectly, in any contract, purchase or expenditure which the board at any time may 
order. 

1 4. The said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each 
month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in 
case of his absence or inability to act, by any member of the board, ai often as necessary, by giving 
personal notice to each member of the board, or by causing a written or printed notice to be left at his 
last place of residence, at least twenty-four hours previous to the hour appointed for such special 
meeting. 

§ 5. The title to all the real and personal estate appertaining to the schools heretofore mentioned 
shall be vested in the board of education, and the same shall not be subject to taxation or assessment 
for any purpose whatever. 

S 6. The board of education shall have power and is hereby directed : 

1. To establish and organize in said village as many and such public schools, with graded departments 
(including an academical department), and schools for colored children, as said board may deem requi- 
site and expedient, and to alter or discontinue the same at its discretion ; 

2. To rent or purchase and prepare such houses or rooms as may be found necessary for properly con- 
ducting such schools, but no entirely new structure designed for the academical department, to be 
erected until after the expiration of three years from the passage of this act; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair any school apparatus, books, furniture or appendages, 
and to defray the expense of the free library ; 

4. To have the custody and safe-keeping of all the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture 
and appurtenances, and to see that all the village ordinances and rules of the board of education 
relative thereto are observed ; 

5. To contract with and employ all necessary teachers, subject to removal at the pleasure of the 
board ; 

6. To provide evening schools for the benefit of those whose ages or avocations are such as to prevent 
their attendance upon the day schools established under this act : 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the fund appropriated and provided by law for this 
purpose ; 

8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board. Including the wages of Janitors ; 

9. To expend all moneys raised in accordance with this act for buildings, for the purchase of grounds, 
or for any other purposes for which the same may be required, in such manner as they may deem 
proper; 



952 Saratoga Springs. 

10". To have the superintendence aftd management of the common schools in said village, and, from 
time to time, to adopt, alter, modify or repeal, as they may deem expedient, any rules or regulations 
for the organization, government and instruction of said schools, for the reception of pupils, their 
transfer from one department to another, for their advancement from class to class, as their degree of 
scholarship shall warrant, and generally for the promotion of the good order, prosperity and public util- 
ity of said schools ; and if at any time an academical department shall be established by said board, it 
shall be entitled to its distributive share of the literature fund, in like manner and on like conditions 
with the academies of this State, and shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University, 
as are the other academies of the State. 

g 7. It shall be the duty of the board of education, on or before the first day of April in each year, after 
the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, to determine and certify to the corporate authorities of the 
village of Saratoga Springs, what sums are necessary under section six of this act, exclusive of such 
moneys as are to be received from public funds. These sums shall be raised and collected at the same 
time and the same manner as other village taxes. And the board of education shall have power to 
raise, when necessary, by loan, in anticipation of the collection of such taxes, any sum required to meet 
the ordinary expenses of the schools. 

28. The treasurer of the village shall take charge of all moneys raised pursuant to this act or pro- 
vided for the board of education from any source, and he shall be accountable for their safe-keeping in 
the same manner as for the safe-keeping of other funds. These moneys shall be paid out by him only 
on drafts drawn by the president of the board of education, and countersigned by the secretary, in pur- 
suance of a resolution of the board ; and all drafts shall be made payable to the order of the person or 
persons receiving the same. 

*?9. The board of education shall elect a secretary, who shall hold office during the pleasure of 
the board; but he shall not be removed, except for inefficiency or misconduct, without six months' 
previous notice. The board shall fix his salary, and he shall be the superintendent of all the schools 
under the care of the board. He shall, under the direction of the board, determine the course of stud- 
ies to be pursued in the different schools, and shall himself have the personal superintendence of the 
highest school established. 

§ 10. The secretary of the board shall report to the board of education on or before the first day of 
September in each year, the condition of all the departments in the schools, with the number in 
attendance, the studies pursued, and whatever, in his opinion, may be needed to advance the interest 
of the union free school. This report shall also state the number of children within the limits of the 
districts who are in attendance upon private schools and of such as do not attend any school. The 
secretary shall, on or before the first day of March in each year, furnish to the board estimates of the 
number of teachers needed, and of the ordinary expenses to be incurred, for the year following said 
date. (.4s amended by chap. 313, Laws of 1885.) 

g U. Jiach member of said board stiail vi.iit ail the schools in said district, at least twice in each year 
of his official term, and said board of education shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited 
by a committee of three or more of their number at least once in each term. 

g 12. The said board of education shall be trustees of the school libraries of said district, and all the 
provisions of law which now exist or hereafter may be passed relative to school district libraries, shall 
apply to the said board in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district comprehending 
said village ; they shall also be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of the moneys 
appropriated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries, as is conferred by said law on the 
inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide rooms for such libraries, and the neces- 
sary furniture therefor. The librarian shall report to the board the condition of the libraries under 
his charge ; and the said board, or secretary, under the direction and by the resolution of said board, 
may make all purchases of books for said libraries, and may direct the mode of their distribution ; and 
may dispose of any books that may be deemed useless, applying the proceeds to the purchase of 
new ones. 

g 13. The board of education shall have power to take, hold, sell, transfer and convey any of the real 
or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, devise or bequest for the benefit of any of the schools 
under its control, and appropriate the avails in scholarships or prizes, or in such other manner as the 
donor may designate. 

2 14. The clerk of the village shall notify any person elected a member of the board of education, 
within ten days thereafter, of his election, and the secretary of the board shall notify him of the time 
and place of the meeting, at which he shall take his place as a member of said board. 

1 15. The board shall have power to charge a tuition fee for all pupils attending the high school, but 
such fee shall not exceed the sum of five dollars per term for each pupil residing in the district ; but 
the board may determine the amount of tuition fee for the pupils not belonging to the district, in 
attendance upon any of the schools. 

§ 16. The board shall cause to be prepared and presented to the trustees of the village, and published 
in the newspapers in the district, at such time as they may direct, a full annual report, stating : 

1. "What schools have been kept during the year, and for what time ; 

2. The number of children on the roll of each school, and the average attendance of each, and the 
number of children in the district between the ages of four years and twenty-one years ; 

3. The amount of school moneys received by the treasurer, from what sources, and for what pur- 
poses expended. 

g 17. The trustees of the village of Saratoga Springs arc hereby directed and empowered, and it shall 
be their duty, to raise and collect by tax, in the same manner as other taxes are collected, such sums 
as the board of education hereby established shall deem needful in order to organize and carry on the 
schools of the district until the time named in section seven of this act. 

g 18. The board of education shall meet all liabilities of the trustees of school districts numbers 
OUR, two, eight and nine, in the town of Saratoga Springs, and shall succeed to all their rights and 
rights of action, and nothing in this act shall impair their contracts or interfere with or prevent the 
collection of such tax or rate bill as'at the time of the passage of this act was in the hands of the col- 
lector for collection. 

* Decision by Superintendent of Public Instruction on appeal June 6, 1881 : 

My opinion is that the legislature intended to say: The secretary shall superintend the work in all 
the schools under the care of the board, and while doing this he shall see to it that he gives special 
attention to and supervision over " the highest school established." This department has held that 
the same person cannot be a teacher in one of the schools, and at the same time be superintendent of 
all the schools; that it was the evident intention of the legislature that the superintendent should 
give his undivided time and energy to supervision. I am, therefore, of the opinion that the laws do 
not contemplate that the superintendent shall be a "teacher "in "the highest school established," 
but that the evident intention of the legislature was that the superintendent should not be a teacher 
engaged hi teaching in any of the schools, Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Albany, June 24, 1881. 



Schenectady. 953 

[Chap. 787, Laica of 1867.] 

Section 1. Section two of " An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of districta 
within the corporate limits of the vilage of Saratoga Springs, and to establish a free union school or 
schools therein," is hereby amended by inserting the name of James B. McKean in the place of 
Augustus Bockes, as trustee. . ^^ 

§ 2. A majority of the trustees constituting the board of education shall constitute a quorum for the 
purpose of organization or the transaction of any business at any of the regular meetings of the said 
board, and at any special meeting when all the trustees have been notified as required by said act. 

IChap. 630, Laws of 1868.] 

Section 1. Section six of an act entitled " An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts 
of districts within the corporate limits of the village of Saratoga Springs, and to establish a free union 
school or schools therein, passed April twelfth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, is hereby amended 
by adding thereto the following subdivision : 

11. To sell and dispose of such real and personal property as may become necessary for the purpose 
of conducting said schools, and pay over and deliver the proceeds of any such sale or sales to the treas- 
urer of the village of Saratoga Springs, as provided by section eight of this act. 

§ 2. The board of education shall have power to fill any vacancies which may exist or occur by rea- 
son of the death, resignation, removal or refusal to act, of any member of said board appointed or 
elected, and the person and persons so appointed shall hold such office until the first election succeed- 
ing such appointment, when such vacancy shall be filled by election in the manner provided by section 
two of said act. {As amended by sec. 1, chap. 717, Laws of 1869.) 

*' CONSTRUCTION OF A SPECIAL ACT." 

Note.— The decision of the supreme court is an adjudication upon the foregoing act, Chap. 353 of 1867. 
It relates chiefly to the designation by the legislature of the school ofticers (section 2), and the powers 
of the board of education to require the corporation to raise by tax the sums certified to be necessary 
to support the tchools (section 7). 

SCHENECTADY. 

[Laws of 1862, chap. 385, iitle 6.] 

Section 1. There shall be elected in said city, at a special election to be held on the first Tuesday of 
May, in each year. In the same manner and under the same regulations as other ward officers are 
elected, one commissioner of common schools for each ward to supply the places of those whose terms 
are about to expire ; they shall hold their offices for two years, and until others are elected and have 
taken the oath of office. The term of the office of all the commissioners elected pursuant to this act 
shall commence on the Tuesday next after the election. 

2 2. The common council of said city may make appointments of commissioners of common schools, 
to fill vacancies which may occur from any other c«iuse than the expiration of the term of office of 
those elected. The commissioners so appointed shall hold their office until the Tuesday next succeed- 
ing the next annual election; and at each annual election there shall be chosen a commissioner to sup- 
ply the place of any person so appointed ; and the person thus elected shall serve out the unexpired 
term. 

? 3. Any commissioner of common schools in said city may be removed from office for official mis- 
conduct, by the common council of said city, by a vote of two-thirds of the members thereof, but a 
written copy of the charges preferred against said commissioner shall be served upon him, and he shall 
be allowed an opportunity of refuting any such charges of misconduct before removal. 

§ 4. The commissioners of common schools in said city shall constitute a board, to be styled "the 
board of education of the city of Schenectady," which shall be a corporate body in relation to all the 
powers and duties conferred upop them by virtue of this title. A majority of the board shall con- 
stitute a quorum. The annual meeting of said board shall be held on the Wednesday succeeding the 
second Tuesday of May in each year. At such annual meeting, they shall elect one of their number 
president of the board, and whenever he shall be absent a president pro tempore may be appointed. 
The said commissioners shall receive no compensation for their services, nor shall they be interested, 
directly or indirectly, in any contract for building or for making any improvement or repairs provided 
for by this title. 

§ 5. The said commissioners shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, 
and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his 
absence or inability to act, by any member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal 
notice to each member of the board, or by causing a written or printed notice to be left at his last place 
of residence, at least twentj'-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. 

§ 6. The said commissioners shall appoint a secretary and a librarian, who shall hold his office during 
the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the board. The said secretary 
shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, have charge of the library, and perform such other 
duties as the board may prescribe. The said record or transcript thereof, certified by the secretary, 
shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth ; and such record, 
and all the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said board, shall at all times be subject to the 
inspection of the common council or any committee thereof 

2 7. The common council of said city shall have power and it shall be its duty, to raise from time to 
time, by tax, to be levied upon all the real and personal estate in said city which shall be liable to taxa- 
tion for city and county charges, in like manner as other city taxes are raised, such sums as may be 
determined and certified by said board of education to be necessary and proper for any and all of the 
following purposes : 

1 . To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses, or sites with buildings thereon for the same 
purpose ; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, and their out-houses 
and appurtenances; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages.; 
but the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the furnishing with class or text-books 
any scholar whose parents or guardian shall be able to furnish the same ; 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, including the academ- 
ical department therein and the expenses of the school library of said city, and the necessary contin- 
gent expenses of said board, including the salary of the secretary of the board, and the compensation 
allowed to the assistant librarians ; 

5. To pay teachers' wages, after the application of public moneys which may by law be appropriated 
and urovided for that purpose; 

1)^0 



954 Schenectady. 

6. The total amount so to be raised for the purposes specified in this section shall not exceed the sum 
of seventeen thousand dollars in anyone year; except as herein otherwise provided for. And the com- 
mon council is authorized and directed to borrow, upon the promissory note of the city in anticipation 
of the amount to be raised by tax as aforesaid, such sums as the board of education shall from time 
to time certify is required by it. {As amended by chap. 621, Laws of 1873.) 

§ 8. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this title, and all school moneys by law 
appropriated to or provided for said city, whether from the school or literature funas, or under the act to 
establish free schools throughout the State, or otherwise, shall be paid to the treasurer of said city, who, 
together with the sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for 
other moneys of said city. The said treasurer shall be liable to the same penalties for official miscon- 
duct in relation to the said money as for any similar misconduct in relation to other moneys of said city. 

§ 9. All moneys required to be raised by virtue of this act, or received by said city for the use of the 
common schools therein or of the acadernical department hereinafter mentioned, shall be deposited for 
the safe-keeping thereof with the treasurer of said city, to the credit of said board of education, until 
drawn from said treasurer as hereinafter provided for; and the said treasurer shall keep the fund 
authorized by this act to be received by him separate and distinct from any other funds which he is or 
may by law be authorized to receive. 

2 10. The treasurer shall pay out the moneys authorized by this title to be received by him upon 
drafts drawn by the president, and countersigned by the secretary of said board of education, which. 
drafts shall not be drawn except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be 
made payable to the person or persons entitled to receive said money. 

§ 11. The said board shall have power, and it shall be its duty : 

1. To organize and establish such and so many schools in said city as tliey shall deem requisite and 
expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same; 

2. To purchase and hire school-houses and rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, or sites with 
buildings thereon, to be used as school-houses, and to fence and improve such sites as it may deem 
proper; 

3. Upon such lots and upon such sites, owned by said city, to build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair 
school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, as it may deem advisable ; 

4. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture and 
appurtenances, and to see that the ordinances of the common council in relation thereto be observed: 

5. To contract with, license and employ all teachers in said schools and the academical department 
therein, and at its pleasure to remove them ; 

6. To pay the wages of the teachers in said schools out of the moneys appropriated and provided by 
law for the support of common schools in said city, and the wages of the teachers of the academical 
department out of the moneys appropriated to said department from the income of the literature and 
United States deposit funds, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue of the wages of tha 
teachers in said schools and academical department from the money authorized to be raised for that 
purpose, by section seven of this title by tax upon said city; 

7. To defray the contingent expenses of the said common schools and academical department, and 
the expenses of the school library of said city, and the necessary and contingent expenses, of the board, 
including the annual salary of the secretary of the board and the compensation allowed to the assistant 
librarian's, provided the account of the expenses shall first be audited and allowed by the common 
council ; 

8. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the common schools 
of said city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, 
rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, or the reception of pupils 
and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for their good order, prosperity and utility; 
and to have power to establish in said schools an academical department, to receive into said schools 
or academical ilepartment pupils residing out of said city, and to regulate and establish the taition fees 
of such non-resident pupils in the several departments of said schools and in such academical depart- 
ment, and to collect such fees in the name of the said city ; to regulate the transfer of scholars from 
the primarv to the academical departments, to direct what text-books shall be used in said schools and 
academicaf department, to provide and keep in repair school apparatus, books for indigent pupils, fur- 
niture and appendages, fuel and other necessaries for the schools and academical department ; and to 
appoint assistant Ubrarians, as they may from time to time deem necessary, and to regulate their com- 

9 Whenever in the opinion of the board of education it may be advisable to sell any of the school- 
houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the city, to report the 

^^m To prepaS^and report to the common council such ordinances and regulations as may be neces- 
sary and proper for the protection, safe keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots and sites, 
and appurtenances, and all the property belonging to the city and connected with or appert^aining to 
the scdiools; and annually on the first day of March in each year, or withm sixty da.vs' thereof to 
determine and certify to the said common council the sums in their opinion necessary or propej to be 
raised under the seventh section of this title, for the year commencmg on the first fay of March of 
the year in which such determination and certificate shall be made, spet;ifying the amount requ red 
for each of the purposes therein mentioned. The fiscal year of the said board of education shall be 
held to commence on the first day of March in each year. (As amended by chap. 164, Laws of 1»»»- ) 

11. Between the first day of July and the first aay of August, in each year, to make and transmit to 
the county clerk, or such other officer as may be designated by law, a report m writing, bearing date 
the first day of July, in the year of its transmission, and stating : ^^,^„.^„ =,.hr^r^IQ 

I The number of school-houses in said city, and an account and description of all common schools 
kept in said city during the preceding, year and the time they have severally been taught ; 

II. The number of children taught in said schools, respectively, and the number of children over the 
age of four years and under the age-of twenty-one years residing in said city on the first aay oi January 

*'^IlF^:h€fw'hole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said city during the preceding 
year, 'distinguishing the amount received from the city treasurer from the city tax andtrom anj other 

^^IV^^Iiie manner in which such sums of money have been expended, and whether any, and what 

^T -iramoZt^Ef^moUf i^ceWef/^^ fees from foreign^pupils during the year and the 

amount paid for teachers' wages in addition to the public moneys, ^ith such other information^ 

to the common schools of said city as may from time to time be required by the State Superintendent 

'^^MT^Ea^h^sJhoiYcommissioner shall visit all the schools in said city, at least twice in each year of 
his official term, and said board of education shall provide that each of saxd schools shall be visited DJ 
a committee of three or more of Its number at least once in each term. 



SCHEKECTADY. 955 

? 13. It shall be the duty of said board, In all Us expenditures and contracts, to have reference to the 
amount of moneys which shall be subject lo its order during the then current year for the particular 
expenditures in question, and not to exceed that amount. 

g 14. The said board of commissioners shall be trustees of the school libraries in said city; and all the 
provisions of law which now are or hereafter may be passed, relative to school district libraries, 
shall apply to said commissioners in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district 
comprehending said city ; they shall also be vested with the same discretion, as to the disposition of 
the moneys appropriated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries, which is therein con- 
ferred on the inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide room or rooms for such 
libraries, and the necessary furniture therefor. The librarian shall report to the board the condition of 
the library or the libraries under his charge ; and the said board, or secretary thereof, under the direc- 
tion and by the resolution of said board, may make all purchases of books for said library or libraries, 
and mav direct the mode of their distribution, and may cause to be repaired damaged books belonging 
thereto, and may sell any book in said library or libraries that may be deemed useless, and apply the 
proceeds to the purchase of other books for said library or libraries. 

§ 15. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and 
other school property in this title mentioned, shall be vested in the city of Schenectady, and the same, 
while used or appropriated for the school purposes, shall not be levied upon or sold by virtue of any 
warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever; and the said city in its cor- 
porate capacity shall be able to take and hold any personal or real estate transferred to it bj' grants, 
gifts, devise of bequest, in trust for the benetit of the common schools of said city or of the academical 
department therein, whether the same be transferred in terms to said city by its corporate name, or by 
any other designation, or to any person or persons or bodies for the benefit of said schools or academ- 
ical department. 

? 16. The common council of said city shall, upon the recommendation of said board of education, 
sell any of the school-houses, sites, lots or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to said 
city, upon such terms as the common council shall deem reasonable; the proceeds of all such sales 
shall be paid to the treasurer of said city, and shall be, by said board, expended in the purchase, repairs 
or other improvement of school-houses, lots or school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 

g 17. It shall be the duty of said board, at least fifteen days before the annual election for commis- 
sioners in each year, to prepare and report to the common council true and correct statements of the 
receipts and disbursements of moneys, under and in pursuance of the provisions of this title, during 
the preceding year, in which account shall be stated, under appropriate heads : . 

1. The moneys raiseil by the common council under the seventh section of this title; 

2. The school moneys receivetl by the treasurer of the city from the county treasurer ; 

3. The moneys received by the treasurer of the city under the seventh section of this title ; 

4. All other moneys received by the treasurer of said city, subject to the order of the board, specifying 
the sources from which they shall have been derived ; 

5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, specifying the amount under 
each head of expenditure; and the common council shall, at least ten days before such election, cause 
the same to be published in all newspapers of said city. 

§ 18. The common council shall have power, and it shall be its duty, to pass such ordinances and 
regulations as the said board may report as necessary tor the protection, preservation, safe-keeping and 
care of the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, libraries and all necessary property 
belonging to or connected with the schools of said city, and to impose such penalties for the violation 
thereof as the common council are authorized to impose by this act ; and when collected, to be paid to 
the treasurer of the city, to the credit of the said board of education, and shall be subject to its order in 
the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this title. 

g 19. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said city, immediately after the election of any person as 
commissioner of common schools, personally or in writing to notify him of his election ; and if any 
such person shall not, within ten days after receiving such notice of his election, take and subscribe the 
constitutional oath, and tile the same with the clerk of said city, the common council may consider it 
as a refusal to serve, and proceed to supply the vacancj" occasioned by such refusal, and the person so 
refusing shall forfeit and pay to the city treasurer, for the benetit of the schools of said city, a penalty 
often dollars. 

§ 20. Every academical department to be established as aforesaid shall be under the visitation of the 
Regents of the University, and shall be subject, in its course of education and matters pertaining thereto 
(bur not in reference to the buildings or erections in which the same is conducted, unless in case the 
buildings or erections aforesaid are separate from those of the common school department), to all the 
regulations made in regard to academies by the said Regents ; and in such department the qualifica- 
tions for the entrance of any pupil shall be the same as those established by the said Regents for admis- 
sion into any academy of the State under their supervision. And such academical department shall 
share in the distribution of the income of the literature fund, and of the income of the United States de- 
posit fund, with academies in the State subject to the visitation of the Regents. 

221, The said board of education shall have power to purchase, in the corporate name of the city of 
Schenectady, from the trustees of Union college, and the said trustees of Union college shall have 
pow2r to sell and convey to said city, the building called the west college, and the buildings connected 
therewith, and the site on which they stand, situate on Union street, in said city, and lying between College 
street and the Er i canal and the New York Central railroad, for the use of the said common schools and 
academical department, and upon such trusts and upon such terms, and subject to such conditions as 
shall be agreed upon by and between the said board of education and the said trustees of Union college ; 
and said buildings and premises, after the same shall be conveyed to the city of Schenectady, in pursu- 
ance of such agreement, shall be held by said city for such uses and purposes, and upon such trusts and 
subject to such conditions, as shall be so agreed upon, and as shall be specified in the deed of convey- 
ance. The preceding provisions of this title in relation to the purchase of school-houses, sites and lots, 
and other real property, and to the taking, holding, disposition and sale of the same, so far as the same 
are inconsistent with this section, shall not be applicable to the purchase, sale and conveyance author- 
ized in this section. 

5 22. The said board of education and the sjiid trustees of Union college shall have power from time 
to time to enter into such contracts as they may deem expedient, in relation to the organization, super- 
intendence and management of the said academical department, the prescribing the course of studies 
and system of discipline, and the appointment and payment of the professors and teachers in such 
academical department; and also, in relation to the terms upon which the pupils in said academical 
department may receive books from the libraries of Union college, or attend the lectures of the profess- 
ors in said college, or be admitted, when prepared, as members in full standing of its several classes. 
Such contracts, when entered into, shall be binding on said board of education and the said trustees of 
Union college, and shall be faithfully executed. The preceding provisions of this title, in relation to 
the powers and duties of said board of education in reference to the academical department, shall be 
deemed modified by this section, and such powers and duties shall be exercised only in conformity to 
the contracts which may be entered into under this section. 



956 Seneca. 

§ 23. This title shall extend over and be applicable to all the territory lying within the corporate 
limits of the said city ; and the office of town superintendent of common schools, so far as it is appli- 
cable to the said city of Schenectady, is hereby abolished. 

§ 24. This act shall take effect immediately, and all acts and parts of acts inconsistent y<nth the pro- 
visions of this act are hereby repealed. 

By chap. 550, Laws of 1875, the city was required to issue §15,000 in bonds for school purposes. 

[CJiap. 11, Laws of 1883.] 
Authorizes the issuing of bonds for completing the fourth ward school-house. 

SENECA. 

(Village of Geneva.) 
IChap. 175, Laics of 1844.] 

Section 1. It shall he lawfal for the trustees of school district number one, in the town of Seneca, in 
the county of Ontario, at the next annual meeting of the district after the passage of this act, to submit 
for the consideration of such meeting a proposition graduating the rates of tuition to be paid by scholars 
attending the ditrerent departments into which such school is now divided; if the same is approved or 
shall be so amended as to be approved by a majority of those present, qualified to vote in such meetings, 
such rates may be charged and collected, but they shall not be raised during the year next fohowing 
their adoption. 

§ 2. At any annual meeting of the district, after such rates of tuition have been adopted, the same 
may be raised, reduced or entirely abolished, by a majority of such meettng. 

\_Chap. 252, Laws of 1S53, as amended by chap. 357 of 1855.] 

Section 1. The inhabitants of school district number one, in the town of Seneca, in the county ol 
Ontario, shall, at the next election of a trustee of said district, and at each annual election thereafter, 
elect a trustee, who shall hold his office for five years, and until another trustee is elected in his place, 
making the whole number of trustees thereof five. 

2 2. At the annual election of said district to be held in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty- 
six, said district number one shall, in addition to the election of a trustee to fill the vacancy which 
will then occur, also elect a trustee, who shall hold his office for two years, and shall also elect a 
trustee who shall hold his office for three years, and until others are elected in their places. 

§ 3. The said trustees may, whenever they deem it necessary, call district meetings for the transac- 
tion of any business relating to said district, by publishing a notice of such meeting, in any two of the 
public newspapers of the village of Geneva, or if there be but one such newspaper, then in such news- 
paper once in each week for two weeks in succession, and by posting a copy of such notice in three pub- 
lic places in said district, fourteen days before such meeting shall beheld: such notice shall contain the 
time and place of said meeting, and state the purpose thereof, and be signed by at least three of said 
trustees ; and the meeting held in pursuance thereof shall have all the powers and authority of a regu- 
lar meeting of said district. 

§ 4. The said trustees or their successors are hereby authorized to employ a clerk, or such other offi- 
cial labor, counsel or assistant in and about the business and affairs of the district, at such salary as a 
majority of the legal voters of said district at any meeting thereof shall determine, which salary may 
be raised by a tax upon the inhabitants of said district. The said trustees may also, with the concur- 
rence of a majority of the legal voters at any meeting of said district, raise by tax a sufficient sum for 
the purpose of insuring the property of the district against loss by fire, and also for the payment of a 
salary' to the librarian of said district. 

§ 5." The said trustees are hereby authorized to raise by tax a sufficient sum to pay the interest which 
has accraed or may hereafter accrue on the sums now voted by said district, to be paid by installments ; 
and they may hereafter, at any meeting regularly called, raise by tax upon the inhabitants of said dis- 
trict, whenever a majority of the legal voters thereof at such meeting shall so determine, any moneys 
for the purposes of said district, subject, however, to the consent of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, to be expressed in writing, which consent shall be filed in the office of the town clerk of 
said town of Seneca. 

§6. The trustees of said district shall have authority to make regulations respecting the 
attendance of the children of the district in the school-houses thereof, the transfer of them from 
one school-house to another, and the instruction and studies to be given and pursued in the schools 
thereof. 

g 7. The inhabitants of said distnct, authorized to vote as aforesaid, shall at the first district meeting 
duly held for the election of officers, and every third year thereafter, and as often as the office becomes 
vacant, elect a suitable person treasurer of said district, who shall hold his office for three years and 
until a successor is elected or appointed in his place, unless sooner removed by the trustees of the dis- 
trict for misconduct in office ; to make which removal for that cause the trustees are hereby author- 
ized, in which case and in case of a vacancy they may appoint a treasurer in his place. The person 
so elected or appointed treasurer shall give a bond to the trustees and their successors, by the name of 
the Geneva union school, with sufficient sureties, for the faithful discharge of his duties. The amount 
and form of such bond and the sufficiency of the sureties shall be settled and determined by the 
trustees. Such treasurer shall receive, keep and disburse the moneys of the district, under the direc- 
tion of the trustees. 

§ S. The said trustees and their successors in office are hereby created a body corporate, by the name 
of " the Geneva union school," and empowered to establish and organize a classical school by that 
name in said district and village T)f Geneva, which school shall be subject to the visitation of the 
Regents of the University of this State, and to all laws and regulations applicable to incorporated acad- 
emies thereof, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, and to share in the distribu- 
tion of the monev of the literature fund of this State, as the academies thereof; provided, however, 
that this act shall not affect the rights and duties of said trustees and district under the statutes of this 
State relating to common schools. 

IChap. 43, Laws of 1869.] 

An act in relation to school district number one of the town of Senecaj Ontario county 

Sectio?!' 1. The number of trustees in school district number one of the town of Seneca, Ontario 
countv. shall continue to be five. The present officers of said district shall continue in office for the 
times'for which they were respectively elected or appointed, and until their successors shall be elected or 
appointed. And the inhabitants of said district shall, at its next meeting, and at every annual meet- 



Seneca Falls. ' 957 

Ing each vear hereafter, elect one trustee, who shall hold his office for five years, and until his successor 
shall be e'lected. And all acts of said trustees or other ofticers, heretofore done, and all votes of district 
meetings, elections of trustees, and election or appointment of officers for said district heretofore had, 
are hereby legalized, confirmed and made valid. 

? 2. 'J'he trustees of said district may call annual or special district meetings, by publishing a notice 
thereof, specifying the time and place of holding such meetings, in any two of the public newspapers of 
the village of Geneva: or, if there be but one such newspaper, then in such newspaper once in each week 
for two weeks successively before such meeting, and by posting a copy of such notice in three public 
places in said district at least fourteen days before such meeting shall be held ; but such notice shall be 
signed by at least three trustees, and shall state whether the meeting so called is annual or special, and 
if special shall state the purposes for which it is called, and no business shall be done at a special meet- 
ing except it be stated in such notice. The annual meeting shall be held on the last Saturday in 
December in each and every year, and special meetings at such times as the trustees may choose to 
call them ; and such meetings, both annual and special, may be adjourned from time to time, not 
exceeding in all one month, by a vote of a majority of the voters present; provided, however, that the 
first annual meeting hereafter for said school district shall be on the twentieth day of March, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-nine, at two o'clock, p. m., in Union Hall in the village of Geneva. 

g 3. The first annual meeting hereafter to be held as provided in section two, and all annual or spe- 
cial meetings called as therein provided, shall have all the powers conferred by chapter three hundred 
and fifty-seven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-five, and also all the powers of annual or 
special meetings respectively of union free school districts of the State, whose limits do not correspond 
with an incorporated city or village, as now provided by law, but no tax voted by said meetings, or any 
of them, shall be subject to the consent of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

g 4. The said board of trustees and their successors in office, shall be a body cori^orate by the name 
of " The Geneva Classical and Union school," and shall have all the powers and be subject to all the 
duties as conferred by chapter three hundred and fifty-seven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fifiy- 
five, and shall also have all the powers and be subject to all the duties of boards of education of union 
free schools of this State, of districts whose limits do not correspond with those of any incorporart,ed 
city or village, except as provided in said chapter three hundred and fifty-seven of the Laws of eighteen 
hundred and fifty-five, and as hereinbefore provided. 

SENECA PALLS. 
\Chap. 389, Laws of 1867.] 

Section 1. School districts number one, two, three and eight, of the town of Seneca Falls, are 
hereby consolidated into one school district, to be known as the educational district of Seneca Falls. 

§ 2. The public schools within the said educational district shall be under the exclusive charge 
of a board of education consisting of seven members, of which the president of the village of Seneca 
Falls shall be one, and the said board shall be known and designated as the board of education ol 
Seneca Falls. 

§3. The said board of education of Seneca Falls shall be a body corporate, with all the powers 
of school trustees under the union free school law, and all the other general powers of a corporation 
under the Revised Statutes. Josiah T. Miller, Simeon Holton, Burnet B. Boardman, Gilbert Wil- 
coxen, John Cuddeback and Oliver S. Latham, together with the president of the village of Seneca 
Falls, shall constitute the said board until the second Monday in April, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
eight. 

g 4. At the first annual town meeting held in said town of Seneca Falls, next after the passage of this 
act, the qualified electors of said town residing within the limits of said educational district shall elect 
six members of said board of education ; and at each subsequent town meeting two members shall be 
elected ; each elector voting at such first election shall designate on his ballot one person for one year, 
one for two years, and one for three years ; and the two persons for each term having the highest num- 
ber of votes shall be declared elected, and shall hold their office for the term specified; "term com- 
mencing on the second Monday in April next after such election. At each subsequent election, each 
elector shall vote one name, and the two highest shall be elected and shall hold their office for three 
years. The officers holding such town meeting shall provide a separate box for ballots for " board of 
education ; " and they shall designate one of their number to receive the ballots, and they shall con- 
duct the election in all other respects as that for the election of town officers. The clerk of the board 
of education shall keep the poll list of the district. Every person elected a member of the board of 
education shall be notified of his election by the town clerk, and shall take and file v. ith the said town 
clerk the usual oath of office within ten days after receiving personal notice of such election within 
said town. Vacancies in the board shall be filled for the unexpired term by a two-thirds vote of the 
remaining members of the board, exclusive of the president of the village, and the said members shall 
vote until a choice is thus made. 

g 5. The said board shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in three months, and 
the president may call special meetings by causing a notice thereof to be personally served on each 
member in said town, at least twenty-four hours before said meeting shall be held. At the first regular 
meeting of the board next after the second Monday in April, in each year, the said board shall elect 
one of their number president for the ensuing year. They shall also elect a superintendent of schools, 
who shall be, ex officio, clerk of said board, and chief librarian of said district. The said sunerintendent 
shall be under the direction of the board, and they shall prescribe his general duties ; and may, in their 
discretion, allow him an assistant librarian, whose duties and compensation shall be prescribed by the 
board. In addition to such other duties as may be devolved upon the superintendent bv the board, in 
the visitation of schools, he shall examine the qualifications of teachers, and grant certificates in such 
manner and form as miy be prescribed by the State Superintendent, and which mav at anv time be 
revoked by the board of education. The superintendent shall be paid out of the school fund, such 
■salary as the board of education may fix ; and he may be removed by a vote of a majority of all the 
. members of said board. The members of said board shall not receive any compensation for services 
rendered as such members ; nor shall they be interested in any contract made with said board for the 
purchase, sale or repair of any property ; nor shall any relative of any member of the board be employed 
as a teacher in said district, except by a unanimous vote of the board. 

2 6. The said board of education shall have power and i t shall be their dutv to raise, from time to time, 
by tax to be levied on all the real and personal estate in said educational district, liable to town and 
county taxes, in the same manner as town and county taxes are raised, such sums as they shall deter- 
mine to be necessary and proper for the maintenance of the public schools within said district as free 
schools ; and such additional sum as may be necessary for the purchase of sites and the building, 
repairs or equipment of school-houses within said district, and the payment of any interest or principal 
which shall become due and payable by said district ; and the said board of education may make such 



958 Sekeca Falls. 

temporary loans on the credit of the district for the ordinary expenses of the schools, as may become 
necessary in any year in anticipation of the annual collection of taxes ; but the said board shall not be 
authorized to purchase any site, to construct any building, or to create any debt for the purchase of any 
new site or the construction or alteration of any building unless the same shall have been authorized 
by a vote of the taxable inhabitants of said educational district. A meeting of the taxable inhabitants 
maj be caaed by tae said board of education at any time to take such vote upon giving at least two 
■weeks' public notice of the time, place and object of such meeting ; such notice to be published in 
each of the weekly newspapers published in said village, and not more than two such meetings shall 
be called in any one year, and there shall be at least four months between such meetings. The presi- 
dent of the board, or in his absence, the president of the village, shall preside at such tax meeting, and 
the clerk of the village and the secretary of the board of education shall be clerks of such tax meeting. 
The resolutions of such tax meetings passed by said meeting and certified by the presiding officer and 
said clerks shall be conclusive evidence of the action of the taxable inhabitants of said district and it 
shall be the duty of said officers to attend said meetings and truly to certify the resolutions thereof. 
But the aggregate tax for ordinary school purposes and exclusive of the sums required for the purchase 
of sites and the building, repairing, furnishing and renting of school-houses, levied in said district in 
any one year shall not exceed the one-half of one per cent upon the taxable propertv in said district, 
as the same shall appear upon the last assessment roll filed in said town. Whenever any district tax 
meeting shall vote to purchase any school site or to build any school building within said district, and 
authorize the issue of bonds therefor, the said board of education may issue the bonds of said district on 
interest for such an amount and in such sums and on such time as the said tax meeting shall authorize 
and the board shall approve. The form of said bondsandthemodeof disposing of them shall be fixed by 
said board, and all moneys received thereon shall be held by the treasurer of the village of Seneca Falls, 
as other school moneys are held under this act, subject to the drafts of said board forthe purposes for 
which such bonds shall have been authorized ; said bonds shall be signed by the president of said board 
of education, attested by the clerk and seal of said district, and they shall be countersigned by the 
president and clerk of the village of Seneca Falls ; and they shall be a specific lien and charge upon the 
school-houses and property, real and personal, of said educational district, and ratably upon all taxable 
property within said district. The secretary of the board shall keep a record of all the bonds issued 
tinder this act with a brief description thereof. The said bonds shall be numbered and the records 
shall show to whom and on what account each bond was Issued by said board. {As amended by chap. 
174, Laws of 1S71.) 

27. The taxes imposed by the board of education shall be collected of the taxable inhabitants of said 
district upon the warrant of said board, in the same manner as the taxes imposed by the board of trus- 
tees of the village of Seneca Falls are collected; and the collection of said district taxes may be enforced 
in the same manner as such village taxes. The treasurer of the village of Seneca Falls shall be the 
collector and treastirer of the said educational district ; and tiis jurisdiction shall extend, under this act, 
to all the territory embracedin the said educational district. The tax to be levied in the said district 
as aforesaid, and collected by virtue of this act, shall be levied and collected in the samenaanner, and 
at the same time, and for the same compensation, that other village taxes are ; and the powers, duties 
and liabilities of the village treasurer and his sureties, shall be the same for the collection of this tax 
and for the payment of any school moneys held by him as for village taxes ; and the board of trustees of 
said village, in fixing the amount of the treasurer's sureties, shallinclude the moneys to be received 
by said treasurer under this act. 

g 8. All moneys raised by virtue of this act, or received from any other source for the use of common, 
academic or high schools within said district, shall be kept by the said treasurer separate and distinct 
from any other funds which he is or may be authorized to receive; any increase or interest or profit 
received thereon shall be added to said funds. The treasurer of the village of Seneca Falls, under the 
direction of the said board of education, shall draw upon the county treasurer, or other proper officer, 
for all moneys appropriated to the schools within said district, from the comnion school, literature or 
other funds of this State, or of the county of .Seneca ; and the treasurer is hereby authorized to receive 
the same for the said educational district. 

g 9. The treasurer shall pay out the moneys received by him, by virtue of this act, only upon drafts 
drawn by the president of the board of education, countersigned by the secretary of the board, which 
drafts shall not be drawn except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be 
made payable only to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive the money thereon, and shall 
state on what account said draft is drawn; except that said treasurer may take up any lawful bond of 
said district, at the maturity thereof, or pay any coupon due for interest thereon, without such draft, 
provided such payment shall have been authorized by a resolution of said board. 

g 10. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize in said educational district so many primary departments or schools, and 
departments of higher grades-, including an academical department, and to alter and discontinue the 
same, as they may deem advisable ; 

2. To hire or purchase school-houses, school-rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, or sites with 
buildings thereon, to be used as school-houses, and to fence and improve such sites, and to sell the same 
with their appurtenances, as they may deem proper, provided such purchase be authorized by a vote 
of the district; 

3. To build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, with their out-houses and appurtenances, 
as they may deem advisable ; * . 

4. To have the custody of the said school -houses, books, furniture and appurtenances, and to see that 
the ordinances in relation to the care and safe-keeping of the same be observed; 

5. To contract with, and employ all teachers in said public schools, the number of teachers not to be 
less than one for every fifty pupils regularly attending such schools ; 

6. To pay teachers' wages from the money authorized by this act to be raised for that purpose ; 

7. To defray all necessary and contingent expenses of establishing and maintaining the said public 
schools with proper furniture, library and apparatus, and the necessary and contingent expenses of 
said board of education. 

8. To have in all respects the superintendence and management of the public schools of said district, 
and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regu- 
lations for the organization, government and instruction ; for the reception of pupils and their transfer 
from one department to another, and generally for their good order and government ; to receive into 
said public schools pupils residing out of said education districts ; to regulate the tuition fees of such 
non-resident pupils, and to collect the same ; to expel any scholar for misconduct or cause injurious to 
the interests of the school ; to regulate the transfer of pupils from one department to another ; to direct 
what text-books shall be used in the public schools ; to provide and keep in repair school apparatus, 
books, furniture and appendages ; to provide fuel and other necessaries for the said public schools, and 
to appoint assistant librarians, as they may from time to time deem proper, and regulate their duties. 

gll- The title to the school-houses, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other 
school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the said board of education, and the same 
while used or appropriated for school purposes shall not be subject to taxation, and shall not be levied 



Seneca Falls. 959 

on or sold bj' virtue of any warrant or execution, except for teachers' wages and the bonds of said dis- 
trict, issued bj' order of the said board, and except that the lien, and all proceedings for enforcing 
the same, of mechanics and others for labor and materials furnished in erecting, altering or repairing 
buildings and their appurtenances, shall in no way be affected or impaired by this act ; and ine saiu 
board, in its corporate capacity, shall have full right and authority to take and hold any personal and 
real estate transferred to it by grant, gift, devise or bequest, subject to the limitations provided by law, 
In trust for the public schools or educational interest of said educational district, whether the same be 
In terms to said board in its corporate name or by any other designation, or to any person, persons or 
bodies for the benefit of said public schools ; and all real or personal estate so transferred shall be accep- 
ted, held, used and applied as specified in the article or deed of transfer. Any person willfully injuring 
any property belonging to or which shall be in the custody of said board of education shall be liable to 
punishment as and for a misdemeanor— and doing such willful injury is declared to be a misde- 
meanor. 

§ 12. The said board of education shall once in each year, and at least fifteen days before the annual 
town meeting, make a report to the inhabitants of the district, in which they shall set forth the whole 
amount and items of the moneys received, raised and collected by them during the year preceding the 
date of such report, and the amount and items of the expenditures for the same time, also the number 
and condition of the various schools and departments in said school district ; the number of pupils 
attending such schools and departments during the year, the number and names of the teachers 
employed by them, and the text-books in use in such schools; the number of volumes and condition 
of the book's in the libraries of said districts; and such other facts and information relative to the 
alfiiirs of said district as in their judgment may be of interest to the inhabitants thereof; and shall 
publish such report in the weekly newspapers regularly published in the said village of Seneca 
falls. 

§ 13. It shall be lawful for the inhabitants of any school district in the town of Seneca Falls, adjoin- 
ing said educational district, at any annual or special meeting, by a vote of the majority of the legal 
voters present, to declare said district to be a part of said educational district, and if accepted, the said 
district shall become a part of said educational district and be subject to all the conditions, rules and 
regulations of said board of education, the same as any other districts included in the said educational 
district ; but no such action of any school district shall take effect or become operative for any purpose, 
until said board of education shall by resolution accept such school district as a part of such educa- 
tional district. 

g 14. The said board of education shall be trustees of the school district libraries of said district, and 
all the provisions of law which are now in force, or hereafter may be passed, relative to school district 
libraries, shall apply to said bourd of education in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school 
district, so far as the same is or shall be consistent with this act. They shall he vested with the same 
discretion as to the disposition of monej'S appropriated by the laws of this State, for the purchase of 
libraries, which is therein conferred on the inhabitants of school districts ; and they shall have 
power to purchase, exchange, repair or dispose of any books or other property of said libraries, or cause 
it to be done, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books or apparatus; also to provide 
suitable rooms and furniture for said libraries. 

§ 15. The trustees of the "Seneca Falls academy" are hereby authorized and empowered to transfer 
to the board of education hereby created, either immediately or at a future time, on such conditions as 
they jointly shall deem most conducive to the cause of education, the right, title and interest in and 
to all the estate, real and personal, and all bequests belonging to said academy, to be by them used in 
the purchase of a site, the erection of suitable buildings, the organization of an academic or high, 
school, or for the maintenance of an academy in connection with the general free school system con- 
templated in this act. The board of education, if they shall deem it necessary, may, with the advice 
and consent of the board of trustees, organize and maintain primary, secondary or high schools, or 
either of them in, or cause them to be taught in connection with the Seneca Falls academy, on such 
terms and conditions, and for such time as shall be deemed expedient, by and between said board of 
education and the trustees of such academy. 

§ 16. The academy connected with the school system contemplated by this act, when organized, and 
when it has complied with the necessary requirements, shall be recognized as one of the academies of 
this State, subject to the visitation of the Regents, and shall be entitled to participate in the distribu- 
tion of the income of the literature and other funds, in the same manner and upon the same conditions 
as the other academies of the State; and the Regents of the University of the State of New York shall 
pay annually to the board of education of Seneca Falls, the distributive share of the said funds to which 
the said academy shall be entitled. 

g 17. The various school district offices, in each of the districts herein embraced, shall terminate 
■whenever this act shall take effect, and the board of education shall be organized, and shall enter upon 
the duties of their office, except as herein otherwise provided. The trustees and collector in each dis- 
trict shall retain the power now by law vested in sucli officers, until they, by due diligence, shall have 
closed up all the unsettled business of their several districts, and discharged all the indebtedness thereof, 
and for such purpose shall, if necessary, call meetings of the inhabitants of such district, and, when 
voted at a legally called meeting, shall levy and collect a tax sufiicient to liquidate such indebtedness. 
The said school district officers shall severally transfer to the said board of education all the school 
property and all the property of their respective districts, on or before the first day of June, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-seven ; and the said board of education shall take possession of the same, except 
that the property of joint district number two shall be disposed of or divided as is now provided by law 
on the dissolution of school districts; but the said board of education are authorized, instead of making 
such division, to make any other settlement or adjustment witb the inhabitants of such Joint district, 
nor residing within said educational district, as may be acceptable to said board and a majority of said 
inhabitants, or which shall be accepted and approved by the trustee or trusteesof said joint district not 
residing in the town of Seneca Falls. The said board of education is also authorized to deduct from 
the first tax levied upon the taxable property of the inhabitants of any school district, by virtue of this 
act, the amount of money heretofore raised by tax in any such district, which shall be turned over to 
the said board by the trustees of any district, in pursuance of this act ; such deduction to be made 
ratable from the tax of each of such inhabitants, as the same shall appear upon said educational dis- 
trict tax list. 

g 18.. The record of the board of education, or a transcript thereof, certified by the secretary, shall be 
received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth; and such record, the 
books, accounts, vouchers and papers of the board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the 
trustees of the village, or any committee thereof, or the justices of the peace or supervisors of the 
town. 

g 19. The board of education may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the village of 
Seneca Falls, upon the official bond of the treasurer of the said village, for any default, delinquency, or 
official misconduct in relation to the collection, safe-keeping and payment of any money in this act 
mentioned. 

g 20, All acts and parts of acts incoasistent with this act are hereby repealed ; and this act shall take 
effect immediately. 



960 ■ Sma Sing.^ 

SING SING. 
IChap. 314, iaw8 o/1854, as amended by chap. 199, Lawsofl859.'] 

Section 1. The village of Sing Sing shall form a permanent school district, and the electors residing 
■within the bounds of said village, at their annual charter election, or at anj' time thereafter, upon the 
usual notice being given, may determine by a majority of votes, by ballot, upon the expediency of 
establishing free schools in said village. The trustees of the village shall conduct the election, and" the 
ballots ha%'ing written or printed on them the words '" For free schools," or " Against free schools," 
shall be duly canvassed, and the result declared by them in the usual manner. 

g 2. The trustees of said school district shall be elected in the manner and shall hold their oflQces for 
the terms prescribed by the common school law of this State ; and upon the decision of the legal voters 
of sajd village in favor of establishing free schools, it shall be the duty of the district trustees, on or 
before the first day of December of each year, to estimate, determine and certify the amount of money, 
in addition to the funds now provided by law and apportioned to the district, that will be required to 
support all the schools under their charge ; the said amount shall in no case exceed three times the 
whole amount of funds " for the support of schools " that shall have been apportioned for the year pre- 
ceding. 

§ 3. The supervisor of the town of Ossining shall, on the presentation of the certificate of the said 
trustees specifying the amount of school moneys necessary to be raised for said district authorized by 
the preceding section, prepare a separate tax list and assess therein the required amount of school 
moneys upon the taxable property within the said school district, according to the estimated value 
thereof in the town assessment roll of that j'ear, and shall deliver such tax list to the town collector of 
the town of Ossining; and the said sum required to be raised as aforesaid shall be inserted in each year 
in the supervisor's warrant to the collector of the town of Ossining, which shall authorize and require 
the said collector to collect the said taxes as the same are assessed in the said tax list, to be delivered 
to him by the supervisor of the town of Ossining, as aforesaid, and to pay the same over to the trustees 
of the said school district, within the same time that he is required to pay over town and county 
taxes; and it shall be the duty of the said collector to collect the same with the other yearly taxes, 
and he shall pay over the whole amount certified to be necessary, exclusive of the fees of collection, 
to the treasurer of the trustees of said school district, within the time required by said warrant; and 
any violation or neglect of official duty under this act shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be a 
breach of his official bond as such collector ; and in collecting such taxes, the said collector shall have 
the same powers he now has in the collection of town and county taxes, and he shall be subject to 
the same duties and obligations ; and the county treasurer of the county of Westchester, upon the 
complaint of the said trustees, or either of them, shall have the same power to enforce or com- 
pel payment by the said collectors of any taxes collected or received by him by virtue of this act, 
as he now has to compel town collectors to pay over town or county taxes collected or received by 
them. 

§ 4. The town superintendent aforesaid shall have the authority and exercise the duties prescribed 
in the general school law of this State over the said school district, and shall pay out of the mnds paid 
into his hands by virtue of the preceding section, upon the drafts of the trustees, such sums as maybe 
certified by them to be due to qualified teachers that have been employed by them, and include such 
payments, with any balances or deficiencies, in his annual report of the schools of his town to the 
department, and for record ; he shall also be authorized, upon a vote of the inhabitants of the district 
at their annual meeting, or the application of the trustees, to apply the " library money " apportioned 
to the said district to the purchase of text-books and school apparatus until the schools are suflaciently 
supplied. 

§ 5. The district trustees aforesaid shall be authorized to raise by tax, annually, for the purchase of 
fuel, ordinary repairs and improvement of the school property of the district, a sum not exceeding 
three hundred dollars; and incase of the enlargement, rebuilding or the erection of new school-houses, 
the said trustees shall be authorized to levy and raise on the taxable property of the district, with the 
assent of the school commissioner-, the amount required for such object, which sum shall not exceed 
four times the usual amount authorized by law for building new district school-houses, which amount, 
so levied, shall be collected as other school moneys are, by the town collector, and paid to the treasurer 
of said trustees, who shall make an exhibit and statement of all such receipts and expenditures with 
his other accounts in his book, annually, as required by the school law aforesaid. 

g 6. There shall be, after the establishment of free schools in said village on the preceding plan, no 
rate-bill for the attendance of scholars or any other exaction whatever made out against or demanded 
by the trustees of any person sending children to such schools in the village of Sing Sing. 

[Chap. 326, Laws of 1857.] 

Section 1. The trustees of the permanent school district of the village of Sing Sing, erected into a 
free school district by an act of the legislature, and a vote of the inhabitants of said village, in con- 
formity with the provisions of the first section of said act, are hereby authorized and empowered to 
borrow a sum of money not exceeding five thousand dollars for the purpose of completing their new 
central school-house, upon the lot recently purchased; and they are hereby authorized to mortgage 
said school lot, and improvements thereon, as security for the payment of the money so loaned, in 
annual installments of not less than five hundred dollars until the same shaU be paid. 

§ 2. The powers and duties exercised by the trustees of the district in compliance with the provisions 
of section five of said act, lev3ing the sum of one thousand six hundred dollars per annum, for build- 
ing a new school-house, are hereby legalized and confirmed ; and shall be continued until all the 
expenses of building and furnishing said school-house shall have been paid and re-imbursed. And 
whenever the building of another school-house shall become necessary, and shall be so determined, by 
the vote of the inhabitants of said district, then again shall the trustees have the same power to pro- 
ceed in levying and collecting (and borrowing if need be) in like manner herein provided for the erec- 
tion of said school buildings, and providing furniture therefor. 

2 3. The third section of said act is hereby amended, so as to authorize and require the town collector 
to pay over all moneys levied by the town supervisor under the direction and by authority of said act 
to the treasurer of the trustees of said free school district. 

2 4. The treasurer of the trustees of said school district is hereby required to give a bond with two 
suflacient sureties, to be approved by the district clerk and president of the village of Sing Sing, in twice 
the amount of moneys that may com into his hands, in the manner required to be done by the super- 
visor of towns on receiving school moneys, as provided in the school law of eighteen hundred and flfty- 
slk, and with the same guards and liabifities for its faithful disbursement, and the transfer of any funds 
or property remaining in his hands, belonging to the district, to his successor at the expiration of hia 
office, or when required by a vote of the district. 



Stephei^town-. ^^^ 

stephentown. 

[aiap. 46, Laws of 1790, passed March 23, Kent and BadcUjfS Revision, vol. 2, p. 251.] 

"Whereas, it is represented to the Leg:islature that there is a certain fund Riven, the interest of which 
is to be appropriated for the encouragement of schools in that part of Stephentown, in the county of 
Kensselaer, known bv the name of the twelve thousand acres; and the freeholders on said land interes- 
ted in said fund have" by their petition prayed to be incorporated, that they misjht be enabled to choose 
trustees for the better management of said fund ; therefore, ;. , , , m 

I Be it enacted by the People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and ■Assembly, That 
the freeholders residing on that part of Stephentown known by the name of the twelve thousand acres, 
are hereby constituted and declared to be one body corporate and politic, in fact and in name, by the 
name of "the trustees of schools in Stephentown," and by that name they and their successors may 
forever hereafter have perpetual succession, and shall and may by the same name be persons capable 
in law to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, answering and being answered unto, defend and 
beinp- defended, in all courts and places whatsoever, and that they and their successors may have a 
common seal and mav chan-re and alter the same at their pleasure, and shall be in law capable of pur- 
chasing, holding and conveving any estate, roil or personal, for the use of said corporation, crowded 
such estate shall not exceed the rum of three thousand dollars. 

II. And be it further enacted. That Hosea Moffat. David Gould and Jonathan Niles shall be and 
they are hereby declared to be the first trustees for the freeholders of that part of Stephentown 
aforesaid, and shall continue to be trustees for the purposes afo'-esaid until the last Tuesday in May next, 
and until others shall be chosen in their places ; and that it shall and may be lawful for the freehold- 
ers residing in that part of Stephentown aforesaid for the tirqp being, to assemble on the last Tuesday 
of Mav in each year, at such time of the day and place as the trustees for the time being, or a major 
part of them, shall appoint by advertisement, and under the direction of said trustees, or such of them 
as shall be present, who are hereby made inspectors of such election, and then and there, by_a 
majority of voices, to elect three discreet freeholders to be trustees as aforesaid, who shall continue in 
Oiuce until the last Tuesday in May in the next ensuing year, and until others shall be chosen in their 
places. 

III. And be it further enacted. That when and as often as any vacancy shall happen by death, 
removal, resignation, or neglect to serve of any of the said trustees, it shall and may be lawful for one or 
more of the trustees to notify a meeting of the freeholders aforesaid, for the election of a trustee or 
trustees to fill such vacancy or vacancies, and that said trustee or trustees shall remain in office during 
such time as the person or persons in whose place he or they shall be chosen would have done in case 
such vacancy had not happened, and no longer 

IV. And be it further enacted. That the said freeholders, at their annual meeting to be held as afore- 
said, and at such other times in the year as the said trustees, or a majority of them, may think neces- 
sary to advertise for the purpose, shall be and they are hereby authorized and empowered from time to 
tinie to make, ordain, constitute and establish such prudential rules, orders and regulations, as a 
maiority of such freeholders so assembled shall judge necessary and convenient for the better securing 
to the said corporation the property hereby vested in them, for the more equal distribution of the 
income of all such corporate property among the schools within the bounds of said corporation, and 
also for well ordering and regulating the schools in such manner as will best promote the education of 
children. 

{jChap. 505, Laws of 1866.] 

SscTioN 1. Isaiah B. Coleman, Edwin A. EoUo and Hiram A. Carpenter of Stephentown, in the 
county of Rensselaer, are hereby appointed commissioners of the school fund of Stephentown, in the 
county of Rensselaer, and shall hold their offices for the terms following : The said Coleman for the 
term of one year, from April first, eighteen hundred and sixty-six; the said Edwin A. RoUo for two 
years from said April first, and the said Carpenter for three years from said April first, and said persons 
shall severally hold their said offices until their successors severally shall be duly elected and qualified; 
and they and their successors shall be a body corporate, and have the general powers of a corporation, 
and shall also have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To take and hold, for the purposes of said trust, any estate, real or personal, which has or may 
have been devised or bequeathed, given, granted or conveyed to said town or to the school fund 
thereof, by whatsoever name or howsoever otherwise the same may have been given, with the same 
effect as if given to said corporation after this act took effect : 

2. To lease any real estate that may belong to such fund, for such time not exceeding twelve years, 
and upon such conditions as they shall judge best; 

3. To sell the same with the consent of the town in town meeting assembled, for such price and upon 
such terms of credit as shall appear to them most advantageous ; 

i. To invest the proceeds of such sales and all the personal estate that may come to their hands, in 
loans, secured by bond and mortgage on unincumbered real estate, of tha value, exclusive of buildings, 
of double the amount loaned, or in stocks of this State, or stocks, bonds or other obligations of the 
United States ; 

5. To purchase any real estate so mortgaged [upon a foreclosure whenever they shall deem it for the 
Interest of said fund ; 

6. To return the amount paid to them for principal upon the like security ; 

7. To apply the rents and profits of such r.al estate, and the interest on such loans, to the support of 
common schools in said town, by paying over to the trustees of the several school districts in said town, 
in the same manner and at the same time as the public money is apportioned by the superintendent oi 
common schools of the district in which said town is located; 

8. To keep a just and true account of the receipts and expenditures of all moneys which shall come 
to their hands by virtue of his office, in a suitable book or books to be provided by him, and render a 
just and true account of the proceeds of the sales, and the interest on the loans aforesaid, and of the 
rents and profits of the real estate aforesaid, and of all other receipts by him and of the expenditures 
an d appropriation thereof by them, and of the vouchers therefor, on the last Tuesday next preceding 
the annual town meeting in each year, to the board of auditors of town accounts, to be audited and 
alio wed ; 

9. To deliver over to their successors in office all books, papers and sureties relating to the same, at 
the expiration of their respective oflaces, and take a receipt therefor, which shall be filed in the clerk's 
oflice of said town. 

J 2. Any willful neglect or refusal' to perform any duty imposed by law on said commissioners shall 
be a misdemeanor and punishable as such, and also by a penalty of fifty dollars against any such com- 

121 



962 Syracuse, 

mis&ioner so neglecting or refusing, to be sued for and recovered by the superintendent of common 
schools of the district in which said town is situated, in his name of office 

2 3. There shall he elected, at the annual town meeting of said town, in eighteen hundred and sixty, 
seven, a commissioner of said school fund, to hold his office for the term of three vears, and annually 
thereafter a like commissioner shall he elected in the place of the commissioner whose term as afore, 
said is about to expire. A.nd in case any commissioner, after he shall have entered upon the duties ot 
said office, shall die, resign or remove from said town, it shall be lawful for the supervisor and any 
three justices of the peace of said town to assemble in joint meeting, and by appointment under their 
hands, or the hands of a majority of those present, fill said vacancy till a successor shall be elected and 
qualified as aforesaid, which shall be done at the next annual town meeting ; and any person elected 
to fill a vacancy shall hold his office only for the remainder of the term. 

§4. Before any commissioner elected or appointed as aforesaid shall enter upon the duties of his 
office, he shall execute a bond with sureties to the satisfaction of the supervisor of said town, to be 
signified by his approval to be indorsed on the same, in the penal sum of at least twice the amount of 
the estate belonging to said fund, conditioned that such person shall faithfully execute the duties of 
said trust, and shall pay, according to law all moneys which shall come to his hands as commissioner, 
and render a Just and true account thereof to the said board of auditors of said town. 

J 5. The said commissioners shall not charge or receive any sum or allowance for their services, but 
the actual and necessary expenses of said commissioners shall be a town charge, and shall be audited 
by the board of town auditors, and paid as other town charges. 

{6. Nothing in this act contained shall afiect the funds or the control thereof new in the 
custody of said town, or held by the authority thereof, and belonging to the present school fund of 
said town. 

SYRACUSE. 

\Chap. 26, Laws of 1885. J 

(Extract from City Charter. ) 

TITLE VI.— SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS. 

§ 95. The term of office of the commissioners of common schools shall be two years, and upon the 
expiration of the term of office of any of the present incumbents, a school commissioner shall be 
elected for the term of two years. 

§96. They shall be voted for on separate ballots indorsed " school," and shall serve without com- 
pensation. 

TITLE XI. — BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

§ 174. The commissioners of common schools of the several wards shall constitute the board of edu- 
cation of the city. The board shall meet annually on the second Tuesday after the annual charter 
election, and appoint a president from their own body and a clerk. A majority shall constitute a 
quorum, but a less number may adjourn. The president shall have a vote on all questions, and in his 
absence a president pro tem shall be appointed. The president and clerk shall hold their offices at the 
pleasure of the board; and the compensation of the clerk shall be fixed by the board. 

§ 175. The clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, which record, or a transcript 
thereof, certified by the president and clerk, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of 
the facts therein set forth. Such records, and all the books and accounts oi said board shall at all 
times be subject to the inspection of the common council and of any committee thereof. The clerk 
shall perform the duties prescribed by law and such other duties as the board may prescribe. 

§ 176. The board of education shall annually report to the common council, on or before the first 
day ot April after the charter election, a detailed statement of the amount estimated by them to be 
necessary to be expended by said board, for each of the following purposes for the current year : 

1. To defray the expenses of teachers' wages. 

2. To procure fuel and defray the necessary expenses of keeping the school-houses in order, exclu- 
sive of repairs. 

3. To detray the expenses of Janitors' service. 

4. To defray the expenses of the district library, as consolidated into the Central City Library. 

5. To defray the expenses of temporary repairs upon school-houses. 

6. To defray the contingent expenses of the board, including the purchase of books, apparatus and 
supplies. 

7 The amount of moneys on hand and the amount receivable during such year by said board for 
school purposes, other than from city taxes. 

§ 177. Upon the reception of the report, in the last section required to be made, the common council 
shall proceed to consider the same and approve, increase or diminish any or all of said estimates; but 
they shall not diminish the aggregate amount so that the sum to be raised by the city shall be less 
than twice, nor increase the same so that the said Sum shall be more than five times the amount 
received during the current year from the State for school purposes. After having fixed the amount 
to be expended for each and all of the purposes mentioned in the last preceding section the same shall 
be certified to the board of education, who shall, during such fiscal year, limit the expenses for such 
purposes so that the sums sball not exceed the said appropriation, and not lessen the length of time 
that public schools are required to be kept open by the general statutes of this State. In case a greater 
sum shall be expended for any purpose than the appropriation, the city shall not be liable for the 
same, but the members of the board of > ducation voting therefor, or either of them, shall be person- 
allv liable therefor to the party entitled to pavment. 

1 178 The board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, subject to the provisions 
of this act: 

1. To have the care and custody, provide for the safe-keeping of school-houses, their outhouses, 
books, furniture and appendages, and the Central City Library in said city. 

2. To contract with, license and employ all teachers of the several public schools therein. 

3. To contract for purchasing sites and for building, enlarging and furnishing all school-houses 
authorized by the common council, and to superintend the same. 

4. To contract for the temporary repairing of all school-houses and for all repairs and improvements 
round the same. 

6. To audit accounts and order the payment of the same if contracted by them, for either of the pur- 
poses stated in section one hundrer-and seventy-six of this title. 
6. To make all selections of books for the Central City Library and for school purposes in said city. 



Syracuse. 963 



7. To divide the city into school districts in such manner as they shall deem proper, and regulate 
and define the boundaries and the number of teachers for the same. 

8. To supply the places and perform the duties of commissioners of common schools, and In respect 
to the several school districts in the city to supply the place and perform the several duties required 
to be performed by trustees of the several school districts in this State by the general statutes relating 
to common schools. 

2 179. At such lime as the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall direct returns to be made to 
him in each year, said board shall make and transmit to him a report in writing, containing an account 
and description of all the common schools kept in said city during the preceding year and the time 
they have severally been kept ; the number of children taught in said schools respectively ; the number 
of children over the age of five and under the age of twenty-one years residing in said city on the first 
day of January of that year; the whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said city 
during the year preceding, distinguishing the amount received from different sources; the manner in 
which said moneys have been expended, and whether any and what part remains unexpended, and 
for what cause, the amount of moneys received for tuition lees from toreign pupils during the year, 
and the amount paid lor teachers' wages in addition to the public moneys. They shall also make such 
other or further reports as may be required by the common council or by any statute of the State 
novv or hereafter applicable to them. 

§ 180. The common council shall have the power and it shall be their duty to raise each year, by tax 
upon the real and personal estate of the city which shall be liable to taxation for ordinary city taxes, 
or for county or city charges, in addition to the amountof school moneys now or hereafter appropriated, 
as provided by law for common schools in the city, such sums as may be determined by the common 
council to be necessary or proper for any or all of the following purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites of or for school-houses ; and to build, purchase, lease, enlarge, 
alter, improve or repair school-houses and their out-houses and appurtenances ; but the amount raised 
in any one year for buying sites, and erecting school-houses and appurtenances shall not exceed thirty 
thousand dollars. (As amended by chap. 368, Laws of 1837. ) 

2. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, hooks, furniture and appendages; 
but the power herein granted, shall not be deemed to authorize the furnishing of class or text-books 
for any scholar whose parents or guardian shall be able to furnish the same, except in and for the 
primary departments, 

3. To procure fuel and defray the expenses of the common schools and the expenses of the Central 
City Library, 

4. To pay the wages of teachers due after the application of the public money, which may by law 
>e appropriated and provided for that purpose. 

g 181. The common council shall cause the amount of the tax at any time ordered to be raised, in 
pursuance of this act, to be added to the amount which is otherwise authorized by law to be raised by 
tax in said city, and the common council shall cause the same, with the fees thereon, to be assessed, 
levied and collected at the same time, and by proper warrant, and in the same manner and as a part 
of the taxes raised annually for city purposes, 

§ 182. All moneys required to be raised by virtue of this act, which the board of education is author- 
ized to expend, on being raised as therein provided, with all other moneys received from any source 
for school purposes, shall be deposited for the safe keeping thereof with the treasurer of the city to the 
credit of the school funds, and shall be drawn out in pursuance of resolution or resolutions of said 
board, by warrants drawn by the clerk of the board, and countersigned by the president thereof, pay- 
able to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys; and the treasurer shall 
keep tne school funds authorized by this act to be received by him separate and distinct from any other 
funds which he is or may by law be authorized to receive ; nor shall any of the moneys belonging to 
the school funds be paid out by the treasurer except upon such warrant; nor shall any part of said 
school funds be borrowed from said funds directly or indirectly by the city, or in any manner trans- 
ferred to any city fund ; but the same shall remain in the treasury, to be drawn therefrom only for 
school purposes and in the manner herein provided, 

g 183, The city of Syracuse shall be taken and deemed a town for all purposes of making returns in 
resDPct to common schools, and for receiving moneys for school and library purposes from the State 
or other sources ; and, by virtue of this act, it is hereby declared to be a school commissioner district. 

[Chap. 397, Laws of 1886,] 
This act annexes the village of Geddes to Syracuse. 

§ 7. The term of office of the members of the board of education of the village of Geddes is hereby 
extended until the third Tuesday in February, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, 

§8. The superintendent of common schools of the village of Geddes shall continue to act as such 
tmtil the expiration of his term of office, subject to the supervision of the board of education of 
said city, 

[Chap. 11, Laws of 1887.2 

An Act to amend chapter three hundred and ninety-seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty- 
six, entitled " An act changing the eastern boundary line of the town of Geddes, annexing certain 
territory to the oity of Syracuse, and providing for the government thereof, " 

Section 1. Section seven of chapter three nundred and ninety-seven of the laws of eighteen hundred 
and eighty-six, entitled "An act changing the eastern boundary line of the town of Geddes, annexing 
certain territory to the city of Syracuse, and providing for the government thereof," is hereby 
amended so as to read as follows: 

§ 7. All those parts of union school district number three, and school district number five of the 
town of Geddes, annexed to the city of Syracuse, in and by the first section of this act. are hereby 
transferred to the control of the board of education of the city of Syracuse, and the trustees of said 
districts shall Immediately turn over to said city all real and personal property belonging to said dis- 
tricts, together with all claims for moneys due said districts on account of uncollected taxes, tuition, 
bills or public moneys of any kind, and all claims against said districts to an amount not exceeding the 
sum of the claims so to be transferred, shall be paid by said city. The State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction shall equitably apportion all public moneys affected by this act in case any question arises 
concerning the same, and the city of Syracuse is hereby authorized to borrow such sums as may be 
necessary to conduct said schools until the public moneys due or to become due to said districts shall 
be received. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 



964 Teoy. 



TROY. 

[Chap, 126, Laws of 1873-] 

Section l. The public schools of the city of Troy shall be under the management and control of 
twelve school commissioners, who shall be electors and residents of said city, and who together shall 
constitute a board of school commissioners, and shall hold office as hereinafter provided. 

§ 2. The mayor, comptroller and chamberlain of the city of Troy, or a majority of them, are hereby 
authorized and directed, on or before the first Tuesday of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, 
to appoint the first board of school commissioners under the provisions of this act, and to divide the 
said. board Into three classes, each of which shall consist of four members, to be politically equally 
divided, and be entitled the first, second and third classes respectively. 

The school commissioners of the first class shall hold oflflce for the term of one year ; of the second 
class for two years, and of the third class for three years ; all from the second Wednesday of April, 
eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and the said commissioners shall continue to hold office until their 
successors are elected and qualified as hereinafter provided. 

g 3. At the general election held in the city of Troy on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in 
November, eighteen hundred and eighty, and at each succeeding general election held in November 
every year thereaiter in said city, there shall be elected four school commissioners. All qualified 
voters at such election shall be entitled to vote for two persons for the office of school commissioner, 
each of whom shall be an elector and a resident of the city of Troy. The ballot shall contain, written 
or printed, the names of the persons voted for, and shall be so folded as to conceal its contents, and 
shall be endorsed " city." The ballots, on being received by the inspectors, shall be deposited by them 
in the box provided for the reception of said ballots. The election shall be conducted in all other 
respects in accordaece with the provisions of the several existing laws relating to the election of civil 
officers by the people, so far as the same may be applicable thereto, and any person who may offer to 
vote at the election of the officers provided to be chosen by this act. may be challenged as to his quali- 
fications as an elector as in other cases, and shall be subject to the like penalties for false swearing and 
improper voting as are now provided by the laws relating to elections for like officers. The several 
boards of inspectors of elections after canvassing and estimating the number of votes received by them 
for each candidate for said office, shall certify the result to the common council of the city, who shall, 
at the time they take action upon the returns of said inspectors of election relative to the other officers 
chosen at said election, determine the final result; and the four persons who shall appear from the 
returns made by said inspectors to have received the greatest number of votes for the office of school 
commissioner, shall be declared by that body to be duly elected, and shall each hold office for the term 
of three years, and until their successors are elected and qualified. If, however, upon the examina- 
tion of said returns, it be found and determined by the common council that no four of the persons 
voted for the said office have received the greatest number of votes, by reason of two or more of the 
candidates receiving an equal number of votes, then it shall be deemed a failure to elect any one of 
those receiving said equal number of votes, and the said board of school commissioners shall have the 
power, and it shall be their duty to elect such persons in the same manner as they are hereinafter 
empowered to fill vacancies arising in the board from any cause hereinafter mentioned. The four 
school commissioners who shall be elected on the first Tuesday of March, eighteen hundred and eighty, 
shall hold their offices until the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November, eighteen hundred 
and eighty-two. At the general election held in said city on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday 
in November, eighteen hundred and eighty, there shall be elected, in the manner herein prescribed, 
four school commissioners, whose term of office shall commence on the first Tuesday of March, eight- 
een hundred and eighty-one, and expire on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November, 
eighteen hundred and eighty-three. At the general election held in said city in November, eighteen 
hundred and eighty-one, there shall, in like manner, be elected four school commissioners, whose 
term of of office shall commence on the first Tuesday in March, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, and 
expire on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November, eighteen hundred and eighty-four. 
The school commissioners thereafter elected in said city as hereinbefore provided, shall be elected for 
the term of three years. (As amended by chap. 32, Laivs of 18S0. ) 

2 4. The members of said board shall meet on the third Wednesday in April, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-one ; on the second Wednesday in March, eighteen hundred and eighty-two ; on the third 
Wednesday in November, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, at seven and one-half o'clock on the 
evenings of those days, or as soon thereafter as may be, for the purpose of organizing said board ; and 
annually thereafter on the third Wednesday in November for the same purpose. At such meetings, 
so specified, they shall appoint, by ballot, one of their number president, who shall exercise all the 
powers usually incident to such office ; they shall also appoint a suitable person, other than a member 
of their body, superintendent of schools for the city of Troy, who shall exercise such powers and shall 
discharge such duties as the board shall at any time direct, and shall be allowed such compensation 
for his services as the said board may determine at the time of his election. The board shall also at 
the same meeting elect a suitable person as clerk of the board, who shall hold his office at the pleasure 
of the board, and who shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board ; and such record, and all 
the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection 
of the common council, and of any committee thereof. The clerk shall also perform such other duties 
as the board may at any time prescribe, and receive such salary as they may determine at the time of 
liis election. (As amended by chap. 32, Laws of 1880, and chap. 110, Laws of 1881.) 

§ 5. Any member of said board of school commissioners may be removed from office for cause by the 
affirmative vote of at least eight members thereof, provided always that such member shall be served 
with a copy of the charges preferred against him and notice of trial, not less than twenty days previous 
to the day fixed for the hearing of the matter, by leaving such copy and notice at his residence in the 
city, or by sending the same to his address by mail. The accused member, on his appearing before the 
board for trial, shall have the privilege of being represented by counsel. 

§ 6. The said board shall have power to fill all vacancies that may occur in their body, from any cause, 
by the election of any person eligible to said office. Such elections shall be made by ballot, and the 
person receiving not less than eight votes shall be declared duly elected, and shall hold office during 
the remainder of the terra which he is elected to fill. 

? 7. On and after the second Tuesdav in April, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, the 
said board of school commissioners shall have the control and management of the several pubUc schools 
of the city of Troy, and shall possess and exercise all the powers now conferred by law upon the pres- 
ent board of education of said city, except as herein provided. The'said board of school commissioners 
shall have power, and it shall be their dutv, to fix and determine the different grades of study which 
shall be taught in the various departments of the several schools under their charge, and to change 
the same at anv time as they shall deem best calculated to advance the interest of the schools ; and 
also to adopt such rules and regulations for the administration and government of the schools, and for 



Troy. 965 

the admission of pupils to the various departments therein as they shall determine, with authority at 
uuy time to alter ana ain'jua ihe same as they may deem advisable. 

? 8. The board of school commissioners shall have power to examine all applicants for the 
appointment by them as teachers in any of the schools under their charge; and no person shall be 
appointed or ernployed as a teacher in any of said schools (except in cases of emergency when a teacher 
may be temporarily employed), unless the board shall, after such examination, consider such person 
well quaHfied to discharge the duties of the office, and shall give to such person a certificate to that 
effect, which certificate shall be signed on behalf of the board by the president and clerk thereof. 

{ 9. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the last preceding section of this act. the board 
may appoint a committee from their body at any time, to examine applicants for appointment as 
ica>.iieia; auu to re-examine any or all oi lae ceacners m the employ of tbe boardat sucti times as the 
board may deem advisable, and the result of such examination shall be reported br the committee to 
the board for final action, with such recommendations as the committee mav deem advisable. 

? 10. The said board shall have power at all times to fix the term for which any teacher shall be ap- 
pointed, and to determine the text-books which shall be used in the several departments of the public 
schools, and which shall be uniform as near as maybe, in those of the same grade; to supplv the requi- 
site text-books and stationery for the use of indigent pupils ; to provide the several schools under their 
charge with the necessary school apparatus, maps, etc., the expenses thereof to be defrayed out of the 
school moneys of the city ; and generally to possess all the powers, to discharge all the duties, and be 
subject to all the obligations heretofore conferred and imposed upon the present board of education of 
the citv of Troy, except as is herein otherwise provided. 

§ 11, Eight members of said board shall be required to constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi- 
ness; and a majority of the members present shall be sufficient to carry any measure or to decide any 
question before them, except in the filling of vacancies as specified in the sixth section of this act, and 
In the selection or change of text-books, as provided in the tenth section of this act, and in cases of 
any resolution or contract, appropriating or involving the appropriation of money for anv purnose, 
when it shall require, in each and all cases, the affirmative vote of at least eight menibers of the board ; 
and in cases of the election of any officer of the board and the appohitment or dismissal of any teacher, 
when it shall require in each such case the affirmative vote of at least seven members thereof. 

§ 12. The tuition of the pupils of the several schools under the charge of the board shall be free to all 
persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years, who are residents of said city and entitled to 
attend the said schools. 

g 13. The common council of the city of Troy shall have power, and it shall be their duty to raise by 
tax, to be levied equally upon all real and personal estate in said city which shall be liable to taxation 
for the ordinary city taxes, or for city or county charges, such sum or sums of money as may be neces- 
sary or proper for any or all of the following purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses, provided that the purchase of sites aforesaid 
shall be agreed upon in joint committee of three from each body named in this act ; and in case of dis- 
agreement, the decision shall rest with the common council ; 

2. To enable the board of School Commissioners to build, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair 
school-houses and their out-houses and appurtenances; 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages. 
But the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the furnishing with text-books any 
scholar whose parents or guardian shall be able to furnish the same ; 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the public schools, and to pay wages of 
teachers due after the application of the pubUc moneys which may by law be appropriated and pro- 
vided for that purpose ; provided, nevertheless, that the tax to be levied as aforesaid, and collected by 
virtue of this act, shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other city taxes ; 

5. And the amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses in any one year, shall 
not be less than twice nor more than four times the amount apportioned to said city from the school 
moneys of the State during the previous j'ear, nor shall the amount to be raised iii any one year for 
purchasing sites and erecting and repairing school-houses exceed ten thousand dollars, imless in the 
opinion of the common council, a larger sum should be required to meet unforeseen contingencies. 
And the common council of said city are authorized and directed when necessary, to raise by loan, in 
anticipation of the taxes, the moneys so to be raised, collected and levied as aforesaid. 

g 14. The said board of school commissioners shall have power and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize such and so many schools, including the common schools now existing 
therein, as they shall deem requisite or expedient, and to alter or discontinue the same ; 

2. To build, lease or contract for the occupation and use of school-houses or rooms, and to improve 
the same as they shall deem proper ; 

3. To alter, iihprove and repair school-houses and appurtenances as they may deem advisable ; but 
no such alterations, improvements or repairs shall be made upon any building, out-house or appurte- 
nance, unless the same shall be owned by the city of Troy, or duly leased by the said board of school 
commissioners for a term of not less than "three years : 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for indigent pupils, furniture 
and appendages, and to defray their ordinary contingent expenses ; 

5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books and furniture, and 
to see that the ordinances of the common council in relation thereto be observed ; 

fi. To contract with, license and employ all teachers in said schools, and to remove them. 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and provided by law for the 
support of schools in said city, so far as the same shall be sufficient ; and the residue thereof from the 
moneys authorized to be raised for that purpose by section thirteen of this act, by tax upon said city, 
as therein provided ; 

S. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of said board, including the annual salaries of the 
clerk and the superintendent of the schools : 

9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the public schools 
m said city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal as they may deem expedient, rules 
and regulations for their organization, government and instruction ; for' the reception of pupils and 
their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of their good order, prosper- 
ity and pubhc utility ; 

10. Whenever, in the opinion of the said board, it may be advisable to sell any of the school-houses, 
lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the city, to report the same to 
the common council; 

11. To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regulations as may be neces- 
sary or proper for the protection, sate-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots and sites, 
and appurtenances, and all the propertv belonging to the city, connected with or appertaining to the 
schools, and to suggest prooer penalties tor the violation of such ordinances and regulations ; and 
annually, on or before the first day of February in each year, to determine and certify to said common 
council the sums, in their opinion, necessary or proper to be raised under the thirteenth section of this 



966 Troy. 

act, specifyinj? the sum? required for the year commencing on the first of March thereafter, for each of 
the purposes therein mentioned, and the reasons therefor. 

12. Between the first day of October and the first day of Novemher, in each year, to make and trans- 
mit to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction a report in writing, bearing date the first of 
October in the year of its transmission, and stating : First. The number of school-houses in said city, 
and an account and description of all the public schools kept in said city during the next preceding year, 
and the time they have severally been taught. Second, The number of children taught In said schools 
respectively, and the number of children over the age of five years, and under the age of twentj'-one 
years, residing in said city on the thirtieth day of January of that year. Third. The whole amount of 
school moneys received by the chamberlain of said city during the rear ending on said thirtieth day 
of September, distinguishing the amounts received from the county treasurer from the city tax, and 
from any other source. Fourth. The manner in which moneys have been expended, and whether anv, 
and what part remains nnexpended, and for what cause. Fifth. The amount of money received for 
tuition fees from foreign pupils during the year, and the amount paid for teachers' wages in addition to 
the public monej's, with such other information relating to the public schools of said city as may, from 
time to time, be required by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

§ 15. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, appurtenances and appendages, and all 
ether school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the city of Trov ; and the same, while 
used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or 
execution, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever ; and the said city, in its corporate 
capacity, shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, 
grant, bequest or devise, for the use of the public schools of the said city, whether the same shall be 
transferred in terms to said city by its proper style, or by any other designation, or to any person or 
persons or body for the use of said schools. 

§16. The common council in said city may, upon the recommendation of the board of school com- 
missioners, sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites, or any other school property now or hereafter 
belonging to said city, upon such terms as the said common council may deem reasonable. The pro- 
ceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city, and shall be by the said board of 
school commissioners again expended in the construction, repairs or improvements of other school- 
houses, lots, sites or school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 

5 17. The common council of said city shall have the power to pass such ordinances and reflations 
as the said board of school commissioners may report as necessary and proper for the protection, safe- 
keeping, care and preservation of the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, and all 
necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools in said city ; and to impose proper 
penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the existing 
laws relative to said city, and all such penalties shall be collected In the same manner that the penal- 
ties for the violation of the city ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to 
the chamberlain of the said city, and be subject to the order of the board of school commissioners in 
the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

iis. It shall be the duty of said board of school commissioners, at least fifteen days before the 
annual general election in said city of Troy, to prepare and report to the common council true and 
correct statements of the receipts and disbursements of moneys, under and in pursuance of the pro- 
visions of this act, during the next preceding year, in which accounts shall be stated under appro- 
priate heads. (As amended by chap. 32, Laws of 1880.) 

1. The moneys raised by the common council under the thirteenth section of this act. 

2. The school moneys received by the chamberlain of the city from the county treasurer, distin- 
guishing between the sum received from the State, and the sum raised upon the city by the board of 
supervisors. 

3. The moneys received by the common council under the fifteenth section of this act. 

4. All other moneys received by the chamberlain subject to the order of the board, specifying the 
sources. 

5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, specifying the amount 
under each head of expenditures. And the common council shall, within ten days before the general 
election, cause the same to be once published in the official newspapers in said city. {As amended by 
chap. 32. Laws of 1880.) 

? 19. It shall be the duty of the common council, within fifteen days after receiving the certificate vi 
the board of school commissioners required by the fourteenth section of tliis act, the sums necessary 
or proper to be raised under the thirteenth section of this act, to determine and certify to said board 
the amount that will be raised by them for the year commencing on the first of March thereafter, for 
the purposes mentioned in said thirteenth section, distinguishing between the amount to be raised for 
teachers' wages and contingent expenses, and the amount to be raised for the repair of school-houses, 
which amounts shall be subject to the disposal of the said board of school commissioners. 

§ 20. The chamberlain of the said city of Troy shall receive aud hold all moneys required to be raised by 
virtue of this act or received by said city, for or on account of the public schools, and shall pay out 
the same on the orders of the said board, and on the first day next following the second Tuesday of 
April, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, he shall open an account in the books of his office 
■with the said board of school commissioners, and shall then transfer to said account all balances which 
may exist in the account kept between the city of Troy and the present board of education on the day 
of April aforesaid, and said chamberlain shall keep the funds authorized by this act to be received by 
him, separate and distinct from any other fund which he is or may by law be authorized to receive. 
All orders of the said board on the chamberlain for the payment of money shall be made in pursuance 
of a resolution or resolutions of the said board, shall specify the object for which the payment is to be 
made, and shall be signed by the president and clerk of said board aiid countersigned by the comptroller 
of said city of Troy. 

§ 21. It shall be the duty of said board, in all their exnenditures and contracts, to have reference to 
the amount of money which shall be subject to their order during the then current year and not to 
exceed that amount. 

i 22. The said board shall have power to allow the children of persons not resident within the city to 
attend any of the schools of said city under the care and control of said board, upon such terms as the 
board shall bv resolution prescribe. 

§ 23. It shall be the duty of each school commissioner to visit all the public schools under the direc- 
tion of the board, at least once in each year, and the said board shall also provide that each of said 
schools shall be visited by a committee of three or more menibers of the board at least twice in each 
year. 

§ 24. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of the county of Rensselaer, from and after the 
passage of this act, as hitherto, to direct that all monevs levied and collected on the inhabitants of the 
city of Trov; for common school purposes, whether the same shall be levied and collected as county 
taxes or otherwise, shall be paid over by the receiver of taxes for the said city to the chamberlam 
thereof for the sole use and benefit of the public schools within said city ; and it shall be the duty of 
the board of school commissioners to apply all such moneys to the support of the public schools of said 
city in conformity to law. 



Troy. 967 

§25. No member of said board of school commissioners shall receive any pecuniary compensation 
for his services as such member ; nor shall any member or officer of the board participate in the profits 
arising from any transaction or contract entered into by the board or any member thereof as such, or 
be interested therein in any manner whatever. Any person violating any provision of this section 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. 

I 26. No person being at the time either mayor, city attorney or alderman of the city of Troy, shall 
he eligible to the office of school commissioner ot this board. And any member of said board accept- 
ing either of the offices above named, shall thereupon vacate his office in the board, and the vacancy 
shall be tilled bv the said board as already provided. 

g 27. From and after the second Tuesday of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, the office of 
anv member or officer of the present board of education of the city of Troy, Is hereby abolished. 

f 2^. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

1 29. This act shall take effect immediately. 

[Chap. 162.] 

An Act to provide for the erection and furnishing of certain public buildings in the city of Troy, and 
to authorize said city to borrow money for the payment of expenses incurred in the erection and 
furnishing of such buildings. 

Passed April 18, 1884 ; three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of Neiv York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact asfolloivs : 

Section 1. Whenever the board of school commissioners of the city of Troy shall determine, by a 
vote of two-thirds of all the members of said board, that It is necessary for the educational interests 
of said citv that a new school building should be erected, or that an existing school building should be 
substantially rebuilt, in said city, the said board shall notify the mayor of s£iid city of their action. 
Such notification shall be accompanied with a detailed statement, in writing, showing the reasons for 
such action, and with plans and specifications of the proposed building which have been approved by 
said board, and estimates of the expense of erecting or rebuilding the same, and of supplying such 
building with heating apparatus, and fixtures, and furniture proper for school purposes. 

§ 2. tfpon presentation to the mayor of the matters and information above set forth, by either of the 
boards herein named, it shall be his duty to cause to he published in the official newspapers of said city 
a notice of the matter which has been presented to him, stating, among other things, the estimated 
cost of the proposed improvement, and of a time, not less than eight days from the first publication 
of such notice, when he shall hear all persons who may desire to be heard in relation to the same. 
After such hearing, or opportunity to be heard, has been given, if the mayor shall deem it necessary 
that the proposed new building should be erected or existing building should be substantially rebuilt, 
he shall so declare in writing, which shall be filed in the office of the comptroller of said city, and a 
copv thereof communicated to the board who have applied for the erection or substantial rebuilding 
of the desired structure. If he shall deem the proposed building unnecessary, he shall likewise so 
declare in writing, which shall be filed and communicated as last aforesaid, and thereupon no further 
proceeding shall be had in said matter. 

g 3. In case of approval by the mayor, as above provided, he shall, at the earliest day practicable, 
communicate the whole matter to the common council of said city, which shall thereupon proceed to 
hear and act upon the same, and shall have power to affirm or reject the action taken, and the approval 
given by the mayor. 

1 4. Whenever it is determined, by the approval of the mayor and the confirmation of his action by 
the common council as above required, that any new building should be erected, or existing building 
should be substantially rebuilt and furnished, under the provisions of this act, the eaid work shall be 
done by contract only, and the contracting board of said city are hereby authorized and directed to 
advertise in the usual manner for proposals for all such work. All bids shall be in writing and shall be 
accompanied by a written guarantee signed by two responsible persons, to the effect that the bidder 
will enter into such contract if awarded him. Such bids and guarantees shall be enclosed in a sealed, 
envelope addressed to the contracting board of said city, and shall be opened in the presence of said 
board when in session, and not before. The contract or contracts shall be awarded to the lowest 
responsible bidder, but the said board are hereby authorized to reject any bids which they deem dis- 
advantageous to the interests of said city. The execution of all contracts, made by virtue of this act, 
shall be under the immediate supervision of the board of commissioners who have applied for the 
erection of the new building, or that an existing building should be substantially rebuilt, but all 
drafts drawn upon the chamberlain of said city in payment of work performed or material furnished 
under such contract shall be drawn by the city engineer and the city euperintendent in the manner 
now provided by existing laws in relation to work performed and materials furnished for public pur- 
poses in said city. The president of the board of school commissioners and the chairman of the com- 
mittee on buildings of said board shall be ea;-oi^cio members of the contracting board, when said board 
is convened for the consideration of any matter relating to the schools of said city, under the pro- 
visions of this act and not otherwise. 

2 r>. Upon the awarding of any contract or contracts under the provision of this act, and the com- 
mencement of the work herein provided for. it shall be lawful for the city of Troy, and said city is hereby 
directed to borrow a sum of money sufficient in the aggregate to pay the price or prices of all work to 
he performed and materials to be furnished under any such contract or contracts. 

§ 6. To secure to the lender or lenders of the money which may be borrowed under the provisions of 
this act the payment of the principal sum so borrowed and interest thereon, the city of Troy is hereby 
authorized to issue the bonds of said city, under the signature of the mayor and chamberlain, and to 
be countersigned by the comptroller, to an amount not to exceed the suni borrowed, as above author- 
ized, which bonds shall be payable at such time or times as shall be agreed upon by the mayor, comp- 
troller and chamberlain. The said bonds shall bear a rate of interest not exceeding four per cent per 
annum, and shall be negotiated at not less than par. All moneys borrowed or received as aforesaid 
shall be applied by the said chamberlain in payment of the contract price or prices of the work per- 
formed and materials furnished, when the said work shall be performed and the said materials 
furnished, in accordance with the provisions of the contract or contracts therefor. 

i 7. The board of estimate and the common council shall, in the manner provided by existing laws, 
raise by tax in each year in which the bonds authorized to be issued under this act shall become pay- 
able, a sum of money sufficient to pay said bonds and the interest thereon, according to the terms 
thereof. 

2 8. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with or repugnant to this act are hereby repealed. 

I 9. This act shall take effect immediately. 



968 Utica. 



UTICA. 

{Laws 0/1842, cMp. 137, as amended by chap. 131 of 1844, chap. 184, title 10 of 1848, chap. 66 of 1850, cftap 
348 of 1854, an(i cAap. 572, Laws of 1857, cAap. 115, Laws of 1867, c/iap, 118, Laws of 1870, c/ia». 666, Laws 
of 1873, and chap. 243, iawjs o/ 1877.] 

Section 1. At the next annual election for city officers to be held in the city of Utica there shall be 
elected six commissioners of common schools for the said city, who shall be elected in the same man- 
ner as justices of the peace,.supervisors and constables are elected in said city pursuant to the act incor- 
porating said city. 

2 2. within ten days after their election, the persons so elected shall take and subscribe the oath of 
office prescribed by the Constitution, and file the same with the clerk of said city ; and they or a 
majority of them shall thereupon meet and cause the whole number of commissioners so chosen to be 
divided into three classes, to be severally numbered first, second and third. The term of office of the 
first class shall expire at the end of one year, of the second class at the end of two years, and of the 
third class at the end of three years ; but each class shall continue in office until their successors are 
elected and have taken the oath of office. 

§ 3. At every annual election for city officersin said city after the next, there shall in like manner be 
elected two commissioners of common schools, to supply the places of those whose term of office is 
about to expire ; they shall hold their office for three years, and until their successors are elected and 
have taken the oath of office. The term of office of all commissioners elected pursuant to the provis- 
ions of this act shall commence on the first Monday after the first Monday in March next succeeding 
their election. 

g 4. The common council of said city may make appointments of commissioners of common schools, 
to fill vacancies which may occur from any cause other than the expiration of the term of office of the 
person elected. The commissioners so appointed shall hold their office for the unexpired term of those 
to supply whose places they are appointed. 

§ 5. Any commissioner of common schools in said city may be removed from office for official mis- 
conduct by the common council thereof, by a vote of two-thirds of the members thereof. 

^6. The commissioners of common schools in said city shall constitute a board to be styled the " com- 
missioners of common schools in the city of Utica," which shall be a corporate body in relation to 
all the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of this act ; a majority of the board shall form, 
a quorum. At their first meeting after each annual city election they shall elect one of their number 
chairman, and whenever the chairman shall be absent from a meeting of the board they may appoint 
a chairman pro tempore ; they shall also elect a clerk, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of 
the board; the said commissioners shall receive no compensation for their services. 

§ 7. The clerk of said board shall keep a record of the proceedings thereof, which record, or a trans- 
cript therefrom certified by the chairman and clerk, shall be received in all courts as pnma facie evi- 
dence of the facts therein set forth; and such records, and all books, papers and accounts of the said 
board, shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council and of any committee 
thereof. 

§ 8. The common council of the said city shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to raise 
from time to time, by tax upon the real and personal estates in said city which shall be liable to tax- 
ation for the ordinary city taxes or for town or county charges, such sums as may be determined and 
certified by the said board of commissioners to be necessary or proper for any or all of the following 
purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses ; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and their out-houses 
and appurtenances ; 

3. 'fo purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, and the expenses of 
the district library of said city, which shall be in addition to the amount of school-moneys now or here- 
after appropriated or provided by law to be raised for common schools in said city ; provided, never- 
theless, that such tax shall be levied but once in each year, and that the whole amount to be raised 
shall not in any one year exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars. (As amended by sec. 1, chap.2iZ, 
Laws of 1877.) 

g 9. The common council shall cause the amount of the tax, at any time ordered to be raised in pur- 
suance of the last section, to be added to the amount which they are otherwise authorized by law to 
raise by tax in said city, and they shall cause the same, with the collectors' fees thereon, to be assessed, 
levied and collected at the same time, by the same warrant and in the same manner with the taxes 
raised for city expenses under and by virtue of the forty-fourth section of the act to incorporate said 
citv. 

g 10. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law ap- 
propriated to or provided for said city, shall be paid to the treasurer of the said city, who, together with 
the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other 
moneys of the said city; the said treasurer shall also be liable to the same penalties for any official 
misconduct in relation to the said moneys as for any similar misconduct in relation to the other moneys 
of the city. 

§ 11. After the passage of this act the treasurer of the said city shall not pay out any moneys in his 
hands, received bv the said city either as school moneys or collected or received by virtue of any of the 
provisions of this act, excepting upon an order drawn upon him and signed by the chairman and clerk 
of the said board of commissioners ; and no such order shall be drawn except by virtue of a resolution 
of the board. 

5 12. The said board may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the city of Utica upon 
the official bond of the treasurer, o'r of any collector of the said city, for any default, delinquency or 
official misconduct in relation to the collection, safe-keeping or payment of any moneys in this act 
mentioned. 

J 13. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize such and so many common schools in said city (including the common 
and free schools now existing therein) as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and dis- 
continue the same; 

2. To purchase or hire school-houses and rooms and lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and 
improve them as they deem proper ; 

3. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any sites now owned by said city, to build, enlarge, alter, 
improve and repair school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable ; 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, and the expenses of 
the district library of said city, which shall be in addition to the amount of school moneys now or here- 
after appropriated or provided by law to be raised for common schools in said city; provided, never- 
theless, that such tax shall not be laid oftener than once in each year, and that the whole amount to 



TJtica. 969 

be raised shall not In any one year exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars. (As amended by scciion 2, 
chapter U5, Laws of 1867, p. 185.) 

5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of the common council in relation thereto be 
observed ; 

6. To contract with and employ all teachers in the common schools, and at their pleasure to remove 
them; 

7. To pav the wages of such teachers out of the school moneys which shall be appropriated and pro- 
vided in the said city, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue thereof from the tuition 
fees they shall be authorized to collect or receive, as herein provided ; and in case the said school 
moneys and tuition fees shall be insufficient to pay such wages, and to pay the deficiency out 
of the moneys to be raised by the common council of said city, in pursuance of the eighth section of 
this act ; 

8. To fix the rate of tuition fees in said schools at a sum not exceeding two dollars per term, which 
shall be a period of not less than eleven weeks, and to designate a person or persons to whom the same 
may be paid previous to issuing a warrant for the collection thereof; and to exempt from the payment 
of the whole or any part of the tuition fees such person as they may deem entitled to such exemption, 
for indigence or any other sufficient cause, and cause a list of the persons so exempted, with the extent 
of their exemption, to be kept by the clerk of the board ; 

9. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including an annual salary to the clerk, 
which shall be fixed by the board, and which shall not exceed five hundred dollars ; provided that the 
accounts of said necessary expenses shall first be audited and allowed by the common council. (As 
amended by section 2, chapter 118, Laws of 1870.) 

10. After the end of each school term to make out a rate bill containing the name of each person 
liable to pay tuition fees, who shall not have paid them (prior to the making out of such rate bill) to 
the person or persons designated by the board for that purpose, and the amount for which such person 
is liable, adding thereto a sum not exceeding five cents on each dollar of the sum due, for collector's- 
fees, and to annex to such rate bill a warrant for the collection thereof; 

11. To deliver such rate bill, with the warrant annexed, to one of the collectors of taxes of said city, 
who shall execute the same in like manner and with like effect with the other warrants for the collec- 
tion of taxes placed in his hands ; or, in their discretion, to deliver the same to a collector to be 
appointed by said board of commissioners, who shall, if required by said board, excecute to said com- 
missioners in their corporate capacity a bond, with one or more sureties, to be approved by said com- 
missioners or a majority of them, which bond, as to its penalty and conditions, shall be the same as is 
by law required to be executed by the collectors of school districts; and the said board of commis- 
sioners shall have the same power and authority, in regard to said bond and the collection thereof, as 
the trustees of school districts have by law in regard to the bonds given by collectors of school dis- 
tricts ; and the said collector shall have the same power in the execution ot said warrants that the col- 
lectors of taxes of said city have by virtue of this act ; 

12. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the common schools 
in said city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules 
and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their 
transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of good order, prosperity and pub- 
lic utihty ; 

1.3. Whenever, in the opinion of the board, it may be advisable to sell any of the school-houses, lots 
or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the city, to report the same to the 
common council ; 

14. To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regulations as may be neces- 
sary or proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots, sites and 
appurtenances, and all the property belonging to the city connected with or appertaining to the schools, 
and to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations ; and annually to 
determine and certify to the said common council the sums in their opinion necessary and proper to be 
raised under the eighth section of this act, specifying the sums required for each of the several purposes 
therein mentioned ; 

15. To unite with the commissioners of schools of any adjoining town, and form, regulate and alter 
any district out of any portion of the said city and such town whenever they shall deem it necessary 
and proper to do so ; in which case, so far as such district or districts are concei-ned, the said board 
shall, during the existence of such districts, have the same powers and duties which the commission- 
ers of schools in towns have ; 

16. Between the first day of July and the first day of August, in each year, to make and transmit to 
the county clerk a report in writing, bearing date the first day of July in the year of its transmission, 
and stating : 

I. The whole number of districts separately set off within the said city, in pursuance of subdivision 
fifteen of this section ; 

II. An account and description of all the common schools kept in said city during the preceding year 
and the time they have severally been taught ; 

III. The number of children taught in the said schools respectively, and the number of children 
over the age of five and under sixteen [21] years residing in the city on the first day of January of that 
year. 

IV. The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of the said city during the preced- 
ing year, distinguishing the amount received from the county treasurer from the town collector, and 
from any other and what source ; 

V. The manner in which such moneys have been expended, and whether any and what part, remains 
unexpended, and for what cause ; 

VI. The amount of moneys received for tuition fees during the year, and the amount paid for teach- 
ers' wages, in addition to the public moneys, with such other information as the superintendent of 
common schools may from time to time remiire. 

5 14. All persons collecting or receiving tuition fees, pursuant to the designation or the warrant ot the 
said board, shall be liable for all moneys thus collected or received by them, in the same manner as col- 
lectors are for moneys received bv them for taxes, and any collector of the said city and his sureties 
shall be liable upon his official bond for any default, delinquency, neglect or misconduct, m the duties 
with which he mav be charged under or by virtue of this act, in the same manner and with the like 
effect as for any other official default, delinquency, neglect or misconduct ; and such collector shall also 
be liable to the same penalties for any such official misconduct as for any similar misconduct in relation 
to any other duties of his office. 

2 15. The warrant annexed to any rate bill, pursuant to the provisions of this act, shall be under the 
hands of the commissioners, or a majority of them, and shall command the collector to collect from 
every person in such rate bill named the sum therein set opposite his name ; and in case any person so 
named shall not pay such sum on demand, to levy the same, together with the fees of said collector, by 
distress and sale of goods and chattels of the person who ought to pay the same, or of any goods and 

122 



970 Utica. 

chattels in his possession, wheresoever the same may be found in the city of Utica, and to make return 
of such warrant to the treasurer of said city within thirty days after the delivery thereof 

§ 16. Such warrants shall have the Uke force and effect as warrants issued by the boards of supervis- 
ors to the collectors of towns ; and the collectors of the said city are authorized to collect the amount 
due from any person or persons in the said city in the same manner and with the same power that col- 
lectors of a school district have for the collection of tax or rate bills issued by the trustees of school 
districts. 

§ 17. The board of commissioners shall possess the same powers which the trustees of school dis- 
tricts have for the collection ot tuition fees which shall not be collected by the warrant issued by them 
with rate bills, and subject to the same regulations; and they may, in like manner as the trustees of 
school districts, correct and amend errors in making out any rate bill, and refund to any person any 
sum improperly collected in consequence of such error. 

§ 18. It shall be the duty of the said board, in all their expenditures and contracts, to have reference to 
the amount of moneys which will be subject to their order during the then current year, for the partic- 
ular expenliture in question. 

§ 19. The said board of commissioners shall be the trustees of the district library in said city, and all 
the provisions of the act entitled " An act respecting the school district hbraries, " passed April 1.5, 
1839, and all other laws which now are or may hereafter be passed relating to district school libraries, 
shall apply to the school commissioners in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school dis- 
trict comprehending the said city ; they shall also be vested with the discretion as to the disposition of 
the moneys appropriated by the fourth section of chapter two hundred and thirty-seven of the statute 
of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, which is therein conferred upon the inhabitants of school dis- 
tricts. It shall be their duty to provide a library room and the necessary library furniture, and appoint 
a librarian to make all purchases of books for the said library, and from time to time to exchange or 
cause to be repaired damaged books belonging thereto ; they may also sell any books which they deem 
useless or of improper character, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books for the said 
library. 

§ 20. It shall be the duty of said board, at least fifteen days before the annual election for city ofl5- 
cers in each year, to prepare and report to the common council true and correct statements of the 
receipts and disbursements of moneys under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during the 
preceding year, in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 

1. The moneys raised by the common council under the eighth section of this act ; 

2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the county treasurer and the col« 
lector of taxes for town and county charges in said city ; 

3. The moneys received for tuition fees ; 

4. All other moneys received by the treasurer, subject to the order of the board, specifying the 
sources ; 

5. The manner in which such moneys shall have been expended, specifying the amount paid under 
each head of expenditure ; 

And the common council shall, ten days before the said election, cause the same to be published, 
with the statement required to be published by the thirty-third section of the act to incorporate the 
said city. 

g 21. The said board shall be subject to the rules and regulations from time to time made by the 
Superintendent of Common Schools [Superintendent of Public Instruction], so far as the same may be 
applicable to them, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. 

2 22. The common council of said city shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to pass such 
ordinances and regulations as the said board of commissioners may report as necessary and proper for 
the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of the school-houses, lots, sites and appurtenances, 
and all the necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools in said city, and to impose 
proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the 
act to incorporate the said city ; and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the 
penalties for violation of the city ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to 
the treasurer of the city, and be subject to the order of the board of commissioners, in the same manner 
as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

2 23. Whenever the said board shall report to the common council that it is advisable to sell any of 
the school-houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the city, it 
shall be the duty of the common council to sell the same without unreasonable delay, and upon such 
terms as the said council may deem advisable. The proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the 
treasurer of the city, and shall be subject to the order of the said board, to be expended by them in the 
purchase, leasing, repairs or improvements of other school-houses, lots, school furniture, apparatus or 
appurtenances. 

2 24. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all 
other school property hereinbefore in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the city of Utica ; and the 
same, while used for or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold 
by virtue of any warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation or assessment for any purpose what- 
soever ; and the said city, in its corporate capacity, shall be Uable to take, hold and dispose of any real 
■or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of common schools of 
the said city, whether the same shall be transferred in terms directly to said city by its proper style, or 
by any other designation or to any other designation, or- to any person or persons or body, for the use 
of said schools. 

g 25. All former acts and parts of acts in relation to common and free schools in the said city, incon- 
sietent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed. 

[Laws of 1850, chap. 66, as amended by chap, 258 of 1852, and chap. 384 of 1854, chap. 115, Laws of 1867, 
chap. 666, Ijaws o/1873, and chap. 243, Laws of 1877.] 

Section 1. The board of school commisioners of the city of Utica shall annually prepare an estimate 
of the amount of money necessary to be raised in said city, for the then ensuing year, for the payment 
of teachers' wages (exclusive of the money now required or which may hereafter be required by law 
to be appropriated or apportioned from the State school money for the use of common schools in said 
city), and present the same to the common council of said citv ; and said common council shall cause 
the same to be levied and collected in the said city, in the same manner as other city taxes are 
levied and collected; but the sum to be raised by virtue of this section shall not in any year exceed 
two and one-half times the sum appropriated or apportioned to the city for the last preceding year by 
virtue of the law in reference to common schools. (As amended by sec. 1, chapter 115, Laws of 1867, 
and sec. 2, chap. 243, Laws of 1877.) 

§ 2. The said board of commissioners shall appoint a superintendent of common schools for the city, 
to hold his office during the pleasure of the board, and to perform such duties in the care and oversight 
of the schools in the city as it may charge him with. He shall be paid such compensation for his ser- 



Utica. 971 

vices as the board shall from time to time determiue, which shall be audited and allowed as other town 
cnarges are in tne said city. He shall have pjower to take aflSdavits and acknowledgments in all matters 
connected with the common schools of said city. (As amended by section 1, chapter 666, Laws of 
1873.) 

[CJiap. 272, Laws o/1853.] 

Section 1. After the passage of this act, the commissioners of common schools in the city of Utica. 
for the time being, shall be the trustees of the Utica academy, and possess the powers and perform the 
duties which the present board of trustees thereof possess and are charged with. 

1 2. The said academy shall be one of the common schools of the said cityof Utica, but shall continue 
subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University, and entitled to all the rights and privileges 
which it has hitherto possessed. 

2 3. A m^ority of the board of trustees shall constitute a quorum to transact business. 

[Chapter 115, Laws of 1867.] 

? 3. It shall be the duty of the treasurer of the city of Utica, immediately upon the receipt by him of 
any money appropriated, raised or designed for the use of the common schools of said city, to deposit 
the same in the bank or banks in which he is required to deposit the moneys of the said city ; and to 
cause the same to be immediately entered and continually kept in and by accounts separate and dis- 
tinct from the general account and all other accounts of the city treasurer ; and he shall cause all 
money which shall be raised (and be received by him) for the purpose of buying sites and building 
school-houses in said city, to be kept, in manner aforesaid, in and by a separate account, distinct from 
the other moneys designed for school purposes. And the said moneys for the use of the said 
schools herein mentioned shall not be used, paid out or transferred by said treasurer, or in any way 
whatever, except upon the order of the commissioners of common schools in said city, in the manner 
now provided by law. 

[Cho.p. 7, Laws of 1846.] 

Section 1. When the board of school commissioners of the city of Utica shall be of opinion that It Is 
necessary to erect one or more new school-houses, or to enlarge any of the school-houses for the 
accommodation of the common schools in said city, it shall be their duty to state such necessity, with 
the reasons therefor, in their annual report, required to be made to the common council of said city, 
together with an estimate of the expense of erecting or enlarging the same. {As amended by sec. 2, cfiap. 
666, Xaws 0/1873.) 

g 2. At the succeeding charter election, each elector of said city may, upon a separate ballot, write 
or print the words " For new school-houses," or "For enlarging school-houses," or "Against new 
school-houses," or " Against enlarging school-houses," and in canvassing the ballots, the inspectors of 
election shall make a return of the number of ballots containing either of such expressions, to the 
common council of the city, in the same manner that they make returns of votes given for city officers. 
At any election, when a vote by ballot is to be taken, the inspectors of election in the several election 
districts in said city shall provide a separate box at each poll, in which the said ballots shall be 
deposited, and which boxes shall be labeled " school-houses." (J.s amended by sec. 1, chap. 572, Laws 
0/1857, and sec. 3, chap. 666, Laws o/1873. ) 

? 3. If the number of ballots containing the words " For new school-houses," or " For enlarging 
school-houses," exceed those containing the words " Against new school-houses," or " Against enlarg- 
ing school-houses," it shall be the duty of the common council, in addition to the moneys which they 
are otherwise authorized by law to raise by tax in the said city, to raise, in the same manner that 
moneys are now raised for the ordinary expenses thereof, either in the ensuing year, or in one, two or 
three successive years, as they shall elect, such sum or sums of money as the board of school commis- 
sioners in their said report shall have estimated to be necessary for the erection or enlargement of 
said new school-house or school-houses, and for no other purpose whatsoever. (As amended by sec. 4, 
chap. 666, Laws of 1ST3. ) 

§ 4. Such moneys when raised shall be paid to the treasurer of the citv and be kept by him distinct 
from other moneys in his hands, sublect to be drawn by the board of school commissioners for the 
expenses of erecting such proposed school-house or school -houses, or for the enlargement of others, 
and for no other purpose whatever, except that should any sum remain after the erection or enlarge- 
ment of a school-house or school-houses, the same shall be transferred by the school commissioners to 
the " contingent fund," so called. (As amended by sec. 5, chap. 666, Laws of 1873. ) 

[Chap. 164, Laws of 185&, as amended by sec. 3, chap. 572, Laws o/1857.] 

Section six amends section 106 of the act of 1849, as follows : 

? 106. The board of commissioners of common schools may, from the moneys received by them for the 
school district library, defray the contingent expenses of the library and the salary of the librarian. 
For the purpose of the distribution of any moneys now or hereafter appropriated by the State for the 
support of common schools, in which the said city of Utica shall be entitled to a share, every one hundred 
children, between the ages of four and twenty-one, in said city, as ascertained in the last preceding 
annual report of the commissioners of common schools therein, "or otherwise, according to law, shall be 
deemed to be a school district for the purpose aforesaid, and shall be calculated and stated accordingly 
in the reports of said commissioners. 

§4. Such moneys when raised shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and be kept by him distinct 
from other moneys in his hands, subject to be drawn by the board of ischool commissioners, for the 
expenses of erecting such proposed school-house or school-houses, and for no other purpose whatsoever. 

[Chap. 18, Laics of 1862, title 10.] 

§ 124. The act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the city of Utica," passed April 
seventh, eighteen hundred and forty-two, and the several acts amending the same, shall continue in 
force, excepting wherein their provisions are expressly amended, any thing herein contained to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

[Chap. 9, Imws of 1866.] 

This law authorizes the city to borrow $25,000, to be paid in three equal annual installments, by a tax 
to be levied and collected like other city taxes, the money to be paid on the order of the commission- 
ers of common schools, and to be expended in erecting a building for the Utica academy. 



9'?2 Warsaw — Waterloo. 

[Chap. 269, Laws of 1858.] 

Section 1. The commissioners of common schools of the city of Utica (ex-officio tmsteesof the school 
district Ubrary of said city) are hereby authorized to make such rules and regulations, from time to 
time, for the better preservation and care of the books of the said district Ubrary, as they may deem 
expedient ; and may therein designate and determine such valuable books as cannot be circulated with- 
out material injury, to be books of reference not to be taken from the library rooms without the special 
permission of the commissioners, or the librarian, under their instructions, and subject to such rules 
and conditions as they may impose ; and they may also exercise, and authorize the librarian to exercise, 
discretionary power as to the delivery of books to minors, and irresponsible persons ; any exercise or 
such authority by the librarian to be a subject of appeal to the board of commissioners. The said com- 
missioners may impose fines for the violation or non-observance of said rules and regulations, not 
exceeding the fines authorized to be imposed by the trustees of school district libraries, under the gen- 
eral regulations respecting the same : and the rules and regulations so made and adopted by them shall 
be obligatory upon all persons and officers having charge of said library, or using or possessing any of 
the books thereof, and may be enforced in the same manner that the said general regulations concern- 
ing the books in school district libraries framed by the Superintendent under the act respecting libra- 
ries, passed April 15, 1839, may be enforced. The said general regulations framed under the said act 
shall be applicable to and remain in force in regard to the said library of the city of Utica, except when 
the same shall be inconsistent with the rules and regulations made by the said commissioners under 
and by virtue of this act. 

[Chap. 572, Laws of 1857.'] 

2 4. All claims and accounts presented to the board of school commissioners shall be in writing. 
They shall be numbered and filed, and a brief entrj- of the name of the claimant, number, nature and 
amount of the claim, made in a book to be kept for that purpose, prepared with appropriate letters and 
columns, so that the entry shall serve as an alphabetical index to the claim. 

The book shall be provided with columns. In which shall be entered, after the claims, the date when 
audited, and the amount, if any, allowed thereon. 

The school commissioners shall annually, at least ten days before the charter election, report to the 
common council an abstract of the claims and accounts presented and allowed during the year, as shall 
appear by such record, classifying the same under appropriate heads. 

IChap. 666, Laws of 1873 ;] 

Besides amending several sections in the foregoing as shown above, in section six confers general 
authority upon the common council to borrow money in anticipation of taxes voted for the erection 
or enlargement of school-houses. 

WARSAW. 

lamp. 222, Laws 0/IS68.] 

Sectiox 1. The board of education of the union school in district number two of the town of Warsaw- 
is hereby authorized to establish i-ates of tuition in the academical department of the said union 
school, and to collect the same in the same manner as the trustees of other academies in the State. 

By chapter 51, Laws of 1881, certain acts of the board of education are legalized, and the board is 
authorized to foreclose and collect a certain mortgage. It also directs the disposition to be made of 
the money received therefrom. 

WATERFORD. 

[Chap. 176, Laws of 1881.] 

Section 1. The board of education of union free school district number one, town of Waterford, 
county of Saratoga, shall have power to appoint a clerk, who may or may not be one of their number, 
and hold his office till the first meeting of the board after the annual election of trustees, unless 
removed by them for cause ; his compensation shall be fixed by the board, not to exceed fifty dollars 
per annum. The said clerk shall keep a record of all proceedings of the board, and perform such other 
duties as the board may direct or their by-laws prescribe. The said record or a transcript thereof, 
certified by the president and clerk, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts 
therein set forth ; and such records and all the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said board 
shall be in the keeping of the clerk, subject at all times to the inspection of the supervisors of the town 
of Waterford and school commissioner. {As amended by chap. 176, Lavjs of 1881.) 

WATERLOO. 
IChap. 151, Laws' of 1853.] 

Section 1. The trustees of school districts numbers one and fifteen, respectively, in the town of 
Waterloo, in the county of Seneca, shall annually, at least three weeks before the annual meeting of 
the taxable inhabitants of their respeciive districts, prepare an estmiaie of tue amount 01 money 
which they shall deem necessary to pay all the debts of their respective districts, and for the support 
of common schools therein, for the ensuing year, exclusive of the moneys which said districts respect- 
ively may be entitled to receive from the town superintendents of common schools of said town of 
Waterloo, and including the sums required for the purchase of necessary furniture, apparatus, books, 
repairs and improvements of school-houses, and for contingent expenses, and shall cause written or 
printed notices thereof to be posted up for two weeks thereafter, in five or more of the most public 
places in their respective districts ; and said trustees shall present said respective estimates at such 
annual meetings of said inhabitants of their respective districts, when the inhabitants of said districts 
at which such estimate is presented, entitled to vote at school district meetings, then present, shall 
vote thereon ; and the amount of money then voted by a majority of such inhabitants, present at said 
meeting, shall be levied and collected by a tax upon the taxable property of said district in which it 
was voted, in the manner now provided by law for levying and collecting taxes for district school pur- 
poses. 

§ 2. Whenever the trustees of said respective districts shall have completed their respective tax lists, 
they shall attach thereto and issue their warrant to the collector of the district returnable in thirty 
days, for the collection of the same, and shall take from the collector of their said district approved 



Watektown. 973 

security for the faithful petformance of his duty, and for paying over the moneys collected by him 
thereon. Such warrants' may be renewed from time to time, as said trustees may deem proper, as to 
any tax remaining unpaid at the time of renewal. The money so collected shall be paid over to the 
trustees of the district from which the same was collected, and shall be by them expended and appro- 
priated for the purpose for which the same was voted. 

§3. In case any annual school district meeting of said inhabitants, of either of said districts, shall 
have passed without such estimate having been presented by the trustees of said district, then such 
estimate, upon the notice hereinbefore mentioned, may be presented and voted upon at any duly 
adjourned annual meeting, or at any special meeting duly called for that purpose, and the sum then 
voted shall be levied and collected upon the taxable property of the district in which it is voted in the 
same manner as if voted at an annual meeting ; and for the present year said estimates may be made 
and presented, after notice as aforesaid, to any duly adjourned annual meeting, or to any special meet- 
ing duly called for that purpose, in either or both of said districts, and may be voted upon at any such 
adjourned or special meeting ; and any tax voted at any such adjourned or special meeting, for the pur- 
poses aforesaid, shall be levied and collected in the same manner as if voted at an annual meeting of 
said inhabitants of said district. 

g 4. All taxes imposed under this act shall be a lien upon the lands taxed, and be enforced and collec- 
ted by sale, in the manner that county taxes are, upon a return made by said collectors, respectively, to 
the treasurer of said county of Seneca, of all unpaid taxes in said districts respectively. 

2 5. All statutes inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as they relate to said districts. 

[ Chap. 233, Laws ia55. J 

Section 1. The trustees of school district number one, in the town of Waterloo, in the county of 
Seneca, and their successors in office, are hereby created a body corporate, by the name of the " trus- 
tees of Waterloo union school," and empowered to establish and organize a classical school in said 
district and in the village of Waterloo, which school shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents 
of the University of this State, and to all laws and regulations applicable to the incorporated acade- 
mies thereof, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, and share in the distribution 
of the moneys of the literature fund of this State as the academies thereof; and said trustees shall 
have authority to make regulations respecting the attendance of the children of the said district in the 
school-houses thereof, the transfer of them from one room or school-house to another, the instruction 
and studies to be given and pursued in said schools ; provided, however, that this act shall not affect 
the rights and duties of said trustees and district under the statutes of this State relating to common 
schools, or und'^r any snecial act relating to said district niimber op'" 

§ 2. Said trustees shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, rules and regulations 
prescribed in title nine, chapter five hundred and fifty-five, of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- 
four, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the general acts, relating to public instruction." 
{Added by chap. 624, Laws of 1887.) 

[Chap. 15, Laws o/1859.] 

Sectiox 1, The provisions of the act entitled " An act to change the school year, and to amend the 
statutes in relation to public instruction,"' passed April 12, 1858, shall apply to the union school and 
districts number one and fifteen, in the town of Waterloo, county of Seneca, so far as the same relates 
to the time and place of holding the annual meetings of the taxable inhabitants and legal voters of 
said districts and school, and so far as relates to the time of making the annual reports of the trustees 
thereof, and no further. 

§ 2. All the acts of the trustees of the said school and districts, and the votes, acts and doings of the 
taxable inhabitants and voters in said school and districts, had and done since the passage of said act 
of April 12, 1858, at their district meetings, are hereby declared to be valid. 

2 3. Nothing in this act contained shall affect any action or proceedings, in which said trustees, or the 
collectors of said districts, or school, or either of them, are a party, commenced prior to the passage of 
this act, 

WATERTOWN. 

[Chap. 520, Laws of 1865, as amended by chap. 153, Laws of 1867, and chap. 511, Laws 0/I868.] 

Section 1. There shall be elected at a special election, to be held in the village of Watertown, on the 
first Monday in June, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, in the same manner and under the same regu- 
lations as the water commissioners of said village are elected, nine persons to be commissioners of com- 
mon schools of said village. The persons so elected shall, within six days after receiving notice of their 
election, take the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of this State, and file the same with the 
village clerk. 

2 2. Within ten days after the election, said commissioners shall meet at the trustees' room of said 
village, and shall determine by lot which three of the nine persons so elected shall serve for the term 
ending on the second Monday of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and which for the term end- 
ing on the second Monday of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and which for the term ending 
the second Monday in June, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight. 

? 3. There shall in like manner, on the first Monday of June in each year thereafter, be elected three 
commissioners of schools of said village, to supply the places of those whose term of office then expires 
who shall hold their office three years and until others are elected and have taken the oath of office.' 
The term of the office of all the commissioners elected pursuant to this act shall commence on the 
Monday next after their election. 

2 4. The board of commissioners may make appointments of commissioners of common schools to fill 
vacancies which may occur from any other cause than the expiration of the term of office of those 
elected. The commissioners so appointed shall hold their office until the Monday next succeeding the 
next annual election ; and at each annual election there shall be chosen a commissioner to supply the 
place of any person so appointed, and any person thus elected shall serve out the unexpired term, and 
the board at any time shall determine by a two-third vote what constitutes a vacancy. Any commis- 
sioner of common schools in said village may be removed for official misconduct by a two-third vote of 
the village trustees. 

2 5. The commissioners of common schools of said village shall constitute a board to be styled " the 
board of education of the village of Watertown," and shall be a corporate body in relation to all the 
powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of this act. A majority of the board shall constitute a 
quorum. The first meeting shall be held on the second Monday of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, 
and the annual meeting each year thereafter on the second Monday of June in each year. At the first 
naeeting, and annually thereafter, at the annual meeting, they shall elect one of their number presi- 



974 Watertown. 

dent, and when he shall be absent a president jjro tempore shall be chosen ; but such president shall 
only nave a casting vote. The said commissioners shall receive no compensation lor tneir services, 
nor shall they be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract for building or for making any 
improvement or repairs provided for by this act. They shall meet for business as often as once each 
month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or by 
any two members of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each member of the 
board, or by causing a written or printed notice to be left at his last place of residence at least twenty- 
four hours before the hour for such special meeting. 

g 6. The said board shall appoint a clerk, who shall hold his office during its pleasure, and shall fix 
his compensation. He shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other 
duties as it may prescribe. The said record, or a transcript thereof, certified by the clerk, shall be 
received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth ; and such record, and all 
the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of 
the pubUc. 

§ 7. The board of trustees of said village shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, from 
time to time, by tax to be levied upon all the real and personal estate In said village which shall be lia- 
ble to taxation for the ordinary village taxes, or for village and county charges, such sums as mav be 
determined and certified by the said board of education to be necessary and proper for any or all the 
following purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses ; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, and their out-houses 
and appurtenances; 

2. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, mineral and geological speci- 
mens, furniture and appendages ; but the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the 
furnishing with class or text-books any scholar whose parents or guardian shall be able to furnish the 
same ; 

4. To procure fuel, and deiray the contingent expenses of the common schools, and the expenses of 
the laboratory, cabinet and school library of said village, and the necessary contingent expenses of said 
board, including the compensation of the clerk of the board ; 

5. To pay teachers' wages after the application of public moneys which may by law be appropriated 
and provided for that purpose ; provided, nevertheless, that the tax to be levied as aforesaid, and col- 
lected by virtue of this act, shall be collected in the same manner and at the same time as the other 
village taxes ; 

6. The amount per year raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses shall not be less than 
twice nor more than six times the amount appropriated to said village from the common school fund 
and other public moneys during the previous year; nor shall the amount in any one year for buying 
sites, renting rooms and repairing school-houses exceed two thousand dollars, except as is hereinafter 
provided. And the board of trustees of the village are authorized and directed, when necessary, to 
borrow in anticipation of the one year's amount, or any part thereof, of taxes so to be raised, col- 
lected and levied as aforesaid. 

g 8. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law 
appropriated to or provided for said village, shall be paid to the treasurer of said.village, who, together 
with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor, in the same manner as for other 
moneys of said village. Said treasurer shall not receive to exceed one-half of one per cent for receiv- 
ing, safe-keeping and disbursing said school moneys, and shall be liable to the same penalties for official 
misconduct in relation to said school moneys as for any similar misconduct in relation to other moneys^ 
of said village. 

§ 9. All moneys required to be raised by virtue of this act, or received by said village for the use of 
common schools, shall be deposited for the safe-keeping thereof, with the treasurer of said village, to the 
credit of said board of education, to be kept separate and distinct from any other funds. The treas- 
urer shall pay out the moneys authorized by this act to be received by him, upon drafts drawn by the 
president and countersigned by the clerk of said board of education; and no such draft shall be drawn, 
except by virtue of a resolution of the said board of education, and shall be made payable to the person 
or persons entitled to receive such moneys, or to their order. 

§ 10. The said board may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the village of Water- 
town, upon the official bond of the treasurer or of any collector of said village, for any default, delin- 
quency or official misconduct in relation to the collection, safe-keeping or payment of any moneys in 
this act mentioned. 

g 11. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize such and so many schools in said village, including the common schools 
now established therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the 
same; 

2. To purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and improve 
them as they may deem proper, with money provided in section seven of this act ; 

3. Upon such lots and upon any sites now owned by said village to build, enlarge, alter, improve and 
repair school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances as they may deem advisable ; 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, cabinet specimens, books for indi- 
gent pupils, furniture and appendages, and to provide fuel for the schools and to defray their contin- 
gent expenses, and the expenses of the school library; 

5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture, appa- 
ratus, cabinets and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of the board of village trustees, in rela- 
tion thereto, be observed ; 

6. To contract with and employ all teachers of the schools under their charge, and at their pleasure 
remove them ; 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the school moneys, literature and other funds which shall 
be appropriated and provided in the said village, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue 
thereof from the money authorized to be raised for that purpose by section seven of this act, by tax on 
said village; 

8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including the compensation of the 
clerk ; 

9. To have the superintendence, supervision and management of the public schools of said village, 
and from time to time, to adopt, alter and modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and 
regulations for their organization, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their 
transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of their good order, pros- 
perity and public utility : 

10. Whenever in the opinion of the board, it may be advisable to sell any of the school-houses, lots or 
sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the village, to report the same to the 
board of village trustees ; 

11. To prepare and report to the village trustees such ordinances and regulations as maybe necessary 
and proper for the protection and safe-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots and sites 



Watertowk. 975 

and appurtenances, and all the property belonging to the village, connected with or appertaining to 

the scuools, and to suggest proper penalties lor the violation ol such ordinances and regulations, ana 
annually, on or before the second Monday of June of each year, to determine and certify to said board 
of village trustees, the sums, in their opinion, necessary or proper to be raised, under the seventh 
section of this act, specifying the sums required for each of the purposes therein mentioned, and the 
reasons therefor ; 

12. Between the first day of October and the first day of November in each year, to make and trans- 
mit to the State Superintendent of PubUc Instruction a report in writing, bearing date the first day of 
October in the year of its transmission, and stating : 

I. An account and description of all the public schools kept in said village during the preceding year, 
and the time they have been severally taught ; 

II. The number of resident children taught in such schools respectively, and the sum of the days' 
attendance of all such children in the schools. The number of children over the age of five 
and under the age of twenty-one years, residing in said village on the last day of September of that 
year; 

III. The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said village during the preced- 
ing year, distinguishing the amount received from the county treasurer, the village collector, and from 
any other source ; 

IV. The manner in which such moneys have been expended, and whether any and what part remains 
unexpended, and for what cause ; 

V. The amount of moneys received for tuition fees from foreign pupils during the year, and the 
amount paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the public moneys, with such other information relat- 
ing to the pubUc schools of said village as may, from time to time, be required by the State Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction ; 

l.',. To examine persons proposing to teach schools within its jurisdiction, and to inquire Into 
their moral fitness and capacity, and if found to be qualified, to grant them certificates of qualifi- 
cation, of the same force and effect as certificates or licenses granted by school commissioners under 
the provisions of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, 
but to be used only within the jurisdiction of said board. (Added by chapter 153, Laws of 1867, 
p. 233.) 

g 12. Each school commissioner shall visit all the schools in said village at least twice in each year of 
his oflicial term ; and said board of education shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited by 
a committee of three or more of their number at least once in each term. 

i 13. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children of persons not residents 
in said village to attend the schools of said village, under the control and care of said board, 
upon such terms as said board shall by resolution prescribe, fixing the tuition which shall be paid 
therefor. 

214. It shall be the duty of said board, in all their expenditures and contracts, to have reference to 
the amount of moneys which shall be subject to their order during the current year, for the particular 
expenditures in question, and not to exceed that amount. 

§ 1.5. The said board of education shall be trustees of the school libraries in said village ; and all the 
provisions of law which now are or hereafter may be passed, relative to school district libraries, shall 
apply to said board of education in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district com- 
prehending said village. They shall also be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of 
moneys appropriated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries which is therein conferred 
on the inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide a room or rooms for the library 
or hbraries and the necessary furniture therefor. The librarian shall report to the board of education 
the condition of the library or libraries under their charge ; and the said board, or clerk thereof, under 
the direction and by the resolution of said board, may make all purchases of books for said library or 
libraries, and may direct the mode of their distribution, and may cause to be repaired damaged books 
belonging thereto, and may sell any books in said library or libraries that may be deemed useless, and 
apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books for said library or libraries. 

g 16. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other 
school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the village of Watertown, and the same, 
while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied upon or sold by virtue of any war- 
rant or execution, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever; and the said village, in its cor- 
porate capacity, shall be able to take, hold, and dispose of any personal or real estate transferred to it 
by grant, gift, bequest, or devise, for the use of the public schools of said village, whether the same be 
transferred in terms to said village, by its proper style, or by any other designation, or to any person or 
persons, or body, for the benefit or use of said schools. And the title of all the school-houses, sites, 
lots, furniture, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other property located within the village of 
Watertown, now owned by, vested in, or belonging to any and each of the several school districts 
located within, or partly within the said village of Watertown, or by, in or to the trustees thereof, 
shall be, and is hereby vested in the village of Watertown, and subject to the provisions of this act, 
excepting from the operations of this act the school-house and lot known as the school-house and 
lot of old district number nine, and new district number seventeen of said town. (As amended by sec. 
1, chap. 511, Laws 0/I868.) 

2 17. The trustees of said village shall, upon the recommendation of said board of education, sell any 
of the school-houses, sites, lots, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to said 
village, upon such terms as the board of education shall deem reasonable ; the proceeds of such sale 
shall be paid to the treasurer of said village, and shall be by said board expended in the purchase, 
repairs or improvement of school-houses, lots, sites, or school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 
_ 9 18. It shall be the duty of said board, at least fifteen days before the annual election for commis- 
sioners in each year, to prepare and report to the village trustees true and correct statements of the 
receipts and disbursements of moneys, under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act, during the 
preceding year. In which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 

1. The moneys raised by the trustees, under the seventh section of this act ; 

2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the village from the county treasurer ; 

3. The moneys received by the treasurer of the village under any provisions of this act; 

4. All other moneys received by the treasurer of said village, subject to the order of the board, speci- 
fying the sources from which they shall have been derived ; 

5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, specifying the amount under 
each head of expenditure ; and the board of education shall, ten days before such election, cause the 
same to be published in at least two of the newspapers of said village. 

2 19. The board of trustees shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to pass such ordinances and 
regulations as the said board ot education may report as necessary for the protection, preservation, 
safe-keeping and care of the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, Ubraries and all 
necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools of said village, and to impose proper pen- 
alties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the act to incor- 
porate the said village ; and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner as the penalties for 



976 Watkins. 



the violations of the village ordinances are by law collected; and when collected shall be paid to the 
treasurer of the village, to the credit of the said board of education, and shall be subject to tneir order, 
in the same manner as other moneys raised, pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

5 20. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said village, immediately after the election of any person aa 
commissioner of common schools, personally or in writing, to notify him of his election ; and if any 
such person shall not. within six days after receiving such notice of his election, take and subscribe the 
constitutional oath, and file the same with the clerk of said village, the board of education mav con- 
sider it as a refusal to serve, and proceed to fill the the vacancy occasioned by such refusal ; and tlie 
pe>-son so refusing shall forfeit and pay to the village treasurer, for the benefit of the schools of said 
vilHge, a penalty of ten dollars. Said clerk shall notify the board of education, and the board of edu- 
cation shall proceed to fill the vacancy. 

2 21. The trustees of the Jefferson county institute are hereby authorized to lease for a term of years, 
or to transfer by proper deeds of conveyance to the village of Watertown, the institute property, real 
and personal, its appurtenances and hereditaments thereto belonging, in trust for school purposes ; and 
the high schools, imder the supervision of the board of education, shall be entitled to participate in the 
literature, academic and other funds appropriated for classical scholarships and for the instruction of 
common school teachers, upon making proper application therefor ; and the usual reports for such pur- 
poses shall be made to the Regents of the University, and shall be subject to their visitation. 

§ 22. So long as the said institute shall be leased to the village of Watertown for school purposes, the 
board of education may consist of two members, additional to those designated in section one, to be 
elected annually from and by the board of trustees of said institute, who shall qualify in the same man- 
Ber as those mentioned in section one of this act. 

§ 23. In case any school-house shall be destroyed by fire or otherwise than from usual wear and 
deterioration, so that in the opinion of the said board of education it shall be considered necessary to 
build another to supply its place, or to expend over five hundred dollars ($500)) for its repair, then, in 
order and for ttie purpose of rebuilding or repairing the same, a sufficient amount therefor maybe 
raised by tax, additional to that authorized by section seven of this act, to be levied and collected in the 
next following annual tax ; but said additional amount shall not exceed six thousand dollars ($6,000) in 
any one year ; and such tax shall not be imposed except it be authorized by a vote of two-thirds of all 
the members of the said board of education. 

2 24. At any time, when by a vote at a regular meeting of the board of education, four-fifths of the 
whole number of said board being in favor of the same, and the same being certified by said board to 
the board of trustees of said village, the said board of trustees shall have the power, and it shall be 
their duty, to raise by tax, in the manner other taxes mentioned in this act are to be raised, such further 
amount of money as is determined by said four-fifths vote, in addition to the amount authorized to be 
raised by section seven of this act (but not in addition to the amount authorized to be raised by section 
twenty-three, in roference to destruction and damage by fire, and so forth), for the purpose of buying a 
site or sites, for building or buying a school-house or houses, or for either of these purposes ; but the 
amount authorized by this section to be raised shall not exceed six thousand dollars in any one year. 

2 25. In case the village of Watertown should be incorporated as a city, with or without addition of 
territory, then this act shall apply to that incorporation the same as now to the village corporation, 
and the common council of said city shall take the place of the board of trustees, and shall be 
charged with all the responsibility and duties and privileges devolving upon said board of trustees by 
this act. 

§ 26. The present school officers of the school districts of the territory embraced in this act shall con- 
tinue in office until the unfinished business of said districts shall have been finally closed and set- 
tled, with all the powers and duties now imposed by law upon them, for the purpose of closing up such 
unfinished business. 

[Chap. 511, Laws o/ 1868. J 

? 2. The board of education of the village of Watertown are further authorized, in consideration of 
extending the full privileges of the public schools of said village to the adjoining school district num- 
ber seventeen to receive the public money appropriated to said school district, and to make an annual 
requisition upon the trustee or trustees of said district for an amount in support of said schools, not to 
exceed two mills on one dollar of the taxable property of the district ; and upon such requisition it 
shall be the duty of the said trustee or trustees within thirty days thereafter to levy a tax upon the 
district for said amount, and to collect and pay the same to the treasurer of the village of Watertown 
for school purposes. 

WATKINS. 

IChap. 69, Laws of 1863. 1 

Section I. All that part of the county of Schuyler, including the village of Watkins, comprised 
within and embracing the territory known as school district number one of Dix and Reading, in said 
county, shall hereafter, for the pui-poses named in this act, form a school district which shall be called 
"the Watkins union school district." 

§ 2. The board of education hereinafter created shall h.ave power by resolution of said board, to alter 
and change the boundaries of said district by and with the written consent of the school commissioner 
of Schuyler county. 

2 3. The following named persons, to wit : Simeon L. Rood, Duncan S. Magee, Daniel Howard, Rev. 
F. S. Howe, Frederick Davis, Jr., and Tyler H. Abbey, together with George G. Freer, Orlando Hurd, 
and Marcus M. Cass (the three persons last named being the trustees of the existing Watkins academy 
fund, so called, left by bequest of Mrs. C. A. Freer, deceased), so long as they may respectively choose 
to act, and their successors to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a corporatiot 
by the name of "the board of education for the village of Watkins." The three persons first named In 
this section shall hold their office until the first Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and 
sixty-four; the three persons next named shall hold their office until the first Monday of January, one 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five ; and whenever a vacancy or vacancies shall occur in the case 
of one or more of the third class, or remaining three persons last named in this section, their place or 
places shall be filled in the same manner as is provided in the last will and testament of Mrs. C. A. 
Freer, deceased, or according to law in the cases contemplated by said will. 

2 4. The term of office of the trustees to be elected under the provisions of this act shall be three 
years from the first Monday of January next succeeding their election, and until their successors shall 
enter upon,the discharge of the duties of their offices respectively. The annual meeting of the electors 
of said district shall be held on the first Monday of October in each year, at such time and place in 
said district as the board of education shall previously appoint. The president of the board, or in his 
absence /the president for the time being, shall preside, and the distnct clerk, or in his absence the 
clerk for the time being, shall act as secretary thereof. 

2 5. At the annual meeting, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, three trustees shall 



Watkins. 977 

be elected to fill the places of the three persons first named in the third section of this act. The places 
of the next three shall be fillect at the annual meetiug in tne year one thousand eight hundrea and 
sixty-five, and annually thereafter, on the day above specified for the first election, there shall in like 
manner be elected three trustees, to fill the places of those whose terms of office shall next thereafter 
expire, as herein provided. Every officer elected under this act shall enter on the duties of his office 
on the first Monday of January next succeeding his election. Within ten days after any such election, 
the clerk shall certify to the board of education the names of the officers so elected. 

26. Said board of education and their successors in office shall be a corporate body in relation to all 
the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of this act, or of any law, and a majority of the 
board shall form a quorum. 

2 7. There shall annually be appointed by said board of education, a clerk, collector, librarian and 
treasurer of said union district, who shall each, within ten days after receiving notice in writing of his 
appointment, and before entering upon the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of edu- 
cation a bond in such penalty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the 
faithful discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after 
receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and said board of education shall there- 
upon make an appointment to supply such vacancy. 

2 8. Notices for annual elections and all other meetings of said district shall be given by said hoard of 
education at least ten days before such election or meeting, by publishing such notice once in each of 
the newspapers printed in the village of Watkins, and by posting the same on the door of each school- 
house in said disti-ict. 

2 9. In case any member of said board of education shall neglect or refuse to perform the duties of 
his office, or shall remove his residence beyond the boundaries of said district, or his place become 
vacant by any other incapacity, or by his resignation, or by death before the expiration of his term of 
office, said board shall make an appointment to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term, except as to 
the three trustees named in the said will. 

2 10. Said board of education shall possess all the powers and rights and be subject to all the duties 
in respect to said district, and all the schools under their charge, that the trustees of common schools- 
now have or may possess or be subject to, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed 
by law. The clerk, collector and librarian of said district shall possess all the powers and be subject to 
all the duties in respect to said district that like officers of common schools now have or may possess- 
or be subject to, and such other powers and duties as are or may be given or imposed by law. 

2 11. From and after the first meeting of the board of education under this act, the office of trustee,, 
librarian and collector in each of the school districts included within the limits of the said union, 
school district shall be abolished, and the title of the property of the said school district, and of thesaia 
union district, real and personal, shall from thenceforth become the property of and be vested in the 
said board of education in its corporate capacity, as created by this act ; and said board shall settle all 
business of the several school districts and parts of districts in said union district, then remaining un- 
settled, 

2 12. The said board of 'education shall, at its said first meeting, and annually thereafter at their 
meeting held next after the first Monday of January in each year, appoint one of their number presi- 
dent. The clerk of said union district shall act as secretary to said board. In the absence of either of 
said officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president or secretary may be appointed for the time 
being. 

2 13. The said clerk, in addition to such other duties as are or may he imposed on him by law or re- 
quired of him by the board, shall keep a record of the proceedings of said board of education, which: 
record, or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and secretary, shall be received in all courta^ 
and for all purposes as a presumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth. 

2 14. The said board of education shall have power and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish and organize a classical school in the village of Watkins to be known by the name of 
"the Watkins academy," which school shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the Uni- 
versity of this State, and to all laws and regulations applicable to the incorporated academies thereof, 
and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, and to share in the distribution of the 
moneys of the literature fund of this State as the academies thereof; 

2. To estabhsh and organize such and so many primary schools in said district, including for that 
purpose the common schools therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedient ; and to alter and dis- 
continue, or change and consolidate, the same ; 

3. To build, purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence, im- 
prove, adorn and repair the same, as they may think proper. And the said board of education may by 
consent of the said trustees of the said will of Mrs. C. A. Freer, occupy and use for the purposes of this, 
act, the building and lands and school apparatus and fixtures provided by the said trustees under the 
said will, in the academy now existing in the said village of Watkins ; 

4. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any lot or sites now owned by any school district within the 
limits of said union district erected by this act, to build, enlarge, alter, improve, adorn and repair 
Bchool-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable; 

6. And the said board of education may take from the said trustees of the said will, a lease or con- 
veyance of the said building and lands and apparatus and fixtures, and may enlarge, alter, improve, 
adorn, add to, and repair, the same. And they may take and receive from the trustees of the said wili 
an assignment or transfer of any or all the funds and property resulting from said bequest, which when 
received they shall apply to the purposes of this act, either directly or by investing the same and using 
the income thereof for such purposes. But the power conferred bv this section shall not be used or ex- 
ercised in the manner inconsistent with the provisions of said will ; 

6. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, globes, maps, furniture and append- 
ages, books for indigent pupils and for the school library, to provide fuel and lights and defray the con- 
tingent expenses of the schools of the board, the library, and the salary of the librarian and clerk ; 

7. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses and all the real and per- 
sonal property of the said union school district and primary schools, and see that the ordinances and 
by-laws of said board in relation thereto be observed ; 

8. To contract with and employ all teachers in any of the schools under their charge, and in alL 
branches and departments thereof, and at their pleasure to remove them ; 

9. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public moneys and tuition fees received by them, and 
the deficiency, if any, out of the moneys to be raised by tax for general purposes of education under 
this act ; 

10. To fix the ratio of tuition fees in said academy, if any shall be charged, and to designate some 
person or persons to whom the same may be paid previous to Issuing the warrant for the collection 
thereof, and, by a resolution of said board, to be recorded by the secretary, to exempt from the whole 
or any part of the tuition fees such persons as they may deem entitled to such exemption from indi- 
gence or any other sufficient cause, and to graduate such tuition fees according to the bra nches of 
instruction pursued ; j_ _. 

123 



978 Watkiks. 



11. To malce out a rate bill as often as they shall deem proper, containing the natne of each person 

liable to pay tuition fees for tuition in said academy, who shall not have paid the same prior to making 
out such rate bill, and the amount for which such person is liable, adding thereto a sum not exceeding 
five cents on each dollar for collector's fees (which fees shall be fixed by said board at the time of mak- 
ing out every rate bill), to annex thereto a warrant for the collection thereof, to be signed by the 
president of said boai'd or a majority of the members thereof, and deliver the same to the collector, who 
shall collect the same in the same manner as collectors of school districts are by law authorized and 
required to execute like warrants issued by the trustees of common school districts, and who in the 
execution of the same shall be" under the same protection, possess all the powers, and be subject to all the 
duties as such collectors may have or possess and be subject to, in respect to like warrants ; 

12. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of all the 
schools mentioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of this act, to pi-escribe the course of 
studies therein, the books to be used, and establish a uniformity in respect to such course of study and 
books ; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and appeal, as they may deem expedient, rules, regu- 
lations and ordinances for the organization, government and instruction of such schools ; for the recep- 
tion of pupils and their transfer from one school to another ; for the expulsion of any pupil from any of 
said schools for misconduct ; for the promotion of morals and good order in said schools, their pros- 
perity and public utility; for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservationof school-houses, lots, 
sites, fences, ornamental trees and shrubbery, and appurtenances, and all other property connected with 
or appertaining to such schools; and to cause such rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws to be 
printed and published, in such manner as they may deem best calculated to give general information. 

§ 15. The said board of education shall forthwith employ a sufficient number of teachers, who shall be 
well qualified, and cause a school to be commenced called "the Watkins academy," in which shall be 
taught the higher branches of education ; and when, in their opinion, the welfare of said academy shall 
require it, shall procure a suitable lot, so situated as best to accommodate the whole of said union dis- 
trict, so far as practicable, and procure a clear title thereof, to be vested by deed in said board of edu- 
cation ; to cause said lot to be properly graded, fenced, planted with trees, and otherwise properly 
improved ; to erect thereon a suitable and proper building or buildings and necessary out-houses : to 
furnish the same with all proper, useful and necessary furniture, apparatus and appendages. All the 
other schools, excepting private schools in said union district, including the common schools therein, 
and which shall be under the charge of the board of education, shall be known as primary schools, in 
which no tuition fee shall be charged, nor any rate bill made out ; but the same shall be free schools. 
The said primary schools shall be used as preparatory schools for the instruction of children until they 
arrive at a certain age, or attain a certain proficiency in learning, who shall then be transferred upon 
proper testimonials, into the academy aforesaid, the age, qualifications and testimonials to be pre- 
scribed by the by-laws, rules and regulations of the board of education. 

g 16. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, from time to 
time, by tax upon all the real and personal estate within the bounds of said union district, which shall 
be liable to taxation for town and county charges, such sums of money as may be determined by resolu- 
tion of said board to be necessary for any and all the purposes mentioned in this act, or to meet any 
deficiency connected with the subject of education in said district ; to provide for which, power shall 
be given to the said board by the provisions of this act, or any law relating to common schools, or the 
rules and regulations of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Said board of education shall, at the 
commencement of each year, make an estimate by the best means in their power of the amount of 
money which will be needed for all the purposes of education, and other purposes provided for by this 
act, over and above the public money and moneys to be received from the other sources, if any, and 
shall cause the same to be raised by one assessment or warrant, and not more than two taxes for such 
purposes shall ever be raised in one year. For the collection of such taxes, the board of education may 
employ the village or town collector, at their discretion. The said board of education shall not have 
power to raise by tax, in any one year, for the purpose of this act, any further or greater sum than one 
thousand dollars, unless they shall be authorized to do so by a vote of a meeting of the persons qualified 
to vote in said union district for school district taxes, at an annual meeting of the said district, or at a 
special meeting of the inhabitants, to be called by the board of education for that purpose. 

§ 17. For the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of section fifteen of this act, the said hoard 
of education shall, as soon as practicable, make an estimate of the money which will, in their opinion, 
be necessary therefor, and shall assess, levy and collect the same, by tax upon the real and personal 
estate, as specified in section sixteen of this act ; and no such tax shall be laid unless by a vote of the 
tax payers of the district, at a meeting duly notified for that purpose. They shall, for this and all other 
taxes raised by them, make out a list, in the manner and form in which tax lists are required to 
be made by trustees of school districts, so far as such form is applicable, annex thereto a warrant in 
like form, signed by the president or a majority of the members of the said board, and deliver the 
same to the collector, which, when so made and signed, shall be as efiectual, to all intents and purposes, 
as like tax Usts and wan-ants when made by the trustees of the common school districts. Said board 
may, in respect to the collection of taxes, conform to the provisions of the twenty-ninth, thirtieth and 
thirt5'-flrst sections of chapter one hundred and eighty of Sessions Laws of one thousand eight hundred 
and forty-five, and require the collector to comply with the provisions of said sections so far as the same 
are applicable. Said board may make their warrants returnable at discretion, not less than thirty 
days nor more than ninety days from the issuing thereof. The said hoard may assess, levy and collect 
the amount of taxes to be raised under this section, in not less than three annual installments. 

g 18. All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropriated to or provided 
for said district, shall be paid to the treasurer of said board, who, together with the sureties on his 
official bond, shall be accountable therefor to the said board of education; said treasurer shall not pay 
out any of such moneys except by resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the president 
and certified by the secretary, to.be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 

? 19. Special meetings of the board of education may be called by the president, or, in his absence or 
inability to act, by the secretary or any member of said board, as often as necessary, by giving personal 
notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his place of resi- 
dence at least twenty-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. No member of said board 
shall receive any pay or compensation for his services. 

? 20. The said board of education shall annually make a like report in all respects as required from 
trustees of common school districts to the school commissioner. Such report shall be received by the 
school commissioner instead of the reports now made by trustees of the school districts included in 
said union district. The supervisors of the several towns from which the said union district is taken, 
shall, in making their apportionment of school or library moneys, allot to said union district its pro- 
portion of said moneys according to law, regulating its apportionment to districts fonned out of two or 
more towns, and the report of its board of education shall be regarded as the reports of its trustees. 
All such sums shall be paid by said supervisors to the treasurer of said board of education at the same 
time and in the same manner as to trustees of school districts. A copy of the reports of said board of 
edncafion shall be filpd with the clerk or serrptarv of the board. The board of erlucation shall, at the 
dose of each year, publish, in one or more of the village newspapers, a report of the moneys received 



Weedsport. 979 

and expended by them during the year, showing the sources from whence received and the objects or 
expendUure. 

5 21. Whenever, in the opinion of said board, a sale or exchange of any primary school-house or 
house and lot would be proper, said board may cause such sale or exchange to be made, and may buy a 
new site or may at any time build a new house for the accommodation of "ny portion of said district, 
when authorized thereto by a vote of the tax payers of Said union district, to be called together as herein 
provided. 

2 22. All the school property of said board of education, real and personal, while used for and appro- 
priated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to be 
levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution. Said board of education, in their corporate 
capacity, shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, 
grant, bequest or devise, for the use of said district or any schools under their charge. Said board shall 
not have power to sell, grant, dispose of or incumber said academy school lots. No portion of the 
library money paid to said board of education shall be expended for teachers' wages, but shall be 
appropriated exclusively for the increase and benefit of the library. 

§ 23. All the lands included in the bounds of said union district shall be subject to taxation therein 
under this act, without regard to the residence of the owners thereof, and the board of education may 
cause them to be returned to the county treasurer in the same manner as trustees of common schools 
are authorized to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non-residents of their districts for 
unpaid taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of such 
taxes out of any moneys in the county treasury not otherwise specifically appropriated, and such pro- 
ceedings in all respects shall thereupon be had in relation to such taxes and lands as required by law in 
relation to such lands, when so returned by trustees of common school districts. 

2 24. The said board of education may permit children of persons not resident within said union dis- 
trict to attend any school in said union district on such terms as they may prescribe ; and said board 
may, in their corporate name, sue for and recover of the persons liable therefor, all such sums as shall 
be prescribed, with costs of suit. 

§ 25. The taxes imposed by the provisions of this act shall be a lien upon the lands taxed, to be 
enforced and collected by sale in the manner that county taxes are upon a return to be made by the 
collector to the treasurer of the county of all unpaid taxes in said district. 

§ 26. Whenever any officer of the said union district, or of the said board of education, shall have 
paid any moneys in or about the prosecution or defense of any suit commenced by or against him, 
in the discharge of the duties of his office, or for acts done by color thereof, it shall be the duty of said 
board of education, unless it shall appear to them that the same were paid in consequence of the will- 
ful neglect or misconduct of the claimant, to ascertain the amount thereof by the best means in their 
power, and to cause the same to be assessed upon and collected of the taxable inhabitants of said dis- 
trict, in addition to the sums authorized to be raised for school purposes in said district by this act, and 
when so collected to pay over the same to the person entitled thereto by virtue of this act. 

?27. The provisions of sections twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty- 
eight, of chapter one hundred and twentj'-nine, and of section three, chapter one hundred and eighty, 
Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six, shall apply to and form a part of this act. 

WEEDSPORT. 

ICkap. 212, Laws oj 1858.] 

Section 1. School district number eight, in the town of Brutus, Cayuga county, shall be hereafter 
known as " the Weedsport union school," and that shall be its corporate title, in which name all returns 
shall be made, contracts entered into, and its trustees and other officers shall be known as officers of 
" the Weedsport union school." 

g 2. There shall continue to be the same officers of the said district as of other common school 
districts, and with ihe same rights, privileges, powers and duties, except as hereinafter pro- 
vided. 

§ 3. In addition to the officers now provided by law, there shall be in said district, not less than 
three nor more than nine officers, which number shall be determined by the legal voters of the district, 
at their next annual meeting, who shall be known as "the board of education " of said district, with 
such powers and duties as are herein provided, to be elected at the same time and in the same manner 
as the trustees of said district are elected, and to hold their offices, after the first election, for three 
j'ears. 

2 4. The proceedings of the annual meeting in said district, in October, eighteen hundred and fifty- 
seven, in the election of aboardof education, are hereby confirmed, and the persons then elected as 
such board shall continue to hold those offices for the time at that meeting designated for each, and at 
each annual meeting in said district hereafter, one-third of the members of said board shall be elected 
in place of such of them whose terms of office shall then expire, and in case of an increase of their 
number at the next annual meeting, the number added shall be then elected, and lots drawn by the 
other members, to determine the length of time which each shall hold, so as to have one-third of them 
go out of office each year, and a majority of them shall, for all purposes, constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business. 

§ 5. The board of education, by this act established, shall have power : 

1. To pass such by-laws as they shall deem proper for the regulation and exercise of their lawful 
business and powers, and for the regulation of the school ; 

2. To fill any vacancy which may happen in said board, until the next annual meeting. 

3. To have in all respects the superintendence, management and control of said union school ; to 
establish in the same an academic department whenever in their judgment the same is warranted by 
the demand for such instruction; to receive into said district any pupils residing out of the district, 
and to regulate and establish the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils in the several departments 
of the school ; to regulate the transfer of scholars from one department to another, and from class 
to class, as their degree of scholarship may warrant, and to direct what text-books shall be used 
therein; 

4. To graduate the amount of the rate-bill in said district, upon the scholars attending the several 
departments of said school, in proportion to the amount of wages paid to the teacher of each depart- 
ment, making all proper allowance for the superintendmg charge of the principal of the school over the 
whole; 

5. To contract with and employ such teachers, and such numbers of teachers, as they shall deem 
necessary and competent, in the several departments of instruction in said school ; to remove them at 
any time for incompetency, neglect of duty, immoral conduct, or want of adaptation to their 
position, and to require them to conform to such rules and regulations as thev shall make in reference 
of the school.. 



980 YONKERS. 

6 To expend the library money of the district in the purchase of such books as thevmay deem beist, 
ana to appoint a suitable person as librarian and make such rules and regulations for his gov- 
ernment, and the control and management of the library and apparatus of the school as they shall 
think proper. 

§ 6. It shall be the duty of each member of the board of education to visit every department of the 
school at least twice during each term, and for the board to meet from time to time, as occasion may 
require, during each term, to attend to the interests of the school. 

§ 7. The academical department, established under the provisions of this act, shall be subiect to the 
visitation of the Regents of the University, and shall be subject, in its course of education and matters 
pertaining thereto (but not in reference to its" buildings), to all the regulations made in regard to 
academies by the said Regents. In such department, the qualifications for the entrance of any pupil 
shall be the same as those estabUshed by the said Regents for the admission Into any academy of the 
State under their supervision. 

§ 8. Nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to aflfect the supervision of said school by the 
commissioners of common schools of the commissioner's district in -which it is located, but the same 
shall, for all purposes, except as herein expressed, be and remain as one of the common school districts 
oi the said town of Brutus. 
»i ^^v,^' <^^^ contracts made by the trustees and by the board of education shall be made in the name of 

the Weedsport union school," in which name shall all suits be prosecuted and defended, and 
the trustees shall represent the body corporate, in all suits and legal proceedings, and the service 
of process upon either one of them shall be sutflcient to commence an action against the corno- 
ration. ° ^ 

^.§ !?• -^.U the real estate and personal property, rights, privileges and powers of the said school 
district number eight, are hereby vested in and shall belong to the said "the Weedsport umon 
school." 

§ 11. AH the powers, duties and obligations not herein expressly conferred upon the board of 
education shall remain with the trustees of the district, the same as though this act had not been 
passed, 

CITY OF TONKERS. 

[ Chap. 397, Laws of 1881.] 

Section 1. On the tenth day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, each and every school dis- 
trict in the city of Yonkers, whether organized by special law or otherwise, shall be consolidated Into 
one school district, and the trustees to be appointed under this act and their successors in ofHce shall 
be trustees of such consolidated school district, and shall form and constitute and be known by the 
corporate name of" The Board of Education in the city of Yonkers," and thereupon the term of office 
of the trustees of said several districts, and of all the school officers of said districts, shall cease. 

g 2. The board of education in the city of Yonkers shall be composed of fifteen trustees, who shall 
be appointed and hold their office in the manner and for the period hereinafter provided. 

§ 3. On or befoTe the fifteenth day of June, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, the mayor of the city 
of Yonkers shall appoint fifteen competent and reputable persons trustees of schools, who shall be 
residents of the said city. The said trustees shall at their first meeting divide themselves into five 
classes consisting of three trustees in.each class, and shall hold their offices from the tenth day of 
July, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, at noon, as follows : the first class tor one year, the second 
class for two years, the third class for three years, the fourth class for four years, and the fifth class for 
five years. The term of office of each trustee thereafter shall be for a term of five years from the 
expiration of the term of his predecessor, and until his successor shall have been appointed and 
qualifl'^d. 

§ 4. Between the first and fifteenth days of June in every year succeeding the year eighteen hundred 
and eighty-one, the mayor of the city of Yonkers shall appoint three trustees to succeed the trustees 
whose terms of office shall expire in any such succeeding year. 

§ 5. The officers of said board shall be : a president, a vice-president, a clerk and a treasurer. The 
city treasurer shall be the treasurer of said board of education. 

§ 6. The said trustees shall meet at the common council chamber, Manor Hall, In said city, at eight 
o'clock in the evening on the second Tuesday of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, and organize. 
They shall appoint one of their number president ; they shall appoint a suitable person, not a member 
of the board, clerk of the board of education, who shall, by virtue of his office, act as secretary and 
keep the minutes and accounts of the board. He shall also act as superintendent of common schools 
of the city, and perform the duty of supervision, and shall perform all such other duties as the board 
shall, from time to time, direct, and shall be allowed such compensation as the said board may deter- 
mine. The said president and vice-president shall hold their office for one year and until their suc- 
cessors shall have been duly appointed. The said clerk shall hold his office during the pleasure of the 
board. 

§ 7. The mayor shall file his appointment of said trustees in writing in the city clerk's office, on or 
before the said fifteenth day of June, in each year when such appointments are made, and the city 
clerk shall then, within five days thereafter, notify the.persotis so appointed, by mail, of their appoint- 
ment. Within ten days thereafter the said persons so appointed shall take and file in the office of the 
city clerk of the city of Yonkers the oath of office required by the Constitution of the State of New 
York, and shall thereupon be qualified to act as members of said board of education. 

§ 8. Any person who shall neglect or refuse to take or file said oath of office within ten days after 
such notice in writing by mail, from the city clerk, shall be deemed to have declined the office, and 
the said office shall be deemed vacant. 

§ 9. In case any vacancy shall occur in the office of trustees by reason of death, resignation, removal 
from the city or refusal to qualify or serve, or from any other cause, the mayor shall appoint a person 
to fill such vacancy, and the person so appointed shall hold his office for the unexpired term of the 
person whose office had become vacant. Such appointment in writing shall be filed with the city 
clerk. The city clerk shall thereupon notify the person, and such person so appointed shall qualify 
as provided in section seven. 

g 10. The said board of education is hereby constituted the successor of the several boards of educa- 
tion and of the trustees of common schools in the town and city of Yonkers. All property, both real 
and personal, now vested in and belonging to the said several boards of education and of the trustees 
of the said several school districts, and in the said several school districts, shall pass to and become 
vested in the board of education created by this act. All property belonging to the said board of edu- 
cation, when used for and appropriated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes of every 
nature and kind whatsoever, and shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant 
or execution. And all debts due and owing or legally contracted by the said several boards of educa- 
tion and school trustees shall be assumed and paid by the said board of education hereby created. 



YOITKERS. 981 

The said consolidated district shall constitute a separate school commissioner's district, and the clerk 
of said board of education shall be the school commissioner thereof. 

g 11. A trustee duly appointed who declares that he will not accept or serve in the office of trustee, 
or who refuses or neglects to attend three successive stated meetings of the board without rendering a 
good and valid excuse therefor to the board, vacates his office hy refusal to serve. 

§ 12. The trustees of the several school districts in the town and city of Yonkers shall make out and 
deliver to the board of education hereby created, at the first meeting, a detailea statement of their sev- 
eral districts, showing all the school property, both personal and real, in their several school districts, 
and the estimated value thereof, the number of school-houses in their districts, the size thereof, and 
the materials of which the same are built, the departments into which the school are divided, and 
the average attendance of each school and department, the number of volumes in the school library, 
the number and names of the teachers employed in each, their rank, and the salaries paid to each, 
the amount of money in the hands ol their collector and treasurer, and of any other school officer, the 
balance on hand on the first day of October last, the amount of money ordered to be raised at the last 
annual meeting of the district, and the purposes for which it was appropriated, the receipts and expen- 
ditures of the said trustees since the thirtieth day of September last, the amount of money due and 
owing to the district, the amount of indebtedness of the district, and such other facts as they may 
deem necessary to make a full and complete statement of the condition of the schools in their several 
districts. 

1 13. Neither the mayor nor any member of the common council shall hold the office of trustee 
under this act. 

? 14. The several collectors and treasurers and other school officers in said town and city having in 
their hands any school moneys belonging to their respective districts, shall also render to the said 
board of education, on its organization, a full and complete statement of their accounts since the pre- 
ceding thirtieth of September, together with their vouchers, which statement shall be verified by 
oath. Such accounts shall be audited by the said board of education, and on such auditing the said 
collectors and treasurers and other school officers shall, upon the order of the said board, pay over to 
the treasurer of the board of education hereby created, to the credit of the board of education in the 
city of Yonkers, the sum found due from them, and upon such payment being made the said board of 
education shall cancel and discharge the bonds given by the said officers respectively. 

2 15. The annual meeting of the board of education shall be held on the second Tuesday in July. 
Stated meetings shall be held at least once in each month. At each stated meeting there shall be 
appointed one or more visiting committees, whose duty it shall be to visit every school in the city at 
least once, and to report on the condition and prospects of the schools at the next stated meeting of 
the board. A majority of the trustees in office shall constitute a quor\im of the board. 

§ 16. The said consolidated district shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be a union free school 
district under the laws of this State relating to public instruction. All provisions of law, not incon- 
sistent with the provisions of this act, applicable to school districts whose Hmits correspond with any 
incorporated village or city, and the boards of education therein, and the corporate authority of such 
cities and villages, are made applicable to the school district hereby consolidated and established, and 
to the board of education thereof, and to the corporate authorities of the city of Yonkers. The said 
board of education shall from time to time, as they shall deem expedient, make additions, alterations 
or improvements to or in the sites or structures belonging to the district, purchase other sites or 
structures, erect new buildings, purchase apparatus and fixtures or other necessary property for the 
district, as they shall determine. 

§ 17. The said board of education shall, on or before the first day of October In each year, make to 
the mayor and common council of the city of Yonkers an annual report to the first day of September 
next preceding, setting forth the number and condition of each school under its charge, a statement 
of all the expenses and liabilities incurred, with all the disbursements made by it during Ihe preced- 
ing year, and all other matters of interest relating to the schools. The common council shall cause 
said r-eport to be published. 

2 18. The said board shall, on or before the first day of October in each year, determine by resolution 
the amount of money to be raised, which, when added to the money annually apportioned to the said 
schools in said city out of the funds belonging to the State, will, in their judgment, be necessary to 
support all the schools under their superintendence for the ensuing current year, and for the further- 
ance of any of the powers vested in them by law. The said resolution shall set forth in a detailed 
statement the various purposes of anticipated expenditure, and the amount necessary for each, and a 
copy of such resolution shall be certified by the president and clerk of said board, under the seal of said 
board, and delivered to the mayor and common council of said city. It shall be the duty of the 
common council to levy and collect annually such amount as the board of education shall have deter- 
mined at the same time and in the same manner as other general city taxes are levied and raised for 
the ensuing year, and such common council shall have no power to withhold or refuse to levy and col- 
lect by tax such sums so determined by such resolution to be necessary for teachers' wages, for super- 
intendence, for the ordinary contingent expenses of supporting the schools in such consolidated district, 
and stationery and books, and for the expenses of said board of education. In case such common 
council shall refuse to levy and collect any other of the sums specified in such resolution. It shall com- 
municate to such board of education in writing its objection to each such item, and the reason of such 
objection as to each item, and the board of education shall publish such communication. 

§ 19. After the said board of education shall have delivered to the mayor and common council, by 
filing with the city clerk, the certified copy of the resolution determining the amount of money to be 
raised, all as prescribed in the foregoing section eighteen, the said board of education shall thereupon 
be authorized to borrow, each calendar month from October to April inclusive, upon the credit of the 
city of Yonkers, such money as sucli board shall determine will be necessary for the support and 
maintenance of the schools during such month, not exceeding in each such month one-sixth of all the 
moneys to be raised by tax for school purposes under this act in the then current year. Such loans 
shall be evidenced by the bonds of the city of Yonkers, which shall be signed by the president and 
clerk of said board, sealed with its corporate seal, be of such denominations as such board shall 
determine, and shall be conditioned that the city of Yonkers will pay the principal named therein 
with interest at a rate to be specified therein and not greater than six per centum per annum, and shall 
mature and be payable by the city treasurer six months after their respective dates, unless the mayor 
of the city shall, in writing, require any bond or bonds so issued to be made payable at a sooner date. 
The city clerk, upon request, shall register such bonds in his office, ahd shall countersign the same 
and affix the corporate seal of the city thereto, and thereupon they shall be of force. Such bonds 
shall be sold, as such board shall direct, at not less than their par value, and the moneys realized there- 
from shall be paid into the hands of the treasurer of said board, and be paid out only for tbe support 
and maintenance of the schools. The city treasurer shall keep a separate account of all school moneys 
received by him, and shall pay out the same upon warrants signed by the president and clerk of said 
board of education. Such warrant shall be drawn only by authority of the board, and only as the 
said money shall be actually needed for disbursement. The city of Yonkers shall be responsible to 



982 YOKKERS. 



said board of education for the faithful performance by the city treasurer of the duties of treasurer 
of said board of education. 

§ 20. The said board shall make suitable and proper provision respecting security to be given by the 
officers under said board for the faithful performance of their respective duties. Any interest or income 
on the moneys in the haniis of the city treasurer lo the credit of said board shall go to the credit of 
said fund. Such treasurer shall receive no compensation other than his salary as city treasurer. He 
shall render to said board of education in writing, and as often as it shall require, statements, reports 
and information concerning tlie moneys and funds in his hands, and the interest and mcome thereon. 

§ 21. On or before the tirst day of May in each year, the common council shall cause to be paid to 
the treasurer of said board, to \he credit of said board of education,' the balance of all moneys which 
shall have been levied by tax in said city in the current year for school purposes over and above the 
principal of all bonds issued by said board under section nineteen of this act, and registered ni the 
office of the city clerk during the preceding months from October to Apiil, inclusive. The words 
'■ current year," as used in this act, designates the term from the first day of October in any year lo 
the first day of October in the next succeeding year. 

§ 22. The said board of education shall provide all suitable text-books, accommodations and faciUties 
for the proper instruction of the children of said city, and shall have entire and exclusive charge and 
control of the public schools in the city of Yonkers, subject to the powers of supervision and direction 
vested in the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The said board ol education may make all 
necessary by-laws for its own government. It may provide for the examination and licensing of 
teachers who mav be emploved by it. Except as herein otherwise provided the said board of education 
and said schools shall be subject to all laws relating to union free schools. The said board of educa- 
tion shall be entitled to its proportion of the State monej's for the public schools of said city of 
Yonkers, which shall be apportioned by the State Superintendent in accordance with the provisions 
of law. It shall have charge of the school libraries, and may make all necessary and proper regula- 
tions concerning the same, and maj- impose fines for abuse of books : and any person incurring fines 
shall be liable to an action for the same by the board of education, and the amount received shall be 
applied to the use of the library from which the book was taken ; and it may appropriate for the 
benefit of said libraries, out of the moneys annually raised in the said city by the school tax, an amount 
not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars in addition to the library money received from the State. 
It shall have power to appoint a librarian. 

§ 23. The said board of education shall have a corporate seal with such design as it may adopt. 

I 24. The services of the bourd of education designated by this act shall be gratuitf^us. 

I 25. For the purpose of ralsmg the moneys by tax, to be raised in pursuance of this act, the said city 
is divided into two districts. The first district comprises all the taxable persons and property residing, 
situate and being within that part of the city now comprised within the present lines of school dis- 
tricts number two and number six. The second district comprises all taxable persons and property 
within the rest, residue and remainder of the city. No greater proportion of any tax to be levied, 
assessed and collected under this act than twelve per centum of the aggregate amount thereof shall 
be levied, assessed and collected from the taxable persons and property within the said second district, 
and the remainder of such tax shall be levied, assessed and collected from the taxable persons and 
property within said first district. 

§ 26. Whenever, in pursuance of the foregoing section eighteen, the said board of education shall have 
determined by resolution an amount of money to be raised for new site or sites, building or buildings, 
and furniture and fixtures therefor, or for repairs to old buildings or improvements therein, or of old 
sites, which sum shall in any year exceed the sum of five thousand dollars, the common council. 
Instead of raising the same by tax or refusing to raise the same, in its discretion, by resolution to be 
certified by the mayor and city clerk under the corporate seal of the city, and delivered to said board 
ot education, may authorize such board of education to borrow such sum or such part thereof as it 
may determine. Such loan shall be evidenced by the bond or bonds of the board of education in the 
city of Yonkers, signed by its president and clerk and sealed with its s^al. which shall be payable by 
the city treasurer as treasurer of the board of education out of moneys in his hands to the credit of the 
board of education; shall bear no greater rate of interest than si.x jjer centum per annum, payable 
semi-annually ; shall be of such denomination as the board of education shall determine, and be pay- 
able in sums of no more than five thousand dollars of principal in each year. Such bonds shall be by 
such board of education sold at not less than the par value thereof, and the moneys realized therefrom 
paid into the hands of the city treasurer to the credit of the said board of education, and be drawn only 
on warrants of said board of education and only for the purposes for which such loan shall have been 
authorized. The common council of the city of Yonkers shall annually raise by tax, and as a part, of 
the school moneys, the amount of money necessary to pay the interest annually accruing upon such 
bonds and the principal falling due and payable in each year, and shall have no power to withhold or 
refuse to pay the same by tax with the other school monej's. The said board of education shall annu- 
ally certify by and in the resolution mentioned in the foregoing section eighteen the amount of money 
necessary to be raised by tax to pay the interest on such bonds and the principal of such bonds falling 
due in any ensuing year. 

iOhap. 512, Laws of 1881. ) 

Section 1. The time for the appointing of fifteen school trustees for the city of Yonkers, as pro- 
vided for by chapter three hundred and ninety-seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-one, 
entitled " An act in relation to the public schools in the city of Youkers," is hereby extended to Juue 
twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-one. 

Separate acts authorizing the appointment of Superintendent of Common Schools. 
DEERPARK ALSO JOHNSTOWN, DISTRICT No. 4. 
[Chap. 524, Laws of 1880. j 

Section 1. The board of education of union free school district number one, of the town of Deerpark, 
Orange county, and school district number four, of the town of Johnstown, Fulton county, are hereby 
severally authorized and empowered to employ, in behalf of said district, a superintendent of common 
schools, who shall have such powers and shall perform such duties as are provided by the laws of the 
State of New York. 

§ 2. Said'union free school district number one, of the town of Deerpark, Orange county, and school 
district number four of the town of .Johnstown, Fulton countv. shall, upon and after the passage of 
this act, severally have all the powers and possess all the privileges conferred upon cities and incor- 
porated villages by section six, of title three, of chapter five hundred and fifty-five, of the Laws ot 



Deerpakk — Oleajs". 983 

eighteen hundred and sixtv-four, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating 
to public instruction," as theisame was amended by chapter three hundred and sixty-four, of the laws 
of eighteen hundred and seventy-six, entitled " An act to amend section nine, of chapter five hundred 
and *>ixty-seven, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-flve, entitled 'An act to amend chapter 
five hundred and fifty-five, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled 'An act to revise 
and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction.' " 

JOHNSTOWN, DISTRICT No. 16. 
[Chap. 379, Laws of 1881, J 

Section 1. The board of education of union free school district number sixteen of the town of Johns- 
town, Pulton countv, is hereby authorized and empowered to employ, in behalf of said district, a 
superintendent ot common schools, who shall have such powers and shall perform such duties as are 
provided by the laws of the State ot New York to be performed by superintendents of common schools. 

§ 2. Said'union free school district number sixteen of the town of Johnstown, Fulton county, shall, 
upon and after the passage of this act, have all the powers and possess all the privileges conferred upon 
cities and incorporated villages having a population of five thousand and upwards by section six of title 
three, of chapter five hundred and fifty-five, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled 
"An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," as the same was 
amended by chapter three hundred and seventy-four, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sevtnty- 
six, entitled " An act to amend section nine, of chapter four hundred and sixty-seven, of the Laws of 
eighteen hundred and seventy-flve, entitled 'An act to amend chapter five hundred and fifty-five, of 
the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled ' An act to revise and consolidate the general 
acts relating to public instruction.' " 

LITTLE FALLS, DISTRICT No. 1. 

[Chap. 2Zh Laws of 1819.'\ 

Section 1. The board of education of school district number one, in the village of Little Falls, are 
authorized and empowered to employ in behalf of said district, a superintendent of common schools, 
who shall have such powers and shall perform such duties as are provided by the laws of the State of 
New York. 

LANSINGBURGH. 

[Chap. 79, Laws of 1882. ] 

Section 1. The trustees of school district number one of the town of Lansingburgh are hereby 
authorized and empowered to employ in behalf of said district a superintendent of common schools, 
who shall, under the direction of said trustees, have the general supervision of all the public schools 
in said distiict, and perform such duties as the said trustees may prescribe. 

CLEAN, UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 1. 

[Chap. 168, iawso/ 1882. J 

Section 1. The trustees of union free school district number one of the town of Clean are hereby 
authorized and empowered to employ in behalf of said district a superintendent of common schools who 
shall under the direction of said trustees have the general supervision of all the public schools in said 
district and perform such duties as the said trustees may prescribe. 



LIST OF THE TITLES OF 

THE GENERAL AND SPECIAL ACTS OF NEW YORK 

EELATING TO SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. 



The following list is supposed to contain the titles of all acts relating to 
schools and education, passed by the Legislature of this State. A few, which 
were merely appropriation bills, have been purposely omitted, and perhaps 
some others have been overlooked, as in their compilation reliance has to be 
placed largely upon indexes which prove to be defective. The arrange- 
ment is, in the main, alphabetical by names of towns to which the acts 
relate. To this a chronological order is subordinate prior to 1868 ; from 
and after 1868, the chronological order is more distinctive. The General 
Acts are separately set forth under G., as also those relating to Gospel and 
school lots whether general or special. Those relating to the city of New 
York, also those concerning normal schools, whether general or special, will 
be found under N. Those relating to the school fund are separately given, 
under S. 



An act to confirm the proceedings of the joint school district, composed of district No. 5, in Adams, 
and district No. 6, in the town of Henderson, in the county of Jefferson. Passed April 1, 1846. Sess. 
Laws, p 54. 

An act to incorporate the Albany Lancaster school society. Passed May 26, 1812. Sess. Laws 
(Webster & Skinner's ed.), p. 390. Section 10 required the city to pay $500 a year toward the support 
of the school. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act to incorporate the Albany Lancaster school society." 
Passed February 12, 1813. Sess. Laws, p. 21. Repealed the sixth section, and changed the sum entitl- 
ing a person to a scholarship to $25, 

An act to incorporate a school for people of color in the city of Albany. Passed April 12, 1816. Sess. 
Laws, p. 83. The act incorporates the "Albany school for educating people of color," vests in the 
trustees the title of a lot of land, and permits them to hold real and personal estate with an income not 
to exceed $1,000 annually. 

An act relating to common schools in the city of Albany. Passed April 17, 1830. Sess. Laws, p. 260. 
Authorizes the election of commissioners of common schools in the several wards of the city east of 
Perry street, and the organization of a board, with power to organize districts and appoint trustees. 
The school moneys were to be apportioned to the city and to the county separately. The Lancaster 
schools were to share in its distribution. The part of the city west of Perry street formed a separate 
district. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act relating to common schools in the city of Albany." Passed 
January 25, 1831. Authorizes a tax on district No. 6, to build a school-house. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act relating to common schools in the city of Albany." Passed 
April 11, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 153. Authorizing taxes to build school-houses. 

An act relating to the second school district in the city of Albany. Passed April 25, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. 
472. Authorizes the trustees to erect a school-house, mortgage the lot and building, and to exact ten 
per cent on each rate bill for tuition, to pay the principal and interest. 

124 



986 A List of Acts 

An act further to amend the act entitled " An act to amend the several acts relating to the city of 
Albany, and to combine the same into one act," passed April 13, 1826. Passed May 1, 1834. Sesa. Laws, 

§. 416. Section 3 repeals the thirteenth section of said act, giving $500 yearly to the Lancaster school, 
ection 13 continues in force the act of April 11, 1831, relating to common schools in the city of Albany, 
for five years from May 1, 1834. 

An act to provide for the erection of district school buildings in each district east of Perry street in 
the city of Albany. Passed April 20,1837. Sess. Laws, p. 203. Raises by tax $25,000, in ten annual 
installments, for building school-houses, and authorizes the loaning of that sum to the city from the 
capital of the common school fund. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act relating to common schools in the city of Albany." Passed 
May 9, 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 406. The first two sections relate to the raising and apportionment of 
taxes for the support of schools. The third and fourth sections forbid districts east of Perry street 
from voting taxes, or disposing of district property, and required them to keep a record of proceedings 
of school meetings. 

An act relative to the common schools in the city of Albany. Passed May 8, 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 
390. Apportions $100 to each school east of Perry street, and $25 to each district west of said street, for 
repairs and contingent expenses ; and directs school moneys to be apportioned to the Albany orphan 
asylum for the payment of the wages of teachers. 

An act amendatory of the several acts relating to district schools in the city of Albany. Passed 
Aprils, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 115. 

An act to amend an act relating to the district schools of the city of Albany, passed April 8, 1844. 

Passed May 13, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 265. 

An act to authorize the city of Albany to raise money by tax to build a district school-house. Passed 
April 12, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 482. 

An act authorizing an additional sum of money to be raised in the city of Albany, for school purposes. 
Passed April 17, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 676. 

An act in relation to common schools in the city of Albany, west of Perry street. Passed June 18, 
1853. Sess. Laws, p. 1037. 

An act amendatory of the several acts relating to district schools in the city of Albany. Passed April 
14,1855. Sess. Laws, p. asi. 

An act to create a board of public instruction in the city of Albany ; to establish free schools therein, 
and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools in said city. Passed April 7, 1866. 
Sess. Laws, p. 986. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to create a board of public instruction in the city of Albany ; 
to establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools la 
said city, " passed April 7, 1866- Passed January 31, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 37, vol. 1. 

An act to authorize the inhabitants of joint school district No. 5, in the town of Attica, county of 
Wyoming, and town of Alexander, county of Genesee, to raise money. Passed April 2, 1849. Sess. 
Laws, p. 286. 

An act to divide the town of Alfred, in the county of Allegany. Passed March 16, 1821. Sess. Laws, 
p. 94. Erects the towns of Independence and Almond, and directs the moneys derived from the sales 
of the gospel and school lots to be divided. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Amherst, county of Erie, to 
raise certain moneys for school purposes. Passed April 5, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 850. 

An act for the collection of a school district tax in Joint district No. 3, in towns of Ashford and Bast 
Otto, in Cattaraugus county. Passed April 10, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 699. 

An act in relation to school district No. 12, in the town of Attica. Passed April 3, 1829. Sess. Laws, 
p. 176. Authorizes apportionment of moneys to district. 

An act authorizing the application of the common school moneys in the village of Athens and in the 
city of Hudson to the education of poor children. Passed April 15, 1814. Sess. Laws, p. 244. This law 
modified the general law, and set apart the pubUc money in Athens and Hudson for the benefit of the 
poor exclusively. 

An act to incorporate the city of Auburn. Passed March 21, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 119. Title 8 of thifl 
act related to schools. 

An act to regulate the free schools in the city of Auburn. Passed April 10, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 751. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to regulate the free schools in the city of Auburn," passed 
April 10, 1850. Passed March 23, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 365. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to amend an act to regulate free schools in the city of 
Auburn, " passed April 10, 1850, passed March 23, 1857. Passed February 19, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 33. 

An act to amend an act to regulate free schools in the city of Auburn, passed April 10, 1850. Passed 
March 19, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 349. 

An act to incorporate the Cayuga asylum for destitute children. Passed April 10, 1852. Sess. Laws, 
p. 279. Section 12 made the school kept in this asylum a separate district school, and gave it a distribu- 
tive share in the public money and in the school money raised in the city. 

An act to authorize the mayor and common council of the city of Auburn to raise money by tax to 
pay for building a school-house in district No. 5. Passed April 14, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 955. Authorizes 
a tax of $250. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 7, the town of Augusta, Oneida county, to con- 
vey real estate. Passed April 21, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 938. 

An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 7, town of Augusta, Oneida county, to convey a 
certain lot of land. Passed March 16, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 321. 

An act for the relief of Stephen Sprague, Orange Spaulding and Robert R. Cowan, late trustees of 
school district No. 12, in the town of Aurelius. Passed March 22, 1833. Sess. Laws, p. 96. Authorizes 
a tax to pay the costs of a suit against them. 

An act to enable the board of public instruction in the city of Albany, to obtain sites for school- 
houses. Passed May 7, 1869. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1663. 



Eelating to Schools. 987 

An act to legalize certain official acts of a majority of the board of education of the city of Auburn, 
in relation to the location of a school-house in district No. 6, of said city. Passed March 28, 1870. Sess. 
Laws, p. 322. 

An act to authorize the supervisors of the city of Auburn, to pay to the board of education of said 
city, certain money now in possession of said supervisors. Passed April 14, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 507. 

An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to the public schools of the city of Auburn. 
Passed March 14, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 201. 

An act in relation to filling vacancies in the board of public instruction of the city of Albany. 
Passed January 31, 1872, Sess. Laws, p. 31. 

An act to change and fix the number of trustees of the Attica union free school and academy. Passed 
April 11, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 561. 

An act in relation to the free academy in the city of Albany. Passed April 26, 1873. Sess. Laws, 
p. 446. 

An act authorizing union free school district No. 1, of the town of Athens, to issue bonds and to bor- 
row money for the purpose of erecting school buildings and purchasing a site. Passed February 20, 
1874. Sess. Laws, p, 21. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to the 
puolic schools of the city of Auburn," passed March 4, 1871. Passed March 31, 1874. Sess, Laws, p. 114. 

An act to authorize the city of Albany to issue its bonds to procure means to pay in part for the erec- 
tion of an edifice for a public high school. Passed February 13, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 15. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to create a board of public instruction in the city of Albany, 
to establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools in 
said city," passed April 7, 1866. Passed May 15, 1875. Sess. Laws, p, 332. 

An act confirming the title of the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Amherst, in the 
county of Erie, to the lands and property of the Williamsville academey, in said county. Passed May 
28, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 522. 

An act to revise and consolidate the several acts relative to public schools in the city of Auburn. 
Passed June 10, 1875, Sess. Laws, p. 670, 

An act to amend chapter one hundred and twenty-five, of the laws of eighteen hundred and forty- 
two, entitled "An act to condense and amend the several acts relating to the village of Albion," Passed 
February 8, 1876, Sess, Laws, p. 8, 

An act to amend chapter one hundred and twenty-five, of the laws of eighteen hundred and forty- 
two, entitled "An act to condense and amend the several acts relating to the village of Albion," and 
the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 4, 1879. The charter of the village of Albion con- 
taining their school act. 

An act to amend chapter five hundred and seventy-seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
seventy-five, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the several acts relating to public schools in 
the city of Auburn. " Passed May 19, 1879. 

An act to amend chapter eleven, of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled " An act to 
amend an act entitled ' An act to create a board of public instruction in the city of Albany, to estab- 
lish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools In said 
city.' " Passed April 12, 1880. 

An act in relation to the sale, and the proceeds of sale, of certain school property in the city of 
Albany. Passed April 12, 1880. 

An act authorizing the board of public instruction of the city of Albany to malre and let contracts to 
build, complete and furnish a certain school building in the said city of Albany. Passed March 10, 
1886. 

An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Auburn to issue certificates of indebtedness, 
to provide for the erection of a new high school building. Passed May 12, 1886. 

An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Auburn to issue certificates of indebtedness 
to provide for the erection of a new high school building. Passed June 4, 1886. 

An act to amend chapter two hundred and twenty of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty, 
entitled " An act to amend chapter eleven of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, entitled 
' An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to create a board of public instruction in the city of Albany, 
to establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools in 
the said city,' " and to provide for the payment of the salaries of the clerk and superintendent of build- 
ings and repairs. Passed March 1, 1887. 

B. 

An act to authorize the board of education of the Baldwinsvllle union school district to borrow 
money. Passed April 19, 1867. Sess. Laws, p, 1125, vol, 1, 

An act in relation to school district No, 3, in the town of Batavla. Passed April 25, 1839, Sess. 
Laws, p. 210. 

An act to authorize the inhabitants of consolidated school district No. 2, in the village of Batavia, 
Genesee county, to raise money. Passed March 29, 1847, Sess, Laws, p. 45. 

An act to enable the trustees of consolidated school district No. 2. in Batavia, to levy a tax for the 
support of a school therein. Passed June 25, 1851. Sess, Laws, p. 566, 

An act to enable the trustees of school district No, 7, in the town of Bath, to hold by deed a certain 
lot therein mentioned. Passed March 31, 1815, Authorizes certain persons to convey, bv deed, fifty 
acres of land to the trustees of district No, 7, to be held in trust for the benefit of the common schools 
in the settlement known as Pleasant Valley, 

An act to authorize the trustees of union school district No, 5, in the village of Bath, in the county 
of Steuben, to raise money by tax. Passed January 24, 1851, Sess. Laws, p. 10, 

An act in relation to schools in the village of Binghamton. Passed April 19, 1861. Sess. Laws. p. 
752. 



988 A List of Acts 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act in relation to schools in the village of Binghamton," 
passed April 19, 1861. Passed April 25, 1864. Sess. Laws, p, 843. °* » . 

An act to amend chapter 322, of the Laws of 1861, entitled " An act in relation to schools in the 
village of Binghamton." Passed Aprill4, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 1250. 

An act to incorporate the city of Binghamton. Passed April 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 588, vol. 1. 
Title 11, p. 645, relates to common schools. 

An act in relation to district No. 1, in the town of Boonevllle, Parsed May 5, 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 
344. Authorizes the sale of site, the purchase of a new site and the erection of a school-house, and 
the raising of a tax to defray the cost. 

An act to authorize school district No. 11, in the town of Brasher, in the county of St. Lawrence, to 
sell their lot. Passed September 20, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 419. 

An act relative to the common schools of the city of Broolilyn. Passed April 2, 1836. Sess, Laws, 
p. 136. Authorizes taxation for the building of school-houses. 

An act relative to school district No. 6, in the city of Brooklyn. Passed April 3, 1837. Sess. Laws, 
p. 120. Confirms the proceedings of a school meeting in changing the site, and the sale of a school- 
house. 

An act relative to common schools in the city of Brooklyn. Passed March 23, 1843. Sess. Laws, 
p. 39. 

An act further to amend an act entitled " An act relating to common schools for the city of Brook- 
lyn," passed May 23, 1843. Passed April 6, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 298, 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act relating to common schools for the city of Brooklyn." 
Passed March 23, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 514.] 

An act to enlarge the act entitled "An act relative to common schools in the city of Brooklyn," 
passed March 23, 1843. Passed May 14, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 327. Authorizes the formation of school 
districts for colored children. 

An act to appoint a superintendent of common schools of the city of Brooklyn. Passed January 
28, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 14. 

An act to reorganize and regulate the common schools and the board of education in the city of 
Brooklyn. Passed April 4, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 237. 

An act to amend an act to reorganize and regulate the common schools and the board of education 
in the city of Brooklyn, passed April 4, 1850. Passed March 17, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 237. 

An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell a certain school lot. Passed 
April 10, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 771. 

An act to amend " An act to revise and amend the several acts relating to the city of Brooklyn," 
passed April 4,1850. Passed June 19, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 442. Section 15 relates to the money to be 
raised by tax for the support of schools. 

An act to consolidate the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh and the town of Bush wick into one 
municipal government, and to incorporate the same. Passed April 17, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 829. Sec- 
tion 13, title 11, relates to schools and the board of education. 

An act to amend an act entitlpid " An act to consolidate the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh 
and the town of Bushwick into one municipal government, and to incorporate the same," passed 
April 17, 1854. Passed April 6, 1857. Section 11 authorizes the board of education to maintain a nor- 
mal school. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to reorganize and regulate the common schools and the 
board of education in the city of Brooklyn," passed April 4, 1850. Passed March 7, 1862. Sess. Laws, 
p. 84. 

An act to authorize the appointment of an assistant superintendent of common schools in the city of 
Brooklyn. Passed April 3, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 803. 

An act for the relief of common schools in the city of Brooklyn. Passed April 11, 1866. Sess. Laws, 
p. 1118. 

A.n act to authorize the city of Brooklyn to borrow money, upon certificates of indebtedness, for 
the purchase of school sites and in the building of school-houses. Passed April 23, 1867. Sess. Laws, 
p. 1527, vol. 2. 

An act to provide for the existing deficiency in moneys applicable to the support of common schools 
inthecity of Brooklyn. Passed March 30, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 308. vol. 1. 

An act confirming the reports of the trustees of certain school districts in the county of Broome. 
Passed April 13, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 222. 

An act in relation to school district No. 1, in the town of Brownville, in the county of Jefferson. 
Passed May 4, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 391. 

An act relative to district No. 8, In the town of Brutus. Passed January 31, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 6. 

An act to provide for free schools in the town of Bushwick. Passed October 16, 1847. Sess. Laws, 
p. 427. 

An act in relation to schools in "the town of Bushwick, Kings county. Passed April 1, 1852. Sess, 
Laws, p. 158. - 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to provide for free schools in the town of Bushwick," 
passed October 16, 1847. Passed June 18, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 816. 

An act further to amend an act entitled *' An act "to incorporate the city of Buffalo," passed April 
20, 1832. Passed March 12, 1838. Sess. Laws, p. 37. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to incorporate the city of Buffalo." Passed May 11, 1837. 
Sess. Laws, p. 437. 

An act further to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the city of Buffalo," passed April 
20, 1832. Passed May 12, 1838. Sess, Laws, p. 37. 

An act further to amend the charter of the city of Buffalo, Passed February 14, 1839. Sess. Laws, 
p. 18. Section 22 of this act made the city schools free to all children under sixteen years of age. 



Relating to Schools. 989 

An act to consolidate and amend the act to incorporate the city of Buffalo, passed April 20, 1832, and 
the various acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 7, 1843. Sess. Laws, p. 116. Title 9 relates to 
" common and other schools." The common schools are free to all white children under sixteen years 
of age, and free schools are provided for all colored children. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to consolidate and amend the act to incorporate the city of 
Buffalo,"' passed April 20, 1832, and the various acts amendatory ihereof, passed April 17, 1843. Passed 
March 29, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 224. 

An act to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo, and to enlarge Its houndaries. Passed April 13, 
1853. Sess. Laws, p. 447. Title 6 relates to schools. They were made free to all white children over 
the age of five and under the age of eighteen. 

An act to amend an act entitled '' An act to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo, and to enlarge 
its boundaries," passed April 13, 1853. Passed April 4, 1856. Section 13 relates to taxation in school 
districts. 

An aet to amend an act entitled " An act to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo, and to enlarge 
its boundaries," passed April 13, 1853, and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 16, 1861. 
Sess. Laws, p. 620. 

An act to incorporate the Buffalo .Tuveniie Asylum. Passed April 7, 1856. Sess. Laws, p. 175. Sec- 
tion 30, p. 177, permits the schools of the asylum to share in the school fund. 

An act to authorize school district No. 10, of the town of Bingharaton, to borrow money to 
build a school-house, and for other purposes. Passed April 16, 1868. Sess, Laws, p. 425. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to consolidate the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh, 
and the town of Bushwick, into one municipal government, and to incorporate the same," passed 
April 17, 1854, and the acts amendatory thereof. Passed May 6, 1868. Sess. Laws, vol. 5, p. 1355. Sec- 
tion 6 provides for classifying members of the Boards of Education. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act in relation to the schools in the village of Binghamton." 
passed April nineteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, as incorporated into the charter of the city of 
Binghamton, in title eleven of the act entitled "An act to incorporate the city of Binghamton," passed 
April nine, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and the various acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 

14. 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 320. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Bingharaton to borrow money for the purpose 
of purchasing a site for a high school, and erecting and furnishing a building thereon. Passed March 

30. 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 343. 

An act extending the jurisdiction of the board of public instruction of the city of Albany. Passed 
April 28, 1870. Vol. 2, p. 1139. Made to embrace portions of Bethlehem and Watervliet, 

An act to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo. Of which title eleven relates to education. 
Passed April 28, 1870. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, pp. 1161 and 1208. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the city of Binghamton," passed April 9, 
1867, and the several acts amending the same. Passed April 7, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 699, of which sec- 
tion eleven and section twelve relate to education, p. 711. 

An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell certain lands. Passed April 

21. 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 2. p. 1438. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to authorize the common council of the city of Bingham- 
ton to borrow money for the purpose of purchasing a site for a high school, and erecting and furnish- 
ing a building thereon." Passed April 12, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 567. 

An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell certain lands. Passed April 

30. 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 1057. 

An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to elect a superintendent of public 
instruction, and associate superintendents. Passed May 6, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 676. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to Orphan Asylum societies at Brooklyn," passed 
March 7, 1848. Passed June 1, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 811. 

An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell certain lands. Passed April 
12, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 93. 

An act in relation to the care and investment of the Adam Haverling school fund in the hands of the 
trustees of the village of Bath. Passed May 15, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 287. 

An act to authorize school district No. 12 of the town of Broadalbin to electa committee to 
take charge of moneys bequeathed to the district. Passed May 17, 1879. 

An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell certain lands. Passed March 
18, 1881. 

An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklsm to sell lands not needed for school 
purposes. Passed May 25, 1883. 

An act to amend chapter eight hundred of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty -six entitled "An 
act to provide for the appraisal of, and acquiring title to, lands taken for, or in addition to sites for 
district school-houses," as amended by chapter three hundred and twenty-nine of the Laws of eighteen 
hundred and seventy-one. and to extend it to the city of Brooklyn. Passed April 12, 1886. 

An act conferring certain powers upon the trustees of the Batavia Library Association, and the trus- 
tees of Union Free School District No. 2, of the town of Batavia. Passed May 2, 1887. 

An act to provide for the support of the public schools in the twenty-sixth ward ot the city of Brook- 
lyn (late town of New Lots) lor the [year 1S87, and for the equitable apportionment hereafter of the 
State school moneys to the county of Kings, between the city of Brooklyn and the residue of said 
county. Passed March 11, 1887. 

An act to authorize the treasurer of the city of Buffalo to return to the comptroller, before May 1st, 
1887, and before May 1st of each and every year thereafter, the consolidated school fund rolls of 1886, 
and of each and every year thereafter, received before March 1st, 1887, and before March 1st of each and 
every year thereafter, without the publication, without adding interest or making a transcript thereof. 
Passed April 18, 1887. 



990 A List of Acts 



C. 

An act to authorize the erection of a school-house in the village of Canandaigua, and for the main- 
tenance of a school for colored children, to be kept therein. Passed April 14, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 430. 

An act to repeal the act entitled " An act to authorize the erection of a school-house in the vi'llaee of 
Canandaigua, and for the maintenance of a school for colored children, to be kept therein," passed 



Aprlllf, 1852 ; and to authorize the trustees of said village to sell the said school-house and the lot on 
which it stands. Passed April 8, 1859, Sess. Laws, p. 447. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Castleton, and county ot 
Richmond, to mortgage the property belonging to the district for certain purposes. Passed June 30 
1853. Sess. Laws, p. 950. ' 

An act to establish free schools in district No. 1, in the towns of Castleton and Southfleld in the 
county of Richmond. Passed AprillO, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 471. ' 

An act to enlarge the powers of school districts Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 7, in the town of Castleton, in the 
county of Richmond. Passed April 14, 1855. Sess, Laws, p. 942. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to establish free schools in district No. 1, in the towns of 
Castleton and Southfield, in the county of Richmond," passed April 10, 1855. Passed April 1, 1856. 
Sess. Laws, p. 103. 

An act for the collection of unpaid taxes in school district No. 1, in the towns of Castleton and 
Southfield, Richmond county. Passed March 31, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 453. 

An act to amend an act entitled * ' An act to establish free schools in district No. 1, in the towns of 
Castleton and Southfield, in the county of Richmond, " passed April 10, 1855. Passed April 2, 1864. 
Sess, Laws, p. 200. 

An act to incorporate the Catskill Lancaster school society. Passed March 14, 1817. Sess. Laws, p. 
77. Section 7 authorizes the society to receive the school moneys apportioned to district No. 1. 

An act to repeal "An act to incorporate the Catskill Lancaster school society," passed March 14,1817, 
and for other purposes. Passed April SO, 1830. Sess. Laws, p. 332. Section 2 makes the village of 
Poughkeepsie a permanent school district, and requires the public moneys to be paid to the trustees 
of the Poughkeepsie Lancaster school society. 

An act relative to the town of Cameron, in the county of Steuben. Passed April 18, 1831. Sess. Laws, 
p. 197. Directs the overseers of the poor to apply §50 to the support of schools, and, from time to time 
thereafter, to pay the commissioners of common schools such sums as the inhabitants, or a majority 
of them, at any annual town meeting, should direct. 

An act'in relation to joint school district No. 1, of the towns of Camillus and Greddes, in the county 
of Onondaga. Passed April 13, 18.52. Sess. Laws. p. 378. 

An act to levy a tax in joint school district No. 7, in the towns of Canton and DeKalb, in the county 
of St. Lawrence, to re-imburse Sylvanus Styles and Theodorus Frisbie certain expenses incurred in 
behalf of said district. Passed May 7, 1847, Sess. Laws, p. 234. 

An act for the relief of the trustees of school district No. 10, in the town of Chatham, in the county 
of Columbia. Passed April 11, 1848. Sess- Laws, p. 338. 

An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 12, in the town of Chenango, to sell a school lot. 
Passed February 19, 1834. Sess. Laws, p. 15. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Chenango, in the county ot 
Broome, to sell and convey their school lot. Passed May 5, 1834. Sess. Laws. p. 506. 

An act to establish a free school in district No. 3, in the town of Cherry Valley. Passed April 11, 
1853. Sess. Laws, p. 305. 

An act to confirm the official acts of Hiram W. Jackson, of the town of China, as superintendent of 
common schools. Passed March 26, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 189. 

An act to further amend the act entitled "An act to incorporate the trustees of Clarkson high school, 
and to provide for the management and support of such school," passed April 6, 1859. Passed April 11, 
1866. Sess. Laws, p. 1119. 

An act to amend the first section of an act passed April 6, 1859, entitled " An act to incorporate the 
trustees of Clarkson high school, and to provide for the management and support of such schoof." 
Passed February 18, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 47. 

An act for building a school-house and maintaining a school in the town of Clermont. Passed 
March 27, 1791. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed. ), vol. 2, p. 248. Authorizes the appropriation of 
moneys in the hands of the overseers of the poor, from excise and fines, for the erection of a school- 
house and for maintaining a school-master in said town. 

An act to authorize and require the trustees of joint school district No. 14, of Clay and Cicero, to 
levy and collect a tax for the relief of Hiram M. Wright and Joseph Rector. Passed April 7, 1845." 
Sess. Laws, p. 33. 

An act for the relief of George_Kill. Passed May 26, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 570. Refers to district 
No. 10, in the towns of Clay and Lysander. 

An act to incorporate the Clyde high school. Passed April 24, 1834. Sess. Laws, p. 221. Erects dis- 
tricts Nos. 14 and 17 into a permanent school district by the name of the " Clyde high school." 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the Clyde high school, "passed April 24, 
1834, and for other purposes. Passed April 12, 1842. Sess. Laws, p. 328. 

An act to reduce the number of trustees of Clyde high school, and for other purposes concerning said 
school. Passed November 30, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 509. 

An act relating to the Clyde high school, in the town of Clyde. Passed April 14. 1858. Sess. Laws, 
p. 313. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 5, Cobleskill, Schoharie county, to sell real es- 
tate. Passed March 30, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 547. 

An act to establish free schools in the village of Cohoes. Passed April 10, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 740. 



Relating to Schools. 991 

An act entitled "An act to amend the charter of the village of Cohoes." Passed April 12, 1855. 
Sess. Laws, p. 631. Sections 49 to 76 relate to schools. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to amend the charter of the village of Cohoes," passed 
April 12. 1855, Passed April 15, 1857. Sess. Laws, p. 307, vol, 2, 

An act confirming the acts of the commissioners of common schools, in the division of the school 
district composed of parts of the towns of Colesville and Windsor, in the county of Broome, Passed 
April 16, 1834. Sess, Laws, p. 147. 

An act in relation to school district No. 7, of the town of Cortlandt, county of Westchester, empow- 
ering the trustees of said district to extend the time for the payment of loan, and authorizing them to 
sell part of school site. Passed April 10, 1S60. Sess. Laws, p. 373. 

An act to legalize the formation of school district No, 18, in the town of Cortlandt, Westchester 
county. Passed April IS, 1861. Sess, Laws, p, 751. 

An act authorizing the commissioners of common schools in the town of Covert, in the county of 
Seneca, to alter the time of apportioning the public school money to the trustees of the several school 
districts of said town. Passed May 1, 1829. Sess, Laws, p. 518. Requires them to meet on or before 
the first Tuesday in June. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 5, Cobleskill, Schoharie county, to sell real es- 
tate. Passed March 30, 1866. Sess. Laws, vol, 1, p. 547. 

An act to make the town of Cambria a part of the first school commissioner's district of Niagara 
county. Passed March 28, 1867, Sess, Laws, vol, 1, p. 270. 

An act to make the town of Chester a part of the second school commissioner's district of Orange 
county. Passed February 15, 1867. Sess, Laws, vol. 1, p, 70, 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to encourage and promote education in the village of Corn- 
ing," passed April 13, 1859, Passed March 30, 1868, ' Sess, Laws, p, 121. 

An act authorizing Catskill union free school district No, 1, of the town of Catskill, to borrow money 
to erect and improve school buildings. Passed April 14, 1869, Sess, Laws, p. 324, 

An act further to amend an act entitled "An act to encourage and promote education in the village 
o* Corning." passed April 13, 1859. Passed April 24, 1868, Sess. Laws, p. 650, 

An act to amend an act entitled "• An act to incorporate the village of College Point, in Queens 
county," passed April 5, 1867, of which section 13 relates to the boundaries of school district No, 7, of 
Flushing. Passed April 24, 1869, Sess. Laws, pp. 667 and 672. 

An act to Incorporate the city of Cohoes. Title 10 relates to the appointment of president of the 
board of education, school commissioners, their powers and duties. Passed May 19, 1869. Sess, Laws, 
vol. 2, pp. 2323 and 2361. 

An act authorizing the trustees of the village of College Point to issue bonds and borrow money for 
the erection of a school-house in said village and to increase the school tax in said village. Passed 
April 12, 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 878. 

An act to authorize school district No. 3, of the town of Castleton, in the county of Richmond, to 
borrow money for the purpose of completing a school building in said district, and to provide for the 
payment thereof. Passed April 13. 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 988. 

An act to empower the levying of a tax on union school district No. 1, in the town of Clarence, 
county of Erie, for the purpose of creating a permanent fund for the employment of teachers, and to 
regulate the investment and management of said fund; also to create the office of loan commissioner 
for said district, and to provide for the exemption of said district from taxes for tlae payment of teach- 
ers' wages. Passed May 11, 1872. Sess, Laws, vol. 2, p. 1525. 

An act to establish and maintain union graded schools in the village of Cambridge, Washington 
county. New York, and constitute said village a single school district. Passed June 7, 1873. Sess. 
Laws, p. 1040, 

An act to authorize the trustees of "the Clyde high school " district, in the town of Galen, Wayne 
county. New York, to borrow money and issue bonds or certificates of indebtedness therefor, for the 
purpose of purchasing site and building and repairing school-house in said district, and furnishing the 
same. Passed February 20, 1874, Sess, Laws, p. 24. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the city of Cohoes," passed May 19, 1869, 
Passed May 2, 1874. Sess, Laws, p, 373. 

An act in relation to school commissioner districts and school commissioners in the county of 
Cayuga, Passed May 21, 1874, Sess, Laws, p, 703. 

An act to repeal chapter 171 of the Laws of 1853, entitled " An act to establish a free school in dis- 
trict No. 3, in the town of Cherry Valley," passed April 11, 1853, Passed March 20, 1875. Sess. Laws, 
p. 65, 

An act in relation to the Clyde high school, in the village of Clyde, Wayne county. Passed May 15, 
1876. Sess. Laws, p. 317, 

An act to further amend the act entitled " An act to incorporate the trustees of Clarkson high school 
and to provide for the management and support of such school," passed April 6, 1859. Passed May 24, 
1876. Sess, Laws, p. 402. 

An act to change the name of the union free school'district No. 1, of the town of Clarence. Passed 
April 15, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 146. 

An act to amend chapter 449 of the Laws of 1871, entitled "An act authorizing the trustees of the 
village of College Point to Issue bonds and borrow money for the erection of a school-house in said 
village, and to increase the school tax in said village." Passed May 26, 1880. 

An act to provide for the establishment of a union free school or schools within the corporate limits 
of the village of Cortland. Passed April 9, 1880. 

An act altering the school commissioner district in the county of Chemung, Passed May 25, 1881. 

An act to amend chapter 109 of the laws of 1880, entitled " An act to provide for the establishment 
of a union free school or schools within the corporate limits of the village of Cortland," Passed 
April 2.3, 1881. 

An act authorizing Catskill union free school district No, 1, of the town of Catskill, to borrow 
money to erect and improve school buildings. Passed February 8, 1883. 



992 A List of Acts 

An act to annex school district No. 13, of the town of Champlain, to union free school district No. I 
of said town, and to provide for the alteration of school districts Nos. 3 and 15 of said town. Passed 
March 11, 18S4. 

An act authorizing and directing the board of trustees of the village of Coblesliill to execute, issue 
and sell bonds of said village and apply the proceeds thereof to the payment of the debt incurred in 
the erection and completion of a public school building therein. Passed March 11, 1885. 

An act to erect a third school commissioner district in the county of Chautauqua, to divide said 
county into three school commissioner districts, and to provide for the appointment and election of 
school commissioners therein therefor. Passed May 12, 1885. 

An act to further amend chapter 154 of the Laws of 1859, entitled " An act to incorporate the trustees 
of Clarlison high school, and to provide for the management and support of such school." Passed 
May 27, 1885. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 1, of the town of Cox- 
sacliie, in the county of Greene, to issue bonds to obtain money for the erection of a public school 
building and payment of a site, and for other purposes connected with public education in said school 
district. Passed March 26, 1886. 

An act to amend chapter .585 of the Laws of 1865, entitled "An act to establish Cornell University, 
and to appropriate to it the income of the sale of public lands granted to this State by Congress, on 
the 2d day of July, 1862 ; also to restrict the operation of chapter 51] of the Laws of 1863. Passed 
May 7, 1887. 

An act to authorize the city of Cohoes to borrow money to meet a deficiency in the expenses of said 
board in the support of common schools in said city. Passed February 8, 1887. 

An act to amend chapter 449 of the Laws of 1871, entitled " An act authorizing the trustees of the 
village of College Point to issue bonds and borrow money for the erection of a school-house in said 
village, and to increase the school tax in said village." Passed April 4, 1887. 

An act to legalize the action of a special meeting of union free school district No. 7, of the town of 
Cortlandt and county of Westchester, and to authorize the savings banks of the State to invest in the 
bonds of the district directed to be issued at such meeting. Passed May 4, 1887. 

D. 

An act for the more easy pleading in certain suits, and for the relief of school districts Nos. 6 and 14, 
in the town of Deerfleld, and county of Oneida. Passed March 30, 1820. Sess. Laws, p. 106. Author- 
izes districts to plead general issue, and gives double costs to defendants in case of nonsuit or discon- 
tinuance. 

An act in regard ft o union free school district No. 1, in the town of Deerparlj, and to enlarge its 
boundaries, and authorize the board of education thereof to raise money to purchase sites, and to build 
or purchase school-houses. Sess. Laws, p. 1248. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in regard to union free school district No. 1, in the town 
of Deerpark, and to enlarge its boundaries, and authorize the board of education thereof to raise 
monev to purchase sites, and to build or purchase school-houses," passed April 14, 1866. Passed April 
23, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1536. 

An act authorizing the election of three trustees and a district clerk in school district No. 16, located 
in the village of Delhi. Passed February 26, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 23. 

An act to provide for the "erection of a new school-house in school district No. 16, in the town of 
Delhi, in the county of Delaware, and to change the site thereof. Passed April 2, 1852. Sess. Laws, 
p. 178. 

An act changing the time for holding the annual school meeting in district No. 16, of village and 
town of Delhi. Passed April 30, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 1045. 

An act to authorize school district No. 20, in the town of Denmark, Lewis county, to levy and col- 
lect a tax. Passed April 19, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 93. 

An act to transfer the town of Delhi from the first to the second commissioner district of the county 
of Delaware. Passed April 22, 1867. Sess, Laws, vol. 2, p. 1476. 

An act to amend section 1, section 4 and section 21, of chapter 34, of the Laws of 1858, entitled " An 
act to make school district No. 9, in the town of Pomfret, a union free school district." Passed 
April 24, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 146. Relates to town of Dunkirk, taken from town of Pomfret after 1858. 

An act to allow and empower the trustees of school district No. 2, of Dryden and Caroline, Tomp- 
kins county, to rent the upper room of their school-house. Passed April 28, 1870. Sess. Laws, vol. 
2, p. 116. 

An act to enable the commissioners of the land office to convey a school-house lot to the trustees of 
school district No. 3, in the town of Dannemora. Passed May 13, 1872. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1550. 

An act relative to the care and education of deaf mutes. Passed April 12, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 473. 
Extends provisions of existing acts to *' Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes.^' 

An act in relation to the Central New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, at Rome. Passed February 
4, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 7. , 

An act in relation to the Western New York Institution for Deaf Mutes. Passed May 15, 1876. Sess. 
Laws, p. 316. 

An Act in relation to the valuation of the property of the president, managers and company of the 
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, in school districts for the purposes of taxation. Passed June 
1, 1880. 

E. 

■ An act to establish free schools in school district No. 4, in the town of East Chester, in Westchester 
county. Passed June 8, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 723. 

An act to amend "An act relative to the common school fund of the town of Edmeston, county of 
Otsego." Passed February 26, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 15. 



Relating to Schools. 993 

An act to amend chapter 44 of the Laws oi 1828. being an act relative to the common school fund of 
the town of Edmeston, in the county ot Otsego, Passed March 31, 1865. Sess, Laws, p. 415. 

An act to contirni and make valid and effectual the several proceedings taken to organize the union 
free school of the town of Ellicott. Passed April 23, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 770. 

An act in relation to comriVon schools in the village of Elmira. Passed April 4, 1859. Sess. Laws, p. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the village of Elmira " 
passed April 4, 1S59. Passed February 19, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 95. 

An act to incorporate the city of Elmira. Passed April 7, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 248. Section 9 of 
title 10, relates to schools. 

An act relative to Erasmus Hall. Passed April 1, 1814. Sess. Laws, p. 91. The trustees of Erasmus 
Hall are made trustees of the school district composed of what is called the "Old Town," in Flatbush, 
and the commissioners of common schools of the town are required to pay over to them the school 
moneys, to which that part of the town was entitled. The money was to be expended in the education 
ol such poor children sent to said academy as in the opinion of the trustees were entitled to gratuitous 
education. This law was re-enacted in the Kevised Statutes of 1827, and appears to be still in force. 

An act to incorporate the village of Edgewater. Passed March 22, 1866, p. 441, vol. 1. Subdivision 
16, of section 1. of title 3, relates to schools. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the village of Edgewater," passed March 22, 
1866. Passed April 22, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 1400, vol. 2, amends the former act. 

An act to incorporate the village of Edgewater. Passed March 26, 1866, p. 441, as amended by chapter 
517, p. 1400 of the Session Laws of 1866. 

An act to authorize the sale and conveyance of a portion of the site of the central school of the union 
free school district No. 1, of the town of Ellicott. Passed April 3, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 212. 

An act to legalize the proceedings of an annual school meeting, held October 13, 1868, in district No. 
2, town of East Chester, Westchester county, N. Y. Passed April 27, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 804. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act In relation to common schools in the village of Elmira,'' 
passed April 4, 1859, and the amendments thereto. Passed May 8, 1869. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1732. 

An act to amend, consolidate and re-enact an act entitled "An act to incorporate the village of Edge- 
water," passed March 22, 1866, and an act amending the same, passed April 22, 1867, and to extend the 
£owers of the corpbration of which section 7 of title 9 relates to education. Passed May 5, 1870. Sess. 
laws, vol. 2, pp. 1543 and 1565. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the village of Elmira," 
passed April 4, 1859. Passed April 28, 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1942. 

An act to reduce the number comprising the board of education of the union school district No. 2, of 
the town of Ellington, county of Chautauqua. Passed March 22, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 201. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to establish free schools in school district No. 4, in the town 
of East Chester, Westchester county," passed June 8, 1853. Passed April IT, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 358. 

An act to amend an act in relation to common schools in the city of Elmira, passed April 4, 1859. 
Passed April 22, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 382. 

An act to amend chapter 235 of the Laws of 1873, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act 
to establish free schools in school district No. 4, in the town of East Chester, Westchester county,' 
passed June 8, 1853." Passed March 3, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 30. 

An act to amend chapter 113 of the Laws of 1859, entitled "An act in relation to the common schools 
in the village of Elmira." Passed March 20, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 48. 

An act to amend chapter 44 of the Laws of 1828, entitled "An act relative to the common school fund 
of Edmeston, in the county of Otsego," and supplementary thereto. Passed April 17, 1877. Sess. Laws, 
p. 170. 

An act for the relief of school districts wishing to contract with boards of ediication of cities, to edu- 
cate their children in city schools. Passed May 3, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 239. 

An act to provide for the enlargement of the school-house site of school district No. 9 of the towns 
of Ellicott. Ellery and Gerry, in the county of Chautauqua. Passed May 18, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 307. 



An act granting relief to the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Fabius. Passed January 
27, 1838. Sess. Laws, p. 7. Authorized to sell a part of their school-house lot. 

An act to authorize the trustees of Farmer's Hall academy to be trustees of a common school district, 
and for other purposes. Passed April 12. 1822. Sess. Laws, p. 196. The first section makes the trustees 
of the academy trustees of the school district comprising the village of Goshen for six years, provided 
a majority of the taxable inhabitants give their consent, and such consent, given every six years, may 
continue them in otiice. Section 2 permits an apportionment of school moneys among the districts in 
Elizabethtown and Essex, in the county of Essex. Section 3 repeals the act of April 15, 1814, relative 
to the village of Athens. 

An act to authorize the assessment and collection of certain money within school district No. 11, in 
the town of Farmington. Passed April 25, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. 452. Authorizes a tax for $138. 60. 

An act to provide for the payment of certain expenses of the trustees of school district No. 11, in 
Farmington, in the county of Ontario. Passed April 24, 1833. Sess. Laws, p. 271. 

An act to legalize the proceedings of the trustees and electors of school district No. 17 (formerly No. 
23), of the town of Fishkill, and to authorize the present trustees to raise money to pay certain debts 
and expenses. Passed March 4, 18.51. Sess. Laws, p. .^. 

An act in relation to school district No. 18, in the town of Fishkill. Passed April 1.3, 1861. Sess. 
Laws, p. 530. 

An act to make the common school in district No. 4, in the town of Fishkill, Dutchess county, free, 
and to provide a tax for that purpose. Passed February 28, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 88. 



125 



994 A List of Acts 

An act to authorize school district No. 11, of the town of Fishkill, to borrow money to build a school- 
house, and for other purposes. Passed April 19, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 1062, vol. 1. 

An act in relation to common schools in the town of Flatbush, in the county of Kings. Passed April 
30, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 360. 

An act in relation to common schools in the town of Flatbush, in the county of Kings. Passed May 
12, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 301. 

An act to authorize a sale of the real estate of school district No. 2, of the town of Flatbush, in Kings 
county. Passed November 27, 1847. Sess. Laws. p. 503. 

An act relative to the managers of a free school in the town of Flushing, in Queens county. Passed 
April lo, 1818. Sess. Laws, p. 121. Authorizes the commissioners of common schools of the town of 
Flushing to pay to the managers of the free school association the school moneys apportioned to school 
district No. 5. 

An act to establish free schools in district No. 5, in the town of Flushing. Passed March 10, 1848. 
Sess. Laws, p. 87. 

An act to amend " An act to establish free schools in district No. 5, in the town of Flushing," passed 
March 10, 1848. Passed March 21, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 160. 

An act to amend "An act to establish free schools in district No. 5, in the town of Flushing," passed 
March 10, 1848. Passed April 15, 1S54. Sess. Laws, p. 617. 

An act to establish free schools in district No. 3, in the town of Flushing. Passed April 16, 1857. Sess. 
Laws, vol. 2, p. 431. 

An l^ct authorizing the board of education of Forestville union free school district No. 16, of the 
towns of Hanover and Sheridan, in the county of Chautauqua, to borrow money, to be used in the 
erection of a new school-house. Passed March 15, 1S65. Sess. Laws, p. 217. 

An act directing a grant of land for the site of a school-house in school district No. 2, in the town of 
Fort Covington, in the county of Franklin. Passed February 16, 1821, Sess. Laws, p. 45. Directs the 
grant of a square acre of land. 

An act for the relief of Nathaniel Colver, and for other purposes. Passed March 21, 1823. Sess. Laws, 
p. 89. The fourth section directs that the school lot shall be laid out in an oblong square, having a 
front of two chains and fifty links on High street. 

An act to establish a board of education in the village of Fort Covington. Passed April 11, 1853. 
Sess. Laws, p. 285. 

An act to authorize the board of education of the village of Fort Covington to sell the sites ox' the 
present school-houses in said village, and for other purposes. Passed March 26, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 517^ 

An act authorizing the town of Fort Edward to dispose of certain public moneys. Passed April 18, 
1826. Sess. Laws, p. 276. Appropriates !*150 poor money to the support of schools. 

An act for the relief of the trustees and collector of school district No. 3, in the town of Frankfort, in 
the county of Herkimer. Passed March 21, 1828. Confirms an assessment and tax list. 

An act to define and establish the boundaries of school district No. 5, of the town of Flushing, Queens 
county. Passed April 3, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 210. 

An act to authorize school district No. 10, of the town of Binghamton, to borrow money to build a 
school-house, and for other purposes. Passed April 16, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 425. 

An act for the suppression of the trade in and circulation of obscene literature. Illustrations, adver- 
tisements, and articles of indecent or immoral use, and obscene advertisements of patent medicines. 
Passed April 28, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 856. Imposes fines for violation of the provisions of the act. one- 
third of which shall be applied to the school fund of the county in which the same is recovered. 

An act to consolidate a part of certain school districts in the town of Pomfret (Fredonia), county of 
Chautauqua, with district No. 8 of said town. Passed May 7, 1868. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1509. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to establish free schools in district No. 5, in the town of 
Flushing," passed March 10, 1848. Passed April 21, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 476. 

An act to provide for the purchase of a new school-house site, and for the erection of a school-house 
thereon, in school district No. 3, at Whitestone, in the town of Flushing, in Queens county, and for 
the sale of the present school-house and site in said district. Passed April 7, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 720. 

An act to define and establish the boundaries of school district No. 5, of the town of Flushing, Queens 
county; to provide for the purchase of a new school-house site and erection of a new school -house 
thereon, and for the sale of the present school house and site in said school district. Passed March. 13, 
1873. Sess. Laws, p. 156. 

An act amending an act entitled "An act to establish free schools in district No. 3, in the town of 
Flushing," passed April 16, 1857, enlarging said district and authorizing a greater school tax therein. 
Passed May 1, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 556. 

An act supplementary to chapter 76 of the Laws of 1873, entitled "An act to define and establish the 
boundaries of school district No. 5, of the town of Flushing, Queens county ; to provide for the pur- 
chase of anew school-house site, and erection of a new school-house thereon, and for the sale of the 
present school-house and site in said_district. " Passed March 11, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 78. 

An act to provide for the erection of a school-house in school district No. 3, of the town of Flatlands, 
in the county of Kings. Passed April IS, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 222. 

An act to increase the number comprising the board of education of the union free school district 
No. 1, of the town of Fort Edward, county of Washington. Passed May 21, ls74. Sess. Laws, p. 713. 

An act in relation to the Flushing high school in school district No. 5, of the town of Flushing, 
Queens county. Passed May 15. 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 333. 

An act to provide for the purchase of a site and the erection of a school-house in school district No. 
3, of the town of Flatbush, in the county of Kings. Passed May 15. 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 334. 

An act to amend chapter 367 of the Laws of 1873, entitled "An act amendmg an act entitled 'An act 
to establish free schools in district No. 3 of the town of Flushing,' passed April 16, 1857, enlarging said 
district, and autliorizing a greater scUool tax tlierein." Passed June 9, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 628. 



RELATiiq^G TO Schools. 995 

An act to establish the boundaries of school district No. 5, of the town of Flushing, and to provide 
for the collection of school taxes therein, and conferring additional powers and duties upon the board 
of education of said district. Passed June lu, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 523. 

An act to authorize the board of education of Falrport union free school district No. 9, of the town of 
Perinton, Monroe county, to issue coupon bonds to replace the moneys lost by the district, through the 
defalcation of its treasurer. Passed February 15, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 24. 

An act to amend chapter 447 of the Laws of 1877. entitled "An act to establish the boundaries of 
school district No. 5, of the townot Flushing, and to provide for the collection of school taxes therein, 
and conferring additional powers and duties upon the board of education of said district." Passed April 
26, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 234. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to establish free schools in district No. 3;in the town of 
Flushing," passed April 16, 1857, and to provide for the purchase of sites, the erection of school-houses 
and the support and management of the schools in said district. Passed June 8, 1885. 

An act to limit the rate of taxation in school district No. 5 of the town of Flushing. Passed May 20, 
1886. 

G. 

GENEEAL ACTS. 

An act for the encouragement of schools. Passed April 9, 1795. Sess. Laws, p. 248, Greenleaf, vol. 3. 
This was the first general school law passed in this State. It provided that there should be appropri- 
ated from the treasury $50,000 a year for five yeai's, "for the purpose of encouraging and maintaining 
schools in the several cities and towns in this State, in which the children of the inhabitants residing 
in the State shall be instructed in the English language, or be taught English grammar, arithmetic, 
mathematics and such other branches of knowledge as are most useful and necessary to complete a 
good English education." The first apportionment was made by the law, according to the representa- 
tion of the counties in the Assembly ; but It was provided that future apportionments should be made 
"in proportion to the number of electors for members of Assembly in each county." The boards of 
supervisors were required to apportion the money among the several towns according to the number of 
taxable inhabitants, as they should appear from the tax lists annually returned to them by the assess- 
ors. The boards of supervisors in the several counties in this State were also required to raise by tax 
a sum equal to the amount apportioned from the State treasury, except that the city of Albany was to 
raise a tax for only half the amount. In the city of New York the money was to be used for the sup- 
port of charity schools, and all other schools, such as mentioned above, "whether the children taught 
in such charity schools shall be children of white parents, or descended from Africans and Indians." 
The Inhabitants of the towns were required to elect not less than three nor more than seven persons to 
be commissioners of schools, to have the distribution of the money and the superintendence of the 
schools. The cities of Albany and Hudson, forthe purposes of the act, were declared to be towns. 
The inhabitants of the towns were authorized to elect trustees, and to associate together for the pur- 
pose of hiring school-masters and organizing schools. The trustees were required to make, on the 
third Tuesday in March in each year, a return of the school kept in their charge, containing the name 
of the master, or masters, the number of days he or they had taught, the names of the scholars in- 
structed and the number of days they have severally attended the school, and the time or times within 
•which the school has been kept. The commissioners were " to collect into one sum tlie whole number 
of days for which each and every scholar, that may have attended any one of the said schools, shall 
have been instructed therein, and to apportion the mones's allotted to and raised in that town for the 
purpose aforesaid, according to the whole number of days for which instruction shall appear to have 
been given in said schools, in such manner that the school in which the greater number ot days of 
Instruction shall appear to have been given shall have a proportionably larger sum." The money was 
paid to the trustees by an order drawn by the commissioners on the county treasurer. The commis- 
sioners were required to make to the county treasurer an annual report of the condition of the schools, 
and the county treasurer was required to transmit the same to the secretary of State. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act for the encouragement of schools." Passed April 6, 1796. 
Sess. Laws (Greenleaf's ed.), vol. 3, p. 326. Amended the act so that schools organized of parts of 
adjoining towns might receive money in the same manner as other schools. Children taught in acade- 
mies "reading, writing and common arithmetic," were declared "children of common schools," and 
entitled to the benefit of the act the same as "scholars belonging to the common schools." 

An act further to amend an act entitled "An act for the encouragement of schools." Passed March 
10, 1797. Sess. Laws (Greanleafs ed. ), vol. 3, p. 397. Ordered, that in the city of New York one-sixth 
part of the public nioney should be apportioned to the charity schools, and the other five-sixths 
" among the schools which in any wards in the city may be established and conducted in conformity to 
the said act." The inhabitants of the city were also granted the same rights, powers and privileges as 
were granted the inhabitants residing in any part of any towns in the State. It was also provided that 
no school in the State should receive any more money in any one year than should be required to pay 
the master or masters for the same year. The apportionment was made for the years 1796, 1797, 1798, 
but was omitted for the years 1799 and 1800. An abstract of the returns for the year 1798 from sixteen 
of the twenty-three counties shows a total of 1,352 schools, organized according to the act, in which 
59.660 children were taught. 

An act for the payment of certain officers of government, and for othei purposes. Passed April 8, 
1801. Sess. Laws, p. 217. One of the sections of this act directs "that no payments shall hereafter 
be made to any of the county treasurers under the ' act for the encouragement of schools,' passed the 
9th day of April, 1793," until legislative provision be made on the subject. 

An act to raise a fund for the encouragement of common schools. Passed April 2, 1805. Sess. Laws 
(Webster & Skinner's ed. ), vol. 4, p. 126. Appropriates the net proceeds of 500,000 acres of land first 
sold after the passage of the act, to be a permanent fund for the support of common schools. No dis- 
tribution of the income was to be made until thejnterest should amount to $.50,000 annually. This act 
laid the foundation of the common school fund. 

An act forthe payment of certain nfflcers of government, and for other purposes. Passed April 9, 
1811. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), p. 328. Section .54 authorized the governor to appoint 
five commissioners to draw up a plan for the organization and establishment of common schools. 

An act for the establishment of common schools. Pas.sed June 19, 1812. Sess. Laws (Webster & 
Skinner's ed.), p. 600. This was the first law for the organization of common schools. It was repealed 



996 A List of Acts 

in 1814, and superseded by an amended act. This in its turn was repealed and revised in 1819. The 
revisers, whose work Is known as the Revised Statutes, framed a new statute, which took' effect 
January 1, 1828, and which repealed all general laws on the subject of a previous date. Section 18 per- 
mitted the Albany Lancaster school society to share in the distribution of the revenue of the school 
fund. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act for the establishment of common schools." Passed March. 
4, 1813. Bess. Laws, p. 29. Directs the mode of distributing money. 

An act for the better establishment of common schools. Passed April 16, 1814. Sess. Laws, p 229 
This is a general revision of the school laws of June 19, 1812, prepared on the report of the superintend- 
ent, showing the defects in that law. It was thought fit to pass an entirely new act and repeal the first 
act. By the twenty-eighth section, the public money appropriated to the city of Albany was to be 
paid to the trustees of the Lancaster school in said city, to be applied to the education of such poor 
children In said city as in their opinion should be entitled to gratuitous education. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act for the better establishment of common schools " Passed 
April 18, 1815. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 3, p. 260. 

An act for the support of common schools. Passed April 12, 1819. Sess . Laws, p. 187. A re-enact- 
ment of the school laws, and a repeal of the acts of April 15, 1S14, and April 18, 1815. 

An act for the relief certain school districts. Passed April 14, 1820. Sess. Laws, p. 204. A general 
relieving act authorizing the distribution of school money to them. 

An act for the relief of certain school districts. Passed February Ifi, 1821. Sess. Laws, p. 40. A 
general relieving act, allowing the districts to share in the school moneys, notwithstanding their failure 
to make their annual reports. 

An act relative to the incorporation of Lancastrian and other schools. Passed February 23, 1821. 
Sess. Laws, p. 54. Authorizes the Regents of the University to incorporate Lancastrian schools. 
"With the consent of a majority of the inhabitants of any district in which such schools might be estab- 
lished, they were to be regarded as district schools, and to share in the distribution of the revenue of 
the school funds and other school moneys. 

An act for the 'payment of the officers of government therein mentioned. Passed Aprils, 1821. 
Sess. Laws, p. 248. Section 2 abolishes the office of superintendent of common schools, and imposes 
the duties upon the secretary of State. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act for the support of common schools, " passed April 12, 1819. 
Passed April 17, 1822. Sess. Laws, p. 287. This act, section 7, first authorized appeals to the superin- 
tendent in the district school controversies, and made his decision final. 

An act further amending the act for the support of common schools. Passed April 19, 1823. Sess, 
Laws, p. 238. 

An act to provide permanent funds for the annual appropriation to common schools, to increase the 
literature fund and to promote the education of teachers. Passed April 13, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 237. 
The first section transfers to the school fund the balance of the loan of 1786, and $100,000 of bank stock. 
The third section added $150,000 to the literature fund, and placed the revenue of it at the disposal of 
the Regents. This revenue was directed to be distributed to academies " in proportion to the number 
of pupils instructed in each academy or seminary for six months during the preceding year, who shall 
have pursued classical studies, or the higher branches of English education, or both ; and that no pupil 
shall be deemed to have pursued classical studies, unless he shall have advanced as far at least as to 
have read the first book of the iEneid of Virgil in Latin ; and no student shall be deemed to have pur- 
sued the higher branches of an English education unless he shall have advanced beyond such knowl- 
edge of common, vulgar and decimal arithmetic, and such proficiency in English grammar and geogra- 
phy as are usually obtained in common schools." The body of the act contains no allusion to "the 
education of teachers," but we may infer from the title that the academies which were to receive the 
income ot the large addition to the literature fund were expected to expend it with special reference to 
the education and training of common school teachers. 

An act concerning the Revised Statutes passed at the present meeting of the Legislature. Passed 
December 4, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 11. Section 4, subdivision 7, repeals "all statutes and parts of 
statutes, consolidated and re-enacted in title 2, of chapter 15, or repugnant to the provisions contained 
therein ; and all statutes and parts of statutes concerning common schools," from and after December 
31, 1827. Section 7 repealed " all statutes consolidated and re-enacted in those parts of chapter 15, not 
comprised in the second title thereof, or repugnant to the provisions contained therein," from and after 
December 31, 1828. Of chapter 15 of the Revised Statutes, entitled " of public instruction," title 2, 
which applied to common schools, took effect January 1, 1828, and the remaining titles January 1, 1829. 

An act to repeal certain acts and parts of acts. Passed December 10, 1828. Sess. Laws, p, 34. Sub- 
division 282 of section 1 repeals "An act for the support of common schools, passed April 12, 1819. and 
all acts amending the same, or relating to the subject-matter thereof, to take effect December 31, 1829." 
Chapter 15 of the Revised Statutes, entitled " of public instruction," of which title 2 took effect January 
1, 1828, and the rest January 1, 1829, was onacted as a substitute for all previous laws relating to com- 
mon schools. The act of 1819 repealed all former statutes relating to the same subject. 

An act to amend certain provisions of the Revised Statutes, and in addition thereto. Passed April 
20, 1830. Sess. Laws, p. 384. Section 5 changed the rule of apportionment by making it among the 
several towns and cities according to population. Section 6 enlarged the right to appeal. 

An act concerning district schoolJiouses. Passed Febr\iary 17, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 47. Provides 
that after the building of a school-house, the site shall not be changed while the district remains un- 
altered, nor then without the consent of the commissioners of common schools, nor without a vote of 
two-thirds of the voters at a special nieetiug in its favor. Also provides for the sale of the site and! 
property of a district in which the site has been changed. 

An act to amend the act for the relif'f and support of indigent persons (part 1, chap. 20, title 1). Passed 
April 25, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 346. Section 4 requires all superintendents of the poor to cause all children 
over five and under sixteen years of age to be taught as children are taught in common schools, at 
least one-fourth of the time they remain in the poor-houses. Section 6 forbids the enumeration of 
such children by the trustees of school districts. 

An act to amend the Revised Statutes relating to common schools. Passed April 21, 1831. Sess. 
Laws, p. 247. Applies the provisions of section 26. Revised Statutes, to districts formed as well as to 
altered districts, so that they may draw public moneys if they have been formed from districts which 
have had a school kept for three months. 



Eelating to Schools. 997 

An act relating +o common schools. Passed April 26, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. 513. Authorizes the pur- 
chase of Hall's lectures on school-keeping for each district in the State. 

An act to amend the act relating to common schools. Passed April 26, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. 547. 
Directs sohool district taxes to be collected under section 2 of the act of 1831, April 21, amending the 
Revised Statutes. 

An act concerning the literature lund. Passed May 2, 1834. Sess. Laws. p. 425. Requires the rev- 
enue in the treasury and the excess of the revenue of the fund, over $12,000 a year, to be expended in 
the education of common school teachers. 

An act relating to public instruction. Passed March 14, 1835. Sess. Laws, p. 30. Relates to dis- 
tribution of a report upon the education of common school teachers, and makes seven trustees of any 
academy a quorum to transact business. 

An act to amend title 2, of chapter 15. of part first of the Revised Statutes, entitled "of common 
schools." Passed May 11, 1835. Sess. Laws, p. 356. Changes the time when the commissioners of 
common schools are to make their reports from October 1st to August 1st. and the time for county 
clerk to make and transmit his abstract from December to October 1st. Section 3 makes warrants for 
rate bills of like force as warrants of the board of supervisors to collectors of taxes. Section 4 author- 
ized the sale of old site, whenever the site had been legally changed. 

An act relating to public instruction. Passed April 13. 1835. Sess. Laws, p. 65. Authorizes the 
taxable inhabitants of any school district to levy a tax of $20, to buy a district library, and to levy 
also, yearly, $10, to make additions. 

An act concerning common schools. Passed May 1. 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 310. Authorizes the pub- 
lication of school laws and decisions. In pursuance of this act General Dix prepared the volume known 
as "School Laws and Decisions." 

An act concerning common schools. Passed April 22, 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 231. The first three 
sections require the reports of trustees and commissioners to contain a statement of the moneys 
■expended for teachers wages, in addition to the public money paid therefor. The third section 
requires academies having departments for the instruction of common school teachers to report to the 
superintendent of common schools. 

An act to appropriate the income of the United States deposit fund to the purposes of education and 
the diff"usion of knowledge. Passed April 17, 1838. Sess. Laws, p. 220. The second section appro- 
priates $110,000 annually to the support of common schools. The fourth section appropriates $55,000 
annually to the purchase of books for district school libraries. The eighth section appropriates $28,000 
from the income of the United States deposit fund, and $12,000 from the income of the literature fund, 
to be distributed by the regents of the university to acarlemies, under certain restrictions, one of 
-which was that every academy, receiving as its distributive share a sum equal to $700, should establish 
and maintain a department for the instruction of common school teachers. These appropriations have 
been annually made since the passage of the law. The surplus revenue has been bestowed upon col- 
leges, academies and literary institutions. 

An act respecting school district libraries. Passed April 15, 1839. Sess. Laws, p. 150. 

An act to amend title 2, of chapter 15, of the first part of the Revised Statutes, relating to common 
schools. Passed May 3, 1839. Sess. Laws, p. 302. 

An act to amend title 2, of chapter 15, of the first part of the Revised Statutes, relating to common 
schools. Passed May 26. 1841. Sess. Laws, p. 236. This act reduced the number of inspectors oi 
schools to two in each district ; authorized the purchase of two or more sites ; provided for schools for 
colored children; for the publication of a periodical for three years, devoted to the cause of education; 
created the office of deputy superintendent for each county, and permitted the superintendent to des- 
ignate any one of the clerks in his ofiice a general deputy superintendent, with power, in his absence, 
to perform all his duties. 

An act amendatory of the several acts relating to common schools. Passed April 17, 1843. Sess. 
Laws, p. 163. Abolished the offices of inspectors and commissioners of common schools, and created 
that of " town superintendent of common schools. " All appeals were reqiiired to be made to county 
superintendents ; and appeals from their decision might be brought to the state superintendent within 
fifteen days after service of a copy thereof. 

An act In relation to common schools. Passed January 28, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 7. An appropria- 
tion bill. 

An act to increase the capital of the common school fund. Passed May 10, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 193. 
Adds $84,358.15, received from the United States, under an act of congress passed September 4, 1841, 
being the proceeds of the sales of public lands, to the common school fund. 

An act to prevent the disturbance of evening schools in the several school district houses in this 
State. Passed May 13, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 249. 

An act to amend the law in relation to common schools. Passed April 1, 1846. Sess. Laws, p, 50. 
Requires the trustees not to make an enumeration of Indian children residing in school districts who 
have not attended school for the last three months. And requires town superintendents to apportion 
their distributive share of the public money to Indian children in any district in which they have been 
Instructed by a competent teacher during four months of the preceding year. 

An act in relation to the dissolution of common school districts. Passed April 15, 1846. Sess. 
Laws, p. 70. 

An act to abolish the office of trustees of the gospel and school lots, and to transfer the powers and 
■duties of the same to the town superintendent of common schools. Passed May 11, 1846. Sess. Laws, 
p. 210. 

An act in relation to suits agamst district school officers. Passed May 1, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 163. 

An act in relation to the payment of taxes in school districts. Passed May 7, 1847. Sess. Laws, 
p. 232. 

An act in relation to reports of State officers. Passed November 11, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 452. Re- 
quires the annual report to be completed before the expiration of the current calendar year, and to be 
transmitted to the legislature immediately after the commencement of the next annual session. 

An act for the establishment of teachers' institutes. Passed November 13, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 459. 

An act to abolish the office of county superintendent of common schools. Passed November 13, 
1847. Sess. Laws, p. 456. 



998 A List of Acts 

An act in relation to appeals to the superintendentof common schools. Passed November 19 1847 
Sess. Laws, p. 489. 

An act relative to the valuation of property for school purposes in school districts situated in differ- 
ent towns. Passed December 11, 1847. 

An act relative to the office of town superintendent of common schools, and amendatory of the 
Revised Statutes entitled " of public instruction." Passed December lo, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 683. 

An act establishing free schools throughout the State. Passed March 26, 1849. Sess, Laws, p. 192. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act establishins free schools throughout the State 
March 26, 184?. Passed April 11, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 561. 

An act making appropriations for the support of common schools for the years 1849 and 1850. Passed 
March 30, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 2.36. Section 2 appropriates money from United States deposit or liter- 
ature fund to such academies as should educate common school teachers, one or more academy in each 
county, not to exceed S250 to any county. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to suits against district school officers," passed 
May 1, 1847. Passed April 11, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. .545. 

An act to amend chapter 480, of Session Laws of 1847, entitled ' ' An act relative to the office of town 
superintendent of common schools,"' and amendatory of the Revised Statutes entitled "of public- 
instruction," passed December 15, 1847. Passed April 11, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 534. 

An act to amend " An act establishing free schools throughout the State," passed March 26, 1849. 
Passed January 31, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 12. 

An act requiring the supervisors of the several towns to take further security from the town superin- 
tendents of common schools whenever it is necessary for the safety of the public money. Passed 
April 6, 1850. Sess. Laws, p- 345. 

An act to submit to the people at the next annual election the question of the repeal of the act estab- 
lishing free schools throughout the State. Passed April 10, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 804. 

An act to establish free schools throughout the State. Passed April 12, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 292. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act to establish free schools throughout the State," Passed 
July 9, 1851. Sess. Laws. p. 809. 

An act to authorize the superintendent of common schools to purchase Webster's Unabridged Dic- 
tionary for the common school districts of this State. Passed July 9, 1S51. Sess. Laws, p. 828. 

An act to legalize the acts of the several school districts of this State, providing for the support of 
common schools. Passed July 10, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 939. 

An act to provide for the care and instruction of idle and truant children. Passed April 12, 1853. 
Sess. Laws, p. 358. 

An act to provide for the instruction of common school teachers. Passed June 17, 1853. Sess. Laws» 
p. 800. Appropriates to academies instructing students for common school teachers, ten dollars a 
year for each scholar, not exceeding twenty-five — the money to be paid from the United States deposit 
fund or literature fund. 

An act to provide for the establishment of union tree schools. Passed June 18, 1853. Sess. Laws» 
p. 828. 

An act in relation to recoveries against school officers. Passed June 30, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 951. 

An act creating the office of State superintendent of public instruction. Passed March 30. 1854. 
Sess. Laws, p. 230. Created the department of public instruction, and transferred to it the superin- 
tendence of the common schools. The secretary of State had been ex officio superintendent from 
April 3, 1821, to April 8, 1854. 

An act in relation to school moneys. Passed February 6, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 21. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to provide for the instruction of common school teachers," 
passed June 17, 1853. Passed April 13, 1&55. Sess. Laws, p. 765. 

An act to appropriate the avails of the State tax, and other school moneys for the support of schools, 
and for the expenditure of a portion of the library money in providing the school districts with the 
laws and decisions relating to public instruction. Passed March 14, 1856. Sess. Laws, p. 37. 

An act to provide for the distribution of standard works of American authors among the libraries of 
district schools. Passed April 12, 1856. Sess. Laws, p. 311. 

An act to provide for a more thorough supervision and inspection of common schools, and further 
to amend the statutes relating to public instruction in this State. Passed April 12, 1856. Sess. Laws, 
p. 285. 

An act to amend the law of taxation for the support of schools, and to change the mode of distribu- 
tion of school moneys. Passed April 12, 1856. Sess. Laws; p. 296. 

An act to change the school year, and to amend the statutes in relation to public instruction. 
Passed April 12, 1858. Sess. Laws, p. 269. 

An act to amend section 85, of chapter 480, of the Laws of 1847. Passed April 16, 1858, Sess. Laws» 
p. 451. 

An act to provide for the more effectual insurance of school-houses. Passed April 12, 1860. Sess. 
Laws,T). 537. 

An act requiring school district lines to be deflnitely described and recorded. Passed April 16, 1860 
Sess. Laws, p. 782. 

An act for the establishing academical departments in the different " union schools." Passed Aprii 
22, 1862. Sess. Laws, p. 812. 

An act to amend the statutes in relation to public instruction. Passed May 2, 1863. Sess, Laws, p. 
638 

An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction. Passed May 2, 1864. 
Sess. Laws, p. 1211. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public 
instruction," passed May 2, 1864. Passed May 1, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 1337. 



Relating to Schools. 999 

An act to provide for the appraisal of, and acquiring title to, lands taken for or in addition to sites 
for district school-houses. Passed April 25, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 1749. 

An act in relation to the security to be given by the supervisors of towns. Passed February 28, 
1866. Sess. Laws, p. 149. 

An act to amend chapter 800, of the Session Laws of 1866, relative to the taking of land for erection of 
school-houses. Passed May 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 2067, vol. 2. 

An act to increase the salary of the office of school commissioner. Parsed March 16, 1867. Sess. 
Laws, p. 119, vol. ]. 

An act in relation to the valuation of the property of railroad companies in school districts, for the 
purpose of taxation. Passed April 23. 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 174+, vol. 2. 

An act to amend an act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction, 
passed May 2, 1S64, and to abolish rate bills authorized by special act. Passed April 16, 1867. Sess. 
Laws, p. 961, vol 1. 

An act providing for the application of moneys hereafter collected in the Metropolitan excise dis- 
trict for certain fines, and from licenses for the sale of liquors. Passed May 10, 16)67. Sess. Laws, 
vol. 2, p. 2223. Appropriates the moneys thus collected in the counties of Kings, Queens and Rich- 
mond, to the support of schools, first deducting the amount required by law to be paid to the inebriate 
asyluui and inebriates' home. 

" An act to amend an act entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general act relating to public 
instruction." Passed April 7, 7871. Sess. Laws, p. 712. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general act relating to public 
Instruction," passed May 2, 1864. Passed April 26, 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1729. 

An act in relation to academies and academical departments of union schools, and the distribution 
of public funds. Passed May 29, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 997. 

An act to secure to children the benefits of elementary education. Passed May 11, 1S74. Sess. Laws, 
p. 532. 

An art to amend an act entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public 
instruction," passed May 2, 1864. Passed May 21, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 703. 

An act relating to free instruction in drawing. Passed May 14, 1875, Sess. Laws, p. 311. 

An act to confer on boards of supervisors further powers of local legislation and administration, and 
to regulate the compensation of supervisors. Passed June 5, 1875. Sess. Laws. p. 556. Of which sub- 
division 28, first section, relates to union school districts, sale or exchange of real estate. Page 562. 

An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the 
general acts relating to pubUc instruction." Passed June 9, JS75. Sess. Laws, p. 638. 

An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the 
general acts relating to public instruction." Passed March 3, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 36. 

An act to amend chapter 5.55, Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general 
acts relating to public instruction." Passed April 17, 1877 Sess. Laws, p. 160. 

An act to prevent frequent changes of text-books In schools. Passed June 5, 1877. Sess. Laws, 
p. 440. 

An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled * ' An act to consolidate the general acts 
relating to public instruction. Passed April 25, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 198. 

An act to amend section 7, of title 1 3, of chapter 555, of the|Laws of 1864, entitled ' ' An act to revise 
and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction." Passed April 25,1878. Sess. Laws, 
p. 198. 

An act to amend section 28, chapter 482, of the Laws of 1875, entitled " An act to confer on boards of 
supervisors further powers of local legislation and administration, and to regulate the compensation 
of supervisors. " Passed May 9, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 295. 

An act in relation to the election of officers in certain school districts. Passed May 13, 1878. Sess. 
Laws, p. 304. 

An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the 
general acts relating to public instruction. " Passed April 2, 1879. 

Anact to amend chapter 219, of the Laws of 1877, entitled "An act for the relief of school districts 
wishing to contract with boards of education of cities to educate their children in city schools. Passed 
May 28, 1877. 

An act to amend sections 2 and 10, of chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, entitled "An act in relation to 
the election of officers in certain school districts." Passed May 29, 1879. 

An act to amend chapter 647. of the Laws of 1865, entitled ' ' An act to revise and consolidate the 
general acts relating to public instruction, " passed May 2, 1864. Passed May 8, 1879. 

An act to amend section 2, of chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act to amend sections 2 
and 10, of chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, entitled ' An act in relation to the election of officers in certain 
school districts.' " Passed May 31, 1880. 

An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the 
general acts relating to public instruction." Passed February 13, 1880 . 

An act to provide for the dissolution of union free school districts in certain cases. Passed May 8, 
1880. 

An act to declare women eligible to serve as school trustees. Passed February 12, 1880. 

An act in relation to the boundaries of school districts. Passed May 7, 1881. 

An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the 
general acts relating to public instruction. " Passed June 3, 1881. 

An act to amend chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general 
acts relating to public instruction, as amended by chapter 406, of the Laws of 1867, and by chapter 
567, of the Laws of 1875. Passed June 15, 1881. 

An act to further amend section 16, of title 7, of chapter 555. of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to 
revise and consolidate the several acts relating to public instruction." Passed July 12, 1881. 
An act to facilitate the payment of school taxes by railroad companies. Passed July 25, 1881. 



1000 A List of Acts 

A.n act to repeal chapter 223, of the Laws of 1881, entitled " An act in relation to the boundaries of 
school districts. " Passed June 8, l»82. 

An act to amend section 2, of chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act to amend sections 
2 and 10, of chapter 248, ol the Laws of 1.^78, entitled 'An act in relation to the election of ofllcers in 
certain school districts.' " Passed May 1, 18«2. 

An act to amend chapter 675, of the Laws of 1881, entitled "An act to facilitate the payment of 
school taxes by railroad companies. " Passed June 8, 1882. 

An act amending section 2, of chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act to amend sections 2 
and 10. of chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, entitled ' An act in relation to the election of officers in cer- 
tain school districts. ' " Passed J uue 29. 1882. 

An act to amend section 2, of chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act to amend sections 2 
and 10, of chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, entitled ' An act in relation to the election of officers in cer- 
tain school districts. ' " Passed May 1, 1882. 

An act to amend chapter 675, of the Laws of 1881, entitled " An act to facilitate the payment of school 
taxes by railroad companies." Passed June 8, 1882. 

An act to regulate the instruction of common school teachers in academies and academical depart- 
ments of union schools. Passed June 7, 1882. 

An act to amend section 16, of chapter 179, of the Laws of 1856, entitled " An act to provide for a 
more thorough supervision and inspection of common schools, and further to amend the statutes re- 
lating to public instruction in the State." Passed May 16, 1883. 

An act to amend section 10, of chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, as amended by chapter 405, of the 
Laws of 1879, entitled *' An act in relation to the election of officers in certain school districts." 
Passed April 2, 1883. 

An act to amend chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the general 
acts relating to public instruction." Passed April 19, 1883. 

An act to amend section 18, of chapter .528, of the laws of 1881. entitled "An act to amend chaijter 555, 
Laws of 1864, entitled ' An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruc- 
tion,' as amended by chapter 406, of the Laws of 1867, and by chapter 567, of the Laws of 1875," Passed 
April 23, 18S3. 

An act for the relief of non-resident tax payers who, or whose children or wards, are attendants at 
any free school. Passed May 31, 1884. 

An act to amend soction 60, title 7, and sections 5 and 10, title 9, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled 
" An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," and the acts 
amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto. Passed March 22, 1884. 

An act to amend chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, as amended by chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, and 
chapter 172, of the Laws of 1883, entitled ' An act in relation to the election of officers in certain school 
districts." Passed April 3, 1884. 

An act to amend chapter (.94, of the Laws of 1S67, entitled " An act in relation to the valuation of 
the property of railroad companies in school districts, for the purpose of taxation," and to extend the 
provisions of. this act to telegraph, telephone and pipe-line companies. Passed May 31, 1884. 

An act in relation to the study of physiology and hygiene in the public schools. Passed March 10, 

1884. 

An act to amend chapter 413, of the Laws of 1877, entitled " An act to prevent frequent changes of 
text-books in schools. " Passed May 31, 1884. 

An act to amend section 50, title 7. chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consoli- 
date the general acts relating to public instruction," and the acts amendatory thereof and supplemen- 
tary thereto. Passed April 21, 1884. 

An act further to amend chapter 075, of the Laws of 1881, entitled " An act to facilitate the pavment 
of school taxes by railroad companies," as amended by chapter 319, of the Laws of 1882. Passed June 
13, 1885. 

An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the 
general acts relating to public instruction," and chapter 413, of the Laws of 1384, and chapter 694, of the 
Laws of 1867. Passed May 27, 1885. 

An act to amend section 9, of chapter 585, of the Laws of 1S65. entitled "An act to establish Cornell 
University, and to appropriate to it the income of the sale of public lands granted to this State by 
Congress on the second day of .July, \i>C)2 ; also to restrict the operation of chapter 511, of the Laws of 
1863," as amended by chapter 654, of the Laws of 1872, Passed June 10, 1886. 

An act authorizing the publication of the school laws of this State and making an appropriation there- 
for. Passed May 28, 1886. 

An act to amend chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, entitled " An act in relation to the election of offi- 
cers in certain school districts. " Passed April 24, 1886. 

An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the 
several acts relating to public instruction," as amended by chapter 492, of the Laws of 1881. Passed 
June 15, 1886. 

An act to amend section 50, title 7, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and con- 
soUdate the general acts relating to public instruction, and the acts amendatory thereof and supple- 
mentary thereto." Passed May 6, 1&S6. 

An act to provide for the distribution of the Code of Public Instruction to the several school dis- 
tricts of the State and making an appropriation therefor. Passed June 24, 1887. 

An act to amend title 7, of chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consoli- 
date the general acts relating to public instruction." Passed May 16, 1887. 

An act in relation to the employment and pay of teachers in the public schools. Passed May 16, 1?S7. 

An act to amend sections 77 and 88. of seventh article, title 7, of chapter 655, of the Laws of 1864, en- 
titled "An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction." Chapter 
333. Passed May 16, 1887. 

An act to provide for the establishment of evening schools for free instruction in industrial draw- 
ing. Chapter 540. Passed June 7, 1887. 



Relating to Schools, l^^l 



An act to amend chapter 5.")5, of the Laws of 1864. entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the 
general acts relating to public instruction," and the acts amendatory thereof and supplementary 
thereto. Chapter 601. Passed June 18, l&iT. 

An act in relation to health and decency in the school districts of the State. Chaper 538. Passed 
June 7, 1887. 

An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to reviseand consolidate the general 
acts relating to public instruction," and the acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto. 
Chapter 602. Passed June IS, 1887. 

An act to further amend subdivi^jion 4, of section 13, of title 2, of chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, en- 
titled "An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," concerning the 
powers and duties of school commissioners. Chapter 692. Passed June 18, 1887. 

An act to provide plans and specifications for the use of trustees in the erection of school-houses and 
making an appropriation therefor. Chapter 675. Passed June 24, 1887. 

GOSPEL AND SCHOOL LOTS {General). 

By an act of July 25, 1782 (see Greenleaf's Laws, vol. 1, p. 55, Sess. 6, chap. 11), certain lands were 
set apart for the officers and troops serving in the line of the State of New York in the army of the 
United States in the revolutionary war. This act was amended in some of its provisions. (Sess. 9, 
chap. 67; Sess. 11, chap. 89; Sess. 12, chap. 44, and Sess. 14, chap 42. ) By the act of February 28, 1789 
(Sess. 12, chap. 44, g 6), six lots were reserved in each township, viz. : One for promoting the gospel, 
and a public school, or schools, another for promoting literature in this State, and the remaining four 
to satisfy the surplus shares of commissioned officers not corresponding with the division of 600 acres, 
and to compensate such persons as should by chance draw lots, the greater part of which should be 
covered with water. In conformity with these acts and the act of April 11, 1796 (Sess. 19, chap. 69), 
the commissioners of the land office proceeded to ballot for the lots, etc., and lot No. 24, Ulysses, was 
drawn for the purposes of literature. This act fulfilled the intention of the Legislature. 

An act for the sale and disposition of lands belonging to this State. Passed February 2.5, 1789. Sess. 
Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 2. p. 254, Section 2 requires the surveyor-general, in his survey 
of the twenty townships in Chenango county, to mark in every township one lot "gospel" and another 
lot "schools," which lots shall not be sold, but shall De reserved; the lots marked "gospel"" for the support 
of the gospel, and the lots marked "schools" for the support of schools in such township. 

By the act of February 25, 1789 (Sess. 12, chap 32, see Greenleaf, vol. 2, p. 265), the surveyor-general was 
directed to cause twenty townships to be surveyed and laid out upon the eastern side of the lands pur- 
chased from the Indians in Ihe year 1785, each township to be 500 chains square, and to be divided into 
four equal parts, and the whole tract to be divided into lots of 250 acres each. The surveyor-general 
was likewise directed to designate out of such lots, two lots, one to be marked ' ' gospel " and the other 
"schools." The commissioners of the land office, having been subsequently authorized to sell the 
waste and unappropriated lands belonging to this State, proceeded to sell among others the said lots 
so designated for gospel and schools. By the act of April 10, 1805 (Sess. 28, chap. 136), the surveyor- 
general was directed to cause forty lots out of the unappropriated lands in the western district, to con- 
tain 25Uacres each, to be surveyed ani laid out, and one-half to be marked "gospel," and the other 
half " schools," being in lieu of the lands appropriated by the act of February 25, 1789. By the act of 
April 11, 1808 (Sess. 31, chap. 237, § 5), the surveyor-general was directed to lay out the forty lots in 
the tract of land then lately purchased of the Oneida Indians. No provision having been made for 
apportioning these lands among the different townships, the Legislature, by the act of June 16, 1812 
(Sess. a5, chap. 177), authorized the inhabitants of each of the twenty townships west of the Unadilla 
river in Chenango, Madison and Oneida counties, and which comprised the lands in question, to elect 
an agent to take charge of the lots, to Ipase the same, to bring suits for trespasses thereon, etc. Com- 
missioners wer9 likewise appointed to divide the forty lots among the twenty townships, giving two 
to each. These commissioners having performed this duty, the present act was passed to confirm 
their proceedings. The law recites that the commissioners divided the land into 20 lots of 144 acres, 20 
lots of 160 acres, and 20 lots of 196 acres, and gave to each town one lot of 144 acres, and one lot of 160 
acres and one lot of 196 acres. A description of the land was made, signed and duly acknowledged by 
them, and recorded in the clerk's office of the county of Madison. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act relative to the lots of land reserved for the support of the 
gospel and schools, and for the promotion of literature inthemilitarytractin the county of Onondaga," 
passed March 2.'^, 1798. Passed April 11, 1808. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), p. 404. Directs 
the annual rents and profits arising from the gospel lots to be divided equally among the several relig- 
ious societies in the towns, and those arising from the school lots to be distributeil among the schools 
kept by teachers, to be approved by the supervisor and commissioners, in proportion to the aggregate 
number of days which the scholars in each respective school shall have respectively attended such 
schools in the year immediately preceding such division. 

An act relative to the lots of land reserved for the support of the gospel and schools, and for the pro- 
motion of literature in the military tract in the county of Onondaga. Passed March 23, 1798. Sess. 
Laws (Kent & RadcUtT's ed. ), vol. 2, p. 254. Puts the lot in charge of the supervisors and three com- 
missioners, with power to lease them for a term not exceeding ten years. The moneys arising from 
the rents and profits were to be expended for the support of the gospel and schools, or for either, or 
both, as the Inhabitants of the towns, in town meeting, might direct. 

An act relative to the lots of land reserved for the support of the gospel and schools in the counties of 
Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca. Passed April 4,1807. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), p. 152. 
Supervisors and two commissioners to be chosen from time to time by the towns authorized to lease 
the land for terms not exceeding twenty-one years ; the moneys arising therefrom to be appropriated 
according to the provisions of the act passed March 23, 1798. 

An act to divide the county orOnondaga. Passed April 8, 1808. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's 
ed. ), p. 365. Erects Cortland from part of Onondaga ; section 13 provides for an equal division of the 
gospel and school lands between Truxton and Fabius and between Tully and Preble. 

An act for the direction of the commissioners of the l%nd office in certain cases, and for other pur- 
poses. Passed April 11, 1868. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), p. 411. Section 1, one lot in 
Stirling to be set apart for gospel and schools, and the other for the promotion of literature. Section 5 
directs the commissioners of the land office to lay out forty lots south ol, and adjoining Oneida lake, 
for the benefit of the inhabitants of the twenty townships in the county of Chenango 

An act for dividing the lot set apart for gospel and schools in the town of Romulus, between the 
said town and the town of Fayette. Passed March 17, 1809. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), 
p. 462. 

126 



1002 A List of Acts 

An act to vest certain powers in the supervisors and assessors of the several towns in the county of 
Clinton. Passed February 17, 1810. Ses>. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), p. 3. Gives the supervisors 
and assessors the same powers, and imposes the same duties, as were vested in and imposed on the 
supervisors and commissioners by the act relative to the gospel and school lots in Onondaga, passed 
March 23, 1798, and the amendatory act passed April 11, 1808. 

An act for the payment of certain officers of government and for other purposes. Passed April 9, 
1811. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinners ed. ), p. 328. Section IS authorizes the sale of lot No. 22, in the 
town of Marcellus, and the investment of the avails for the benefit of schools. Section 23 authorized 
the trustees of common schools and gospel lands to execute durable leases for the lots in Cayuga and 
Cortland counties. 

An act relative to the lots appropriated for the support of the gospel and schools, on the twenty- 
townships west of the Unadilla river, in the counties of Chenango, iladison and Oneida, and for other 
purposes. Passed June 16, 1812. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed. ), p. .533. Appoints commis- 
sioners to divide the lots among the townships and take charge of them. Section 6 sets apart lot 
No. 17, Instead of lot No. 73, in Stirling, for gospel and schools. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act concerning the go.spel and school lots." Passed April 2, 
1813. Sess. Laws, p. 23. Authorized the sale ot the lots and the loan of money on bond and mort- 
gage. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lots, passed April 2, 1813. Sess. Laws, p. 107. Provides for 
the election of tuustees. and directs how the lands shall be sold and the proceeds applied. The act 
applied to the towns of Ulysses, Ovid, Hector, Romulus, Junius and Fayette, in the county of Seneca ; 
to the towns of Dryden, Genoa, Locke, Sempronius, Aurelius, Owasco and Erutus, in the county of 
Cayuga; to towns of Fabius, Camillus, Manilus, Pompey and Tully, in the county of Onondaga ; and 
to town of Windsor, in Broome county. 

An act confirming the division of the lots appropriated for the gospel and schools on the twenty 
townships, west of the Unadilla river, in the counties of Chenango, Madison and Oneida. Passed April 
9, 1814. Sess. Laws, p. 134. 

GOSPEL AND SCHOOL LOTS (Special). 

An act to authorize the supervisors of county of Seneca to lease lot No. 24, in the town of Ulysses. 
Passed March 25, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 84. 

An act relative to the gospel and school lot in the town of Eastern, in the county of Chenango. 
Passed April 11, 1817. Sess, Laws, p. 238. Directs a division of the moneys arising from said lot be- 
tween the towns of Eastern and Oxford. 

A.n act relative to the north half of the gospel and school lot in the town of Guilford, in the county 
of Chenango. Passed April 15, 1818. Sess. Laws, p. 142. Directs how the rents and profits of said 
lot shall be disposed for the support of schools. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lot in the town of Hector. Passed April 17, 1818. Sess. 
Laws, p. 157. Provides for the disposition of the rents and profits of the lot, and their distribution for 
the payment of the wages of common school teachers. 

An act to divide the town of Hannibal in the county of Oswego. Passed April 20, 1818. Sess. Laws, 
p. 194. The town of Granby erected and the gospel and school lots divided. 

Au act concerning the gospel and school lots in the town of Preble, in the county of Cortland. 
Passed April 21, 181S. Sess. Laws, p. 238. The moneys arising from the sale of the gospel and school 
lot divided between the towns of Preble and Scott. 

An act to divide the town of Cincinnatus. in the county of Cortland, into four towns. Passed April 
21, 1818. Sess. Laws. p. 260. The towns of Willett, Freetown and Harrison erected, and the avails of 
the gospel and school lots divided between them. 

An act relative to the gospel and school lot in Clinton township, now the town of Bainbridge, in 
the countv of Chenans^o. Passed April 2, 1819. Sess. Laws, p. yo. Authorizes the leasing of lot No. 
50, and a division of the rents, one-half to the support of the regular preaching of the gospel, and the 
other half to the support of schools. 

An act for the more speedy collection of money arising from the rent and profits of gospel and school 
lots. Passed April 13, 1819. Sess. Laws, p. 309. Authorizes suits to be brought against former com- 
missioners, and directs the money recovered to be applied to the support of schools. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act relative to the lots appropriated for the support of the 
gospel and schools on the twenty townships west of the Unadilla river, in the counties of Chenango, 
Sladison and Oneida, and for other purposes, " passed June 6, 1812. Passed April 13, 1819. Sess. Laws, 
p. 299. Confirms sales in the tenth and fifteenth townships, and directs the election of agents in the 
towns of New Berlin and Norwich, to take charge of the avails of such sales. 

An act for the relief of the town of Cicero. Passed April 12, 1820. Sess. Laws, p. 213, Applies the 
provisions of the act of April 2, 1813, entitled "An act concerning the gospel and school lots" to the 
town of Cicero. 

An act for the relief of Wm. W. Bainridge. Passed November 15, 1820. Sess. Laws, p. 4. Author- 
izes a compromise about the gospel and school lot sold to him. 

An act authorizing the sale of lot No. 1, in the town of Scipio. Passed February 2, 1821. Sess. 
Laws, p. 20. Authorizes the salejof the lot. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lot in the town of Tully, in the county of Onondaga. Passed 
March 13, 1821. Sess. Laws, p. 88. Orders a division with the town of Spafford. 

An act to divide the town of Ulysses, in the county of Tompkins. Passed March 16. 1821. Sess. 
Laws, p. 96. Erects the town of Covert and orders a division of the gospel and school lot 

AiTact r- lative to the gospel and school lot in the town of Oswego. Passed March 23, 1821. Seis. 
Laws, p. 118. Authorizes the leasing of the lot. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lot in the town of Madrid, and for other purposes. Passed 
March 30, 1821. Sess. Laws, p. 171. Authorizes the election of trustees and directs how the lots shall 
be disposed of in the towns of Madrid and Hannibal. 

An act relative to the gospel and school lot in the town of Camillus. Passed March 31, 1821. Sess, 
Laws, p. 189. Requires the trustees to give bonds. 

A.n act concerning lot No. 24 in the town of Genoa, in the county of Cayuga. Passed February 24, 
1822. Sess. Laws, p. 11. The avails of said lot declared to belong to said town for the benefit of com- 
mon schools. 



Eelating to Schools. 1003 

Aa act concerning the school fund in the town of Otisco, in the county of Onondaga, Passed March 

15. 1822. Sess, Laws, p. 6n. Provides for the division of the proceeds of the gospel and school lots, 
between Otisco. Pompey, 3Iarcellus and Tully. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lot belonging to the towns of Ulysses, Enfield and Ithaca. 
Passed April .% 1822. Sess. Laws, p. 139. Authorizes the election of one trustee from each town to 
take charge of the lot, and the proceeds of such part as may have been sold. 

An act relative to the gospel and school lot in the town of Hector. Passed April 12, 1822. Sess. 
Laws, p. 216. Directs how the trustees shall manage the gospel and school lots, and the proceeds- 
arising from the sale thereof. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lot in the town of Galen. Passed April 17, 1822. Sess. Laws, 
p. 315. Authorized to elect trustees to take charge of the lots. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lot in the town of Stockholm. Passed February 8, 1823. 
Authorizes the election of trustees to take charge of the lot. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lots in the several towns of the county of St. Lawrence. 
Passed March 21, 1823. Sess. Laws. p. 87. Authorizing the inhabitants of any town, except DeKalb, 
to elect their trustees to take charge of the school lot. 

An act to divide the town of Aurelius. Passed March 28,1823. Sess. Laws, p. 105. The towns of 
Auburn and Fleming were erected by the first section, and the fourth section provides for a division 
of the bonds and mortgages, moneys and other securities, the proceeds of .the sale of the gospel and 
school lots between the three towns. 

An act to divide the town of Louisville in the county of St. Lawrence. Passed April 9, 1823. Sess. 
Laws, p. 139. Erects the town of Norfolk and provides for a division of the proceeds of the gospel and 
school lot. 

An act relating to the gospel and school lands belonging to the town of Granby, in the county of 
Oswego- Passed April 11. 5823. Sess. Laws, p. 156. Authorizes the leasing of the gospel and school 
lands and an equable division of them between the towns of Granby and Lysander. 

An act for the relief of the trustees of school district Xo. 13, in the towns of Verona and Vernon, in 
the county of Oneida. Passed April 12, 1823. Sess. Laws, p. 174. Orders a patent to be issued to the 
district for twelve rods of land. 

An act relating to part of the avails of the gospel and school lot of the town of Tully. Passed April 

23.1823. Sess. Laws, p. 282. Provision as to collecting certain moneys belonging to the towns of Tully, 
Otisco and Spafford. 

An act confirming the sale of certain lands made by the trustees of the town of Manlius. Passed 
January 16, 1824. Sess. Laws, p. 5. Confirms the sale of certain parcels of the gospel and school lot. 

An act establishing the boundaries of the literature and gospel and school lots in the town of Madrid, 
in the county of St. Lawrence. Passed March 17, 1824. Sess. Laws, p. yO. 

An act supplementary to an act entitled "An act concerning the gospel and school lot in the town of 
Chenango, and county of Broome, and for other purposes," passed April, 1816. Passed March 30, 1824. 
Sess. Laws, p. 115. Authorizes the sale of the gospel and school lot. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lot in the town of Sterling. Passed April 1, 1824, Sess. 
Laws-, p. 136. Appoints trustees to take charge of the lot and receive rents and profits. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lands in the town of Colesville, in the county of Broome. 
Passed November 24, 1824. Sess. Laws, p. 360. Appoints trustees to lake charge and receive rents and 
profits of lot. 

An act to divide the town of Galen, in the county of "Wayne, Passed November 24, 1824. Sess. 
Laws, p. 356. Erects the town of Savannah, without giving it any right in the gospel and school lob 
of Galen. 

An act relative to the gospel and school lot in Greene township, in the town of Greene and county of 
Chenango. Passed February 5, 1825. Sess. Laws, p. 6. Provides for a division of the lot between the 
towns of Coventry and Greene. 

An act authorizing the trustees of the Methodist Union Society, in the town of Pompey, to sell and 
convey real estate. Passed April 14, 1825. Sess. Laws, p. 244. Authorized to sell meeting-house and 
lot to school district No. 7. 

An act authorizing the sale of lot No. 43, in the Edmeston tract. Passed April 14, 1825. Sess. Laws, 
p. 244. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lots in the several towns in the county of St. Lawrence. 
Passed April 21, 1S25. Sess. Law-!, p. 415, Authorizes the inhabitants of Massena, Louisville, Norfolk, 
Madrid, Lisbon, Oswegatchie, DeKalb, Canton, Potsdam, Stockholm and Hopkins, to direct how the 
income of the said lots shall be applied. Repeals the act of March 30, 1821, and March 21, 1823, relating 
to said lots. 

An act relative to the gospel and school lot. and the literature lot in the town of Owego, in the 
county of Tioga. Passed April 12, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. 151. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lots in the towns of Gouverneur and Morristown, in the 
county of St Lawrence. Passed April 15, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. 151. Appoints trustees to take charge 
of them and receive the rents and profits. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lots in the town of Salina, and county of Onondaga. Passed 
April 17, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. 266. Appoints tmstees to take charge of and receive rents and profits. 

An act relative to the gospel and school lots, and the literature lots in Sidney and DeKalb. Passed 
April 17, 1826. Authorizes commissioners of land office to sell the lots to the occupants having deeds 
or contracts trom "William Cooper. 

An act relative to the literature, gospel and school lots in the county of St. Lawrence. Passed March 
10, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 51. Authorizes commissioners of the land office to compromise with persons 
who have sold or occupied such lots under erroneous surveys. 

An act for the relief of Benjamin Allen and others, settlers on the Stockbrldge school lot. Passed 
April 2, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 116. The lot herein mentioned was set apart for the support of schools 
for Indians, and this law authorized a sale of the subdivisions to the occupants. 



1004 A List of Acts 



An act to alter the time of holding the annual town meetings in the town of La Fayette, in the 
county of Onondaga, and for the appointment of trustees of the school fund belonging to said town. 
Passed April 16, 1^27. Sess. Laws, p. 349. Provides for the election of three trustees, subject to the 
same duties and penalties as provided by the act of April 2, 1813, "concerning the gospel and school 
lots." 

An act relative to the common school fund of the town of Edmeston, in the county of Otsego. 
Passed February 26, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 40. Provides for the election of three trustees to take charge 
of the avails of the sale of the gospel and school lot, and moneys coming from the overseers of the 
poor, which is to be invested as a common school fund for the town. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lands in the town of Sanford, in the county of Broome, 
Passed March 20, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 93. Trustees appointed under title 4, chapter 15, part 1, Revised 
Statutes. 

An act in relation to the gospel and school lot in the town of Potsdam. Passed April 18, 1828. Sess. 
Laws, p. 309. Trustees of public lands authorized to sell said lot, and hold the proceeds subject to title 
4, chapter 15, part 1, Revised Statutes. 

An act concerning the gospel and school lot in the town of Chenango, in the county of Broome. 
Passed April 9, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 215. Lots granted to three religious societies, to-wit, the Episco- 
pal, the Methodist and the Presbyterian. 

An act relative to the gospel and school lots in the county of St. Lawrence. Passed March 4, 1830. 
Sess. Laws, p. 70. Authorizes the inhabitants by a vote to direct the rents and profits of such lots to 
the support of the gospel or schools, or either, as they in town meeting shall determine. 

An act to authorize the trustees of Romulus to receive certain moneys of David Dey. Passed April 
7, 1830. Sess. Laws, p. 140. Authorizes the receipt of $300 a year until the amount due for a part of 
the gospel and school lot is paid. 

An act to authorize the sale of the school lot in the village of Oswego. Passed April 9, 1830. Sess. 
Laws, p. 154. 

An act relative to the school fund in the town of DeKalb, in St. Lawrence county. Passed April 13, 
1835. Sess. Laws, p. 74. Puts the school fund into the hands of the trustees of gospel and school lots. 

An act to amend an act entitled ' ' An act to divide the town of Sempronius, in the county of 
Cayuga," so much as relates to the division of the school moneys. Passed May 6, ia35. " Sess. Laws, 
p. 278. Divides the gospel and school lot fund between Sempronius, Niles and Moravia, according to 
the number of children between the ages of five and sixteen years. 

An act authorizing the trustees of school distrtct No. 12, in the town of Oswego and county of Os- 
wego, to sell a part of their school lot. Passed April 8, 1836. Sess. Laws, p. 144. Authorizes the sale 
33% by 66 feet from the east part of the lot. 

An act for the-safe keeping and to provide a time for the distribution of the gospel and school fund 
moneys in the several towns in the county of Onondaga. Passed May 14, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 311. 

An act in relation to certain school moneys and property of the fourteenth and fifteenth townships 
in the county of Chenango. Passed April 17, 1862. Sess. Laws, p. 465. 

OTHER SPECIAL ACTS. 

An act for the relief of Hamlet Scrantum. Passed April 18, 1823. Sess. Laws, p. 216. Orders 
$103.91 to be raised by a tax on school district Xo. 2, Gates, for his benefit. 

An act for the relief of Matthew Brown, Jr. Passed March 28, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 160. School 
district No. 2, Gates, Monroe county, to pay him §105. 51. 

An act authorizing the trustees of the Genoa academy to sell and dispose of their corporate prop- 
erty. Passed April 16, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 510. Sale to district No. 6, for a union school. 

An actTo authorize the trustees of school district No. 1, in the town of German Flats, to borrow 
money to build a school-house. Passed March 6, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 112. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 2, in the town of German Flats, to borrow 
money, and to impose a tax for the repayment of the same. Passed March 20, 1850. Sess. Laws, 
p. 114. 

An act to authorize the election of trustees in union free school district No. 2, in the town of Ger- 
man Flats, in the county of Herkimer, and to classity said trustees and regulate their powers and du- 
ties. Passed January 26, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 32. 

An act to confirm the decisions of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, relating to the election 
of trustees in union free school district No. 2, in the town of German Flats, in the county of Herki- 
mer, and to confirm the ofiacial action of said trustees, and to define their tenure of office. Passed 
January 24, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 34. 

An act to unite the libraries of the common school districts of the village of Glens Falls. Passed 
July 9, 1851. Sess. Laws. p. 807. 

An act in relation to the Gowanda union school. Passed April 29, 1863. Sess. Laws, p. 456. 

An act to authorize school district No. 4. in the town of Greece, to raise money on its bonds for 
building a school-house. Passed April 22, 1862. Sess. Laws, p. 770. 

An act requiring the town superintendent of the town of Greene to add certain moneys io the town 
fund of said town. Passed April 12, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 299. 

An act to authorize the trustees ol school district No, 4, in the town of Greene, to borrow money on 
the credit of said district, and to provide for the payment thereof. Passed April 13, 1859. Sess. Laws, 
p. 643. 

An act to authorize the supervisors of the towns of Guilford and Oxford to sell and convey certain 
school and gospel lands in those towns. Passed April 30, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 1044. 

An act to increase the number of memOers of the board of education of school district ]So. 8, in the 
town of Greenburgh, in the county of Westchester. Passed April 29, 1863. Sess. Laws, p. 469. 

An act to authorize school district No. 4, in the town of Greece, to raise money on its bonds for the 
purpose of building a school-house. Passed March 26, 1667. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 236. 



Kelating to 'Schools' 1005 



An act to authorize the resident trustees of Geneva academy to sell, transfer and convey to the 
trustees of school district No. 6, of the town of Geneva, the grounds, buildings, library and school ap- 
paratus, belonging to said academy. Passed April 3, 1S68. Sess. Laws, p. 2U6. \ 

An act in relation to school district No. 1, of the town of Geneva, Ontario county. Passed March 
16,1869. Sess. Laws, p. 74. 

An act relating to Gowanda union free school district composed of a part of the town of Collins, in 
Erie county, and parts of the towns of Persia and Perrysburgh, in Cattaraugus county. Passed April 
5, 1877. Sess. Laws, p, 103. 

An act to legalize and confirm the official acts and proceedings of Ansel P. Conger, Jonathan W. 
Potter and Leander Stafford, as assessors of Gowanda union free school district. Passed June 1, 1877. 
Sess. Laws, p. .S65. 

An act to consolidate the several school districts in'the town of Grand Island, Erie county, and to 
provide for the election of a board of education therein. Passed April 26, 1879. 

An act to amend section 1 of chapter 116 of the Laws of 1862, entitled " An act to appoint a trustee 
to receive and hold the bequest of Levi Farr, deceased, for the benefit of school district No. 4 in the 
town of Greene, Chenango county. " Passed April 1, 1880. 

An act conferring additional powers on the trustees of union free school district No. 3 of the town 
of Geddes, Onondaga county, and granting additional privileges to said district. Passed May 27, 1882. 

An act to amend chapter 97 of the Laws of 1877, entitled " An act relating to Gowanda union free 
school district, composed of a part of the town of ^'Collins, in Erie county, and parts of the towns of 
Persia and Perrysburgh, in Cattaraugus county." Passed March 19, 1885. 

An act to incorporate "The Gramercy Park School and Tool-house Association." Passed March 
24, 1886. 

An act to amend chapter 397 of the Laws of 1S86, entitled " An act changing the eastern boundary- 
line of the town of Geddes, annexing certain territory to the city of Syracuse, and providing for the 
government thereof. " Chapter 11. Passed February 10, 1887. 

H. 

An act in relation to the' union free school in the village of Hamilton, in the county of Madison. 
Passed March 23, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 357. 

An act in relation to the union free schools in the village of Hamilton, in the county of Madison. 
Passed April 15, 1861. Sess. Laws, p. 591. 

An act in relation to the union free school in the village of Hamilton, in the county of Madison. 
Passed April 13, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 739. 

An act in relation to the Hancock union school. Passed May 5, 1863. Sess. Laws, p. 790. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 14, in the town of Hempstead, Queens county, 
to raise money to pav certain recoveries against said trustees. Passed April 15, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol, 
2, p. 24. 

An act to establish a free school in district No. 1, in the town of Hempstead. Passed April 10, 1863. 
Sess. Laws, p. 174. 

An act to consolidate school districts No. 1. and No. 8, in the town of Herkimer, and authorize them 
to borrow money. Passed April 10, 1850, Sess. Laws, p. 638. 

An act to authorize the several school districts in the county of Herkimer to purchase O'Conor's 
map of the county of Herkimer. Passed March 21, 1856. Sess. Laws, p, 46, 

An act authorizing the superintendent of common schools in the town of Homer to sell certain school 
lands, and also to confirm the title of others in the towns of Cortlandville and Homer. Passed April 
2, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 119. 

An act to provide for a free school in the town of Hoosick, Passed April 15, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 384, 

An act for the incorporation and support of the Hudson Lancaster society. Passed April 15, 1817. 
Sess. Laws, p. 322. Section 7 requires the money received by the city of Hudson from the school fund 
to be paid to the trustees of the Lancaster society, and repeals the second section of an act authorizing 
the application of the common school moneys in the village of Athens and in the city of Hudson to the 
education of the poor children. 

An act relative to certain schools in the city of Hudson. Passed April 11, 1820. Sess. Laws, p. 159. 
Requires the money apportioned to the city from the common school fund to be paid over to the trus- 
tees of the Hudson Lancaster society. 

An act relative to certain school districts in the city of Hudson. Passed April 27, 1826. Sess. Laws, 
p. 92. Provides for a division of the school moneys between the Lancaster school society and the dis- 
trict schools. Repeals, also, act of April 11, 1820, relative to certain schools in the city of Hudson, 

An act to authorize the raising of money for the support of the Lancaster school of the city of Hud- 
son, Passed May 11, ]83r>. Sess. Laws, p. 311, Authorizes a tax of $400 to be annually levied and 
expended in the support of said school. 

An act relating to the Hudson Lancaster school. Passed March 9, 1839. Sess. Laws, p. 55. 

An act in relation to common schools in the city of Hudson. Passed May 26, 1841, Sess, Laws, 
p. 332, 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the city of Hudson," 
passed May 26, 1841. Passed January 31, 1843. Sess. Laws, p. 10. 

An act providing for the appointment and compensation of a librarian for the joint school district 
library of the city of Hudson. Passed April 8, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 122. 

An act to consolidate common school districts Nos. 3, 4 and 5, in the village of Huntington, Suffolk 
county. Passed April 13, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 794. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 21, of the town of Huntington, to borrow 
money. Passed April 12, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 520. 



1006 A List of Acts 

An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 21, of the town of Huntington, in the county 
oi Suft"oll£, to raise monej' by tax. Passed April 3, 1861. Sess. Laws, p. 217. 

An act for the relief of Richard Ten Eyck and Peter P. Wj'nkoop. Passed April 21, 1825. Sess. 
Laws, p. 411. District No. 4, Hurley, to pay tliem $50. 

An act to amend section 3 of an act entitled " An act to consolidate common school districts Kos. 3, 
4 and 5, in the village of Huntington, Suffolk county," passed April 13, 1857. Passed May 9, 1868. 
Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1731. 

An act for the benefit of the Union school in Hamilton, New York, passed 1862, Passed April 27, 
1869. Sess. Laws, p. 844. 

An act to exempt the union school district of Huntington from certain of the provisions of chapter 
555, of the Laws of 1864, as amended by chapter 406, of the Laws of 1867, being an act entitled " An act 
to amend an act entitled ' An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruc- 
tion, ' passed May 2, 1864, and to abolish rate bills authorized by special act," and to enable said union 
school to take and receive the benefits of the bequest of Nathaniel Potter, deceased, known as " The 
Potter School Fund," and to provide for the payment of teachers' wages. Passed April 20, 1870. Sess. 
Laws, p. 723. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act for the benefit of the union school in Hamilton, New 
York, passed 1862," passed April 27, 1869. Passed March 27, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 340. 

An act to encourage and promote education in the village of Hornellsville. Passed May 2, 1873. 
Sess. Laws, p. 595. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 2, of the town of High- 
lands, in the county of Orange, to raise money for the purchase of a school-house and site. Passed 
April 16, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 149. 

An act to authorize the trustee of school district No. 2, of the town of Hindsdale, to lease tiie upper 
story of the district school-house to the town of Hinsdale, for a town hall and other purposes. Passed 
April 24, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 194. 

An act to amend chapter 386, of the laws of 1873, entitled " An act to encourage and promote educa- 
tion in the village of Hoi-nellsville." Passed May 18, 1881. 

An act in relation to the public schools in the city of Hudson, and to create a board of education for 
said city. Passed March 23, 1881. 

An act to enable the trustees of school district No. 36 of the town of Hector, in the county of Schuy- 
ler, to sell and convey a portion of the school-house site of said district. Passed July 5, 1881. 

An act to provide for borrowing money upon the credit of the city of Hudson, to erect a public 
school building in said city, and procure site therefor. Passed May 7, 1886. 



INDIANS. 

An act for the establishment of schools in New Stockbridge for the instruction of Indian children. 
Passed February 28, 1804. Sess. Laws (K. &R.'sRev.), vol. 3, p. 476. Authorizes a lease ot 1,000 
acres of land to John Gregg and others, for thirty bushels of wheat yearly for each 100 acres, the rents 
to be used for paying the wages of school-masters for the instruction of Indian children. 

An act for the relief of the Shinnecock tribe of Indians. Passed April 19, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 200. 
Appropriates $80 annually for three years for a school, in addition to the sum to which the county of 
fcjutfolk was entitled by law. 

An act in relation to certain tribes of Indians. Passed April 25, 1841. Sess. Laws. p. 213. Section 10 
establishes school districts tor the Onondaga Indians in whatever towns they may reside, and provides 
for schools. 

An act to provide for the education of the children of the Onondaga Indians in the county of Onon- 
daga, and the children of the other Indians residing in the State. Passed April 30, 1846. Sess. Laws, 
p. 127. This is an appropriation law. 

An act making appropriations for building and furnishing school-houses, and providing for the edu- 
cation of the children or Indians residing on the Cattaraugus and AUeganv reservations. Passed May 
7, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 261. 

An act to revive an act entitled " An act for the relief of the Shinnecock tribe of Indians," passed 
April 19, 1831. Passed February 17, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 54. 

An act to provide for the support and education of a limited number of Indian youth of the State of 
New York, at the State normal school. Passed March 23, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 140. 

An act to provide for the education of the children of the Tuscarora Indians, in the county of 
Niagara. Passed June 20, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 461. 

An act for the relief of the Shinnecock tribe of Indians. Passed March 1, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 25, 
Appropriates $200 to be expended for the wages of a school teacher, f jr the year 1851 and 1852. 

An act to provide for the education of the children of the Indians of the Onondaga reservation, in the 
county of Onondaga, in this State. Passed April 16, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 649. 

An act to provide for the education of the children of the St. Kegis Indians in the county of Frank- 
lin. Passed April 13, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 427. 

An act to establish the Seneca Indian high school on Cattaraugus reservation. Passed July 21, 1853. 
Sess. Laws, p. 1133. 

An act to provide for the establishment of schools upon the Tonawanda reservation in this State, 
for the instruction of Indian children. Passed June 21, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 848. 

An act to provide for the education of the Tuscarora Indians in the county of Niagara. Passed April 
15, 854. Sess. Laws, p. 663. 

An act relating to schools on the Tonawanda reservation. Passed April 15, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 
651. 



Relating to Schools. 1007 

An act to facilitate education and civilization among the Indians residing ■within this State. Passed 
April I, 1851'.. Sess. Laws, p. 99. 

An act to provide for the education of the children of the Indians of the Tonawanda Indian reserva- 
tion in the couuty of Genesee. Passed July 21, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 1118. 

An act for the Thomas asylum for orphan and destitute Indian children, for the maintenance and 
instruction of one hundred Indian children, or a propurtionate amount for a smaller number $5,000. 
Passed May 14, ;S68. Sess. Laws,' vol. 2, p. 1847. 

An act lor the Indian schools of this State, for their maintenance, pursuant to litle 13, of chapter 555, 
of the Laws of 1864, and for the education of Indian youth, |5,000. Passed May 19, 1868. Sess. Laws, 
vol, 2, p. 1949. 

An act to provide for the erection of school buildings and the maintenance of a manual labor school 
upon.the Tonawanda reservation. Passed May 6, 1869. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1557. 

An act in relation to the manual labor school in the Tonawanda reservation. Passed March 25, 
1870. Vol. 1, p, 294. Passed May 22, 187S. Sess. Laws, p. 401. 

An act authorizing and directing the comptroller of the State of New York to convey certain lands 
of the Tonawanda reservation to the trustees of the Tonawanda Reservation Manual Labor School for 
the purposes of such school and re-appropriating certain moneys formerly appropriated therefor. 
Passed June 13, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 1106. 

Same title. Passed May 22, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 401. 

An act to establish free schools in the village of Ithaca. Passed March 19, 1861. Sess. Laws, p. 87. 

An act In relation to common schools in district.No. 12, in the town of Islip, Suffolk county. Passed 
April 17, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 820. 

An act to provide for the establishment of a system of gi'aded schools in the village of Ithaca. Passed 
April 4, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 138. 

An act to amend chapter 125, of the Laws of 1874, entitled ' ' An act to provide for the establishment 
of a sj'stem of graded schools in the village of Ithaca." Passed March 16, 1877. Sess. LaA^s, p. 45. 

J. 

An act to incorporate the village of Jamaica, in the county of Queens, into a separate school district 
and to establish free schools therein. Passed July 18, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 907. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to incorporate the village of Jamaica, in the county of 
Queens, into a separate school district, and to establish free schools therein," passed July 18, 1853. 
Passed May 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 2179. 

An act relative to the trustees of common schools in the town of Jericho. Passed March 15, 1811. 
Sess. Laws (Webster and Skinner's ed.), p. 131. The inhabitants were authorized to elect trustees of 
common schools for the town, who shall take charge of the literature lot in the town, sell it, invest the 
proceeds, and use the income for the support_and benefit of common schools. 

An act to vest certain land belonging to the people of this State in the trustees of school district No. 
23, in Johnstown. Passed April 16,1827. Sess. Laws, p. 340. Grants an acre of land called the Jail 
lot, on condition that a school-house shall be built thereon within two years. 

An act to consolidate the .Jordan academy and free school district No. 4, in the town ot Elbridge, in 
the county of Onondaga. Passed February 26, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 78. 

An act authorizing the board of education of the Jordan academy and free schools of Jordan, in the 
town of Elbridge, Onondaga county, and State of New York, to sell or dispose of certain real estate in 
said town. Passed April 16, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 457. 

An act in relation to the board of education in the village of Jamaica, Queens county, and enlarging 
the powers thereof. Passed May 2, 1870. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1322. 

An act relating to the common schools in the village of Jamaica, in the county of Queens. Passed 
April 17, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 107. 

An act conferring additional powers on the board of education of union free school district No. 16, 
of the town of Johnstown, Fulton countj% and granting additional privileges to said district. Passed 
May 26, 1S81. 

An act to establish and define the territory and boundaries of the union free school district of the 
citv of Jamestown, and to regulate the supervision and control of said district. Chapter 279. Passed 
May 4, 1887. 

K. 

An act concerning school districts Nos. 2 and 5, in the town of Kinderhook. Passed April 27, 1829. 
Sess, Laws, p. 418. Amended by act of May 1, 1829, p. 516, so as to apply to disti-icts Nos. 2 and 9. 
Authorizes the establishnient of evening schools for children in the fiictories. ' 

An act to consolidate school districts Nos. 5, 8, 11 and 15, of the town of Kingston, Ulster county, 
into one school district. Passed April 29, 1863. Sess. Laws, p. 594, 

An act entitled an act to amend "An act to consolidate school districts Nos. 5, 8, 11 and 15 of the 
town of Kinuston, Ulster county, into one school district," passed April 29, 1863. Passed March 12, 
1864. Sess. Laws, p. 65. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 1, of the town of Kings- 
ton, to borrow money to build a school-house in said district. Passed April 24, 1868. Sess. Laws, 
p. 690. 

An act to amend section 13 of the act entitled "An act to consolidate school districts Nos. 5,8, 11 and 
15, of the town of Kingston, Ulster county, into one school district, passed April 29,1863." Passed 
April 26, 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1755. 

An actio provide for the purchase of a new school-house site and erection of a new school-house 
hereon, and for the sale of the present school-houses and sites in school district No. 2 of tlie town of 
Kinderhook. county of Columbia. Passed April 21, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 279- 



1008 List of Acts 

An act to authorize Keeseville union free school district No. 1 of the towns of Ausahle and Chester- 
field to borrow money and issue bonds or certificates of indebtedness, for the building and furnishing 
of a new school building and the purchase of a site therefor. Passed May 13, 1880. 

An act to vest certain powers in "■ The president of the Kingston board of education, and the super- 
visor of the town of Ulster, formerly Kingston," and to facilitate the collection of taxes in the Kings- 
ton school district. Passed May 20, 1880. 



An act for the relief of school district No. 9, in the town of Lancaster, in the county of Erie. Passed 
April 12, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 666. 

An act for the relief of the trustees of school district No. 13, in the town of Lansing, in the county 
of Tompkins. Passed April 10, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. lOG. Commissioners of land office directed to 
convey a lot of land to the district. 

An act to incorporate a monitorial school society in the village of Lansingburgh. Passed April 14, 
1827. Sess. Laws, p. 297. Incorporates district No. 1 as a monitorial school society, and authorizes 
the inhabitants of the village to elect trustees annually. 

An act for the relief of the Lansingburgh monitorial school. Passed April 5, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 
172, Requires the money received from licenses granted to vendors of lottery tickets to be paid to the 
trustees of the said school. 

An act to create a school district from part of the village of Lansingburgh and part of the city of 
Troy. Passed February 20, 1838. Sess. Laws, p. 22. 

An act to repeal the act incorporating the "Lansingburgh monitorial school society," passed April 
14,1827. Passed May 26, 1841. Sess. Laws, p. 305. 

An act to provide for a free school in district No. 1, in the town of Lansingburgh. Passed October 
26, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 442. 

An act to amend an act In relation to free schools in the city of Troy, and school district No. 10, in 
the town of Lansingburgh, passed April 10, 1850. Passed July 1, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 712. 

An act to amend an act in relation to free schools in the city of Troy, and school district No. 10, ni 
the town of Lansingburgh, passed Julyl, 1851 ; also, to amend the act providing for the establishment 
of free schools in the city of Troy, passed April 4, 1849. Passtd March 28, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 168. 

An act to provide for a free school in district No. .5, in the town of Lansingburgh, in the countv of 
Rensselaer. Passed April 10, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 697. 

An act to authorize the town superintendents of common schools of the towns of Lee, Ava and 
Annsville, in the county of Oneida, to appraise and make distribution of certain school district prop- 
erty in said county. Passed April 12, 1853, Sess. Laws, p. 409. 

An act for the relief of union free school district No. 9, in the town of Lenox. Passed March 30, 
1861. Sess. Laws, p. 184. 

An act to authorize the town of Le Roy, in the county of G-enesee, to raise $10,000 for the benefit of 
the Le Roy academic institute. Passed March 4, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 84. 

An act to confirm the official acts of Jeremiah Howe, Charles Wright and Isaac Hays, trustees of 
the Lewis school fund, in the town of Lewisboro', in the county of Westchester. Passed March 28, 
1843. Sess. Laws, p. 42. 

An act in relation to the Lewisboro' school fund. Passed April 12, 1842. Sess. Laws, p. 406. 

An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 10, in the town of Little Falls, to borrow 
money to build a school-house. Passed April 1, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 51. 

An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 1, in the town of Little Falls, to borrow 
money to build a school-house. Passed May 12, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 291. 

An act to establish a free school in school district No. 1, in the towns of Little Falls and Manheim, 
Herkimer county. Passed March 22, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 375, 

An act for the relief of the trustees of school district No. 7, in the town of Lima, in the county of 
Ontario. Passed April 2,1819. Sess. Laws, p. 90. Authorizes the sale of one-sixteenth of an acre of 
land to the trustees of school district No. 7, by the administratrix of Joseph M. Gilbert, deceased, to 
belong to the district so long as occupied for a school-house. 

An act to authorize joint school district No. 2, composed of parts of the counties of Livingston, 
Monroe and Ontario, to raine a tax. Passed December 10, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 566. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 10, in the town of Livonia, in the county or 
Livingston, to collect a tax. Passed July 2, 1851. Sess". Laws, p. 732. 

An act to incorporate the Hannibal and Voliiey Bridge company, and for other purposes. Passed 
April 1.5, 1817. Sess. Laws, p. 288. Section 16 directed the money received into the treasury for the 
support of a common school in the village of Lewiston, by the act to alter the plan of the village of 
Lewiston, passed March 30, 1810, to be Ipaned as the school fund moneys are loaned. 

An act concerning common schools in the village of Lewiston. Passed April 10,1818. Sess. Laws, 
p. 101. The moneys coming into the treasury under the act to alter the plan of the village of Lewis- 
ton, passed March 30, 1810, and under section 16, of the act to incorporate the Hannibal and Voiney 
Bridge company, passed April 15, 1817, required to be paid to the trustees of common schools of the 
village of Lewiston. 

An act to authorize the surveyor-general to convoy to David M. Smith a lot of land in the village of 
Lewiston, and for other purposes. Passed February 9, 1821. Authorizes the sale to him of school 
lot No. 266, and directs the trustees of the common school in the village of Lewiston to take posses- 
sion of all the unsold lots of land in said village, which, by the act of March 10, 1810, are pledged to 
the support of schools. 

An act relating to the Lewiston school fund. Passed April 15, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. 2.39. Creates 
commissioners of the fund, and directs all moneys belonging to it to be transferred to them by the 
comptroller. Repeals the 16th section of an act to incorporate the Hannibal and Voiney Bridge 
company, passed April 15, 1817, and an act concerning common schools in tlie village of Lewiston, 
passed April 10, 1818. 



Eelating to Schools. 1009 



An act to authorize the building of a school-bouse in the village of Lewiston. Passed April 11, 1834. 
Sess. Laws, p. 123, Authorized a tax to purchase an additional site and the building of a school-house 
thereon. 

An act in relation to common schools, in the village ot Lockport. Passed March 31, 1847. Sess. Laws, 
p. 50. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the village of Lockport," 
passed March 31, 1847. Passed March 18, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 112. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the village of Lockport." 
passed March 31, 1847. Passed April 2, 1858. Sess. Laws, p. 189. 

An act in addition to and in amendment of an act in relation to common schools in the village of 
Lockport. Passed March 31, 1847. Passed May 2, 1S63. Sess. Laws, p. 637. 

An act to amend chapter 51 of the Laws of 1847, entitled "An act in relation to common schools in 
the village of Lockport," and to amend chapter 77 of the Laws of 1850, entitled "An act to amend an 
act in relation to common schools in the village of Lockport." Passed April 4, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 840. 

An act in relation to the common schools in the city of Lockport. Passed May 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, 
vol. 2, p. 2070. 

An act concerning the Lodi union school district and district No. 1, in the village of Owego. Passed 
May 12, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 254. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 2, in the town of Luzerne, Warren county. 
New York, to borrow money to erect a school-house. Passed April 8, 1859. Sess. Laws, p. 445. 

An act in relation to school district No. 6, in the town of Lyons. Passed March 27, 1844. . Sess. 
Laws, p. 63. 

An act authorizing school district No. 6, in the town of Lyons, to raise money by tax. Passed Octo- 
ber 26, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 439. 

An act authorizing school district No. 6, in the town of Lyons, to collect a tax, voted by them in in- 
stallments. Passed February 15, 1850, Sess. Laws, p. 19. 

An act in relation to school district No. 6, in the town of Lyons, county of Wayne. Passed April 19, 

1855. Sess. Laws, p. 1048. 

An act to provide for the determination, settlement and payment of the claim of H. G. Hotchkiss, 
against school district No. 6, Lyons. Passed February 7, 1856. Sess. Laws, p. 14. 
An act in relation to school district No. 6, in the town of Lyons, Wayne county. Passed April 7, 

1856. Sess. Laws, p. 192. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to school district No. 6, in the town of Lyons, 
Wayne county, " passed April 12, 1856. Passed April 12, i860. Sess. Laws, p. 499. 

An act in relation to the Lyons union school, in the town of Lyons, Wayne county. Passed April 
29, 1863. Sess. Laws, p. 469. 

An act for the relief of Jeremiah Dunham. Passed May 7, 1839. Sess. Laws, p. 330. Authorizes a 
tax of $370.25 on district No. 25, Lysander, to pay a judgment against Dunham on a contract for build- 
ing a school-house. 

An act to authorize and require the trustees of school district No. 26, in the town of Lysander, Onon- 
daga county, to raise money by tax. Passed April 6, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 332. 

An act to erect a union school district in the towns of Lysander and Van Buren, In the county of 
Onondaga, and to create a board of education therein, with power of taxation and other nowers for 
school purposes. Passed March 30, 1864. Sess. Laws. p. 138. 

An act in relation to common schools in the city of Lockport. Passed May 8, 1868. Sess. Laws, vol. 
2, p. 1641. 

An act to revise the charter of Long Island City. Passed April 13, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 896„of which 
title 9, sections 1 to 8, relate to public instruction of Long Island City. P. 955. 

An act to authorize the sale and conveyance of a portion of the real estate belonging to school dis- 
trict No. 1, of the town of Lansingburgh. Passed April 4, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 290- 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the village of Lockport." 
passed March 31, 1847, and the acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 17, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 357. 

An act conferring additional powers and duties upon the board of education of school district No. 1, 
in the village of Little Falls, Herkimer county. Passed April 28, 1879. Authorizes the appointment 
of a superintendent of schools. 

An act conferring additional powers on the trustees of school district No. 1, of the town of Lansing- 
burgh, Rensselaer county, and granting additional privileges to said district. Passed April 19, 1882. 

An act to amend chapter 94, of the Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to erect a union school district in 
the towns of Lysander and Van Buren, in the county of Onondaga, and to create a board of education 
therein, with power of taxation and other powers, for school purposes. " Passed February 17, 1885. 

An act to provide for public school-houses in Long Islang City, Chapter 519. Passed June 3. 1887. 

M. 

An act to consolidate school districts Nos. 1, 14, 15 ana 23, in the town of-Malone in the county of 
Franklin. Passed April 19, 1858. Sess. Laws, p. 638. 

An act authorizing the village school district of the town of Malone, in the county of Franklin, to 
make a loan from the common school fund. Passed April 1, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 494. 

An act to establish a board of education in and for the village school district of the town of Malone, 
in the county of Franklin, and for other purposes. Passed January 24, 1867. Sess. Laws, p- 32. 

An act to establish a board of education in and for the village school district of the town of Malone, 
In the county of Franklin, and for other purposes. Passed January 24, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 32. 

127 



lOiO A List of Acts 

An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to public schools in the town of Momsania, 
in the county of Westchester. Passed April 12, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 788. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act for the collection of taxes in the towns of Morrisania and 
West Farms, in the county of Westchester," passed April 21, 1862. Passed May 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, 
vol. 2. p. 2089. 

An act in relation to the Morris ville union school. Passed May 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 2068. 

An act to provide for the establishment of free schools in the village of Middletown. Passed April 

19, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 1024. 

An act to authorize the application of the interest of the poor fund of the town of Macdonough to 
the support of common schools. Passed April 14, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 170. Appropriates the interest 
of $600 to the support of schools. 

An act for the relief of the trustees of joint school district No. 7, in the towns of Malta, Milton and 
Saratoga Springs. Passed April 8, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 125. 

An act in relation to common schools in the village of Medina. Passed April 9, 1849. Sess. Laws, 
p. 411. 

An act to amend "An act relating to common schools in the village of Medina," passed April 9, 1849. 
Passed April 10, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 686. 

An act to confirm certain acts of school district No. 12, in the village of Medina, relative to raising 
money to complete the school-house. Passed March 29, 1815. Sess. Laws, p. 83. 

An act to consolidate the school districts Nos. 6 and 15, in the town of Mentz, in the county of 
Cayuga, into one school district, and to provide for the organization of a school and academy therein, 
and to enable the said district to loan money to erect the necessary buildings therefor. Passed April 7, 
1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 627. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to consolidate districts Nos. 6 and 15, in the town of Mentz, 
in the county of Cayuga, into one school district, and to provide for the organization of a school and 
academy therein, and to enable the said district to loan money to erect the necessary buildings there- 
for," passed April 7, 1857. Passed March 22, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 169. 

An act to levy a tax upon school district No. 14, in the towns of Milan and Pine Plains, to re-imburse 
certain moneys to John Germond, David I. Hicks and Nathan Smith. Passed, January 31, 1849. 
Sess. Laws, p. 21. 

An act in relation to school district No. 12, in the towns of Milton and Ballston, in the county of 
Saratoga. Passed April 11, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 337. 

An act for the relief of the Montgomery academy. Passed March 24, 1815. Sess. Laws, p. 93. Makes 
the trustees of the academy trustees of the common school district No. 7, in the town of Montgomery. 
The common school was to be kept in a room in their building, by a teacher hired by them, and the 
public school moneys were to be paid to them. The district was made permanent, and was not to be 
divided without the consent of the Legislature. The act was revised in the Revised Statutes of 1827, 
and does not appear to have been repealed. 

An act to authorize the superintendent of common schools, of the town of Moravia, to sell lot No. 52, 
in said town. Passed April 23, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 121. 

An act authorizing the board of education of school district No. 1, late of the town of West Farms, 
now of the towns of Morrisania and West Farms, to borrow money to build a school-house in said 
district. Passed April 15, 1861. Sess . Laws, p. 590 . 

An act in relation to schools and school districts in the towns of Morrisania and West Farms, in the 
county of Westchester. Passed April 28, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 978. 

An act to consolidate school districts Nos. 1, 3 and 15, and part of district No. 2, of the town of 
Mount Morris, county of Livingston, and State of New York, into one school district. Passed April 

20, 1866. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1547. 

An act for the relief of "David Austin and George V. Hazard, late trustees of school district No. 4, 
in the town of Milo, in the county of Yates. Passed April 18, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. 340. Orders the 
collection of a tax of $75, to pay services. 

An act to authorize the town of Malone, in the county of Franklin, to aid the village school district 
of said town in completing and furnishing the new school-house and grading the grounds. Passed 
February 28, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 14. 

An act fixing the time for the holding of elections for the election of trustees, town oflacers, and 
members of the board of education of the school district of the town of Morrisania, county of West- 
chester, and for regulating such elections. Passed March 12, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 68. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 1, of the town of Moravia, 
in the county of Cayuga, to bond said district for the purpose of building a school-house, and to legalize 
certain acts of the inhabitants therein, and of the said board of education. Passed April 17, 1869. Sess. 
Laws, p. 443. 

An act for the relief of Jared T. Abernethy, and to authorize a tax on school district No. 6, of the 
towns of Madrid and Waddington, in the county of St. Lawrence, and the payment of the amount 
thereof to him. Passed April 28, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 868. 

An act to approve the official acts of John H. Skellie, trustee of school district No. 7, in the town of 
Mina, Chautauqua county. Passed March 8, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 123. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to public 
schools in the town of Morrisania, in the county of Westchester, " passed April 12, 1867. Passed April 
7, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 417. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to provide for the establishment of free schools in the 
village of Middletown," passed April 19, 1867. Passed April 23, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 838. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act fixing the time for the election of trustees, town officers 
and members of the board of education of the school district of the town of Morrisania, county of 
Westchester, and for regulating such elections," passed March 12, 1869. Passed February 17, 1871. 
Sess. Laws, p. 55. 

An act for the relief of the inhabitants of union school district No. 1, in the town of Moreau, in the 
county of Saratoga. Passed April 18, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 674. 



Eelating to Schools. 1011 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 9, of the town of Mount 
Pleasant, to borrow money. Passed April 27, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 1009. 

An act in regard to union free school district No. 1, in the town of Milton, and to enlarge its bound- 
aries, and authorize the board of education thereof to raise money to purchase sites, and to build or 
purchase school-houses. Passed June 3, 1872. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 2140. 

An act to amend chapter 874, of the Laws of 1872, in relation to school district No. 1, in the town of 
Milton, Saratoga county. Passed April 30, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 528. 

An act to organize the village of Monticello into a separate school district, and to provide for the 
purchase of a site and ei-ection of a school edifice. Passed June 7, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 1034. 

An act to authorize the village school district of the town of Malone, county of Franklin, to borrow 
money to purchase^a site and build a school-house thereon, and to issue coupon bonds to secure the 
payment of the same. Passed February 7, 1879. 

An act to incorporate the Mary Washington School, at Mayville, Chautauqua county. Passed May 
19, 1879. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 1, Milton, to issue 
bonds to be known as " extended school bonds. " to pay the school district bonds of said district ma- 
turing in the year 1880, 1885, 1890, and 1895. Passed May 30, 1879. 

An act to amend chapter 7, of the Laws of 1867, entitled "An act to establish a board of education 
in and for the village school district of the town of Malone, in the county of Pranblin, and for other 
purposes. " Passed May 7, 1880. 

An act to authorize the trustees of the Manlius Apademy to transfer and convey their academic 
property to the board of education of union free school No. 6, in the town of Manlius, of the county of 
Onondaga. Passed May 8, 1880. 

An act to amend chapter 433, of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act authorizing the board of educa- 
tion of union free school district No.|l, Milton, to issue bonds to he known as ' extended school bonds, * 
to pav the school district bonds of said district maturing injthe years 1880, 1885, 1890, and 1895. Passed 
June "7, 1884. 

An act to amend chapter 727, of the Laws of 1866, entitled ''An act to consolidate scnooi district 
Nos. 1, 3''and 15, and part of district No. 2, of the town of Mount Morris, county of Livingston, and 
State of New York, into one school district. Chapter 199. Passed April 25, 1887. 

An act for the relief of school district No. 7, in the town of Newark, and county of Tioga. ''' Passed ; 
May 12. 1836, Sess. Laws, p. 457. Authorized to purchase the lower room of a building and occupy it 
as a school-house. j 

An act for the relief of Samuel "White, Arnold Field and Tracy S. Knapp, trustees of school district 
No. 16, in New Berlin. Passed May 26, 1841. Sess. Laws, p. 316. 

An act for the relief of Samuel White, Tracy S. Knapp and Amola Field, late trustees of school dis- 
trict No. 16, in the town of New Berlin. Passed April 12, 1842. Sess. Laws, p. 283. | 

An uct in relation to school district No. 13, In the town of Newburgh, and county of Orange. Passed' 
April 23, 1835. Authorizes the trustees to keep and maintain a school for black children separate and 
apart from their high school. 

An act in relation to the Newburgh high school. Passed April 24, 184o. - Sess. juaws, p. 73. , 

An act to divide district No. 13, in the town of Newburgh. Passed April 6, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 300. j 

An act to provide for the establishment of free schools in the village of Newburgh. Passed April 6, 
1852. Sess. Laws, p. 202. j 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for tne establishment of free schools in the vil- 
lage ot Newburgh," passed April 6, 1852. Passed March 7, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 125. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 2, of the town of New 
Lots, to raise money for the purchase of a site, and the erection of a new school-house thereon. Passed 
April 3, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 805. 

An act to provide for a free school in district No. 4, in the town of Newtown, in the county of 
■ Queens. Passed March 27, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 216. 

An act to provide for a free school in district No. 5, in the town of Newtown, in the county of 
Queens. Passed March 27, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 214. 

An act to establish a free school in district No. 3, in the town of Newtown. Passed Marcn 16, 1850. 
Sess. Laws, p. 69. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to establish a free school in district No. 3, m the town of 
Newtown," passed March 16, 1850. Passed July 8, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 777. 

An act to amend an act to establish a free school in district No. 3, in the town of Newtown, county 
of Queens. Passed March 16, 1850. Passed May 5, 1863. Sess. Laws, p. 760. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to establish a free school in district No. 3, in the town of 
Newtown, county of Queens," passed May 5, 1863. Passed April 25, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 2012. 

An act to establish free schools in school district No. 1, in the town of New Rochelle, Westchester 
county. Passed March 20, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 261. 

An act confirming the sale of certain school district property in district No. 5, in the towns of New 
Scotland and Berne, in the county of Albany. Passed March 19, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 257. 

An act to legalize the acts of the board of education of school district No. 7, in the town and county 
of Niagara, and to define the limits of said district. Passed April 2, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 261. 

An act appropriating the excise fees and fines collected in the town of New Utrecht to the use of 
common schools in that town. Passed May 16, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 2310. 

An act to authorize the trustee of school district No. 16, in the town of Newstead, Erie county, to 
borrow money. Passed February 8, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 61. 



1012 A List of Acts 

An act conflrniing the sale of certain school district property in district No, 5, in the towns of New- 
Scotland and Berne, in the county of Albany. Passed March 19, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 256. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 2, of the town of New 
Lots, to raise money for the purchase of a site, and the erection of a new school-house thereon. Passed 
February 3, 1S68. Sess. Laws, p. 7. 

An act to legalize the oflQcial acts of Martin R. Lefever, as trustee of school district No. 7, of the 
towns of New Bremen and Croghan, Lewis county. Passed April 29, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 84. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to amend the act entitled ' An act to provide for the estab- 
lishment of free schools in the village of Newburgh,' passed April 6, 1852," passed March 7, 1865. 
Passed April 6, 1809. Sess. Laws, p. 211. 

An act to provide for the erection of a school-house in school district No. 3, in the town of New 
Lots, and for enlarging the site thereof. Passed April 12, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 483. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to provide for the estab 
lishment of free schools in the village of Newburgh, passed April 6, 1852,' " passed March 7, 1865. 
Passed Februaryt26, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 21. 

An act for the relief of the Inhabitants of union free school district No. 2, in the town of Newark 
Valley, and the county of Tioga. Passed May 2, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 632. 

An act to enlarge the board of education in union free school district No. 6, in the town of North- 
field, in the county of Richmond and to change the name of said district, and to authorize said board 
of education to sell and convey to the purchaser thereof the present school-house and site, and also to 
purchase a new site for a school-house in said district, and to erect thereupon a new school-house and 
to provide for the raising of money therefor. Passed May 15, 1875, Sess. Laws, p. 348. 

An act to legalize certain acts relative to the organization of school district No. 10, of the town of 
Newtown, Queens county. Passed JVIay 13, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 229. 

An act to amend chapter 156 of the Laws of 1852, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act 
to provide for the establishment of free schools in the village of Newburgh,' " passed April 6, 1852, 
passed March 7, 1865. Passed March 30, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 89. 

An act to establish school district No. 11, in the town of Newtown, Queens county. Passed June 
20, 1879. 

An act authorizing the board of trustees of school district No. 3, of the town of New Lots, in the 
county of Kings, to issue bonds to the amount of $10,000, to refund or pay alike amount of bonds 
issued by said board of trustees for the erection of a school-house, in pursuance of chapter 191 of the 
Laws of 1870. Passed May 13, 1880. 

An act to authorize the board of education of school district No. 1, in the town of New Rochelle, to 
issue bonds for the erection of a public school-house building and for other purposes connected with 
public education in said school district. Passed May 9, 1882. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 1, in the town of New 
Hartford, Oneida county, to sell the school-house and site belonging to said district, and other land, 
and purchase a new site, and to raise money therefor, and legalizing the acts of a special district school 
meeting. Passed April 15, 1884. 

An act to provide for the investment of certain funds realized from commutation of glebe rents in 
Newburgh, in the county of Orange. Passed May 13, 1884. 

An act to authorize the trustees of districts Nos. 2 and 14, of the town of Newark Valley, in the 
county of Tioga, to call a meeting. Chapter 78, passed March 22, 1887. 

NEW YORK. 

An act to direct certain moneys to be applied to the use of free schools in the city of New York, 
Passed April 8, 1801. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 2, p. 253. Directs the school moneys 
apportioned to New York to be paid " to the vestry of the Episcopal church, the vestry of Christ church, 
the trustees of the First Presbyterian church; the minister, elders and deacons of the Reformed Dutch 
church, the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, the trustees of Ihe Scotch Presbyterian church 
belonging to the associated reformed synod, and to the trustees of the African school, and to the trus- 
tees of the United German Lutheran, the trustees of the German Reformed churches, to the trustees of 
the First Baptist church in the city of New York, and to the trustees of the United Brethren or Mora- 
vian church, each, one-eleventh part of all the money in the hands of the common council." 

An act to incorporate the society instituted in the city of New York for the establishment of a free 
school for the education of poor children, who do not belong to and are not provided for by any relig- 
ious society. Passed April 9, 1805. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 4, p. 265. Common 
school education from date of 'this law until 1842 |was substantially in charge of this society, whose 
principal founder and promoter was DeWitt Clinton. 

An act to incorporate the trustees of the First Protestant Episcopal charity school in the city of New 
York. Passed March 14. 1806. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 4, p. 378. This act incor- 
porated a school to be kept instead of the free school maintained for many years previous, under the 
care and management of the corporation of Trinity Church. 

An act for the further encouragement of free schools in the city of New York. Passed March 30, 
1811. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed. ), p. 172. Gives to the free school society $4,000 of the 
moneys arising from the excise duties, then in the city treasury, and Sl,000 a year thereafter. 

An act supplementary to the act entitled "An act for the establishment of common schools." Passed 
March 12, 1813. Sess. Laws. p. 38. The general school actof 1812 did not apply to New York city. By 
this act the city was permitted to share in the distribution of the revenue of the school fund. The 
city was required to raise a sum equal to its share of such school money. The common council ap- 
pointed school commissioners to receive and apportion it. It was to be paid " to the trustees of the 
free school society in said city of New York, and the trustees or treasurer of the orphan's asylum 
socie+y, the society of the economical school in the city of New York, the African free school, and of such 
incorporated religious societies in said city as now support or shall hereafter establish charity schools 
within the said city, who may apply for the same." The distribution was to be in proportion to the 
average number of children taught between the ages of four and fifteen years ; but was to be paid to 
no society whose school had not been kept for nine months in the previous year. The children were 
to be taught free of expense. The trustees of the several schools were to make to the school commis- 



Relating to Schools. 1013 

sioners reports similar to those of the trustees of common schools, and the school commissioners to 
the superintendent of common schools. The public money was to be applied to the payment of teach- 
ers' wages. The trustees of the several societies were declared inspectors of the schools ol their respect- 
ive societies. 

An act respecting the free school society of New York. Passed April 5, 1817. Sess. Laws, p. 150. 
Granted $2,000 out of the excise fund. 

An act to incorporate the Hamilton free school (New York), and for other purposes. Passed April 
17, 1818. Sess. Laws, p. 163. The fourth section gives the trustees of this school a share in the distri- 
bution of the common school moneys. 

An act relative to the common lands of the freeholders and inhabitants of Harlem. Passed March 
28. 1S20. Sess. Laws, p. 96. Directs the lands to be sold by trustees ; .$3,000 to be paid to the Harlem 
library; $3,500 to the Hamilton school ; $4,000 to the Harlem school ; $4,500 to Manhattanvihe school ; 
and until such schools are established the funds are to remain in trust in the hands of the trustees, and 
placed on good interest. 

An act relative to the Roman Catholic benevolent society in the city of New York. Passed April 1, 
18:^0. Sess. Laws, p. 117. Requires the commissioners of common school fund in the city to allow and 
pay to the trustees of the society their proportion of the common school money. 

An act to amend an act entitled "'An act relative to the general society of mechanics and tradesmen 
of the city of New York," passed April 3, 1811. Passed January 26, 1821. Sess. Laws, p. 10. Permits 
the school of said society to share in the distribution of the school moneys. 

An act relating to common schools in the city of New York. Passed November 19, 1824. Sess. Laws. 
p. 337. Provides for the apportionment of school moneys to the city, and for the election of ten com- 
missioners to distribute it ; prescribes their duties a§ to making reports and visiting the schools, and 
repeals all former laws relating to the schools of the city. 

An act in relation to the free school society of New York. Passed January 28, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. 
19. Name altered to " public school society of New York." The society was also required to provide 
for the education of all children without regard to the sect or denomination to which their parents 
might belong. The trustees were, by section 3, permitted to charge a " moderate compensation adapted 
to the abilities of the parents ot the children." 

An act to amend the act relating to common schools in the city of New York, passed November 
19, 1824. Passed April 8, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. 93. Increases the number of school ccmmissioners to 
twelve. 

An act to provide for the building of an asylum for the deaf and dumb in the city of New York. 
Passed March 23, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 76. Section 1 appropriated $10,000 for purchase of land and 
erection of buildings, provided the institution should raise an equal sum. The secretary of State was 
to approve the site. By section 2 the institution was placed under the supervision of the superintend- 
ent of common schools, and the directors were to file their consent under their corporate seal in the 
oflSce of the secretary of State. 

An act to incorporate the Manhattanville free school in the twelfth ward in the city of New York. 
Passed March 30, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 103. This was essentially a public and district school. The 
trustees were annually elected by the freeholders of the village of Manhattanville. To receive $2,500 
from trustees of Harlem fund. 

An act to incorporate the trustees of the Harlem school in the twelfth ward of the city of New York. 
Passed April 2, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 119. A public school,'the trustees to be annually elected by a vote 
of the freeholders of the village of Harlem. To receive §4,000 from trustees of the Harlem fund. 

An act to incorporate the trustees of the Yorkville school, in the twelfth ward of the city of New 
York. Passed April 2, 1827. Sess. Laws, p, 114. This was also essentially a public school, of which 
the trustees were elected by the freeholders of the village of Yorkville. To receive $2, 000 from trustees 
ot Harlem fund. 

An act further to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the trustees of the First Protestant 
Episcopal charity school in the city of New York. Passed April 16, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 315, 
Authorizes an increase of the number of schools and the number of trustees. 

An act relative to deeds and mortgages executed or to be executed by the public school society of 
New York. Passed January 20, 1829. Grants the right to sell and convey real estate, and to mortgage 
and confirm all former sales and grants. 

An act for the further support and extension of common schools in the city of New York. Passed 
April 25, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 397. Authorizes the increase of the city school tax one-eightieth of one 
per cent. 

An act for the further support and extension of common schools in the city of New York. Passed 
April 13, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 164. Authorizes a tax of three-eighths of one per cent on the valuation 
of the taxable property of the city for the purposes of common schools in the city. It is to be appor- 
tioned as provided in the Revised Statutes, article 7, chapter 15, g§ 117 to 127. 

An act relative to the school connected with the almshouse of the city of New York. Passed April 
13, 1835. Sess. Laws, p. 54. Declares school entitled to its share of public moneys in any apportion- 
ment by school commissioners, and places the school in charge of the public school society. 

An act to extend to the city and county of New York the provisions of the general act in relation to 
common schools. Passed April 11, 1842. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to extend to the city and county of New York the provis- 
ions of the general act in relation to common schools," passed April 11, 1842. Passed April IS, 1843, 
Sess. Laws, p. 290. 

An act to amend the charter of the public school society of the city of New York. Passed March 
23, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 50. 

An act more eflfectually to provide for common school education in the city and county of New 
York. Passed May 7, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 490. 

An act to authorize the board of education of the city of New York to establish evening free schools 
for the education of apprentices and others. Passed April 16, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 82. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act more effectually to provide for common school education in 
the city of New York," passed May 7, 1844. Passed May 11, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 275. 

An act to incorporate the New York society for the promotion of education among colored children. 
Passed December 7, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 425. 



1014 A List of Acts 

An act in relation to the public school society in the city of New Yort . Passed March 4, 1848. Sess. 
Laws, p. 81. 

An act to [amend an act entitled "An act to extend to the city and county of New York the provis- 
ions of the general act in relation to common schools," passed April 11, 1842. Passed March 21, 1848. 
Sess. Laws, p. 147. 

An act to authorize the hoard of education of the city of New York to establish evening schools for 
the education of apprentices and others. Passed March 25, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 209. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act more effectually to provide for common school education in 
the city and county of New York," passed May 7, 1844. Passed March 27, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 211. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act more effectually to provide for common?school education In 
the city and county of New York," passed May 7, 1844. Passed May 11, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 549. 

An act to amend the charter of the Manhattanville free school in the city of New York. Passed 
March 27, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 147. Authorized to convey their real estate and improvements to the 
city. 

An act to amend, consolidate and reduce to one act the various acts relative to 'common schools of 
the city of New York. Passed July 3, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 734. 

An act in relation to the school officers of the twentieth ward of the city of New York. Passed 
March 26, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 130. Permits them to enter upon the duties of their office as soon a& 
they take the oath of office required by law. 

An'act relative to common schools in the city of New York. Passed June 4, 1853, Sess. Laws,. 
p. 629. Authorizes the public school society to transfer all its property and schools to the city. 

An act relative to the common schools in the city of New York. Passed March 31, 1854. Sess. Laws, 
p. 235. 

An act relative to common schools in the city of New York, Passed April 15, 1854, Sess. Laws, p. 
588. 

An act to enable the schools of the Five Points House of Industry, and the school established by the 
Ladies' Home Missionary Society, to participate in the distribution of the common school fund. 
Passed April 12, 1855. Sess . Laws, p. 761 . 

An act to provide for the appointment of a commission to secure the more perfect establishment, 
government, regulation and economy of common schools in the city of New York. Passed April 17, 
1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 528. 

An act to continue the commission appointed to secure the more perfect establishment, government 
regulation and economy of common schools in the city of New York. Passed April 14, 1858. Sess. 
Laws, p. 318. 

An act in relation to school libraries in the city of New York. Passed April 13, I860. Sess. Laws, 
p. 626. 

An act to repeal an act passed April 16, 1860, entitled ' ' An act in relation to school libraries in the 
city of New York," passed April 13, 1860. Passed April 15, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 194. 

An act to enable the schools of the Children's Aid Society to participate in the distribution of the 
common school fund. Passed April 17, 1862. Sess. Laws, p. 455. 

An act relative to common schools in the city ot New York. Passed April 15, 1863. Sess. Laws, p. 
193. 

An act relative to common schools in the city of New York. Passed April 25, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 
822. 

An act relative to common schools in the city of New York. Passed March 3, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 
94. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to amend, consolidate and reduce to one act the various 
acts relative to common schools of the city of New York," passed .July 3, 1851. Passed April 2, 1866. 
Sess. Laws, p. 748. 

An act relative to common schools in the city of New York. Passed April 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 
1, p. 540. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act relative to the Nursery and Child's Hospital, of the city 
of New York," passed April 17, 1866. Passed April 27, 1869. Sess. Laws, p, 837. Section 2 provides 
for participation in distribution of common school fund. 

An act relative to common schools in the city of New York. Passed April 30, 1869. Sess. Laws, 
p. 697. 

An act to make provision for the government of the city of New York. Passed May 12, 1869. Sess. 
Laws, vol. 2, p. 2119. Section 10, p. 2132, provides for applying excise moneys to support of schools. 

Section 10 of the act entitled " An act to make provision for the government of the city of New 
York, passed May 12, 1S59, is hereby repealed from and after the 30th day of September next. Passed 
April 26, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 881. 

An act to make provision for the local governments of the city and county of New York, of which 
section 6 of chapter 583 relates to-appropriations for private or sectarian schools or institutions other- 
wise prohibited. Passed April 19, 1881. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, pp. 1268 and 1271. 

An act to provide for the erection of school-houses, and a building for the normal college, in the city 
of New York. Passed April 25, 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1520. 

An act in relation to certain lands in the 12th ward of the city of New York, belonging to the mayor, 
aldermen and commonalty of said city. Passed May 7, 1872. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1425. 

An act relating to the New York Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled. Parsed May 
22, 1872. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1987, of which section 3 relates to the distribution of school fund, 
p. 1988. 

An act'relative to common schools in the city of New York. Passed March 21, 1873. Sess. Laws, 
p. 196. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act relative to common schools in the city of New York, " 
passed March 21, 1873. Passed April 15, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 346. 



Relating to Schools. 1015 



An act to authorize the board of education for the city and county of New York to establish a nau- 
tical school. Passed April 24, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 415, 

An act authorizing and empowering the commissioners of the sinking fund of the city of New York, 
to assign to the board of education certain property to be used for school purposes. Passed June 5, 
1875. Sess Laws, p. 565.. 

An act to provide for the audit and payment of claims for repairs, printing, labor and other in ci- 
denta) matters in and about public school buildings, incurred during the years 1869, 1870, 1871 and 1872 
by the trustees of the common schools of the several wards in the citj' of New York, and to provide 
means therefor. Passed June 1, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 460, 

An act to authorize the commissioners of the sinking fund of the city of New York to sell lands no 
longer required for school purposes in said city. Passed April 8, 1881. 

An act to provide additional accommodations for the common schools in the city of New York. 
Passed June 3, 1884. 

An act to amend chapter 458, of the Laws of 1884, entitled " An act to provide additional accommo- 
dations for the common schools in the city of New York." Passed June 11, 1885. 

An act to provide for the establishment of an additional evening high school for males in the city of 
New York. Passed May 11, 1886. 

An act to extend the time for the issue of bonds to provide additional accommodations for the com- 
mon schools in the city of New York. Passed May 26, 1886. 

An act in relation to public instruction in the city of New York (colored schools). Passed May 
5, 1884. 

An act in relation to the common schools and the support thereof in the city of New York. Chapter 
67. Pacsed March 14, 1887. 

An act in relation to the powers of the board of education of the city ot New York. Chapter 341. 
Passed May 17, 1887. 

An act to provide for the establishment of an additional evening high school for males in the city o f 
New York. Chapter 119. Passed April 7, 1887. 

An act to amend chapter 800, of the Laws of 1866, entitled " An act to provide for the appraisal of 
and acquiring title to lands taken for or in addition to sites for district school-houses," as amended by 
chapter 329, of the Laws of 1871, and as further amended by chapter 121, of the Laws of 1886, and to 
extend it to the city of New York. Chapter 318. Passed May 13, 1887. 

NORMAL SCHOOLS, 

An act for the establishment of a normal school. Passed May 7, 1844.. Sess. Laws, p. 464. 
An act m relation to the normal school. Passed May 7, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 139. An appropriation 
bill. 

An act for the permanent establishment of the normal school. Passed April 12,1848. Sess. Laws, 
p. 446. 

An act to provide for the completion of the normal school buiding. Passed February 24, 1849. Sess. 
Laws, p. 87. 

An act for the support of a training school for primary teachers. Passed May 4, 1863. (Oswego.) 
Sess. Laws, p. 713. 

An act to amend " An act for the support of a training school for primarv teachers," passed May 4, 
1863, Passed April 14, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 804. (Oswego), 

An act in regard to normal schools, Passed April 7, 1866. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 1015. 

An act in relation to the establishment of a normal and training school in the village of Fredonia, 
Chautauqua county. Passed March 30, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 334. 

An act in relation to raising moneys in the town of Cortlandville, in the county of Cortland, for the 
purpose of aiding in the erection and furnishing of a normal school building in said town. Passed 
March 30, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 306. 

An act in relation to the establishment of a normal and trsining school in the village of Geneseo, 
to be called " The Wadsworth normal.and training school. " Passed March 29, 1807. Sess. Laws, vol. 
1, p. 295, 

An act in regard to the normal and training school of the city of Oswego. Passed March 27, 1867, 
Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 256. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act in regard to normal schools, " Passed April 7, 1866, and 
providing for a normal and training school in the city of Buftalo. Passed April 23, 1867, Sess, Laws, 
vol, 2, p. 1568. 

An act in relation to the normal school located at Potsdam, in the county of St. Lawrence, pursuant 
to chapter 466, Laws of 1866, and to levy taxes for the purposes thereof. Passed January 23, 1867. 
Sess, Laws, vol. 1, p. 24. 

An act in relation to the establishment of a normal and training school in the village of Brockport. 
Passed February 2, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 54. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to the establishment of a normal school in the 
village of Brockport," passed February 2, 1867, Passed March 19, 1867. Sess, Laws, vol, 1, p. 139. 

An act to provide for raising money to aid in the establishment of a normal school at Brockport* 
Passed April 23, 1667, Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1535, 

An act in relation to the normal school at Cortlandville and confirming the action of the village 
trustees in reference thereto Passed April 11, 1868, Sess, Laws, p. 377. 

An act authorizing the trustees of Cortlandville academy to convey certain real estate, and to remove 
academy building and appurtenances. Passed April 16, 1868, Sess. Laws, p. 413. The object being to 
provide for normal school building. 

An act to authorize the village of Potsdam to issue bonds and levy taxes to aid in procuring a site for 
normal school buildings. Passed March 28, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 102. 



1016 A List of Acts 

An act to establish the quorum of the local hoard of the Oswego normal and training school. Passed 
April 27, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 809. 

An act to enable the tax -paying electors of the village of Geneseo to raise money in aid of " The 
Wadsworth Normal and Training School," located in that village. Passed May 6, 1868. Sess. Laws, 
vol. 2, p. 1238. 

An act to enable the local board of the Oswego normal and training school, to apply unexpended ap- 
propriations to the purchase of apparatus. Passed January 16, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 17. 

An act to amend an act entitled ' ' An act in regard to normal schools," passed April 7, 1866. Passed 
February 16, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 36. 

An act in relation to the establishment of a normal and training school in the village of Plattsburgh, 
to be called the "Plattsburgh Normal and Training School." Passed May 7, 1869. Sess. Laws, vol. 
2, p. 1607. 

An act in relation to the normal school bonds issued by the village of Cortland. Passed March 15, 
1871. Sess. Laws, p. 229. 

An act to amendian act entitled "An act in relation to the establishment of a normal and training 
school in the village of Plattsburgh," to be called "The Plattsburgh Normal and Training School." 
passed May 17, 1869. Passed March 23, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 345. 

An act to change the name of " The Wadsworth Normal and Training School, " making an appro- 
priation to pay otf the debt incurred for the construction of the building, and to enable the commis- 
sioners appointed by the act entitled " An act in relation to the establishment of a normal and train- 
ing school in the village of Geneseo, to be called ' The Wadsworth Normal and Training School,'" to 
complete said building so as to allow the State to accept the building and the grounds appurtenant 
thereto, and to legalize the acts of the board of trustees of the village of Geneseo in issuing bonds 
pursuant to chapter 601, of the Laws of 1868, and the act amendatory thereof. Passed April 5. 1871. 
Sess. Laws, p. 581. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in regard to normal schools," passed April 7, 1866. 
Passed February 16, 1869. 

An act concerning the grounds, buildings and property of the State provided for normal schools, the 
custodv, protection and preservation of the same, and the powers of local boards in relation thereto. 
Passed' May 20, 1880. 

An act authorizing the local boards of State normal schools of this State to insure the buildings and 
propertj'^belonging to said schools for the benefit of the State, Passed May 2, 1882. 

An act to establish a normal and training school, with an academic department, at the village of 
Oneonta, in the county of Otsego, and to make an appropriation therefor. Chapter 374. Passed May 
18, 1887. 

o. 

An act in relation to schools and academies in the village of Ogdensburgh. Passed April 13, 1857. 
Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 778. 

An act to provide for the payment of the arrears of salary due the superintendent of schools in the 
village of Ogdensburgh. Passed April 11, 1859. Sess. Laws, p. 509. 

An act to amend an act entitled ' ' An act in relation to schools and academies in the village of Og- 
densburgh," passed April 13, 1857. Passed March 22, 1865, Sess. Laws, p. 288. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act in relation to schools and academies In the village of Og- 
densburgh," passed April 13, 1857. Passed February 19, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 96. 

An act in relation to a school lot in the town of Olean. Sess. Laws, p. 166. Authorizes sale of 
school lot. 

An act to consolidate districts No. 7 and No. 28, in the town of Onondaga, county of Onondaga; and 
to provide for the organization of a school and academy therein, and to enable the said district to pro- 
vide the necessary building therefor. Passed April 28, 1866. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1897. 

An act to incorporate the union free school district No. 4, town of Orangetown, county of Rockland, 
Passed April 14, 1859. Sess. Laws, p. 684. 

An act to amend the " act incorporating the union free school district No. 4, town of Orangetown, 
county of Rockland." Pasbcd ilarch 26, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 515. 

An act to legalize the site of the school-house in school district No. 6, of the town of Onondaga, and 
to enable the trustees of said district to acquire the title to the lands now used for such site, and such 
other lands as may be necessary for the same. Passed April 16, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 935. 

An act to provide for the better education of the children in the several orphan asylums in this State 
other than in the city of New York. Passed April 10, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 500. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 3. in the town of Orwell, county of Oswego, to 
sell a part of their school lot. Passed April 12, 1843. Sess. Laws, p. S5. 

An act in relation to the public schools in the city of Oswego. Passed April 5, 1853. Sess. Laws, 
p. 188. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to the public schools in the city of Oswego," 
passed April 5, 1853. Passed June 21, 1853. Sess Laws, p. 839. 

An act to amend the act entitled " An act in relation to public schools in the city of Oswego," passed 
April 5, 1853. Passed March 27, 1855. Sess. Lavrs, p. 1.^9. 

An act to divide the county of Oswego into three school commissioner districts, and to provide for 
the appointment of a school commissioner therein. Passed March 8, 1859. Sess. Laws, p. 65. 

An act in relation to the election of school commissioners in the city of Oswego. Passed April 17, 
1867. Sess. Laws. vol. 1. p. 1004. 

An act to authorize the common council of Oswego to borrow money for school uses and for other 
purposes. Passed April 5, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 229. 

An act for the relief of the trustee of school district No. 11, in the town of Otselic, Chenango county. 
Passed May 13, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 255.. 



Relating to Schools. 1017 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 11, in the town of Otselic, to raise money by 
tax on said district to pay the costs and expenses incurred by said district or its trustees, in a suit 
against Isaiah Lewis. Passed April 30, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 159. 

An act to consolidate the several school districts within the corporate limits of the village of Oswego 
and to establish free schools in the same. Passed April 23, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 739. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to consolidate the several school districts within the cor- 
porate limits in the village of Owego, and to establish Iree schools in the same," passed April 23, 1864. 
Passed March 17, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 250. 

An act concerning the legacy bequeathed by David Jones for the benefit of a charity school. Passed 
March 24, 1795. Sess. Laws ( Webster & Skinner's ed. ), vol. 2, p. 249. Three hundred pounds bequeathed 
for the education of the poor, directed to be loaned on good land security by the overseer of the poor 
of Oyster Bay, and the interest thereof forever applied to the instruction and education of such poor 
children in said town as said overseers should deem objects of charity. 

An act to authorize the trustees of the Oyster Bay academy to be the trustees of a school district. 
Passed April 12, 1823. Sess. Laws. p. 170. "With the consent of the taxable inhabitants, the trustees 
of the academy were to be trustees of the common school district composed of the village of Oyster 
Bay, for six years, and they were to continue such trustees, provided such consent should be renewed 
every six years. 

An act to establish a free school in district No. 5, town of Oyster Bay, Queens county. Passed April 
15, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 223. 

An act to alter school district No. 4, in the town of Oyster Bay, Queens county. Passed April 13, 
1360. Sess. Laws, p. 605, 

An act to amend an act untitled "An act in relation to academies and schools in the village of 
Ogdensburg," passed April 13, 1857, and for other purposes. Passed April 17, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 511. 

An act in relation to chapter 839 of the Laws of 1866, relative to the consolidation of school districts 
Nos. 7 and 28, in the tawn and county of Onondaga. Passed April 21, 18C8. Sess. Laws, p. 531. 

An act to authorize the adoption of an academical department in the union school district of the 
village of Owego. Passed January 23, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 22. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to establish a free school in district No. 5, town of Oyster 
Bay, Queens county," passed April 15, 1857. Passed April 17, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 440. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to' academies and schools in the village of 
Ogdensburgh," passed April 13, 1857, and the acts amendatory tnereof. Passed April 27, 1869. Sess. 
Laws, p. 832. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to alter school district No. 4, in the town of Oyster Bay, 
Queens county," passed April 13, 1860. Passed April 27, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 820. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to academies and schools in the village of Og- 
densburgh," passed April 13, 1857, and the acts amendatory thereof. Passed March 27, 1871. Sess. 
Laws, p. 358. 

An act authorizing the trustees of union free school district No. 9, of the town of Oyster Bay, Queens 
county, to issue bonds and borrow money for the erection of a new school-house in said district. 
Passed April 19, 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1157. 

An act to enable the supervisors of the county of Tioga to convey title of the old county clerk's olfice, 
and the land on which it was built, to the school commissioners of the union schools of the village of 
Owego. Passed March 6, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 101. 

An act to amend title 7, entitled " of the board of education," of an act entitled "An act revising 
the charter of the city of Oswego," passed April 16, 1860. Passed March 20, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 180. 

An act to authorize the board of education of "union free school district No. 1, of the town of 
Ovid," in the county of Seneca, State of New York, to sell and convey a portion of the land occupied 
as a site for the school-house of said district. Passed March 5, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 72. 

An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Ogdensburgh to borrow money for school 
purposes. Passed March 25, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 96. 

An act to extend the limits of union free school district No. 1, of the town of Ovid, in the county of 
Seneca, and to dissolve school districts Nos. 3 and 4, in the town of Eomulus, in said countv. Passed 
April 9, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 165. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Ogdensburg to raise money for the purpose of 
finishing and furnishing additional school rooms for the common schools of said city. Passed May 
15, 1878. Sess Laws, p. 329. 

An act to legalize the acts and proceedings of the inhabitants and trustees of school district No. 29, 
in the town and county of Onondaga. Passed May 24, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 446. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to revise the charter of the city of Oswego," passed April 
16, 1860, and the acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto. Passed April 29, 1879. City 
charter containing the school act. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Ogdensburg to raise money for the purpose of 
finishing and furnishing additional school-rooms of said city. Passed March 4, 1880. 

An act to amend chapter 382, of the Laws of 1857, entitled "An act in relation to schools and acade- 
mies in the village of Ogdensburgh. Passed March 29, 1881. 

An act conferring additional powers on the trustees of union free school district No. 1, of the town 
of Olean, Cattaraugus county, and granting additional privileges to said district. Passed May 16, IS82. 

An act to amend section 1, of chapter 236, of the Laws of 1869, entitled " An act to amend an act 
•entitled ' An act to establish a free school in district No. 5, town of Oyster Bay, Queens county,' passed 
April 15, 1857." Passed April 16, 1883. 

An act to amend section 4, of chapter 303, of the Laws of 1859. entitled "An act to incorporate the 
union free school district No. 4, town of Orangetown, county of Rockland, and to repeal section 1, of 
chapter 227, of the Laws of 1866, entitled " An act to amend the act incorporating the union free school 
district No. 4, town of Orangetown, county of Rockland. Chapter 391. Passed May 19, 1887. 

128 



1018 A List of Acts 



P. 

An act relative to school district No. 1, in the town of Palmyra and county of Wayne. Passed April 
6,1830. Sess. Laws, p. 121. Authorizes the district to sell its school-house and lot to the Palmyra 
high school. 

An act relative to union school district No. 1, in the town of Palmyra. Passed March 19,1847. 
Sess. Laws, p. 20. 

An act In relation to consolidated school district No. 1, In the town of Palmyra, Wayne county. 
Passed April 7, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 600. 

An act to confirm the proceedings of the trustees of school district No. 11, in the towns of Pamelia 
and Leray, In the county of Jefferson. Passed April 5, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 104. 

An act in relation to common schools in the village of Penn Yan. Passed April 17, 1857. Sess. Laws, 
vol. 2, p. 647. 

An act to authorize the comptroller to loan money to the Penn Yan union school district from the 
common school fund. Passed April 14, 1858. Sess. Laws, p. 320. 

An act to amend an act in relation to common schools in the village of Penn Yan, passed April 17. 
1857. Passed April 8, 1859. Sess. Laws, p. 453. 

An act in relation to school district No. 8, in the town of Phelps, in the county of Ontario. Passed 
April 19, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 1050. 

An act to make the union school of Phelps a free school. Passed February 27, 1865. Sess. Laws, 
p. 79. 

An act to secure to school district No. 4, In Edmeston, and No. 6, in the town of Plttsfleld, in the 
county of Otsego, the legacies of Adin Deming, deceased. Passed March 16, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 109. 

An act for the relief of Mumford Clark, collector of school district No. 6, In the town of Pittsford. 
Passed January 31, 1843. Sess. Laws', p. 10. 

An act in regard school district No. 16, in the town of Pittstown, in the county of Rensselaer. 
Passed March 15, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 297. 

An act to consolidate school districts Nos. 1, 2 and 5, of the town of Plattsburgh, into a free union 
single district, and to vest the government thereof, and of the academy therein, in a board of educa- 
tion. Passed May 8, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 2026. 

An act to make school district No. 9, in the town of Pomfret, a union free school district. Passed 
March 17, 1858. Sess.. Laws, p. 55. 

An act to amend an act entitled ' ' An act to make school district No. 9, in the town of Pomfret, a 
union free school district," passed March 17, 185S; and to legalize certain acts of the board of education 
of said district. Passed March 31, 1864. Sess. Laws, chap. 98, p. 150. 

An act relative to appropriating the surplus poor funds in the town of Gouverneur, in the county of 
St. Lawrence, for the benefit of common schools. Passed March 31, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 165. 'Re- 
quires $1,000 to be paid to the trustees of public lands in said town and loaned and the interest applied 
annually to the support of common schools. 

An act authorizing the overseers of the poor of the town of Saranac to pay over certain moneys in 
their hands to the commissioners of common schools in said town. Passed February 5, 1829. Sess, 
Laws, p. 89. 

An act relative to moneys in the hands of the overseers of the poor. Passed April 27, 1829. Sess. 
Laws, p. 421. Authorizes the inhabitants of towns to invest certain moneys for the support of schools 
to be and remain a permanent school fund. 

An act to authorize the overseers of the poor of the town of Plerrepont, in St. Lawrence county, to 
pay certain moneys to the commissioners of common schools in said town. Passed April 29, 1829. 
Sess. Laws, p, 435. 

An act appropriating certain poor funds in the town of DeKalb, in the county of St. Lawrence, to 
the common schools of said town. Passed February 22, 1830. One thousand dollars to be loaned and 
the interest applied to the support of common schools. 

An act authorizing the application of the interest arising from the poor fund of the town of Russell 
to the school fund. Passed April 26, 1834, Sess. Laws, p. 386. 

An act for the relief of Lewis A. Talman. Passed March 20, 1841. Sess. Laws, p. 38. (Portage.) 

An act to incorporate the Poughkeepsie Lancaster school society. Passed March 11, 1814. Sess. 
Laws, p. 45. Section 6 of this act made the village a permanent school district, and required the com- 
missioners of common schools to pay to the trustees of the Lancaster school society the share of public 
money apportioned to that part of the town comprised in the village. 

An act to establish free schools in the village of Poughkeepsie. Passed April 18, 1843. Sess. Laws, 
p. 279. 

An act to incorporate the city of Poughkeepsie. Passed March 28, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 171. 

An act to repeal and amend parts of an act entitled " An act to incorporate the city of Poughkeep- 
sie," passed March 28, 1854, and the amendments thereto, passed April 12, 1855, and April 2, 1858, for 
the benetit of the common schools in said city. Passed April 6, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 317. 

An act to establish a union free school in district No. 2, in the town ot Poughkeepsie. Passed May 
1, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 1304. 

An act to authorize school district No. 1, of the town of Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess, 
to borrow money for the purpose of completing a school building in said district, and to provide for 
the payment thereof. Passed March 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 96. 

An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of districts in the village of Pulaski into 
one district, and provide for a school therein. Passed June 4, 1853. Sess. Laws. p. 648. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of dis- 
tricts in the village of Pulaski, into a district, and provide for a school therein," passed June 4, 1853. 
Passed April 19, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 1073. 



Relating to Schools. 1019 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of dig. 
trlcts in the village of Pulaski, into one district, and to provide for a school therein." Passed April 9, 
1864. Sess. Laws, p. 336. 

An act authorizing the comptroller to loan money to the Pulaski school district, and for other pur- 
poses. Passed April 17, 18&4. Sess. Laws, p. 715. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act authorizing the comptroller to loan money to the Pulaski 
school district, and for other purposes," passed April 17, 1854. Passed April 13, 1855. Sess. Laws, 
p. 767. 

An act to authorize the village of Potsdam to issue bonds and levy taxes to aid in procuring a site 
for normal school buildings. Passed March 28, 1868. Sess. Laws. p. 102. 

An act to make ths town of Providence a part of the first school commissioners' district of Saratoga 
county. Passed April 3, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 204. 

An act to legalize the election of trustees in free union school district No. 1, of the town of Platts- 
burgh, and the several acts of the board of education of said district. Passed May 1, 1868. Sess. Law8» 
vol. 2, p. 1070. 

An act to repeal an act entitled ' ' An act in regard to school district No. 16. in the town of Pittstown, 
In the county of llensselaer," passed March 15, 1866. Passed May 3. 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 1203. 

An act authorizing the trustees of the academy of Dutchess county, in Poughkeepsie, to sell real 
estate and bestow its proceeds, with other personalty, on the board of education of the city of Pough- 
keepsie, and providing for the dissolution of such academy. Passed February 17,1870. Sess. Laws, 
p. 24. 

An act to authorize the board of education of district No. 9, in the town of Perrinton, to construct a 
school building, and provide means for payment therefor. Passed February 8, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 49. 

An act legalizing the conveyance of the trustees of Joint school district, No. 9, of the towns of 
Plattsburgh and Peru, Clinton county. Passed April, 9, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 171. 

An act in relation to the high school in the city of Poughkkeepsie. Passed May 8, 1874. Sess. Laws, 
p. 484. 

An act In relation to free union school district No. 1, of the town of Plattsburgh. Passed May 21, 
1874. Sess. Laws, p. 718. 

An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Poughkeepsie to appoint a superintendent 
of public schools and fix his compensation. Passed June 2, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 405. 

An act to authorize the issue ol bonds by the board of education of the village of Port Byron, in the 
county of Cayuga, to pay a bond and mortgage to the State on the school property in said village, and 
to raise money by tax on the Port Byron free school district for the payment of such bonds. Passed 
March 27, 1819. 

An act to amend chapter 34, of the Laws of 1858, entitled " An act to make school district No. 9, in 
the town of Pomfret, a union free school district." Passed February 19, 1880. 

An act to amend chapter 34, of the Laws of 1858, entitled " An act to make school district No. 9, in 
the town of Pomfret, a union free school district." Passed April 30, 1881. 

An act to amend chapter 34, of the Laws of 1858, entitled ' ' An act to make school district No. 9, in 
the town of Pomfret, a union free school district. " Passed March 31, 1883. 

An act authorizihg the board of education of union free school district No. 1, of the towns of Pots- 
dam and Norfolk, In the county of St. Lawrence, in the State ol New York, to issue bonds for the pur- 
pose of buying lands and premises for a school-house site, and the erection of a new school-house build- 
ing thereon. Passed April 3, 1883. 

An act authorizing the board of education of the city of Poughkeepsie to sell and convey certain real 
estate owned by said city. Passed March 1, 1884. 

An act to enable ' * the board of education for the village of Peun Yan " to raise money for school 
purposes. Passed February 2, 1886. 

An act to amend chapter 305, of the Laws of 1857, entitled " An act to consolidate school districts No. 
6 and No. 15, in the town of Mentz, in the county of Cayuga, into one school district, and to provide 
for the organization of 'a school and academy therein, and to enable the said district to loan money to 
erect the necessary buildings therefor," as amended by chapter 448, of the Laws of 1877. Chapter 598. 
Passed June 18, 1887. 



An act to provide for the partition and division of the Joint libraries of school district No. 18, and 
union free school district No. 1, of the town of Queensbury, and to repeal chapter 424, of the Laws of 
1851. Passed April 2, 1883. 

R. 

Revised Statutes, passed in 1827, 1828 and 1829, chapter 15, of part 1, related to public instruction. 
The act creating the board of Regents of the University, all the acts relating to common schools, the 
laws relating to Lancaster schools (Sess. Laws of 1821, p. 54), and all special acts relating to villages 
and cities, were included in said chapter 15. 

An act to legalize the acts of the inhabitants and trustees of school district No. 12, formed partly out 
of the town of Ridgeway and partly out of the town of Shelby In the county of Orleans, Passed March 
4, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 45. 

An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 12, in the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby, 
Orleans county, to raise money by tax. Passed January 28, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 14. 

An act to incorporate the Rochester high school. In the county of Monroe. Passed March 15, 1827. 
Sess. Laws, p. 55. This was a Lancaster school. The first section constituted districts Nos. 4 and 14, 
in the town of Brighton, one district, declared to be a school district, and appointed the first trustees, 
with power to keep and maintain a school, and to hold and own property with an income not to 
exceed $3,000 a year. They were authorized to levy a tax of $4,000 on the district, to build a school- 
house. 



1020 A List of Acts 

An act to amend the act entitled " An act to Incorporate the Rochester high school, In the county of 
Monroe." Passed March 28, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 134. Authorizes the levy of a tax. 

An act to amend the act entitled " An act to incorporate the Rochester high school, in the county of 
Monroe. " passed March 15, 1827. Passed April 30. 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 513. Authorizes the trustees 
to mortgage real estate, and make the payment of such mortgage by either of them, individually, 
operate as a valid assignment of the mortgage to the payor. 

An act to authorize the Rochester high school to raise money by tax. Passed February 23, 1831. 
Sess. Laws, p. 52. Authorizes the raising of $3,000. 

An act to constitute the colored children of Rochester a separate school. Passed April 14, 1832. 
Sess. Laws, p. 211. Authorized the school commissioners of the towns of Gates and Brighton to 
establish and maintain a separate school for colored children in the village of Rochester. 

An act to incorporate the city of Rochester. Passed April 28, 1834. Title six relates to schools. 

An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 10, in the city of Rochester, to sell a part of 
their school-house lot. Passed April 23, 1835. Sess. Laws, p. 158. Authorizes the sale of half an acre 
from the north end of the lot, and the expenditure of the avails in the reparation of the school-house. 

An act further to amend the act entitled " An act to incorporate the Rochester high school, in the 
county of Monroe," passed March 15, 1827. Passed April 20, 1836. Sess. Laws, p. 220. Authorizes the 
division of the school district attached to the high school into two common school districts. 

An act further to amend an act entitled " An act to incorporate the city of Rochester. " Passed May 
14, 1840. The sixth section authorized the levy of taxes for the support of schools, making them free. 

An act further to amend an act entitled " An act to incorporate the city of Rochester," passed April 
23, 1834. Passed May 20, 1841. Sess. Laws, p. 185. 

An act relative to school district No. 5, in the city of Rochester. Passed April 12, 1842. Sess. Laws, 
p. 367. 

An act relative to school districts Nos. 5 and 3, in the city of Rochester. Passed April 10, 1844. Sess. 
Laws, p. 131. 

An act to consolidate and amend the act to incorporate the city of Rochester, passed April 28, 1834, 
and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 11, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 138. Title 6 relates to 
schools. Section 8 of the title provided for a tax sufficient to. make all the schools free. 

An act relative to district No. 2, in the city of Rochester. Passed April 24, 1845. Sess. Laws, 
p. 74. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate and amend the act to incorporate the city of 
Rochester," passed April 11, 1844. Passed May 2, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 98. 

An act providing for the election of city superintendent of common schools of the city of Rochester 
by the electors of said city. Passed April 4, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 285. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate and amend the act to incorporate the city of 
Rochester, " passed April 11, 1844, and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed February 28, 1849, 
Sess. Laws, p. 96. 

An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to the city of Rochester. Passed April 10, 
1850. Sess. Laws, p. 50L Title 6 relates to schools. 

An act in relation to the free schools in the city of Rochester. Passed March 2, 1850. Sess. Laws, 
p. 38. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise $10,000 for the use of the 
public schools therein. Passed April 6, i860. Sess. Laws, p. 316. 

An act to authorize the city of Rochester to borrow money for the purpose of erecting school build- 
ings. Passed March 23, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 206. 

An act for the relief of certain school districts in the town of Rome, in the county of Oneida. Passed 
January 21, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 12. Requires forfeited money to be apportioned to certain districts. 

An act to provide for the erection of a school-house in district No. 5, in the town of Rome, and to 
change the site thereof. Passed March 1, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 30. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to make the common schools free In district No. 5, in the 
town of Rome, in the county of Oneida, and to provide a tax for that purpose " passed April 10, 1862, 
and to authorize the raising of money by tax. Passed March 28, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 263. 

An act in relation to school district No. 8, in the town of Royalton. Passed May 12, 1847. Sess. 
Laws, p. 347. 

An act for the relief of the town of Rye. Passed February 9, 1821. Sess. Laws, p. 32. Orders the 
sale of four acres of land in said town for the benefit of schools. 

An act to legalize the election of trustees of school district No. 14, in the town of Ridgeway, Orleans 
countv N Y at the annual election of trustees held in October, 1866 and 1867, and to confirm and 
legalize' their acts, and to allow said district to elect three trustees in said district. Passed April 13, 
1868. Sess. Laws, p. 210. 

A.n act to incorporate the city of Rome, of which title 10 relates to education. Passed February 23, 
1870. Sess. Laws, pp. 40 and 82. - 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to Incorporate the city of Rome," passed February 23, 1870. 
Passed February 18, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 61, of which sections 3, 24, 25, etc., relate to educational mat- 
ters, pp. 72 and 73. 

An act to authorize the removal of the remains of all persons mterred in Monroe street cemetery, 
in the city of Rochester, to Mount Hope or other cemeteries in the city, and the taking of the lands 
included within the bounds of said Monroe street cemetery by the city of Rochester for public school 
and park purposes, also the issue of bonds by said city to defray the expense thereof. Passed May 8, 
1872. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1446. 

An act for the benefit of common schools in the county of Richmond. Passed April 25, 1873. Sess. 
Laws, p. 430. 

An act authorizing the city of Rochester to issue $15,000 of bonds for the purpose of erecting a public 
school building. Passed June 10, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 1066. 



Kelatikg to Schools. 1021 

An act to authorize the city of Rochester to levy a tax for the purpose of completing public school 
buildings. Passed April 10, 1874. Sess, Laws, p. 179. 

An act to extend the limits of union free school district No. 1, of the town of Ovid, in the county of 
Seneca, and to dissolve school districts Nos. 3 and 4, in the town of Romulus, in said county. Passed 
April 9, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 165. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise money to provide for the 
deficiencies in the funds of the board of education. Passed March 20, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 65. 

An act to authorize the city of Rochester to issue its bonds for the construction of a new school build- 
ing. Passed March 29, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 70. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise money to provide for the 
deficiencies in the funds for the support of the public schools of the city. Passed March 5, 1879. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise money to provide for dell- 
ciencies in the funds for the support of the public schools of said city. Passed April 14, 1882. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise money to enlarge and erect 
school buildings to relieve the overcrowded schools of said city. Passed May 2, 1883. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise money to enlarge and erect 
school buildings to relieve the overcrowded schools of said city. Passed April 25, 1884. 

An act to amend the charter of the city of Rochester, as contained in chapter 14 of the laws of 1880« 
Passed May 19, 1884. 

An act to empower the city of Rochester to acquire title to lands taken for, or in addition to, sites 
for school buildings. Passed February 21, 1885. 

An act to amend chapter 457 of the Laws of 1857, entitled "An act to incorporate the industrial school 
of Rochester. " Passed May 6, 1886. 

An act to authorize the city of Rochester to levy a tax for the purpose of erecting new school build- 
ings. Passed April 24, 1886. 

An act to authorize the city of Rochester to levy a tax for the purpose of erecting new school build- 
ings. Chapter 94. Passed March 29, 1887. 

An act to separate the union free schools of the city of Rome from the third commissioner's district 
of Oneida county. Chapter 200. Passed April 25, 1887.. 

S. 

An act to consolidate certain school districts within or adjoining the corporate limits of Sag Harbor, 
Suffolk county, and to establish a union school therein. Passed April 22, 1863 . Sess. Laws, p. 799. 

An act to legalize certain expenditures of the board of education of the union school district of Sag 
Harbor, for the purchase of text-books, ani for teachers' wages, and to authorize the levying of a tax 
tor the payment of the same. Passed April 16, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 464. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate certain school districts within or adjoining 
the corporate limits of the village of Sag Harbor, Suffolk county, and to establish a union school 
therein," passed April 22, 1862. Passed April 22, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 720. 

An act to constitute school district No. 1, in the town of Salina and county of Onondaga, a free school. 
Passed April 9, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 354. 

An act to amend an act entitled • ' An act to constitute school district No. 1, in the town of Saliiia 
and county of Onondaga, a free school. " Passed March 25, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 340. 

An act authorizing the "formation of a new school district in the town of Salina, in the county of 
Onondaga, to be called school district No. 6, of said town. Passed April 24, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, 
p. 1863. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate the several school districts, and parts of dis- 
tricts, within the corporate limits of Saratoga Springs, and to establish a free union school or schools 
therein." Passed April 25, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1958, 

An act to incorporate the Schenectady Lancaster school society. Passed November 12, 1816. Sess. 
Laws of 1817, p. 10. The first and second wards of said city were divided, and a portion formed by 
section 3 into a school district, and all the money raised for the support of the school, in such portion, 
and all the money received frona the State, was required to be paid to the trustees of said society. 

An act relative to certain school districts in the city of Schenectady. Passed April 6, 1827. Au- 
thorizes the formation of certain school districts out of the bounds of that portion of the city known 
as the police, and prescribes how the money raised by taxation shall be divided between such districts 
and the Lancaster school society. 

An act relative to the city of Schenectady Passed April 21, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 437. Requires 
the school moneys to be apportioned between the district schools and the Lancaster school society. 

An act to provide for the apportionment of school money in the city of Schenectady. Passed April 
30, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 484. Provides lor a distribution of the public money, partly to the district 
schools, and partly to the Lancaster school society. 

An act in relation to the public schools in the city of Schenectady. Passed April 9, 1854. Sess. 
Laws, p. 373. 

An act to provide for an equitable apportionment of school moneys to certain districts heretofore 
within the limits of the city of Schenectady, but now in the towns of Rotterdam and Nlskayuna, 
Passed April 3, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 803. 

An act to create a free school in the town of Schroeppel, Oswego county, and to create a board of 
education therein, with powers of taxation and other powers for school purposes. Passed April 17, 
1865. Sess. Laws, p. 826. 

An act for the relief of Richard Perkins, William M. Smith and Joseph U. Blood. Passed April 10, 
1845. Sess. Laws, p. 39. (Scriba, Oswego county.) 

■ An act in relation to school district No. 1, in the town of Seneca, and in the county of Ontario. 
Passed April 22, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 270. 



1022 A List of Acts 

An act in relation to school district No. 1, In the town of Seneca, in the county of Ontario Passed 
April 15, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 540. 

An act in relation to school district No. 1, in the town of Seneca, in the county of Ontario. Passed 
April 12, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. fi90. 

An act relating to schools in the town of Seneca Falls. Passed April 16, 1867. Sess. Laws vol 1 
p. 924. ' 

An act for the relief of consolidated school district No. 7, in the town of Sherburne, county of Che- 
nango. Passed March 29, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 83. 
An act to establish tree schools in the village of Sing Sing. Passed April 15, 1854. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act to establish free schools in the village of Sine Sine " 
passed April 15, 1854. Passed April 10, 1857. Sess. Laws, p. 689, 

An act to amend the act entitled ' An act to establish free schools in the village of Sing Sing, passed 
April 15, 1854, " and the act amendatory thereof entitled '" An act to amend the act entitled ' An act to 
establish free schools in the village of Sing Sing,' passed April 15, 1854, " passed April 10, 1857, Passed 
April 8, 1859. Sess. Laws, p. 455. 

An act to amend the act entitled " An act to establish free schools in the village of Sing Sing, " 
passed April 15, 1854, and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 29, 1863, Sess. Laws, p. 480. 

An act to consolidate school districts Nos. 2 and 15, in the town of Smyrna. Passed March 19, 1852. 
Sess. Laws, p. 71. 

An act to repeal an act entitled "An act to Incorporate the trustees of Somers village school." 
Passed April 9, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 255. The act repealed was passed April 3, 1811. 

An act for the relief of the trustees of district No. 2, in the town of Southeast, Passed July 9, 1851. 
Sess. Laws, p. 856. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 1, in the towns of Southfield and Castleton, 
and county ot Richmond, to mortgage the property belonging to said distrieffor certain purposes. 
Passed April 7, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 215. 

An act for the collection of unpaid taxes In school district No. 1 , in the towns of Castleton and South- 
field, Richmond county. Passed March 31, 1857. Sess. Laws, p. 453. 

An act in relation to school district No. 6, in the towns of Southfield and Castleton, Richmond 
county. Passed April 18, 1859. Sess. Laws, p. 1056. 

An act to incorporate a part of Stephentown for the purposes therein mentioned. Passed March 
23, 1799. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 2, p. 251. Incorporates the freeholders of that 
part of the town known as the twelve thousand acres, and authorizes them to choose annually, on the 
last Tuesday of May of each year, three trustees of a fund given for the support of schools. The fund 
is limited to $3,000, and the income is to be distributed for the benefit of schools within the bounds of 
the corporation. 

An act relative to the school fund of Stephentown, in the county of Rensselaer. Passed April 11, 
1866. Sess. Laws, p. 1113. 

An act for the relief of Cyril Carpenter, Isaac Joslyn and Isaac Barnes, now or late trustees of dis- 
trict No. 10, in the town of Steuben. Passed April 2, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 56. 

An act for the relief of Cyril Carpenter, Isaac Joslyn and Isaas Barnes, late trustees of school dis- 
trict No. 10, in the town of Sweden. Passed March 26. 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 35. 

An act to provide for a permanent district school in Syracuse. Passed April 20, 1832. Sess. Laws, 
p. 356. Makes district No. 4, Salina, a permanent school district, and authorizes a tax of $4,000 to 
build a school-house. 

An act to repeal " An act to provide for a permanent district sehool in Syracuse." Passed March 25, 
1837. Sess. Laws, p. 87. Repeals act of May 23, 1832. 

An act in relation to public schools in the city of Syracuse. Passed April 11, 1848. Sess. Laws, 
p. 344. 

An act to amend an act entitled •' An act in relation to the public schools in the city of Svracuse," 
passed April 11, 1848. Passed May 26, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 575. 

An act to revise the charter of the city of Syracuse. Passed February 2.5, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 37. 

An act to authorize the city of Syracuse to raise money for the establishment of a high school. 
Passed March 16, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 136. 

An act to authorize the election of school district No. 7, of the towns of Eidgeway and Shelby, Or- 
leans county, to elect trustees. Passed January 18, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 2. 

An act to amend subdivision 5, of section 5, of title 11, of the charter of the city of Syracuse, entitled 
"board of education," passed March 3, 1857. Passed March 27, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 94. 

An act to legalize certam acts of the trustees of school district No. 14, Schroeppel and Volney. 
Passed April 3, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 204. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of dis- 
tricts within the corporate limits of the village of Saratoga Springs, and to establish a free union 
school or schools therein," passed April 12, 1867. Passed May 6, 1868. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1324. 

An act in relation to school district No. 1, of the town of Seneca, Ontario county. Passed March 16, 
1869. Sess. Laws, p. 73. 

An act to enable the board of education of the city of Syracuse to transfer the fund belonging to said 
citv arising from the gospel and school lots, to the permanent fund under their control, for school pur- 
poses, aud expend the same as a part of such fund. Passed March 24, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 110. 

An act to authorize the board of education of school district No, 1, in the town of Sherman, Chau- 
tauqua county, to borrow money for the purpose of purchasing a site and building a school-house 
thereon. Passed March 25, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 113. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to constitute school district No. 1, in the town of Salina, 
and county of Onondaga, a free school," passed April 9,.1860. Passed May 3, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 1203. 

An act to authorize the trustees of the Geneva classical and union school, of district No. 1, in the 
town of Seneca, to borrow money to complete, furnish and heat a school-house in said district. 
Passed Februarys, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 11. 



Relating to Schools. 1023 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to continue in force ' An act to incorporate the New York 
institution for the blind,' passed April 21, 1831, and to extend the benefits ot said institution,'' passed 
April 16, 1852. Passed April 9, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 441. Of which section 3 of chapter 180 relates to 
terms of admission, and of superintendent of public instruction, passed May 22. 1864. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act relating to schools in the town of Seneca Falls," passed 
April 16,1867. Passed March 27, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 341. 

An act to enable the board of education of the village of Salem to borrow or raise by tax money for 
school purposes, and to provide for the payment thereof, with interest, if borrowed, by tax on said 
village. Passed March 29, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 430. 

An act to amend chapter 874 of the Laws of 1872, in relation to the boundaries of the school districts 
therein mentioned. (Saratoga Springs and Milton.) Passed May 12, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 741. 

An act to authorize and empower the trustees of Yates union free school district No. 2. of the town 
of Sullivan, to sell and convey a portion of the school site of said district. Passed June 26, 1873. Sess. 
Laws, p. 1253. 

An act for the relief of school district No. 17, of the town of Southport, in the county of Chemung. 
Passed March 5, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 35. 

An act to amend chapter 324 of the Laws of 1871, entitled "An act to incorporate 'The Sisterhood of 
Grey Nuns ' in the State of New York." Passed May 15, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 338. 

An act authorizing the city of Schenectady to raise money for school purposes. Passed June 9, 1875. 
Sess. Laws, p. 621. 

An act in relation to the St. Joseph's institution for the improved instruction of deaf mutes, at Ford- 
ham, in the county of Westchester. Passed June 2,' 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 389. 

SCHOOL FUND. 

An act to incorporate the stockholders of the Merchants' Bank in the city of New York. Passed 
March 26, 1805. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 4, p. 62. Section 11 authorized the secre- 
tary of State to subscribe for 1,000 shares of the stock, on the part of the State, without paying for the 
same, to form a fund for the support of common schools. 

An act to raise a fund for the encouragement of common schools. Passed April 2, 1805. Sess. Laws 
(Webster & Skinner's ed. ), vol. 4, p. 126. Appropriates the net proceeds of 500,000 acres of land as a 
fund for common schools. The interest for moneys loaned was to be annually added to the principal, 
and no distribution made until the income should amount to $50,000, the money to be loaned on bond 
and mortgage at six per cent. 

An act further to increase the common school fund. Passed March 13, 1807, Sess. Laws (Webster 
& Skinner's ed.), vol. 5, p. 40. Orders all moneys arising from the stock of the State in the Merchants' 
Bank, and all moneys coming from the proceeds of certain lotteries, under act of April 6, 1803, to be 
invested in the capital stock of said Merchants' Bank. 

An act giving an additional term of the general sessions of the peace for the county of Ontario, and 
authorizing the building of a fire-proof clerk's office therein, and for other purposes. Passed April 8, 
1808. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 5, p. 364. Section 5 directs " that all moneys which 
have or may come into the treasury belonging to the common school fund, and which are not directed 
by law to be invested in the stock of the Merchants' Bank, shall be loaned by the comptroller, pur- 
suant to the directions of the act entitled 'An act to raise a fund for the encouragement of common 
schools,' passed April 2, 1805." 

An act to render the fund for the support of common schools more productive. Passed April 5, 1810. 
Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 6, p. 62. The first section authorized the comptroller to 
invest all the moneys in the treasury, or to be received, belonging to the common school fund, in the 
stock of the Merchants' Bank, the Columbia Bank, the Hudson Bank, and the Mohawk Bank, until the 
amount reserved to the State should be exhausted. After such stock should be tilled up, the moneys 
were to be invested on bond and mortgage. 

An act concerning the clerks of the supreme court, and for other purposes. Passed April 6, 1810. 
Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 6, p. 85. Section 5 set apart the surplus fees of the supreme 
court to increase the capital of the common school fund. 

An act respecting the subscription of this State to the Mechanics' Bank in the city of New York, and 
for other purposes. Passed April 8, 1811. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed. ), vol. 6, p. 268. Section 
4 directs the payment, on the first day of June, each year for five years, of $2,500, " for the use and 
encouragement of common schools." The comptroller was authorized to subscribe $250,000 in the 
stock of the bank. This stock was to be paid for by the State. 

An act for the establishment of common schools. Passed April 12. 1812. Sess. Laws (Webster & 
Skinner's ed. ), vol. 6, p. 600. Section 3 directs when the increase of the fund shall be distributed. 

An act to incorporate the stockholders of the Bank of America. Passed June 2, 1812. Sess. Laws 
(Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 6, p. 413. By section 12 it is enacted that the corporation shall pay 
$400,000, or $100,000 yearly, for four years, to the treasurer of the State, $100,000 in ten years, $100,000 in 
nineteen years. Ot this sum $400,000 is set apart for the encouragement of common schools; $100,000 
for opening and improving navigation ; $100,000 for the encouragement of literature. 

An act to incorporate the stockholders of the City Bank of New York. Passed June 16, 1812. Sess. 
Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed. ), vol. 6, p. 529. Section 3 required the bank to pay to the State treas- 
urer $125,000, in six equal annual payments, for the use and benefit of common schools. 

An act concernmg the fund for the encouragement of schools. Passed April 9, 1813. The first sec- 
tion sets apart the " net proceeds of the vacant and unappropriated lands of the State," sold subse- 
quent to April 2, 1805 ; the surplus moneys received for fees by the clerks of the supreme court, and 
the moneys paid into the State treasury by the Bank of America and the City Bank of New York, as 
" a permanent fund for the support of common schools. " The remaining sections provide for the safe- 
keeping and investment of the money. 

An act authorizing the comptroller to loan moneys belongmg to the school fund, and for other pur- 
poses. Passed April 12, 1813. Sess. Laws. p. 288. Authorizes the loan of $45,600 in various sums, to 
mdividuals and corporations, on bond and mortgage at seven per cent for five years. 

An act for the better establishment of common schools. Passed April 15, 1814. Sess. Laws, p. 229. 
Section 3 directs how the income of the common school fund shall be distributed. 



1024 A List of Acts 

An act authorizing a loan to the Brighton Bridge Company, Passed April 20, 1818. Sess. Laws, p. 
186. Ten thousand dollars from the common school fund to be loaned. 

An act for the support of common schools. Passed April 12, 1819. Sess. Laws, p. 187. Section 3^ 
regulates the distribution of the income. 

An act to change and increase the fund for the support and encouragement of common schools, and 
for other purposes. Passed April 13, 1819. Sess. Laws, p. 274. Section 1 declares that the loan of 1792 
and the loan of 1808, and the stock in the Merchants' Bank, and the net proceeds of all the lands which 
may escheat in the military tract, and the net proceeds of the fees of the clerks of the supreme court, 
shall be the " school fund." The rest of the act relates to the investment of the fund and the distri- 
bution of the revenue. 

An act concerning quitrents, and to increase the literature and school funds respectively. Passed 
April 13, 1819. Sess. Laws, p. 291. Section 31 directs that the money received from quitrents shall be 
divided, and one-half appropriated to increase the literature fund, and one-half to increase the capital 
of the common school fund. Section 31 directs the money to be invested in canal stock. The consti- 
tution, signed November 10, 1821, adopted January, 1822, and which took effect January 1, 1823, ordained 
isec. 10, art. 7) : " The proceeds of all lands belonging to this State, except such parts thereof as may 
be reserved to public use or ceded to the United States, which shall hereafter be sold or disposed of, 
together with the fund denominated the common school fund, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, 
the interest of which shall be inviolably appropriated and applied to the support of common schools 
throughout the State." 

An act concerning loan oflSces. Passed April 17, 1822. Sess. Laws, p. 265. Section 5 directs the 
school fund moneys to be invested in any of the public stocks of the State, at or below their par value ; 
or, if they cannot be purchased at par, then in the next loan made by the commissioners of the canal 
fund. 

An act for the improvement of the school fund. Passed March 8, 1823. Sess. Laws, p. 47. Section 
1 directs sale of the school fund lands. Section 2 directs that the moneys -be invested in the public 
stocks of the State or in canal stocks. 

An act for vesting the capital of the school fund. Passed November 24, 1824. Sess. Laws, p. 357. 
Directs the moneys belonging to the fund to be invested in canal fund stock at six per cent. 

An act to assign the public lands in Otsego county, and the bonds on. sale thereof heretofore made, 
to their respective funds. Passed November 24, 1824. Sess. Laws, p. 364. Divides the proceeds of 
the lands between the literature and school funds. 

An act to increase the common school fund. Passed November 24, 1824. Sess. Laws, p. 386. Forty 
thousand dollars directed to be paid by the third section of the act entitled " An act to authorize and 
provide for the erection of a fever hospital in the city of New York," passed April 24, 1823, transferred 
to the school fund. 

An act relative to the sales of lands belonging to the people of this State, and to prevent trespasses 
thereon. Passed April 14, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. 209. Directs that within forty-eight hours the pur- 
chaser shall pay not less than one-eighth of the purchase-money, but that the conditions shall not 
exact more than one-half, or that some other collateral security may be demanded. 

An act confirming the payment of certain moneys out of the treasury for the benefit of common 
schools and for other purposes. Passed April 18,1826. Sess. Laws, p. 355. Directs that moneys in 
treasury belonging to the school fund may be invested in the stock of any loan for the benefit of the 
canal fund. 

The Revised Statutes entitled "of public instruction," title 2d, art. 2, of chap. 15, which took effect 
January 1, 1828, contains directions for the distribution of the income of the school fund. Sec. 1, title 

4, of chap. 9, part 1 R. S., enacts as a law the clause inserted in the Constitution relative to the com- 
mon school fund. Sec. 2 directs the distribution. Subsequent sections direct the manner of the in- 
vestment. Section 65, of chap. 9 (being sec. 79 in Banks 6th ed.), declares " the lands belonging to 
the common school fund, all escheated lands, and all other lands belonging to the people of this State, 
which are not directed by law to be kept for or applied to any specific purpose, shall be deemed unap- 
propriated lands within the meaning of this title." Does this section include "land underwater," 
within its terms, or were such lands kept for the purposes of commerce ? Or if this were so prior to 
1850, did not chap. 283 of 1850, which permitted lands under water to be granted in perpetuity, or for 
beneficial enjoyment of the owner, bring such lands within section 65 aforesaid ? And would not land 
in New York city and elsewhere, on the shores of the ocean and lakes, and on the banks of rivers, 
reclaimed from the water, filled in and then granted for a valuable consideration, be "unappropriated 
land " and come within the terms of the Constitution and the Revised Statutes ? Chap. 9, titles 4 and 

5, part 1, Revised Statutes (Banks' 5th ed.), contains all the statutory enactments relating to the sale 
of the school fund lands, and the investment of the proceeds, passed since 1827. 

By chapter 228, Laws of 1827, passed April 13, the balance of the loan of 1786 was transferred to the 
common school fund. 

By the same law the sum of J150,000 of the money received, and to be received from the sale of lands 
belonging to the canal fund, was transferred to the literature fund, the income to be distributed to the 
academies of the State in proportion to the number of pupils taught for six months during the pre- 
ceding year, in classical studies, or in the higher branches of an English education. 

By chapter 201, Laws of 1829, passed April 21, $65,000 was directed to be borrowed on a five per cent 
stock, and the Comptroller was directed to invest the money in the treasury belonging to the school 
fund in said stock. 

An act to authorize the town of Sardinia, in the county of Erie, to "expend the prmcipal and interest 
of the common school fund of said town for school purposes. Passed May 29, 1879. 

An act to amend chapter 441, of the Laws of 1862, entitled "An act to consolidate certain school dis- 
tricts within or adjoining the corporate limits of Sag Harbor," Suffolk county, and to estabhsh a union 
school therein. " Passed May 12, 1881. 

An act authorizing the city of Schenectady to issue bonds to raise money for school purposes. 
Passed February 8, 1883. 

An act to authorize Phoenix union free school and academy, district No. 12, of the town of Schroep- 
pel Oswego county, to borrow money tor enlarging the school-house in said district. Passed April 
3. 1883. 

An act to make the village of Sea Cliff, in the town of Oyster Bay, Queens county. New York, a 
separate school district. Passed April 3, 1884. 



Relating to Schools. 1025 

An act to amend chapter 385 of the Laws of 1862, entitled "An act to amend and consolidate the 
several acts relative to the city of Schenectady " Passed April 22, 1885. 

An act to amend section 10, of chapter 353, of the Laws of 1867, entitled "An act to consolidate the 
several school districts and parts of districts within the corporate limits of the village of Saratoga 
Springs, and to establish a free union school or schools therein," Passed May 22, 1885. 

An act authorizing the Phoenix union free school and academy, district No. 12, of the town of 
Schroeppel, Oswe?o countv, to borrow money for the payment of the existing indebtedness of said 
district. Passed April 24, 1886. 



An act to authorize the school district No. 13, in the town of Taghkanick, in the county of Colum- 
bia, to reorganize under the free school act, passed April 12, 1851. Passed April 2. 1855. Sess. Laws, 
p. 220. 

An act to incorporate the city of Troy. Passed April 12, 1816. Sess. Laws, p. 129. The fortieth and 
concluding sections relate to schools. The first four wards were erected into a permanent district, 
with power m the common council to raise by tax $500 annually to repair school-house and support a 
school, and also power to build a school-house and raise by tax the necessary money. This law re- 
mained in force, substantially, until 1819. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act to prevent the sale of tickets of unauthorized lotteries, 
and to prevent the forgery of lottery tickets. " Passed March 21, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 100. Requires 
the mayor of Troy to apply all the money received by him for granting licenses to the vendors of lot- 
tery tickets in Troy, to the trustees of district No. 1, to be by them expended in the establishment and 
support of a high school on the monitorial plan. 

An act concerning the first school district in the city of Troy. Passed April 12,1842. Sess. Laws, 
p. 331. 

An act concerning the first school district in the city of Troy. Passed March 1, 1843. Sess. Laws, 
p. 22. 

An act in relation to the first school district in the city of Troy. Passed April 5. 1848. Sess. Laws, 
p 292 

An act to amend the charter of the city of Troy, and to provide for the establishment of free schools 
in said city. Passed April 4, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 299. This act made the city a school district and 
declared the schools free. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to amend the charter of the city of Troy, and to establish 
free schools therein, '' passed April 14, 1849. Passed April 11, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 1409. 

An act in relation to free schools in the city ot Troy, and school district No. 10, in the town of Lan- 
alngburgh. Passed April 10, 18.50. Sess. Laws, 765. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act to amend the charter of the city of Troy, and to provide 
lor the establishment^ of free schools in said city." passed April 4, 1849. Passed March 17,1851. Sess. 
Laws, p. 55. 

An act to amend an act in relation to free schools in the city of Troy, and school district No. 10, in 
the town of Lansingburgh, passed July 1, 18.51 ; and to amend the act providing for free schools in the 
city of Troy, passed April 4, 1849. Passed March 28, 18.54. Sess. Laws, p. 1.58. 

An act to enable the board of education of iinion free school district No. 1, of the town of Tona- 
wanda, Erie county, to borrow money to build a school-house, and to issue the bonds of the district 
therefor. Passed March 9. 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 106. 

An act to amend an act entitled ' ' An act to enable the board of education of union free school dis- 
trict No. 1, of the town of Tonawanda, Erie county, to borrow money to build a school-house, and 
to issue the bonds of the district therefor," passed March 9, 1867. Passed March 8, 1870. Sess. Laws, 
p. 124. 

An act to organize a board of school commissioners in and for the city of Troy. Passed March 25, 
1873. Sess. Laws, p. 210. 

An act to amend chapter 353, of the Laws of 1862, entitled " An act to incorporate the Ten Broeck 
Pree Academy." Passed April 3, 1879. 

An act to set aside the union free school district in the town of Tyrone, in the county of Schuyler, 
and the town of Wayne, in the county of Steuben. Passed April 30, 1879. 

An act to amend chapter 126, of the Laws of 1873, entitled " An act to organize a board of school 
commissioners in and for the city of Troy," and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 
15,1881. 

An act to provide for the erection and furnishing of certain public buildings in the city of Troy, and 
to authorize said city to borrow money for the payment of expenses incurred in the erection and fur- 
nishing of such buildings, Passed April 18, 1844. 

An act in relation to the manual labor school upon the Tonawanda reservation and to repeal the act 
under which the same was created. Chapter 2.55. Passed May 2, 1887. 

u. 

An act for granting certain privileges to the college heretofore called King's college, for altering the 
name and charter thereof, and erecting an university within this State. Passed the 1st day of Mav, 
1784. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act for granting certain privileges to the college heretofore 
called King's college, for altering the name and charter thereof, and erecting an university within this 
State," passed the 1st day of May, 1784. Passed November 26, 1784. 

An act to institute an university within the State, and for other purposes therein mentioned. Passed 
13th April. 1787. The 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th sections of this act confirm the charter granted in 1754 to 
the governors of the college of the province of New "iork ; and ordered the style of it to be the trus- 



129 



1026 List of Acts 

tees of Columbia college. The 8th section conflrms in the college all " power, authority, rights, prln*- 
ciples, franchises and immunities," which it possessed, and '"all and singular the lands, tenements, 
hereditaments and real estate, goods, chattels, rents, annuities, moneys, books and other property' 
belonging to said college. It has been thought not advisable to include in this list the names of col- 
leges and academies chartered by the Regents of the University, or by act of the Legislature. They 
may be found in the Convention Manu-al of 1867. Existing colleges and academies nearly all report 
annually to the Regents. 

An act to incorporate the village of Utica. Passed April 7, 1817. Sess. Laws, p. 211. Section 27 
applied all the school moneys coming to said village under the school laws to the support of a free 
school for the education of such poor children as were entitled to a gratuitous education. By section 
28, all the school property of the twelfth district of Whitetown was vested in the trustees of the village 
of Utica for said free school. By section 29 the village was authorized to raise not exceeding $100 a 
year for the support of such school. 

An act relative to common schools in the village of Utica. Passed April 16, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 187. 
Gives the trustees of the village power to establish schools at their pleasure, and distribute the public 
money as to them should seem most useful. 

An act in relation to common schools in the city of Utica. Passed April 7, 1842. Sess. Laws, p. 163. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act in relation to common schools in the city of Utica, passed . 
April 7, 1842." Passed April 8, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 120. 

An act in relation to common schools in the city of Utica. Passed February 2, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 8. 

An act in relation to common schools in the city of Utica. Passed March 16, 18.50. Sess. Laws, p. 74. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the city of Utica," passed 
March 16, 1850. Passed April 13, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 395. 

An act to amend several acts in relation to common schools in the city of Utica. Passed April 17, 
1854. Sess. Laws, p. 723. 

An act to amend certain acts in relation to common schools in the city of Utica. Passed April 15,. 
1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 221. 

An act respecting school district library in the city of Utica. Passed April 16, 1858. Sess. Laws, 
p. 425, 

An act in relation to the common schools of the city of Utica. Passed March 23, 1867. Sess. Laws, 
vol. 1, p. 185. 

An act to authorize the common council of the city of Utica to borrow money to erect school-houses. 
Passed April 16. 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 934. 

An act \o provide for raising additional money for the use of the academy, new school-houses and 
the library, in the city of Utica. Passed March 19, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 41. 

An act amending an act in relation to the common schools of the city of Utica, and authorizing the- 
common council of said city to borrow money for school .purposes. Passed March 29, 1870. Sess, 
Laws, p. 335. 

An act confirming the official acts of trustees in school district No. 11, of the town of Urbana, 
Steuben county. Passed April 5, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 567. 

An act to authorize the city of Utica to borrow money, and issue its corporate bonds therefor, for 
the purchase of a site and erection of a school district library building, and other city purposes. Passed 
March 21, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 198. 

An act to amend certain acts in relation to common schools in the city of Utica. Passed June 7, 
1873. Sess. Laws, p. 10.36. 

An act to further amend chapter 137 of the Laws of 1842, entitled " An act in relation to common 
schools in the city of Utica." and chapter 66 of the Laws of 1850, entitled " An act in relation to com- 
mon schools In the city of Utica "' Passed May 9, 1877. Sess, Laws, p. 259, 

An act to legalize and confirm the official acts of the trustee of school district No. 7, of the town of 
Urbana in the county of Steuben. Chapter 344. Passed May 17, 1887. 



An act confirming the proceedings under which a union free school was formed by the consolidation 
of school districts No. 8, of town of Yernon. Oneida county, No. 22, of the town of Lenox, Madison 
county, and joint district No. 26, of said towns of Yernon and Lenox, and authorizing the ceding by 
the State of New York of a portion of the public square in the village of Oneida Castleton, together 
with the academy buildings thereon, to the board of education of said union vfree school for the sole 
use of said board of said school, and to refund taxes collected in said district No. 22, for the erection 
of a new school-house. Passed April 11, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 700. 

An act to authorize the supervisors of the towns of Virgil, Lapeer and Harford, in the county of 
Cortland, to sell and convey certain lands, and invest the sums received therefor for the support of 
common schools . Passed April 17, 1860. Sess. Laws. p. 994. 

w. 

An act in relation to school district No. .5. in the town of Warsaw, in the county of Genesee. Passed 
Mav 25. 1836. Sess. Laws, p. 713. Authorized to sell school property, and divide the proceeds equita- 
bly'between the two districts formed by a division of No, 5 

An act for the relief of consolidated school district No. 10, in the town of Warsaw, county of Wyo- 
ming. Passed June 17, 1853. 

An act for the relief of the commissioners of common schools in the town of Washington, in the 
county of Dutchess. Passed February 28, 1822. Corrects apportionment of school moneys, owing to a 
mistake in the census. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 7, in the town of Washington, in the county 
of Dutchess, to fix upon and procure suitable lands as a site for a school-huuse, and necessary privi- 
leges for the same in said district. Passed April 7, 1856. Sess. Laws, p 188. 



Eelating to Schools. l^^*^ 



. An act in relation to the board of education of union free school district No. 1, of Waterford, in the 
county of Saratoga. Passed April 10. 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 698. 

An act to authorize school district No. 1, in the town of Waterloo, to raise a tax. Passed October 
26, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 441. 

An act to provide for free schools in the village of Waterloo. Passed April 11. 18.03. Sess. Laws, 
p. 279. 

An act in relation to school district No. 1, in the town of Waterloo, in the county of Seneca. Passed, 
^pril in. 1835. Sess. Laws, p. 367. 

An act in relation to Waterloo union school, and school districts Nos. 1 and 1.5, in the town of Wa- 
terloo, county of Seneca. Passed Februai-y 16, 1859. Sess. 'Laws, p. 38. 

Ail act to confirm certain proceedings of the trustees of school district No. 3, of the village aiid 
town of Watertown. Passed April 8, 1842. Sess. Laws, p. 176. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 3, of Watertown, to borrow money to pay for 
a school-house. Passed February 7, 1856. Sess. Laws, p. 15, 

An act in relation to the public schools in the village of Watertown. Passed April 21, 1S65. Sess. 
Laws, p. 918. 

An act to amend " An act in relation to the public schools In the village of Watertown," passed 
April 21. 1863. Passed March 2.5, 1867 Sess Laws. vol. 1, p 233. 

An act authorizing the assessment and collection of a certain sum of money in school district No. 2, 
in the town of Watervliet, county of Albany. Passed March 15, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. 71. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 23, of the town of Watervliet, to issue bonds 
to pay school debt. Passed April 20, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 1575. 

An act to erect a union school district in the village of Watkins. and to create a board of education 
therein, with power of taxation and other powers, for school purposes. Passed Aprils, 1863. Sess.. 
Laws, p. 93. 

An act in relation to the Weedsport union school. Passed April 14, 1858. Sess. Laws, p. .334, 

An act to enable the board of education of union free school district No. 1, Wellsville, New York, to- 
.settle a dispute in regard to the boundary lines of the school-house site. Passed April 3, 1866. Sess.. 
Laws, p. 807. 

An act to authorize school district No. 2, of the town of Westchester, in the county of Westchester, 
to borrow money, and to issue bonds for the same. Passed Api'il 18, 1886. Sess. Laws, p. 1413. 

An act to incorporate school district No. 1, of the town of West Farms, Westchester county. Passed 
March 31, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 151. 

An act to establish free schools in district No. 1, in the town of West Farms, Westchester county. 
Passed June 17, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 751. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An act to establish free f-chools in district No. 1, of the town ot 
West Farms. Westchester county," passed June 17, 1853. Passed April 14. 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 1262. 

An act to authorize the board of euucation of union school district No. 11, in the town of White- 
hall, to borrow money to build a school-house in said district. Passed May 23, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 
2. p. 2384. 

An act in relation to common schools in the town of Williamsburgh, in the county of Kings. Passed 
April 2.3, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 299. 

An act for the relief of John Hutchings. Passed May 8, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 152. Authorizin.g the 
board of supervisors to raise on district No. l„Winiamsburgh, $3,000, to pay said Hutchings for build- 
ing a school-house 

An act for the relief of James D. Sparkman, William Leaycraft and Samuel Cox. Passed May 14, 
1845. Authorizes a tax on district No. 3, Williamsburgh, to pay certain expenses. 

An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Williamsburgh, to borrow^ 
money tor building a school-house. Passed November 10. 1847. Sess. Laws. p. 448. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to the common schools of the city of Williams- 
burgh," passed April 14, 1&51. Passed April 14. 1852. Sess Laws, p. 413. 

An act in relation to the common schools of the city of Williamsburgh. Passed April 14, 1851. Sess. 
Laws. p. 323. 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act to consolidate the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh, 
and the town of Bush wick into one municipal government, and to incorporate the same," passed 
April 17, 1854. Passed April 6, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 569. Section 11 grants power to organize 
a normal school. 

An act to authorize the trustees of the school districts at the village of Williamsville, in the town of 
Amherst and county of Erie, to make separate rate bills for the higher and primary departments ot 
the schools kept in said districts. Passed April 30. 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 132. 

An act to enlarge and fix the boundaries of union free school district No. 1, lying in the towns of 
Wolcott, Huron and Butler, in Wayne county^ Passed April 16 1866. Sess. Laws. p. 1311. 

An act to divide the county of Wyoming into two school commissioner districts, and provide for the 
appointment of a school commissioner. Passed March 6. 1858. Sess Laws, p 48. 

An act authorizing the trustees of the board of education of union free school district No. 2, of the 
town of West Farms, Westchester county, to raise money to build an addition to their school-house. 
Passed March 16, 1868. Sess. Laws, p 28. 

An act to establish and define the boundaries of school district No. 1, of the town of Wheatland, and 
county of Monroe Passed March 2>i. 1868. Sess Laws. p. 114 

An act to authorize the board of education to establish the rates of tuition, and collect the same, 
for the academical department of the union school in school district No. 10, in the town of Warsaw, 
in the cQunty of Wyoming. Passed April 16, 1868. Sess. Laws, p 457. 



1028 A List of Acts Eelatij^g to Schools. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union school district No. 1, in the town of Westfleld, 
Chautauqua couoty, to borrow money. Passed April 22, 1868, Sess. Laws, p 614. 

An act to amead an act entitled "An act in relation to the public schools In the village of Water- 
town," passed April 21, 1865. Passed May 1, 186S. Sess. Laws.p, 1059. 

An act to amend chapter 946, of the Laws of 1867, passed May 23, 1867, entitled " An act to authorize 
the board of education of the union school district No. 11, of the town of Whitehall, to borrow money 
to build a school-house in said district. Passed May 1, 1868. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p, 1066. 

An act to legalize the acts of the inhabitants of school districts Nos. 1, 2. 5 and 9, in the town of 
Wilson, in the county of Niagara, in forming a union free school district, and the official acts of the 
board of education therein. Passed April 1, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 512, 

An act to authorize union school districl No. 2, in the village of Weedsport, to borrow money for the 
purpose of rebuilding the school-house in said district. Passed April 1. 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 491, 

An act to provide for the purchase of anew school-house site, and for the erection of a school-house 
thereon, in school district No. 3, at Whitestone, in the town of Flushing, in Queens county, and for 
the sale of the present school-house and site In said district. Passed April 7, 1871. Sess, Laws, p. 720. 

An act to authorize the board of education of school district No. 10, in the town of Warsaw, to erect 
a school building and to provide means for payment thereof. Passed April 12, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 577. 

An act to amend section 3, of chapter 364, of the Laws of 1871, entitled " An act to provide for the 
purchase of a new school-house site, and for the erection of a school-house thereon, in school district 
No. 3, at Whitestone, in the town of Flushing, in Queens county, and for the sale of the present 
school-house and site in said district." Passed May 14, 1872. Sess. Laws, vol. 2. p. 1629. 

An act to provide for the payment of salaries of the teachers and janitors formerly employed under 
the board of education of school district No. 1. in the town of West Farms, as the same was consti- 
tuted prior to the 1st day of January, 1874, and the other creditors of said board. Passed April 3, 1874. 
Sess. Laws, p. 137. 

An act to legalize the acts of the board of education of union free school district No. 10, of the town 
of Warsaw, Wyoming county, and to enable the said board of education to protect the interests of 
said district in certain real estate. Passed March 19, 1881. 

An act to amend chapter 3.34, of the Laws of 1857, entitled "An act in relation to the board of edu- 
cation of union free school district No. 1, of Waterford, in the county of Saratoga." Passed April 30, 
1881. 

An act to enable the boardof education of union free school district No. 1, of the town of Wheatfield, 
Niagara county, to borrow money to enlarge their school-house and to issue the bonds of the district 
therefor. Passed May 23, 1882. 

An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district No. 1, of the town of West- 
chester, in the county of Westchester, to issue bonds to obtain money for the erection of public 
school buildings, and for other purposes connected with public education in said school district. Passed 
March 8, 1886. 

An act to amend chapter 238 of the Laws of 1855, entitled " An act in relation to school district No. 
1, in the town of Waterloo, in the county of Seneca," subjecting said district to certain provisions of 
chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled '" An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to 
public instruction." Chapter 624. Passed June 21, 1887. 

T. 

An act to divide school district No. 2, in the town of Yonkers, into separate districts, and to consti- 
tute and define the powers of the board of education in the new district. Passed April 17, 1861. Sess, 
Laws, p. 654 . 

An act in relation to school district No. 6, in the town of Yonkers. Passed March 28, 1862. Sess. 
Laws. p. 222. 

An act to enable the board of education of school district No. 6, in the town of Yonkers, to mort- 

fage the school property, when authorized so to do by a vote of the district. Passed May 1, 1865. 
ess. Laws, o 1309. 

An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 8, in the town of York, to sell the old school 
lot belonging to the said district. Passed November 11, 1828. Sess. Laws of 1828 and 1829, p. U ; 
amended by act of April 11, 1829, p, 216. 

An act in relation to school district No. 8, in the town of York, Passed January 21, 1836. Sess. 
Laws, p. 7. Authorizes the sale of certain village lots, and the investment of the money received, or 
its expenditure in repairing and building school-hohses. 

An act to legalize and confirm certain proceedings of the school meetings held in joint district No. 
4 of the town of York, Livingston countv, and Pavilion, Genesee county, and in designating a site for 
a school-house in said district in voting a tax to purchase such site and also build a school-house 
thereon, and of the trustee of said district in causing such tax to be levied and collected. Passed April 
27, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 785. , 

An act to extend the time for the appointing of school trustees for the city of Yonkers. Passed June 
15, 1881. 



INDEX 



Academies and Academical Departments of Union Free 
Schools, 

Establishment of 68, 71, 448, 452 

Subject to visitation of Regents 71, 452 

Teachers' classes in 110, 111, 456, 457 

When district is dissolved ^ 105, 454 

Acts, 

Titles of 985-1024 

Aggregate attendance. 

Basis for apportionment by commissioners 21, 301 

How ascertained 21, 301 

Albany, 

Special school act 795 

State Normal school 468 

Albion, 

Special school act 804 

American Museum of Natural History, 

Contract with the State, copy of 484, 485 

Instruction to be given in anatomy, physiology, zoology, physical 

geography, etc ' 483 

State Superintendent authorized to contract with, for instruction of 

teachers 483 

State Superintendent authorized to contract with, for instruction of 

artisans, mechanics and others 483 

Amsterdam, 

Special school act 804 

Apparatus, 

Insurance of .34, 44, 266 

Library money, when used for 59, 170, 171 

Tax for, voted by meeting 34, 192, 193 

Trustees may purchase 46, 425, 426 

Appeals, 

Copies of papers under seal evidence 77, 122 

Costs and expenses of school oflficers in. ' 78-80, 126 - 129 

Enforcing decisions in. . 6, 126 

From what appeal may be taken 76, 121 

Power of meeting to vote tax for costs. . 34, 129 

Powers of Superintendent: 

to grant stay of proceedings .77, 122 

to regulate the practice 76, 121 



1030 Index. 

Appeals — {Continued). 

Powers of Superintendent: 

to dismiss appeal, when , „ 77, 122 

to make orders for enforcing decision 77, 122 

Proceedings thereon to be kept in Superintendent's office .77, 122 

Rules of practice , 123, 124 

Superintendent to decide appeals 76, 121 

Superintendent's decision final 76, 121 

Testimony in, taken by commissioner 11, 125, 126 

Who may appeal 76, 121 

[The foUoicing references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.^ 

Department discourages the bringing, for light and trivial causes . . . 495 

Dismissing appeal where real party in interest is not represented . . . 496 

for obscurity of statement 497, 498 

Equitable relief, when cannot be afforded 500 

• Jurisdiction of State Superintendent in 489 

Jurisdiction of Superintendent in matters relating to union free 

schools 494 

Must be intelligible 498 

Power to grant rehearing , 492 

Questions pending in the courts, will not entertain appeals upon, 503 

504, 723 

Real parties in interest will be heard 495 

Re-opening 500, 501 

Rules of practice in. 494 

Testimony in appeal cases taken by commissioner 502 

Time to bring appeal 495, 499, 501 

Will not entertain in relation to fines and penalties 498, 499 

When Department will not interfere 496 

Apportionment. {See State School Moneys.) 

Of moneys from sale of property of dissolved district 29, 254, 255 

collected due a dissolved district 29, 255, 256 

Of school district taxes . , 51, 332 

Of railroad, telegraph, telephone and pipe-line property apportioned 

among different districts 90, 91, 370, 371 

Of Delaware and Hudson Canal Co., property of 106, 107, 373 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Apportionment of railroad property 504, 505 

Basis of apportionment 505 

Jurisdiction of Superintendent oversown assessors 505 

Assessment. {See, also, Taxes.) 

Banks .51, 88-90, 333, 338. 339, 341 

Corporations .... . ., 51, 332 

Delaware and Hudson Canal Co 106, 107, 373 

District taxes, how assessed, etc 51, 333 - 345 

Exemptions from assessment 341 - 345 

In counties containing upwards of three hundred thousand inhabitants 373 

Non-resident lands 51, 53, 333. 354, 355 

On land lying in one body but in different districts. . . .51, 332, 336, 337 

Railroads, telegraph, telephone and pipe-line companies. . 90, 91, 370, 371 

Tenant 52, 353, 353 

To whom property shall be assessed 51, 332 



Index. 1031 

Assessment —(Continued). 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Land lying in one body but in different districts 506 

Original assessment 506 - 508 

Personal property in the hands of executor or administrator 507 

Property that has been set off from district for several years 506 

Trustees can in certain cases increase or diminish assessment of prop- 
erty from the valuation in town assessment-rolls 508 

Auburn, 

Special school act 805 

Average attendance. 

How ascertained 47, 209, 404 

Bald wins ville. 

Special school act 808 

Banks and Banking Associations, 

Assessment against stockholders 51, 88-90, 833, 338 - 341 

Collection of tax 89, 90, 339 

Names and residences of stockholders to be kept for inspection. 89, 339 - 341 
Unpaid taxes against stockholders 54, 358 359 

Binghamton, 

Special school act 811 

Blackboards 34, 192, 193 

Blind, 

Examination of institutions by State Superintendent 3, 135 

Institutions for, subject to the visitation of the State Superintendent. 2 

135 

New York Institution for the Blind 3, 130, 132, 135 - 137 

New York State Institution for the Blind at Batavia 3, 130, 137, 138 

Report of Superintendent to Legislature concerning 3, 136 

Superintendent to appoint persons to visit the schools 3, 136 

Pupils, appointment of 3, 130 

clothing for , 132 

conditions of appointment. . , 3, 130 

form of application 133 

form of appointment 134 

form of notice to boards of supervisors 135 

qualifications for appointment 3, 130 - 132 

regulations for admission 4, 131 

term of appointment 4, 131, 132 

Board of Education. {See Union Free Schools.) 

Book-case 34, 168 

Book of District Records 34, 194, 195 

Bonds, 

Collector's . 34, 55, 56, 145, 362, 363, 365, 369 

For school-house, when and how issued 36, 37, 262, 263 

Supervisors to give 22, 305, 306, 436 

Brockport Normal School 470, 471 



1032 Index. 

Brooklyn, 

Special School Acts , , 814 

Buffalo, 

Special School Act 817 

State Normal school 472 

Building Committee 259 

Cambridge, 

Special School Act 818 

Camillus and Geddes, 

District No. 1, Special School Act 820 

Castleton, 

Districts Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 7, Special School Act 820 

Castleton and Southfield, 

District No. 1, Special School Act , 820 

Census, 

U. S. and State, when taken 296 

Superintendent to follow, in making apportionment 15, 295, 296 

Central New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes 156 

Certificate of Apportionment of Public Moneys, 

By State Superintendent 16, 298 

By school commissioners 21, 303 

Town clerk to keep and record 25, 412 

to notify trustee of the filing 25, 41 2 

Certificates, Teachers', 

Annulment of, generally by Superintendent '. 5, 383 

Commissioners' certificates, examinations for, granting, etc.. .10, 384-392 

State certificates 5, 379 

annulment of 5, 383 

examination for 5, 379 - 383 

granted by State Superintendent 5, 379 

list of, kept by Superintendent 5, 383 

Temporary certificates 5, 380 

Champlain, 

District No. 1, Special School Act 821 

Chairman of School Meeting, 

Appointment of 33, 190 

in neighborhood 33, 190 

To require declaration of challenged voter 33, 189 

Challenge. (See Voters.) 

Cities, 

Children of adjoining district can be taught in schools of 99 

Common Council to report school trust funds , 17, 342 

Evening schools for free-hand or industrial drawing in 116, 117 

Not to be included in commissioner district . . .112, 226, 227 

Schools for colored children in 73, 221 

State school moneys apportioned to 13, 14, 292, 293 



Index. 1033 

Clarence, 

Special School Act 821 

Clarkson, 

Special School Act 822 

Clerks, 

In the office of the State Superintendent 2, 314 

Clerk. {See Toicn Clerk.) 
Clerk of District, 

Acceptance of office 39, 140, 141 

Costs in actions against 78, 126 

Duties of '. 41, 141 - 144 

attend meetings of trustees and keep minutes. . . 42, 142 

call special meetings, when 42, 142 

deposit books and records of dissolved district 41, 142 

give notice of annual meeting 41, 142, 185 

give notice of special meetings. 41, 142 

keep all records, books, etc 41, 142 

notify trustees of acceptance of their resignation 41, 142 

post notices of adjourned meeting 41, 142, 185 

record all district proceedings 41, 141 

record all reports made by the trustees 41, 141 

report to town clerk the names and post-office address of all dis- 
trict officers 41, 142 

To record amount of costs and expenses on appeal to county judge 

to adjust . . 80, 128 

Election of 33, 101, 139, 140 

Eligibility to hold the office 38, 103, 140 

Filing appointment of 40, 141 

Loss of public money through 77, 162 

Notices for special meetings served by 30, 31, 180 - 184 

Penalty for not delivering books and records to successor 41, 142 

Penalty for refusal or neglect to serve 40, 161 

Eef usal to serve 39, 140, 141 

Resignation, how made and accepted 40, 161 

Term of office 38,40,140, 141 

To notify district officer of his appointment 40, 141 

To notify district officer of his election 39, 41, 140-142, 420, 421 

Vacancy, how filled 40, 140, 141 

{The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Minutes kept by should be accurate 510 

not conclusive evidence 510 

• Must permit persons to have access to school records 510 

No power to authorize other person to give notice 509 

Not entitled to compensation 510 

Notice of meetings given by 509 

Records kept by 510 

Special meeting, when can be called by 509 

Clyde High School, 

Special act 824 

Code of Public Instruction, 

Act for distribution of 117, 118 

Custody of ,117, 118 

Penalty against trustees for loss of 118 

^ 130 



1034: Index. 

Colioes, 

Special School Act ; , 825 

Collector, 

Action upon collector's bond , 53 359 

Acceptance of office 39 

Appointment of, to fill vacancy 39 40 146 

Bond of 34, 55, 56, 145, 362, 363, 365', 369 

Bond of, filed and recorded by town clerk , 56, 362 363 

Certificate of return to tax list, made by ' . . 359 

Costs in actions against 78^ 126 

Custodian of all moneys raised by tax 57,' 368 

Duties of, at election of officers in districts having over 300 children 101 

103, 103 

Election of 33, 34, 101, 145 

Eligibility to hold the office 38, 103, 145 

Fees of 56, 109, 364^ 371 

Filing appointment of 40, 146 

Forfeits to district amount of moneys lost through his neglect . . .57, 369 

Notice of assessment to railroad company. 56, 364 

Notice of election or appointment 39, 40, 41, 142, 146 

Notice of tax list and warrant to be given ,56, 363, 364 

Penalty for refusal or neglect to serve 40, 161 

Payment of moneys to successor 57, 216, 368 

Refusal to serve ... 39, 40 

Report to annual meeting , 57, 216, 368 

Resignation, how made, etc 40, 161 

Statement of taxes against railroads made by 109, 110, 371 

Tax warrant, how to execute 55, 360, 361 

where executed 56, 365, 366 

Taxes in counties containing upwards of three hundred thousand 

inhabitants 373 

Taxes against railroad companies, collection of 109, 110, 364, 371 

Term of 38.40,145, 146 

Unpaid taxes to be returned by 53, 356, 357 

Vacates his office, how 39, 146 

\^T he following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.^ 

Bond of 511, 513 

Collector's bondsmen cannot be reimbursed by tax on the district for 

moneys lost by the collector 511 

Custodian of district moneys 512, 513 

Eligibility 512 

Jurisdiction of 513 

Resignation of ." 513 

Trustees not bound to indemnify 512 

College Point, 

Special School Act : 846 

Colored Children, 

Schools for .73, 221 

{The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Cannot be excluded from district school unless school for colored 

children is maintained 514, 515 



Index. 1035 

Commissioner. {See School Commissioner.) 

Commou School Fund, 

How apportioned 292, 293 

How constituted 288 

Comptroller, 

Temporary loan made for county 13, 290, 291 

Withholding State school moneys from counties 12, 290, 291 

Compulsory Education, 

Act for 91-96 

Conting-ent Fund, 

Equitable allowance to districts paid from 15, 296, 297 

State school moneys apportioned to 14, 292, 293 

Supplementary apportionment paid from 16, 289 

Contract. {See Teacher.) 

Trustees of district to make, with boards of education of adjoining 

city or village to teach the children of the district 99 

State Superintendent to make, with American Museum of Natural 

History 483-485 

Cornell University, 

Leave of absence granted to student 487 

Record of examinations and appointments to be kept by Superin- 
tendent 487 

State Superintendent trustee ex officio , .2, 315 

State scholarships in 486 

examination of candidates for 486 

how awarded 486 

notices for examinations 487 

qualifications of candidates 486 

Corning, 

Special School Act 828 

Cortland, 

Special School Act 830 

State Normal school 472 

Costs, 

In actions against school officers 78, 126, 127 

In actions or proceedings brought by or against school officers, and a 
district meeting has instructed such officers to bring or defend the 

action or proceeding 79, 126 

Proceedings before county judge to adjust 79, 80 

Power of meeting to levy tax for 34, 129, 195 

When disputed by a district meeting, countyjjudge to adjust. . . .79, 80 

127-129 

When meeting did not instruct officers to bring or defend 79, 127 

C/Ounties, 

Loan for, in case of deficiency 13, 290, 291 

State school moneys apportioned to 15, 295, 296 

Supplementary apportionment to 16, 298 

What counties are excepted from act relating to election of officers 

in districts having over 300 children 103 



1036 Index. 

County Clerk, 

Notice of the election or appointment of school commissioner to be 

given State Superintendent by 7, 233 

Notice of a vacancy in the office of school commissioner to be given 

county judge and State Superintendent 7, 334 

County Judge, 

Appointment of school commissioner by 7, 234 

Costs and expenses in actions by and against school officers, ad- 
justed by 79-81, 127-129 

To designate person to receive the public moneys 23, 307 

County Treasurer. {See Treasurer.) 

Deaf and Dumb, 

Duties of Superintendent respecting the institutions 8, 152 

Examination of institutions by State Superintendent 8, 152 

Institutions under supervision of State Superintendent 3, 152 

Institutions: 

Central New York Institution for Deaf Mutes 156 

Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes. ...... 155 

New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and 

Dumb 2, 147, 153 - 155 

Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes 157 

St. Joseph's Institute for the Improved Instruction of Deaf 

Mutes 157 

The Le Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruc- 

tion of Deaf Mutes 156 

Western New York Institution for Deaf Mutes . 156 

Pupils, appointment of 8, 147 

board, lodging and tuition 4, 148 

clothing for. , 149 

county pupils 157 

form of application 160 

form of appointment ' 151 

form of notice to supervisors 152 

high class.... 148, 149, 156 

qualifications for appointment 3, 147, 148 

regulations for admission. . .4, 148 

term of appointment 4, 148 

Report of Superintendent to Legislature concerning 3, 152 

Debts of a dissolved district 29, 254, 255 

Decisions of tlie Courts, 

Appeals 122 

Collector 146 

Meetings 186-188, 192-194, 196, 197 

Schools .- 218 

School districts , 248, 250, 255 

School-houses 260, 271, 272 

School-house sites 274-276, 287 

State school monevs 311 

Taxes. . .331-884, 336, 338-340, 344-346, 349, 352, 355, 361, 364, 365, 367 

372, 375-377 

Teachers 405 

Trustees 429, 430 

Union free schools 460, 461 



Index. 1037 

I>eerpark, 

Special School Act 832 

Deerpark and Jolinstown, 

Act authorizing appointment of a Superintendent 982 

Delaware and Hudson Canal Co., 

Assessment and collection of taxes against .106, 107, 372 

Deputy State Superintendent, 

Appointment of 2, 313 

List of Deputies 313 

Dictionary, 

Trustees may purchase 46, 425, 426 

Diplomas, 

Normal School Diplomas: 

Annulment of 5, 383 

Certificates of qualifications to teach 465 

List of, to be kept in office of State Superintendent 5, 383 

Districts. (See School Commissioner Districts; School Districts.) 

District Attorney, 

Embezzlement by 19, 160 

Report of concerning fines and penalties collected 19, 159 

Drawing', industrial or free liand. 

Evening School for 116, ,117 

State Superintendent may excuse union free schools from teaching it 98 

To be taught in the Normal Schools 98 

To be taught in the schools of each city 98 

To be taught in the union free schools under special act 98 

Dunkirk, 

Special School Act 833 

East Chester, 

Special School Act 835 

Elbridge, 

Special School Act 838 

Election, 

District officers 33, 34 

Clerk .33, 34, 101,139, 140 

Collector 33, 34, 101, 145 

Librarian 33, 34, 101, 166 

Trustees 33, 34, 101, 416 - 418 

In districts having over 300 children 101 - 103 

Of officers in union free school districts 63, 440 - 442 

New election in districts having over 300 children may be ordered by 

Superintendent 103 

School Commissioner 6, 233, 234 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction 1, 312 

[^The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.^ 

Adjourned meeting cannot rescind election of 516 

Cannot accept incompatible offices 520 



1038 Index. 

'Election — {Continued). 

Chairman cannot pass upon the qualifications of voters 522 

Chairman cannot pass upon legality of election 524 

Changing the number of trustees , , 521 

Election cannot be rescinded 53^ 

Election vitiated by illegal votes, when 45^3 

Election set aside when opportunity for voting was not given. 573 

Failure to declare the vote will not invalidate the election 522 

Illegal votes 41g 

In common school districts a majority vote is required to elect 517 

Intention of voters controls when name on ballot is not correct 520 

Ineligibility of candidate not being known to electors, the opposing 

candidate cannot be declared elected 525 

Member of board of education must be by ballot. 418 

Setting aside an election on the ground of illegal voting, what must 

appear 523, 527 

Terms cannot be chosen by lot 571 

Trustees can be elected by ballot or otherwise 521 

Trustees elected at meetings not legally called, tenure of office, etc. . . 517 

Vacancy may be filled by meeting at any time 516 

Vacating office by announcing at meeting that he will not serve 522 

Vote how taken 526 

When vote is a tie, another vote must be taken 419 

Elmira, 

Special School Act 838 

Equalization, 

Taxes on land of district lying in different towns 52, 349 - 352 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] 

Of taxes when school district lies in two or more towns 529, 530 

Supervisors have no power to change the valuations as contained in 

town assessment-rolls • 630 

Evening Schools. {See Schools.) 

Examination, 

Of applicants for admission to State normal schools 465 

Of applicants for State scholarships in Cornell University 486, 487 

Of teachers for school commissioners' certificates 10, 384 - 394 

Of teachers for State certificates 5, 379 - 383 

Fines and Penalties, 

Against school commissioner for acting as agent for bookseller or 

publisher 8, 237 

Against clerk for refusing to record name of voter, etc 102 

clerk for refusal to keep records 41, 142 

district officer for refusal or neglect to serve 40, 161 

school officer for loss of public money 77, 162 

supervisors for refusal to give bond 23, 307 

trustee for not reporting to annual meeting 48, 215 

for refusal to pay funds to successor 48, 215 

for false report to commissioner 50, 203 

for paying public moneys to unqualified teacher 43, 401 

for loss of library money 61, 178 

for loss of Code of Public Instruction 118 

for not closing school during teachers' institute 409 

Apportionment of by commissioners 20, 300- 



Index. 1039 

Fines and 'Penalties — (Continued). 

Apportionment of by Superintendent 18, 19, 159 

Commissioners to procure list of 20, 300 

Disturbing school or school meeting 78, 163 

Duty of officer to sue for penalty 77, 162 

Embezzlement of moneys paid for 19, 160, 161 

For tlie benefit of what schools , 18, 159 

For illegal voting at school meetings 33, 190 

For false declaration of right to vote 33, 190 

For violation of Compulsory Education Act „ , 92 

For violation of Text-Book Act 100 

In reference to library books 60, 174 

Loss of public money to a district. 77, 162, 256, 257 

Refusal to deliver books, papers and records of dissolved school 

district 29, 256 

Refusal to serve notice for special . meeting , 31, 183 

Report of by district attorney 19, 159 

Report of by county treasurer , 18, 159 

Sole trustee subject to same as joint trustee 43, 422 

Supervisor for not making return of unexpended moneys 24, 397 

Supervisor to sue for and recover 25, 323, 324 

To what town or district paid 18, 19, 159, 160 

Where to be paid ....18,19, 159 

Flushing, 

District No. 3, Special School Act 842 

District No. 5, Special School Act 844 

District No. 7, Special School Act 846 

Forest Commission, 

To approve of tax for school-house upon State lands. . , , 114 

Forest Preserve, 

Taxes upon, for school-houses, how levied and collected 113, 114 

Forms, 

Alteration of school district where trustees consent 246 

Alteration of school district where trustees do not consent 246, 251 

Appointment of trustees 420 

Blind pupils, application for the appointment of . . . 133 

Blind pupils, appointment of 134 

Blind pupils, notice to supervisors of appointment, etc 135 

Bond given by supervisor 306 

Certificate of trustees to accounts and inventory of property 427 

Collector's bond 363 

Collector's return to tax-list 369 

Condemning school-house by commissioner , 265 

Consent of trustees to alteration of district 246 

Deaf and Dumb pupils, application for the appointment of 150 

DeaH and Dumb pupils, appointment of 151 

Deaf and Dumb pupils, notice to supervisors of appointment, etc. . . 152 

Memorandum of teachers' contract .... 400 

Notice for first meeting in new district 180 

to school officer of an application for his removal 316 

to teacher of charges preferred 394 

to trustees of alteration of school districts 28, 248, 249 

Order upon supervisor for teacher's wages 309, 401 

Taxes, equalization of, in districts lying in different towns 351 

Tax-list . . 330 

Teachers' certificates 388-392 



1040 Index. 

Forms — {Gontinued). 

Teachers' oath to register. 404 

Testimony taken by commissioner in appeals 11, 125, 126 

Union free school district, call for formation of 438 

notice for meeting , 438 

Unpaid taxes, return of tax list 357 

Warrant to tax list 331 

Fort Covington, 

Special School Act 847 

Fort Edward, 

Special School Act 849 

Fredonia, ^ 

Special School Act 849 

State Normal School - 473 

Free School Fund, ^ 

Apportionment of 292, 293 

Bank book for, furnished Superintendent 12, 289 

Checks for, to be countersigned and entered by Superintendent . . 12, 290 

Clerk of board of supervisors to include in tax levy 12, 289 

Depository of ... . 12, 289 

How constituted 288, 289 

How paid out 12, 289 

Salaries of school commissioners paid from 107, 235 

Statement of, by State treasurer 12, 289 

To be paid into State treasury 12, 289 

Fuel 34,44,46,258, 424 

Geneseo Normal School 474 

Geneva, 

Special School Act 956 

Glens Falls, 

Special School Act 849 

Globes, etc 34,46, 192, 193,425, 426 

Library money, when used for 59, 170, 171 

Gowanda, 

Special School Act 849 

Gospel and School Lots. {8ee Trust Funds.) 

Grand Island, 

Special School Act 849 

Hamilton, 

Special School Act 850 

Hempstead, 

Special School Act 852 

Holidays, 

Act defining.. 96, 97, 293, 294 

Included in school term 14, 293 



Index. 1041 

Hoosick, 

Special School Act ..».. 853 

Hornellsville, 

Special School Act 853 

Hudson, 

Special School Act 855 

Huntington, 

Special School Act 85T 

Indians, 

Apportionment of moneys for 14, 81, 293, 293: 

Children not to be enumerated in trustee's report 49, 202 

when not admitted to district school .42, 219, 220 

Public money drawn by , 8S 

Report of Superintendent to legislature 86- 

Reports required by Superintendent 86'. 

Schools established for children 85 - 87 

School-houses for 86 

State Superintendent to provide for the education of Indian children. 2; 

85, 315 

to visit reservations 86' 

Superintendents of Indian schools 86- 

Title to lands to be protected 86^ 

Inhabitants, 

Duty to attend school meetings 32, 186 

Penalty against, for illegal voting at school meetings 33, 190' 

Taxable inhabitants, who are 52, 353 

Who are legal voters at school meetings 32, 33, 186 - 189 

Inspectors of Election, 

For school oflHcers in districts having over 300 children .101 —103, 

Institute. {See Teachers' Institute.) 

Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-Mutes. 155 

Insurance, 

Of apparatus : 44, 45, 266 

Of libraries 45, 168 

Of Normal School buildings 468 

Of school-house, appendages, etc 34, 44, 266 

Must be in company created by laws of this State .34, 45, 266 

Trustees must comply with conditions of policy 45, 168 

Islip, 

Special School Act 859^^ 

Ithaca, 

Special School Act 860' 

Jamaica, 

Special School Act , 864 

Jamestown, 

Special School Act 866. 

131 



1042 Index. 

Johnstown District No. 16, 

Act authorizing appointment of superintendent 983 

Judgment for Teachers' Wages, 

Payment of ..35, 403 

Justices of the Peace, 

Jurisdiction under Compulsory Education Act 95 

in cases of trespass in or injury to buildings and grounds of Nor- 
mal Schools 467 

Kingston, 

Special School Act 866 

Land, 

Defined 335 

Non-resident lands, assessment of 51, 53, 332, 354, 355 

Liansinghurgh, 

Act authorizing appointment of a superintendent 983 

liCgislature, 

Election of State Superintendent of Public Instruction by 1, 312 

To control and regulate trust funds 17, 431 

Trust funds for schools, accepted by 17, 431 

Ijicenses. {See Certificates and Teachers.) 

Librarian, 

Acceptance of office 39 

Duties of - 42, 167 

Election of 33, 34, 101, 166 

Eligibility to hold the office 38, 103, 166 

Filing appointment of 40, 167 

Joint library, appointment of 59, 60, 173 

Liability for books lost 59, 172 

Notice of election or appointment 39-41, 142 

Penalty for refusal or neglect to serve 40, 161 

Refusal to serve 39, 40 

Resignation, how made, etc 40, 161 

Subject to direction of trustees 59, 171, 172 

Term of office •. 38,40, 166 

Vacancy, how filled 40, 167 

[The following reference is to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Librarian not entitled to compensation 563 

Libraries, 

Books may be selected by Superintendent 61. 178 

Book-case - 34, 58, 168, 169 

Expense of repairing books , 59, 171, . 172 

Insurance on 44, 45, 168 

Joint library, 

Appointment of librarian - 59, 60, 173 

Division of books, when dissolved 60, 173 

How dissolved 60, 173 

How formed 59,60, 173 

Liability of officers for books lost 59, 172 



Index. 1043 

lutibraries-^ (Continued). 

Moneys (Public) 

apportioned for 14, 20, 58, 169, 170, 292, 293, 299 

how forfeited 61^ 178 

loss of, to a district 61 178 

to be applied to 39, 172 

used for maps, globes, etc 59, 170, 171 

used for teachers' wages 46, 59, 168, 170, 171, 402 

witliholden from a district 61 178 

Money collected as penalties, used for ■ , 118 

Repeal of act concerning 62, 179 

Report of trustees concerning 61, 178 

Rules and regulations concerning 60, 174 - 178 

Selection of books for 61, 170, 178 

Tax for books 34, 58, 168, 169 

Teacher to assist in examining 61, 178 

Trustees of the library 59, 171, 172 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Exchange of old books for new ones 563 

Part of district set off not entitled to a part of library 564 

Selling 563, 564 

Little Falls and Manlieim, 

Special School Act 870 

Act authorizing appointment of a Superintendent , 983 

liocal Board, 

For alteration of school district 28, 249, 250 

Ijockport, 

Special School Kct 870 

Liong* Island City, 

Special School Act 875 

Lyons, 

Special School Act 880 

Mai one. 

Districts Nos. 1, 14, 15 and 23, Special Act 883 

Maps, 

Library moneys used for 59, 170, 171 

Meeting to provide 34, 192, 193 

Trustees to purchase 46, 425, . 426 

Medina, 

Special School Act 885 

Meeting^s, Annual, 

Changing the number of trustees .39, 416 - 418 

Notice of 41, 142, 185 

Text-books to be adopted by 100 

how changed by 100 

Time and place of holding 31, 103, 184. 185 

'lo determine the number of trustees 38, 416 - 418 

To prescribe mode of calling special meetings .31, 182 

When illegal for want of notice 31, 186 

"When not held, special to be called 32, 185, 186 



1044 Index. 

Meetings, Annual — {Continued). 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] 

A.nnual meeting, when set aside 570 

Notice .578, 579 

Time of day for annual meeting 572, 574 - 576 

Meetings, Special, 

Change of school -house site made at 37, 276 - 278 

Dissolution of joint districts decided by 28, 252, 253 

Dissolved school district may hold, powers of 29, 256 

First meeting in new district, notice for 30, 180 - 182 

How called 30, 31, 44, 182 - 184 

Illegal for want of notice, when 31, 186 

Notice for, contents and service of 31, 41, 142, 182-184 

Powers of, in case of condemned school-house 10, 264 

To be called when school-house has been condemned 10, 264 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.} 

Call for, legality of 570, 584 

Commissioner may call meeting for election of officers, when 584 

How called 579 

Meeting set aside on account of irregularity of notice 578 

No business can be transacted which was not stated in notice. . .584, 587 

Notice .. . 578, 579, 584 

Proceedings not set aside because notices were served by contractor. 577 
Proceedings will not be set aside because majority of inhabitants, 

having notice, did not attend, 571 

Reducing estimate of commissioner in order condemning school- 
house 583 

Trustees to call, when 565 ~ 569 

Meetings, Annual or Special, 

Adjournment 33, 191, 192 

Bail of collector fixed by 34, 145 

Chairman, appointment of .33, 190, 191 

Clerk, appointment of 33, 139 

Disturbing, penalty for ....'. 78, 163 

Duty of inhabitants to attend 32, 186 

Election of officers by 33, 34, 38, 39, 139, 145, 166, 192, 416, 417 

Illegal voting at, etc 33, 190 

Insurance of school -house directed by 34, 44, 266 

Insurance of libraries directed by • • • • 45, 168 

May aathorize employment of trustee's relative as teacher 45, 898 

Notice of adjourned meeting 41, 142, 185 

Records of, how kept 41, 142 - 144 

Resignation of district officers accepted by .40, 161, 421 

Sale of school-house and site directed by . . .37, 271, 278, 279 

School-house sites, designation of 34, 273 

Taxes voted by 34 

apparatus, maps, globes and blackboards 34, 192. 193 

book-case 34, 58, 168. 169 

costs and expenses in suits and appeals 34, 79, 127, 129, 195 

deficiency in former tax list 34, 193 

for record book .34,194, 195 

for school -houses 34, 258 

for school-house sites 34, 273 

for teachers' wages 35, 402, 403 



Index. 1045 

Meetings, Special — (Gontinued). 

fuel.. 34, 258 

library books 34, 58, 168, 169 

text-books for poor children . 34, 193, 193 

to pay expenses of vaccination of poor children 88 

to pay judgment for teachers' wages 35, 403 

to replace moneys lost or embezzled 34, 195 

Voters at, who are qualified 32, 33, 186 - 189 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.} 

Cannot change term of trustee's office 582 

vote to refund moneys paid on judgment against collector's 

sureties . '. , , . ..... 582 

vote tax for purchase of organ 583 

vote tax to build public hall and school-house combined 583 

Chairman of, cannot reconvene meeting after adjournment. 577 

Disorderly proceedings, meeting set aside for 575 

Motion to adjourn, entertainment of 572 

Notice 578, 579 

No power to dissolve or annul a district 580 

Powers of 579 

Proceedings set aside for disorderly conduct 589 

will not be set aside because record was not kept ,. 591 

set aside on account of fraud 573 

set aside for voting exorbitant sum to pay in advance rent of; 

school-house site, etc 579 

set aside for uncertainty, where there was a surplus of ballots. . 572 

cannot be set aside by trustees 564 

carried by illegal votes set aside 585 

will not be set aside because declaration was not administered 

to persons challenged ..." 571 

Prosecution of delinquent trustees cannot be controlled by 579 

Rescinding action of former meeting 587 

Rules for 573 

Vote upon estimate of expenses must be taken item by item 580 

Middletown, 

Special School Act... 886 

Milton, 

District No. 1, Special School Act , , , 888 

Milton and Ballston, 

District No. 12, Special Act 891 

Misdemeanors, 

Embezzlement of moneys paid as fines or penalties 19, 160 

Embezzlement of trust funds by supervisor 23, 323, 435 

False report by trustee 50, 203 

For false declaration of right to vote at school meetings 33, 190 

Injury to Normal School buildings or grounds 467 

Misdemeanor defined (Penal Code) 161 

Payment of State moneys to unqualified teacher 43, 401 

Supervisor's refusal to give bond 23, 307 

To procure or solicit a school commissioner to act as agent for book 

seller or publisher g^ 237 

Trustee not to close school during a teacners' institute 410 



lOdia Index. 

Moiiej'S. (See State School Moneys.) 

Balance in liands of trustees to be paid to successor 48, 428 

Collection of moneys due a dissolved district 29, 255 

Collector the custodian of moneys raised by tax 57, 368 

From sale of property of dissolved district 29, 254, 255 

Loss of public money to a district through school officer 77, 162 

Library moneys, when used for teacher's wages 59, 170, 171 

loss of, to a district 61, 178 

when used for maps, globes, etc 59, 170, 171 

when withholden or forfeited. . . , 61, 178 

Loss of money to a district by neglect of collector 57, 269 

Of dissolved district, apportionment of 29, 254 - 256 

Replacing district moneys lost or embezzled ,34, 195 

Trustee to sue predecessor for .48, 428 

Moiiticello, 

Special School Act 891 

Morrisania, 

Special Act 892 

Morrisville, 

Special Act 892 

Mount Morris, 

Special School Act 892 

Neighborhoods, 

Annual meeting in 51, 184 

Apportionment of State school moneys to .15, 20, 296, 297, 299 

Certificate of apportionment of public moneys to 21, 308 

Clerk, duties of 41, 141 

Description of 27, 244, 245 

Excusing default of 15, 297 

First meeting in 30, 180 

Formation of 27, 244 

Loss of public money to = 77, 162 

Qualifications of officers 38 

Special meeting in 31, 182, 183 

Term of officers 38 

Newhurgh, 

Special School Act 896 

New Paltz, 

State Normal School 475 

New Rochelle, 

Special School Act . 898 

Newtown, 

Special School Act 900 

District No. 11 , Special School Act 902 

New York, 

Institution for the Blind 3, 130, 132, 135 - 137 

Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb. . . .2, 147, 153 - 155 



Index. 1047 

New York City, 

Chamberlain of, to apply for State school moneys 16, 298 

Special School Acts 903 

New York State, 

Institution for the Blind at Batavia 3, 130, 137, 138 

Asylum for Idiots, State Superintendent to be ex officio trustee of ..2, 315 

Normal Schools, 

An act in regard to Normal schools 46»? 

Buildings and grounds, custody and management of 467 

Diplomas., annulment of by Superintendent 5, 383 

Diplomas certificates of qualification to teach 465 

Drawing to be taught in 98, 466 

Examination of applicants for admission 465 

Injury to buildings or grounds a misdemeanor 467 

Insurance of buildings 468 

List of normal school diplomas to l^e kept in office of State Superin- 
tendent 5, 383 

Local board, appointment of, by Superintendent 464 

Physiology and hygiene to be taught in 112, 220 

Powers and duties of local board 463 - 466 

Powers generally of Superintendent over 463 - 466 

Report of local board 464 

Special acts for: 

Albany ..468, 469 

Brockport '. .470, 471 

Buffalo 472 

Cortland 473 

Fredonia 473 

Geneseo 474 

New Paltz 475 

Oswego 476, 477 

Oneonta 478 

Potsdam ' 478 

Special policemen to protect property of, appointment of 467 

State Superintendent to have supervision over 2, 315, 464 

Northern New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes 157 

Notice, 

Appeal to county judge for adjustment of costs and expenses. . . 80, 128 

Of adjourned district meeting 41, 142 

Of annual district meeting. 41, 142 

Of apportionment of State school moneys by Superintendent 16, 298 

Of certain taxes in union free school districts, 67, 446 

Of examination for commissioners' certificates 386 

Of examination for State certificates 5, 380 

Of examination of applicants for State scholarships in Cornell Uni- 
versity 487 

Of first meeting in new district, service, etc 30, 180 - 182 

Of meeting of board of trustees 44, 423, 42-i 

Of original assessment 51 , 347 

Of special meeting, service of 31, 41, 44, 142, 182 - 184 

Of tax list and warrant by collector 56, 363, 364 

to railroad company 56, 364 

Of teachers' institutes 74, 406 

Of the annulment of certificates by commissioner 10, 393 

Of the sale of bonds for school -house 37, 262, 263 



1048 Index. 

Notice — {Continued). 

Of vaccination of pupils 87 

Of vacancy in the office of school commissioner to be given county 

judge and State Superintendent by county clerk 7, 234 

Supervisor to notify successor of the filing of his account 35, 308 

To district officer of his election 39, 41, 140-143, 420, 431 

To school commissioners, election or appointment of 7, 233 

To school officer of an application for his removal 316 

To trustees of alteration of school district 28, 248» 249 

To trustees of the acceptance of their resignation 41, 142 

Union free school district, formation of 62, 63, 437 - 440 

Nuisance, 

Abatement of, ordered by school commissioner 9, 268 

by trustees 46, 269, 425, 426 

Oaths, 

Administered by school commissioner. . 11, 125 

Office, oath of, by school commissioner. 7, 234 

Teachers' oath to register 47, 404 

Officers, 

{The following reference is to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Where certain duties are required of public officers, their perform- 
ance will be presumed unless the contrary is shown 591 

Ogdenslj urgh. 

Special School Act 913 

Olean, 

Act authorizing appointment of a superintendent 983 

Oneonta, 

State normal school ...,. .,,...... 478 

Onondaga, 

Special School Act 916 

Orang-etown, 

Special School Act 918 

Orphan Asylums, 

Apportionment of State school money to 83, 304 

Subject to the rules and regulations of common schools .83, 304 

Oswego, 

Special School act 919 

State normal school 476, 477 

Out-buildin^s, 

Expense for constructing, how levied 116, 269, 270 

Repairs upon, directed by school commissioner ,9, 268 

made by trustee 46, 268-270, 425, 426 

Separated by fence, etc 116, 269, 270 

To be kept clean, etc. 116 

Two in number to be provided for each school 116, 269, 270 



Index. 1049 

Owego, 

Special School Act 923 

Oyster Bay, 

District No. 4, Special Scliool Act 925 

District No. 5, Special Scliool Act 937 

Palmyra, 

Special Scliool Act , 927 

Penalties. (See Fines and Penalties.) 

Penn Yan, 

Special School Act 928 

Phelps, 

Special School Act • 932 

Phoenix, 

Special School Act 933 

Physician, 

Appointment by trustees to ascertain children vaccinated and not 

vaccinated 87 

To vaccinate poor children , 88 

To give certificates of vaccination .... 88 

Fees paid by trustees. 88 

Physiology and Hygiene, 

To be taught in the schools 112, 220 

Teachers to pass examination in 113, 220 

Pipe-line companies. 

Taxes against, apportionment, assessment and collection. .90, 91, 370, 371 

Plans and Specifications for school-houses. 

Superintendent to procure and publish .118, 119, 263, 264 

Plattsburgh, 

Districts Nos. 1, 2 and 5, Special School Act 934 

Policemen, 

Appointment of special policemen to protect property of Normal 
Schools 467 

Port Byron, 

Special School Act 936 

Port Richmond, 

Special School Act 938 

Post-office address. 

Of school officers to be furnished town clerks 41, 142 

Of school officers to be furnished commissioners 26, 414 

Potsdam, 

State Normal School 478 

Poughkeepsie, 

Special School Act , 939 

132 



1050 Index. 

Privies. {See Out -buildings.) 

Property, 

Exemptions from taxation 341 - 345 

List of district property made by trustees 47, 427 

Of Normal Schools, custody and protection of 467 

Personal, defined, assessment of 51, 382 - 385 

Real, defined, assessment of 51, 382 - 888 

Real estate, equalization of, for taxes .52, 349 - 352 

Trust funds for schools 17, 431 - 433 

Trustees of school district to hold as a corporation 43, 422 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Apportionment of property of dissolved district. 592 

Fence about school-house, sale of, replacing, etc 593, 594 

Loss of, when otficers are not responsible for 593 

Property bequeathed to a town for the use of common schools 593 

Sale of, when district is annulled 592 593 

Public Money. {See State School Moneys.) 

Pulaski, 

Special School Act 941 

Pupils, 

Non-resident, how admitted to schools . 42, 217, 219 

Not vaccinated to be excluded from school 87 

Tax of non-resident deducted from tuition. 42, 113, 217, 219 

Tuition of non-resident. . . 42, 113, 217, 219 

Vaccination of poor children 88 

Who are entitled to attend the district schools 42, 217 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] 

Abuse of discretion in the enforcement of discipline .... 601 

Authority of trustee and teacher, when it ceases 602 

Course of study for 605 

Cruel and unusual punishment , 601 

Discipline and punishment 601 

Exclusion of tardy pupils 605 

Expelling, rule for, etc 603 

Non-resident, rights of 608, 604 

Studies of, etc 605 

Suspension 603, 606 

Trustees cannot impose fine upon pupil- 601 

Tuition of non-resident 604 

Quota, {See Teachers.) 

Railroads, 

Apportionment among different districts 90, 91, 370 

Assessment of property. 90, 370 

Change in apportionment when districts are altered. . .91, 107, 371, 872 

Collection of taxes against 56, 109, 364 

Delaware and Hudson Canal Co. taxes 106, 107, 372 

Duties of county treasurer respecting taxes 109, 110, 87J 

Payment of taxes by 109, 110, 371 

Statement of apportionment furnished by town clerk. . .91, 107, 370, 372 



Index. 1051 

Rate Bills, 

Abolished 82, 217, 221-224 

Records, 

Of appeal to county judge to adjust costs and expenses 80, 81, 128 

Of dissolved school districts 27, 415 

Of neighborhoods, how and where kept 41, 141 

Of normal school diplomas 5, 383 

Of school district, clerk to keep 41, 142 - 144 

Of State certificates 5, 383 

Of supervisors' accounts 26, 413, 414 

Of teachers' examinations by commissioners 386 

Of the examination and appointment to State scholarships in Cornell 

University 487 

Town clerk to file 25, 412 

to report injury to supervisor .... ,. 26, 412 

Register, Teachers', 

Aggregate attendance ascertained from 21, 301 

Contents of 47, 404 

Delivery to district clerk 43 

Teachers to keep, etc 43, 47, 404 

Teacher to verify 47, 404 

Relationship, 

Degrees of, defined 395 - 398 

List of relations within two degrees 398 

Table of 397 

Religious Meetings, 

\_T he following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Closing school-house against 606 

Fuel furnished by societies occupying school-house 607 

Use of school-house for 606-608 

Repairs, 

Upon school-house, directed by commissioner 9, 268 

directed by district meeting 34, 44 

made by trustees 46, 269, 425, 426 

Repeal, 

Of laws inconsistent with Consolidated School Act of 1864 81 

Reports, 

Blanks for, to be prepared by State Superintendent . . .6, 317 

Collector to annual meeting 57, 216, 368 

Fines and penalties reported by district attorney 19, 159 

county treasurer 19, 159 

Local boards of normal schools 464 

Of joint districts lying in two counties '. 49, 202, 212 - 214 

Of neighborhoods,* contents, etc 50, 202, 203 

Penalty for false report 50, 203 

Record to be made of trustees' reports . 41, 142 

School commissioners to make, as required by Superintendent. . .11, 199 

200, 201 
State Superintendent: 

annual report, to legislature 3, 18, 136, 152 

distribution of 119, 199 

number of copies of 119, 199 



1052 Index. 

Reports — {Continued). 

Trust funds, by different officers 18, 432 

Trustees' report to annual meeting 47, 48, 215 

Trustees to school commissioner 48-50, 201 - 215 

filed with town clerk 48, 201, 204 

when made 48, 201 

Contents of trustees' report: 

Amount raised by district tax and expended , ... .49, 202 

Concerning teachers' institutes 75, 407, 408 

Drafts of trustees 49, 201 

Items required by Superintendent, explanations, etc 203- 215 

Number of children vaccinated 87, 203 

attending school . 49, 201 

residing in district 49, 202, 207, 208 

taught in adjoining city under contract 99 

Time school was maintained 48, 201, 208 

What children are resident 49, 202, 207, 208 

Town clerk to deliver trustees' report to school commissioner. . . .26, 413 

Residence, 

Of school district officers 38, 140, 145, 366, 419 

What children are residents of district 49, 202 

What constitutes residence 187 - 189 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decidons.'}^ 

Changing residence to avoid enumeration 608 

Children residing with grandparents. 612 

of temporary residents to be enumerated 608 

Facts proving residence ... 610 

Gaining residence, how 608 

Of children at boarding-school 609 

Question of residence to be liberally construed in favor of pupil. ... 611 

Removal from district, what constitutes 613 

With guardian 612 

What constitutes residence 610, 613 

Resignation, 

Of district officers 40, 161, 421 

Of school commissioner 7, 234 

Rochester, 

Special School Act 942 

Rome, 

Special School Act 945 

Rooms, 

Trustees can hire when necessary for keeping school 46, 425, 426 

Rules of Practice, 

Inappeals 123, 124 

Sag Harbor, 

Special School Act 946 

Salary, 

Of State Superintendent 2, 314 

Of clerks in Superintendent's office 2, 314 

Of school commissioners 7, 8, 13, 235, 236, 291 - 293 



Index. 1053 

Salem, 

Special School Act ..*... 948 

Salina, 

District No. 6, Special School Act. * , . . 950 

Saratog-a Springs, 

Special School Act ....... 951 

Schenectady, 

Special School Act 05B 

Schools, 

Children of district to be taught in schools of an adjoining city 99 

Closed during teachers' institute 75, 407, 409 

Disturbing school, penalty for 78, 103 

Evening schools ; 295 

Evening schools for industrial drawing 116, 117 

Excluding children not vaccinated 87 

For colored children 73, 221 

Free to all resident children of school age 42, 217 

History of 221-224 

Indian schools 2,85-87, 315 

Indian children not to be admitted, when 42, 219, 220 

Non-residents, how admitted 42, 217, 219 

Physiology and hygiene to be taught in 112, 220 

State tax for , . . 11. 12, 289 

Temporary rooms for 46, 425, 426 

Visitation of, by State Superintendent 5, 316 

[These references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] 

Branch schools, trustees have the power to establish, etc 614 

appeal from trustee's action in establishing , 616 

district meeting cannot restrain establishment of 616 

restraining trustees from establishing , . 616 

when to establish 614, 615 

Board of Education cannot make contract to employ only "sisters". 622 

Duty of trustee to maintain school 617 

Meeting cannot direct that no school be maintained in the district. .. 617 

Religious exercises in 618, 619, 621 

Sectarian schools 623 

Studies in .. .,. 621 

School Comniissioner, 

Appointment of 7,234, 235 

Apportionment of State school moneys by 20-23, 299 - 305 

of fines and penalties < 20, 300 

of moneys of dissolved district 29, 254 - 256 

Approval of tax exceeding $500 for school-house 36, 2')1, 262 

Approval of plans for school house 36, 261, 262 

Ballots for 6, 233 

Boundaries of school districts, to examine and amend record. . . 8, 9, 253 

Cannot act as other school officer . .7, 234 

Cannot be trustee of school district 38, 225, 418 

Certificate of apportionment of public moneys by 21, 303 

Condemning school-houses, order, etc 9, 264 265 

Consulting and advising district oflBcers.. 9, 238 



1054 Index. 

School Coviiniissioner — (Continued). 

Correcting errors in apportionment of public moneys 22, 304 

Duties generally 11, 238 - 240 

Eligibility to hold the office 252 

Election of 6, 233, 234 

Endorsing Regents certificate Ill, 457 

Examination of school-house and grounds ..9, 238 

Expenses of amending or defining district boundaries 8, 9, 253 

Fines and penalties, to procure list of 20, 300 

First meeting in new district, called by 30, 180, 182 

Jurisdiction of . 236 

Loss of public money through neglect of 77, 162 

Neighborhoods, formation of 27, 244 

Kotification of the election or appointment to be sent to State Super- 
intendent : 7, 233 

Nuisances, order of abatement 9, 268 

Oaths administered by 11, 125 

Oath of office ., 7, 234 

Office of 6, 225 

Out-buildings, to order repairs upon ,9, 268 

Performance of the duties of a commissioner of an adjoining district, 8, 236 

Removal from office 6, 8, 237, 242 

Report made by, etc 11, 199 - 201 

Resignation of . . - 7, 234 

Recommending the excusing a district in default 15, 297 

Salary of 7, 13, 107, 235, 291 - 293 

increase of, by supervisors 7, 8, 235, 236 

withholding, by Saperintendent 8, 236 

School districts, to divide territory into 27, 244 

joint, to form .27, 244 

to form, alter and dissolve 27-29, 244 - 254 

School-houses, alterations and repairs directed by 9, 268 

Shall not act as agent for bookseller or publisher 8, 237 

Special meeting called by 30, 183, 184 

Subject to the rules and regulations of State Superintendent. .. 11, 242 

Teachers' certificates, granted by 10, 111, 384, 457 

annulment of, upon charges .10, 393 

examinations for, etc 10, 384-392 

Teachers' institutes organized by 73, 406 

to give notice of 74, 406 

to send catalogue of persons attending, to Superintendent 76, 408 

Term of commissioner appointed 7, 235 

Term of office. 7, 234 

Testimony in appeals taken by 11, 125, 126 

To order a delivery of books, papers and records of a dissolved dis- 
trict to town clerk 29, 256 

To approve of expense of constructing out-buildings 116, 269, 270 

Trust funds granted to . . .17, 431 

Union Free School districts numbered by 64, 441, 442 

Unexpended moneys, .to procure list of 20, 299 

Vacates his office, how 7, 234 

Visiting and examining schools 9, 237, 238 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Cannot adjudicate upon the validity of predecessor's order 625 

Cannot continue in other business or teach school 627 

Cannot set aside proceedings of district meeting 626 



Index. 1055 

School Commissioner — {Continued). 

Evidence of appointment of, must be received by Superintendent ^ 

before salary can be paid ' 625 

Indorsing teacher's certificate 626 

Residence in district wliich elects him not required 626 

School Commissioner Districts, 

Alteration and formation of, by supervisors 108, 226 

Cities not included in, when 112, 226, 227 

Division of, into school districts 27, 244 

List of districts by towns 227 - 233 

Organization of 6, 225, 226 

[^T he following reference is to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Order of Board of Supervisors forming 627 

School Districts, 

Alteration, formation and dissolution of 27-29, 244 - 253 

Alteration when trustees refuse to consent 28, 247 - 250 

when trustees consent 27, 246 

Boundaries, examination of and defining by commissioner 8, 9, 253 

Certificate of apportionment of public moneys to 21, 303 

Children of, taught in schools of adjoining city. 99 

Confirming or vacating, order of alteration 28, 249 

Default, excused by Superintendent , 15^ 297 

Descriptions of 27, 244, 245 

Descriptions of, recorded by town clerk 26, 143, 414 

Dissolved districts, 

books, papers and records of 27, 29, 41, 142, 256, 414 

may hold special meetings 29, 256 

moneys belonging to, disposition of ,29, 255, 256 

moneys from sale of property, how used 29, 254, 255 

officers of, to continue 29, 256 

powers of special meetings in 29, 256 

property of 29, 254 

sale of property of 29, 254, 255 

to continue for the payment of its debts 29, 256 

Equitable allowance of public money in case of default 15, 297 

Fees of supervisor and town clerk . * 28, 252 

First meeting in new district, notices, etc 30, 180 - 182 

Joint districts, formation of 27,244, 252 

dissolution of 28,' 252,' 253 

reports of 49, 50, 202, 212-214 

what are 245 

Local board for confirming or vacating commissioner's order. .28, 249, 250 

Loss of public money to, through neglect of officer. 29, 30, 77, 162, 256, 257 
Meetings in. {See Meetings. ) 

Moneys of. lost or embezzled, replacing 34, 195 

Moneys belonging to, trustee to sue for ^ 48^ 428 

Notice of alteration to be given trustees 28, 248, 249 

Numbering 27, 244, 245 

Reports of, made to commissioners 48-50, 201 - 215 

Reclaiming moneys erroneously apportioned to 16, 297, 298 

State school moneys apportioned to 14, 21, 293, 30l', 302 

State school moneys, when entitled to. 14, 22, 293-295,' 305 

Supplementary apportionment to 16, 298 

Taxes on, assessing and collecting 51-58, 328 - 377 

Unexpended moneys re-apportioned 20,299, 300 



1056 Index. 

School Districts — {Continued). 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] 

Accommodation of individuals 531 -533 

After the same alteration had previously been passed upon by the 

Superintendent 557 

All districts affected by the alteration have a right to the voice of its 

town authorities upon local board 538 

Altering districts only for the purpose of equalizing valuations not 

sanctioned 546 

Annulled, when 552 

Bonded district, division of 559 

Boundaries must not be defined by names of occupants of lands 539 

correction of not subject to review by local board 539 

irregularity to be avoided 539 

Commissioner can act when supervisor and town clerk fail to attend. 536 
Commissioner to obtain jurisdiction must obtain consent or refusal of 

trustees, , 542 

Consent must be given at meeting of board of trustees 543, 544 

Consent, when material 546 

Consent of trustees, how given 541 

Confirmatory order 560, 563 

Contents of order 540 

Date for the taking effect of an order cannot be changed. 552 

District can be annulled for refusal to build school-house 559 

Description, how made 540 

Filing confirmatory order 546 

Porm of consent or dissent 543 

Irregularity of proceeding 552 

Joint district, requires the joint act of the commissioners 542, 560 

-Local board for alteration 534 

does not have original jurisdiction 536 

how convened 537 

jurisdiction of, how acquired. 536 

relative to parties in interest not prohibited from membership on. 537 

Majority vote of local board controls 535 

Misapprehension 553, 554 

Must recite consent or refusal of trustee 552 

Notice to trustees, effect of insufficient notice 543 

Notice to trustees of order .540, 544 

Notice of meeting to hear objections, waiver of 546 

Notice to trustees, irregularity of 541, 545 

No rule of Department requiring certain population 560 

Notice to dissenting trustees must be given after the order is made. . 545 

Order must recite consent or refusal 542, 543 

Order to take effect several months after its date, not invalid ...... 551 

Order will not be set aside on the ground that the inhabitants of one 

district are opposed 531 

Petition of majority of inhabitants not sufficient reason for dissolution. 532 

Preliminary order necessary 537, 552, 560 

Property should be made to bear its share of taxation for the main- 
tenance of a good school 551 

Record of order 555 - 557 

Separation of contestants not ground for alteration of district 549 

Staying an order on appeal 556 

To secure better school facilities 532 

Trustee cannot consent to his own lands being set off 545 



Index. 1057 

School Districts — (Continued). 

Trustees do not join with commissioner in order 537 

Weak districts, consolidation, alteration of 548, 550, 551 

When supervisor and town clerk can act with commissioner 585 

When opposition arose after alteration 558 

School-houses, 

Alterations directed by commissioner 9, 268 

Bonds, when and how issued 36, 37, 362, 268 

Building committee 259 

Building new house for condemned one . . . , 10, 264, 265 

Building, purchasing or hiring 44, 258-261, 424 

Cleaning school-room 46, 425, 426 

Condemning by commissioner 9, 10, 264, 265 

Custody of 44. 266, 267 

Examination of, by commissioner. 9, 268 

Fires in, providing for 46, 425, 426 

Insurance of 84, 44, 266 

Moneys arising from sale of, how applied 38, 271, 279 

Plan of, to be approved by commissioner 36, 261, 262 

Plans and specifications for 118, 119, 268, 264 

Removal of 37, 276 - 278 

Repairs by direction of meeting .84, 44 

by commissioner 9, 268 

by trustee 46, 269, 425, 426 

of old building .....37, 271, 278, 279 

Shall not stand upon town line 86, 261 

Tax for 84, 258, 259 

Tax exceeding $500 to be approved by commissioner. . . .86, 261, 262 

Tax, voting and raising in installments 86, 262, 263 

Use of, permitting and forbidding 47, 166, 167 

[Thefollomng references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Approval of school commissioner to tax of over $500 for new school- 

house 639 

Building committee, powers of 687 

Condemning 629 

Consent of inhabitants to expenditure for repairs 638 

District cannot be compelled to build new school-house 559 

New building must be accepted by the trustees before it becomes the 

school-house . . ' 632 

Plans, changing after contract is made 581 

Powers of trustees concerning 640 

Repairs upon 635, 636 

Repairs on a school- house that has been condemned 636, 637 

Repairs pursuant to direction of school commissioner 636, 687 

Tax list for repairs 685 

for school-house, when amount was not fixed by a district meeting 688 

Tax to be raised in installments for, must exceed $500 689 

Trustees have no power to lease school-house so as to lose control of it 631 

Use of 640 

Vote to build rescinds former vote to repair 687 

Voting upon the question of repairs not limited to taxpayers '638 

When Superintendent will review order condemning 629, 680 

When there is no school-house, district must pay for ren;t of rooms. 631 

133 



1058 Index. 

School-house Sites, 

Changing site 37, 276 - 278 

Designation of 34, 273 - 276 

Hiring or purchasing 34, 44, 273-276, 424 

Moneys arising from sale of, how applied 38, 279 

Sale of old site 37, 98, 278, 279, 324 

Tax for 34, 273 - 276 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] 

Annual meeting no power to change 646 

Appeal brought from proceedings of meeting 655 

Change of . . 646 

what vote is necessary , 644 

Committee to purchase 657 

Cannot be condemned 655 

Consent of supervisor to change of 647 - 650 

Consent necessary to change of site 643 

Division fences 655 

Department will not locate site ..... 646 

will not compel change 645 

Designation and purchase of new site when districts are consolidated. 647 

Description in resolution designating 653 

Enlarging 642 

Establishing, the mere act of voting does not 653 

Lease of, not permitted 650 

Location of school-house upon 643, 656 

Location by arbitrators 581 

Money must not be paid until title is obtained 654 

Power to lease . . 650 

Eecord of vote to change 652 

Sale of old site 647 

not required 655 

Selection of, power cannot be delegated 641, 657 

Tax for, cannot be raised in installments 639 

Tax for not limited G42 

Two sites in same district, how located 645 

Vote for 652 

change of, may be taken before supervisor consents 649 

When Department will set aside proceedings designating site 656 

School Visitor, 

Appointment of, by State Superintendent 4, 315 

Duties of visitor 4, 315 

School Year, 

To consist of twenty-eight weeks 14, 293 - 295 

Seal, 

Of State Superintendent 2, 314 

State certificates granted under 5, 379 

Seneca, 

Special School Act 956 

Seneca Falls, 

Special School Act 957 

Sing Sing, 

Special School Act 960 



Index. 1059 

State School Moneys, 

Apportionment by commissioners .15, 296, 297, 299 

an equitable sum as directed by Superintendent 20, 299 

of fines and penalties paid to county treasurer 20, 300 

of library moneys. 20, 21, 299, 300 

of unexpended moneys 20, 299, 300 

time and place of making 20, 299 

to neighborhoods 20, 299 

to orphan asylums 83, 304, 311 

to school districts, how made 21, 301, 302 

Apportionment by State Superintendent 13, 291 

for contingent fund .14, 292, 293 

for Indian schools 14, 292, 293 

for library money , 14, 15, 292, 293, 295 

for salaries of school commissioners 13, 108, 291 - 293 

for teachers' quota 14, 293 - 295 

to cities and villages for supervision 12, 291, 293 

to cities having more than one member of Assembly. . .14, 292, 293 

to counties according to population 15, 295, 296 

to neighborhoods 15, 296 

Bond for safe keeping by supervisor. 22, 305 - 307 

Certificate of apportionment by school commissioners 21, 26, 303, 412 

made by Superintendent 16, 298 

Common School Fund 288, 293 

Disbursement of, by supervisor ,24, 308 

District, when entitled to 14, 22, 293 - 295, 305 

Division of, into parts for each term 45, 401, 402 

Equitable allowance made to districts in default 15, 296, 297 

Errors in apportionment corrected by commissioners 22, 304 

Free School Fund 13, 288 

bank book for, furnished Superintendent 12, 289 

clerk of board of supervisors to include in tax levy . , . . .12, 289 

checks for, to be countersigned and entered by Superintendent. 12, 290 

depository of „ 12, 289 

how paid out .12, 289 

statement of, by State treasurer 12, 289 

to be paid into State treasury 12, 289 

Library moneys 13, 58, 169, 170, 291 

money, when used for teachers' wages 46, 168, 402 

Loss of, to a district by neglect of officer 29, 30, 77, 162, 256. 257 

Misdemeanor to pay to unqualified teacher , . . .43, 401 

Payment, to whom... 22, 23, 305-307 

Re-claiming moneys erroneously apportioned 16, 297, 298 

Report of apportionment by State Superintendent 5, 198 

Supervisor to keep account of „ 24, 308 - 3 1 

account of, recorded by town clerk 26, 414 

to file account with town clerk 25, 308 

to have book of account 24, 25, 308 - 310 

to lay his account of, before town auditors 24, 308 

when to demand them of predecessor 25, 308 - 310 

when to pay them to successor 25, 309, 310 

Supplementary apportionment 16, 298 

Temporary loan made for county to supply deficiency 13, 290, 291 

Unexpended moneys, return of, by supervisor 24, 307, 299 

re-apportioned 20, 299 

United States Deposit Fund 13,107,288, 292 

Unqualified teacher cannot be paid 43, 400, 401 

can be paid by direction of Superintendent 15, 296, 297 

Used for teachers', wages . . . . . . .^ .^ 13, 291 



1060 Index. 

State School Moneys — {Continued). 

What constitutes the State school moneys 13, 291 

When payable to counties \\q\ 298 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] 

Branch school when set off to form a new district entitled to a share of 598 

Duty of county treasurer concerning 594 

For what terms of school it can be used 595 

How applied 594 

Supervisors cannot pay to trustees or persons other than the teacher. 595 

Trustees cannot be custodians of 597 

When district is annulled, what becomes of the public money due it . 596 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

American Museum of Natural History, 

powers and duties of State Superintendent concerning 483-485 

Annulment of teachers' certificate by 5, 383 

Appeals to, powers and duties concerning 76, 77, 121 - 129 

Appointment of school commissioner by. . . 7, 235 

Apportionment of State school moneys by 13-15, 81, 291 - 298 

Blind, powers and duties in reference to 2, 3, 130, 131, 135, 136 

Certificate of apportionment made by 16, 298 

Checks for Free School Fund to be countersigned and entered by . 12, 290 

Clerks, appointment and salary of 2, 314 

Consent to amend tax-list 57, 367, 368 

Cornell University, 

appointment of State students to 486 - 488 

examinations of applicants for State scholarships conducted by. 486 - 488 
record of the examination and appointment to State scholarships 

kept by 487 

trustee, ex-officio , 2, 315 

Deaf and dumb, powers and duties in reference to. .2, 3, 4, 130, 131, 147 

148, 152, 156 

Deputy, appointment of, and duties 2, 313 

Distribution of Act of 1864 by , 81 

of the Code of Public Instruction (1887) by 117 

Election and term of office 1, 312 

Examinations for teachers' certificates, rules for, etc .5, 379, 380-383 

Excusing district in default 15, 297 

Excusing the teaching of drawing in union free schools under 

Special Act 98 

Fines and penalties apportioned by 18, 19, 159 

Indian children, admitted to district school by 42, 219, 220 

Indian children, to provide for the education of 2, 85, 315 

Library books, may select for district 61, 178 

List of State certificates and normal school diplomas to be kept by. 5, 383 

List of Supermtendents 312 

Deputy Superintendents 313 

Local boards for Normal schools appointed by 464 - 466 

removed by 464 

May order new election in districts liaving over 300 children. 103 

Normal Schools, 

course of study, approval of 464 

diplomas prepared by 465 

. general supervision of 2,315, 464 

pupils assigned to. 465 

reports directed by 464 

rules and regulations, approval of 464 



Index. 1061 

State Superintendent of Public Instrnction — (Continued). 

Superintendent may exercise duties of local board, when 466 

teacliers, approval of appointment, etc 464 

to direct expenditure of moneys received for tuition 466 

Organization of union free school district 62, 63, 437, 440 

Papers under seal of Superintendent to be evidence 2, 314, 315 

Plans for school-houses to be procured and published by. 118, 119, 263, 264 

Reclaiming moneys erroneously apportioned 16, 297, 298 

Registers, blanks and forms to be prepared by 6, 317 

Removal of member of board of education by 72, 453 

Removal of any school officer by 6, 316 

Repairs upon out-buildings ordered by 46, 269, 425 

Report required of school commissioner ... 11, 199 - 201 

Report of 3, 5, 18, 86, 136, 152 

Salary : 2, 314 

Salary of school commissioner withheld by 8, 236 

Seal 2, 314 

School visitors, appointed by 4, 315 

Schools visited by 4, 316 

State school moneys, draft for transfer of, countersigned by 12, 289 

Supervision over union free school districts 72, 452 

Supplementary apportionment made by 16, 298 

Teacher's Institutes, 

may make rules respecting the granting of certificates to teach- 
ers who attend 74, 406 

to certify expenses of 75, 408 

to employ conductors for 74, 406 

to visit and supervise 74. 406 

Teachers' certificate granted by 5, 379 

Temporary licenses issued by 5. 379 

Temporary loan made- for county to supply deficiency, 12, 290, 291 

To direct money received as penalty to be used for teacher's wages. . Il8 

To call special meeting when annual was not held .32, 185 

To compel school commissioner to perform duties for another .... 8, 236 
To decide what are ordinary contingent expenses in union free 

school districts 70, 450* 

To direct trustees to make report of library 61, 178 

teacher to assist in examination of library 61, 178 

To require boards of education to report 72, 452 

Trustee, ex officio, of certain institutions 2, 3.15 

Trust funds, granted to 17, 4bl 

supervision of 17, 431 

report of, required by , . 17, 432 

Vacancy, appointment to fill. , 2, 313 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.^ 

Jurisdiction of 657, 753 

St. Joseph's Institute for tlie Improved Instruction of 

Deaf Mutes 152 

Stephentown, 

Special School Act 961 

Studies, 

Commissioner to recommend proper studies 9, 238, 239 

Industrial or free-hand drawing 08 

Physiology and hygiene 112, 220 

Teachers to be examined in, for certificates .113, 381 - 387 



1062 llJDEX. 

Supervisors. 

Appointment of district trustees to fill vacancy 39, 40, 420 

Bond for trust funds 436 

Bond to be given county treasurer 22, 305 - 308 

Board of supervisors: 

loan made by Comptroller and Superintendent for county to be 
levied by 13,290, 291 

to authorize tbe sale or exchange of real estate belonging to a 
school district 98, 324 

to authorize boards of education to increase or diminish the 
membership of such board 98, 324 

to audit and pay expenses of the examination of applicants for 
State scholarships in Cornell University 487 

proceedings for dissolution of union free school district 104, 105 

453 - 455 
Board of supervisors: 

school commissioners' salary increased by 7, 8, 235, 236 

expenses audited by 8, 236 

school commissioner districts divided by 108, 112, 226, 227 

Certificate of apportionment made and deposited by 22, 305 

made to 21, 303 

Change of school-house site, to consent to ... . 37, 276 - 278 

Clerk of board to include State school tax in levy 12, 289 

Costs in actions against , 78, 126 

Embezzlement of trust funds by 23, 323, 435 

Equalization of taxes on land of district lying in different towns 52 

349-352 

Filing trustee's appointment 40, 141, 420 

Fines and penalties, to sue for and recover 25, 323, 324 

report of, to school commissioner 25, 323, 324 

Gospel and school lots, report of 18, 432, 433 

Local board, for confirming or vacating commissioner's order altering, 

forming or dissolving school districts 25, 250, 279 

fees as member of such board , . . 28, 252 

Moneys unexpended, to make return of 24, 307 

Penalty for not making return of unexpended moneys 24, 307 

Property of a dissolved district, sale of , by 29, 254, 255 

Railroad property, to make apportionment of 91, 106, 107, 370, 372 

Resignation of district officer, accepted by 40, 161, 421 

State school moneys paid to 22, 305, 306 

account of, kept by , 24, 308 - 311 

given to town auditors . . 24, 308 

account to be filed with town clerk 25, 26, 308, 414 

book of account to be kept by.. .24, 25. 308-310 

to be delivered to successor 24, 25, 308 - 310 

how disbursed by , ...... 24, 308 

notice to successor of the filing account of 25, 308 

when to demand them of predecessor , . . 25, 308 - 310 

when to pay successor , 25, 309, 310 

To sue for and collect 'moneys due a dissolved district 29, 255 

Tax warrant, consent to renewal = . , 57, 368 

Town school funds, repon of 18, 432, 433 

Trust funds for schools reported by 17, 432 

Trustees of school trust funds 18, 23, 431, 433, 434 

Trustees of gospel and school lots 23, 432 - 434 

[T lie following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Apportionment of taxes upon the real estate of a district lying in two 

or more towns 660, 66 1 

Must pay over public money upon the order of the trustees 659 



Index. 1063 

Syracuse, 

Special School Act 962 

Taxes, 

Apportionment and assessment of 51, 333 - 349 

against person working land on contract 52, 353, 353 

corporations 51, 332 

Delaware and Hudson Canal Co . 106, 107, 372 

exemptions 341 

in counties containing upwards of three hundred thousand in- 
habitants 373 

non-resident lands 51, 53, 332, 354, 355 

notice of original assessment 51, 347, 348 

on land lying in one body but in different districts. .51, 333, 336, 337 

original assessment, how made .51, 346 - 348 

personal property 333 - 335 

pipe line companies, assessment and collection of 90, 91, 370 

railroad companies, assessment and collection of . 90, 91, 109, 110, 370 

371 

real property 335 - 338 

reduction of assessments 51, 345 - 349 

stockholders in banks 51, 88-90, 332, 338 - 341 

telegraph companies, assessment and collection of 90, 91, 370 

telephone companies, assessment and collection of 90, 91, 370 

to whom property shall be assessed 51 , 332 

valuations, how ascertained 51, 345 - 347 

Bond of collector for 34, 55, 56, 362, 363 

Collector the custodian of all moneys collected by tax 57, 368 

Decisions of the courts. . . . .331-334, 336, 338-340, 344-346, 349, 352, 355 

361, 364, 365, 367, 372. 375-377 

Dissolved district to raise tax for certain purposes 29, 256 

Equalizing when district lies in different towns 52, 349 - 352 

Exemption from tax to build new school-house, when 53, 354 

For apparatus, maps, globes and blackboards 34, 192, 193 

For book-case 34, 58, 168, 169 

For construction and repair of out-buildings. .46, 116, 268-270, 425, 426 

For costs in actions by or against school officers 78, 79, 126 

For costs and expenses in suits and appeals 34, 195 

For district record book 34, 194, 195 

For deficiency in former tax-list 34, 193 

For expenses directed by meeting or by law. 47, 426, 427 

For fuel 34, 258 

For insurance premiums 44, 45, 168, 266 

For library books 34, 58, 59, 168, 169, 171, 172 

For moneys lost or embezzled 34, 195 

For payment of judgment for teachers' wages 35, 403 

For school -house site 34, 273 

For teachers' wages 35, 45, 46, 401 - 403 

For text-books for poor children 34, 192, 193 

For vaccination of poor children 88 

For school-houses, authority of meeting to raise 34, 258 

bonds, when and how issued 36, 37, 262, 263 

exceeding $500 to be approved by commissioner 36, 261, 262 

exemption from tax to build 53, 354 

installments, how voted, etc 36, 262, 263 

repairs upon 46, 268, 425, 426 

when old house is condemned. 10, 164, 165 

Non-resident pupils tax deducted from tuition 42, 113, 217, 219 

Rate-bill abolished 82,217,221-224 



1064 Index. 

Taxes — (Cotitinued). 

Statetax 11,12, 289 

Tax -list, amending and correcting 57, 367, 368 

contents of , 44, 424 

decisions of the courts 331 

execution of, where . . .56, 364, 365 

filed with town clerk 58, 370 

formof 329, 330 

heading of , 50, 328 - 330 

notice of, to be given by collector 56, 863, 364 

trustees to make out, when 44, 50, 338, 424 

warrant to be annexed 44, 50, 328, 424 

Taxable inhabitants, who are 52, 353 

Tax lost through neglect of collector 57, 369 

Unpaid taxes, return of « . .53, 356 - 358 

payment of, by county treasurer 54, 358 

trustees may sue for 57, 366, 367 

supervisors to levy 54, 55, 358, 359 

proceedings for levying, collecting, etc 55j 359 

Upon Forest Preserve , 114 

Warrant, form of 331, 332 

contents, etc 55,360, 361 

how executed 55, 56, 360, 361, 364 - 366 

may be renewed, how 57, 366 - 368 

to be filed with town clerk 58, 370 

delivery to collector, when 55, 362 

When tenant may recover tax paid from owner 52, 353, 354 

[The follomngkreferences are to t^e Digest of Superintendent Decisions.] 

Appeal from corrections in tax list 663 

Amending heading of tax list 664 

Assessment against person set off before order takes effect 672 

who has removed from district before tax list is issued but 

after tax was voted . . 672 

Assessment against minister of the Gospel 666, 667 

of turnpikes 690 

Assessing property beyond boundaries of district. . . . ...... 671 

Bank stock, where taxable, etc . . . 675, 683 

District has no power to exempt inhabitant from assessment .... 667 
Department will not order land placed upon tax list when bound 

aries are in dispute 663 

Equalization made by supervisors must be followed 664 

Form of tax list 662 

Gas pipes, cannot be considered as land- lying in one body 677 

Increase of assessment 680 

Installments, tax for site cannot be raised by 668 

Items erroneously included in tax list 689 

Land lying in one body, but in different districts 674, 677 

Land worked upon contract 671 

Mortgages, assessment of 669, 673 

Original assessment, notice of, etc. 679, 680, 683, 684 

Railroad property, valuation fixed by assessors 687 

Reduction of assessment 684 

aflBdavit not sufficient for 681 

Rescinding vote to levy tax 688 

Tax cannot be paid in labor or materials 686 

assessed upon railroad property 687, 688 

for building school-house . . . ._ 686 



Index. 1065 

Taxes — {Continued). 

for school -house site 685 

for teachers' wages 687, 689 

for unqualified teacher illegal 689 

list, time for making out 668, 661 

to be assessed against person in possession 669 

To elect in which town to be taxed, when property is on town line. . 690 
Territory added to district after tax is voted but before tax list is is- 
sued is liable 676 

Trustees must follow supervisor's equalization 663 

act judicially in levying tax list « 663 

may levy tax without vote of meeting to pay the expense of 

some act directed by the meeting 685 

must all consent before making out tax list 663 

must follow town assessment- rolls 664 - 666 

Teachers, 

Certificates, 

School commissioners': 

annulment of 5, 10, 383, 393, 393 

examinations for, rules, etc 10, 384 - 393 

forms of 10, 388-393 

granting .10, 384 

re-examination for 10, 393, 393 



annulment of 5, 383, 393 

examination for 5, 379 - 383 

lists kept by Superintendent . 5, 383 

Regents' testimonial: 

when endorsed by commissioner to constitute a license ..111, 457 

Charges against, examination of 10, 393, 394 

Contract with trustees 45, 394 - 400 

Degrees of relationship defined 395 - 398 

Form of memorandum 400 

Memorandum of contract to be made and delivered. . . .115, 399, 400 

Meeting may authorize employment of relative 45, 398 

Relative within two degrees cannot be employed 45, 394 - 400 

Term of contract by sole trustee 45, 399 

board of trustees 45, 399 

Trustees when liable for wages, not the district 45, 395 

Decisions of the courts 405 

Monitors, not teachers 14, 393 

Qualifications, who are qualified 43, 43, 111, 378, 379, 457 

Quota, apportionment of . . 14, 393 - 395 

Register kept by 43, 47, 404 

Teachers' Classes, in academies and union free schools. 110, 111, 456-460 

Time allowed at teachers' institute 14. 74, 75, 393, 406, 407, 409 

To assist in examining library. 61, 178 

To prefer charges against person disturbing the school or school 

meeting 78, 163 

Unqualified teacher cannot be paid State or district moneys. 43, 400, 401 

may receive wages by direction of Superintendent 15, 396, 397 

Wages: 

district taxes for 35. 45, 46, 401 - 403 

judgment for 35, 403 

library money used for 46,168, 403 

of an unqualified teacher 15, 43, 396, 397, 400, 401 

payable monthly 115, 400 

penalty money, when used for 118 

134 



1066 Index. 

Teachers — {Continued). 

State school moneys, used for , 13,15,291, 297 

liow paid to teacher not qualified 15, 297 

orders for 24, 45, 308, 309, 401, 404 

trustees to give orders for public money 45, 401 

trustees to raise district tax for 45, 46, 401 - 403 

trustees, when liable for 45, 395 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Annulment of certificate, for cruel punishment of pupil 693 

for incompetence 695 

for intemperance 694 

for want of ability to teach , ... 695 

not for inflicting proper punishment 694 

notice must be given 693 

should not be for moral delinquencies before certificate was 

granted 696 

upon charges against moral character 695 

in proceedings for, the present character should be considered. . 696 

for incompetency 697 

must not be for the purpose of removing teacher from a certain 

school 697 

Can teach another school during vacation 710 

Certificates, refusal to grant. , 698 

cannot be withheld on the ground that the teacher will be em- 
ployed in a certain district 699 

teacher cannot dictate place where he shall be examined for 699 

refusal to grant upon the ground of profane swearing 700 

some particular district cannot be excepted in 700 

withholding until charges of immoral conduct are disproven. . . 700 

State certificate conclusive evidence of qualification 701 

annulment of upon charges 702 

holders of, not exempt from examination by local authorities. 701 

Contract, appointment to fill vacancy construed 725 

can only be made at regular meeting of board 727 

cannot be for longer period than teacher holds certificate 712 

can be made when there is a vacancy in the board 720 

consent of trustees cannot be given separately 716 

for a month — calendar month meant 719 

for "one day only," not good 735 

made with two trustees 717-719, 721 

made when teacher does not hold certificate 731 

may be ratified 720 

must be regularly made by board. : 713 

prevented by sickness from fulfilling 723 

relative of members of boards of education 718 

termination of at will 721 

trustee may act as agent for board 717 

what " general satisfaction " means 722 

which calls for teaching in a " satisfactory manner." 726 

when there is a conflict as to the contract ... 722 

with relative within two degrees of trustee 720, 721 

District meeting cannot direct employment of certain teacher 715 

Dismissal, when inhabitants are dissatisfied.. . . 728 

before expiration of term, when justifiable 729, 731 

district meeting cannot dismiss 728 

for closing school without authority 731 

for cruel punishment of pupil 733 



Index. 1067 

Teachers — {Continued). 

for difference of opinion between teacher and trustee as to dis- 
cipline 732 

for failure as a disciplinarian 733 

for failure to produce certificate wlien demanded by trustee. . . 733 

for refusal to obey orders of board 734 

when contract was for one month on trial 729 

Not entitled to extra compensation for building fires 705 

Not entitled to damages for injury to reputation because of discharge. 705 

Pay for vacation time 707 

Teacher responsible for school register, ... 705 

Wages, cannot pay relative more than the district meeting authorizes. 721 

cannot be paid when certificate is not held 709 

entitled to wages when school is closed on account of an epi- 
demic 708, 710 

for extra weeks taught 708 

for legal holidays 719 

sum allowed for board should be denominated wages 710 

time spent at a teachers' institute not to be deducted 707, 711 

trustees cannot offset note or private claim against teacher. . . , 704 

707, 708 

when teacher abandons school 705 

when teacher leaves school because trustee will not sustain him. 703 

when teacher voluntarily leaves school 704 

when teacher was employed by de facto trustee 709 

Teachers' Institute, 

Apportionment of public moneys to districts closing schools 75, 408 

Catalogue of persons attending 76, 408 

Commissioners to organize 73, 406 

to give notice of 74. 406 

History of 408, 409 

Loss in public money when school is continued 75, 407 

Report of trustees whether schools were closed 75, 407 

Eules and regulations concerning 410, 411 

Schools closed during institute 75, 407, 409 

Superintendent to employ conductors 74, 406 

may make rules respecting the granting of teachers' certificates 

to persons who attend 74, 407 

to certify expenses of. 75, 408 

to supervise 74, 406 

to visit 74, 406 

Teachers not to forfeit time spent at 14, 74, 293, 407, 409 

Telegraph Companies, 

Taxes against, apportionment, assessment and collection. .90, 91, 370, 371 

Telephone Companies, 

Taxes against, apportionment, assessment and collection. .90, 91, 370, 371 

Tenant, 

Taxes assessed against 52, 352, 353 

Taxes paid by, when recoverable from owner 52, 353, 354 

Text-books, 

Adoption of 100 

Change of, how made 100 

For poor children 34, 94, 192, 193 

Penalty for violation of text- book act. 100 

School commissioner to examine, etc 9, 237, 238 



1068 Index. 

Text-books — {Continued). 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] 

Acts of boards of education in designating or changing, fully dis- 
cussed 737, 739 

The L<e Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved 

Instruction of Deaf-Mutes 156 

Town Clerk, 

Certificates of apportionment kept and recorded by 26, 308, 412 

Duties of 25,412-415 

Fees and expenses of •. 27, 415 

as member of local board 28, 252 

for filing collector's bond 56, 363 

Member of local board for alteration of school districts. .26, 28, 249, 414 

Notifying trustees of filing of certificate of apportionment 26, 412 

Records kept by 25, 412 

Report to supervisors injuries to records 26, 413 

Statement of apportionment of railroad property to be furnished 

trustees 91, 107, 370, 372 

To deliver trustees' reports to commissioners 26, 413 

To distribute blanks and circulars 26, 413 

To file tax list and warrant 58, 370 

To furnish names of school officers to commissioner 26, 413 

To keep records of dissolved districts 26, 414 

To record collector's bond 56, 363 

To record county treasurer's certificate 26, 414 

To record descriptions of school districts 26, 414 

To record supervisors' accounts 26, 414 

To see that trustees' reports are filed 26, 413 

Treasurer, County, 

Certificate that supervisor's bond is given. 26, 414 

Fines and penalties, how credited ..... .18, 159 

report of 18, 159 

Taxes against railroad companies, duties respecting 109, 110, 371 

To apply for State school moneys 16, 298 

To require bond of supervisor 22, 305, 306 

To sue bond of supervisor 22, 305 306 

Unpaid taxes, to lay certificate of, before supervisors . , 54, 358 359 

Treasurer, State, 

Payment of expenses for teachers' institute 75, 408 

State moneys transferred by 12, 289 

Statement of free school fund made by 12, 289 

Troy, 

Special School Act 964 

Truant Children, 

Act relating to care and instruction 83 - 85 

Compulsory Education Act, provision of 94 

Trustees, 

Acceptance of office 39, 420, 421 

Accounts of, book for 46, 47, 425 - 427 

Apparatus, may purchase 46, 425, 426 

Board of trustees 43, 44, 422 - 424 



Index. 1069 

Trustees ^{Continued). 

acts of, when valid 43, 44, 423, 424 

composed, how 48, 44, 423, 424 

meeting, how ordered, etc 44, 423, 424 

recital of act in minutes, conclusive evidence 44, 423, 424 

vacancy in, other or others act 44, 424 

Bond of collector required by 55, 56, 362, 363 

delivered to town clerk by 55, 56, 362, 363 

to bring suit against 58, 369 

Cannot hold other school office 38, 418, 419 

Changing from three to one 39, 416 - 418 

Changing from one to three , 39, 416 - 418 

Cleaning school -room, etc 46,425, 426 

Contract with teachers, to make. {See Teachers) 45, 116, 394 - 400 

Costs in actions against 78, 126 

or proceedings by or against 79-81, 126 - 129 

Costs and expenses in suits and appeals 35, 195 

Consent to alteration of school district 27, 28, 246, 247 

Custodian of school -houses and sites 44, 266, 267 

Custodian of Code of Public Instruction 117, 118 

Decisions of the courts 429, 430 

Determining the number of, in new districts 38, 39, 416 - 418 

Dictionary, may purchase 46, 425, 426 

Duties of, under Compulsory Education Act. . , 91 - 95 

Duties of at election of officers in districts having over 300 children . 101 

102, 103 

Duties of, in appeal to county judge to adjust costs and expenses. .80, 81 

Election of 33, 34, 101, 416-418 

Eligibility to hold the office 38, 103, 419 

Expenses of defining district boundaries to be allowed by 9, 253 

Filing appointment of trustees by supervisor 40, 420 

Filing appointment of clerk, collector or librarian 40, 141, 146 

Fires, building, etc 46, 425, 426 

Forfeits office by refusal to report 48, 215 

Fuel provided by 46, 425, 426 

Globes, may purchase 46, 425, 426 

Holding over 38. 419 

Insurance, to procure 45, 168, 266 

to raise tax for 45, 168, 266 

Issuing bonds for school-house. 36, 37, 262, 263 

Liability for teachers' wages 45, 395 

Library, to be trustee of 59, 171, 172 

books lost, liability for 59, 172 

what moneys to be applied to 59, 172 

report concerning 61, 178 

penalty for refusal to report 61, 178 

penalty for loss of library money 61, 178 

Loss of public money to district through 77, 163 

Maps, may purchase 46, 425, 426 

May appoint collector to fill vacancy 39, 40, 146 

district clerk to fill vacancy .40, 140, 141 

librarian to fill vacancy 40, 167 

Misdemeanor to pay unqualified teacher public money 43, 401 

Moneys, balance in hand to pay to successor 48, 428 

Non-resident pupils admitted to schools by 42, 217 

Notice of school meeting given by, when clerk is absent 44, 182 - 184 

Notice of election or appointment 39-41, 142, 421 

Nuisances abated by 46, 269, 425, 426 

Order for teacher's wages given by 24, 368, 309 

library moneys given by 34, 308, 309 



1070 Index. 

Trustees — (Continued). 

Pails and brooms provided by 46, 425, 426 

Penalty for refusal or neglect to serve. 40, 161, 421 

Penalty for continuing school during teachers' institute 409 

Penalty for loss of Code 118 

Penalty for not reporting to annual meeting 48, 215 

refusal to pay funds to successor 48, 215 

Penalty for making false report » 50, 203 

Power to exclude from school children not vaccinated. 87 

Property of district, to hold as corporation 43, 422 

Property of district entered in account book by . 47, 427 

Public moneys divided into parts for each term, .45, 401, 402 

Refusal to serve 39, 420, 421 

Register purchased by , 47, 404 

Removal of 6, 316. 317. 409, 422 

Repairs upon school-house made bv, 46, 268, 425, 426 

outbuildings *. 46, 268-270, 425, 426 

Report concerning teachers' institute 75, 407 

Report of, to annual meeting 47, 48, 215 

Report to school commissioner by . . .48-50, 88, 201 - 215 

Requesting supervisor and town clerk to act with commissioner in 

altering school district 28, 249 

Resignation, how made and accepted 40, 161, 421 

Resignation of, notice of acceptance 41, 142 

Sale of old school-house and site by 37, 271, 278, 279 

School-house, to contract for 10, 264, 265 

School-house site, to purchase or lease 44, 273-276, 424 

Sole trustee subject to duties and penalties of joint trustees 43, 422 

Special meetings called by 31, 44, 182 - 184 

Special meeting to be called by, when school-house is condemned. 10, 264 

265 

Taxes assessed by .51, 332 

Tax-list to be made out by 44, 50, 328, 424 

Tax-list and warrant filed by, with town clerk , . . 58, 370 

Tax-list and warrant renewed by 57, 366 - 368 

Teacher's wages for time spent at institute, must pay 75, 407 - 409 

Temporary rooms for school, hired by 46, 425, 426 

Term of office 38, 419, 420 

To prefer charges against person disturbing school or school meeting. 78 

163 

To sue for district moneys 48, 428 

Trust funds, granted to 17, 431 

for schools, reported by 17, 432 

Unpaid taxes, to sue for 57, 366, 367 

return of, made to county treasurer 54, 357, 358 

Use of school-house, permitting and forbidding 47, 266, 267 

Vacancy, how filled 39, 40, 420 

Vacates the office, how 30, 421 

Vaccination of poor children, to provide for 87, 88 

Wages of teachers paid by (See Teachers) 45, 46, 115, 400 - 402 

Warrant to be annexed to tax-list 44, 50, 328, 424 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions^ 

Absence from district, when successor can be appointed 764 

Account for building school-house must be submitted by 744 

Annual account rendered to meeting 758 

Appointment of, setting aside 764 

Building committee cannot interfere with 751 



Index. 1071 

Trustees — {Gontinved). 

Cannot pass upon the election of librarian 748 

Cannot be teachers 744, 765 

Cannot take note in payment of tax 748 

Cannot borrow money on credit of the district 748 

Challenge as to the right to hold the oflSce, cannot be made 765 

Compensation for services rendered by trustee, cannot fix the value of. 753 

Compensation, cannot receive any for services as trustee 750 

Contract for building school-house, letting, etc 751 

Contracts, trustees have sole power of making 749 

Costs and expenses in defending appeal 747 

of committee before county judge 747 

Costs in district litigation 753 

in suits against district officers may be allowed by district 755 

Costs and expenses in proceedings against district 745 

De facto trustee, acts of 748 

Duties of, pertaining to construction of new building 753 

Duty to employ good teachers and have school taught ... 744 

Election of, appeal from. , 755 

at adjourned meeting 758 

Fuel furnished by trustee 750 

Have no lien on district moneys for expenses 754 

Judgment against district, to be included in tax list 745 

May employ person to make out tax list 756 

Meetings of inhabitants, when to call 743 

Non resident pupils, district meeting cannot admit to school 751 

Oath of office not required 765 

Pay for services in repairing school house 745 

Power to call special meetings discussed 743 

Proceedings of district meeting to be given effect 744, 749 

Reinstating, Superintendent has no power to 760 

Removal for non -concurrence with associates 759, 760 

for neglect or violation of duty 757, 760, 761 

for refusing to maintain a school 763 

what will justify 759, 761, 763 

Repairs on school house, made by 745 

Report of. what it must contain 763 

must be made in writing 763 

Settlement of controversies 755 

The drawing of an order for public money a ministerial act 743 

To make contract for building school house as district meeting 

directs 743 

Vacating office by failure to attend meetings 766 

Vote of thanks to trustee 765 

Warrant, renewed by . , 744 

When trustee is imprisoned, appointment of successor 763 

Trust Funds, 

Bond of supervisor for 436 

Embezzlement of 33, 435 

Gospel and school lots 18, 433 - 434 

Legislature to control and regulate , 17, 431 

Property given in trust for schools 17, 43, 433, 431 

Reports required 17, 433 

Town school funds 18, 433, 433, 435 

Trustees of district to hold as corporation 43, 433 

State Superintendent to supervise 17, 431 

Supervisors' powers and duties concerning .17, 18, 33, 433 - 435 



1072 Index. 

Tuition of non-resident pupils, 

Of cliildren wlien taught under contract with adjoining city 99 

Tax of non-resident pupil, parent or guardian, to be deducted from 

tuition 42, 113, 217, 219 

Trustees to fix ,42, 217 

Union Free Schools, 

Board of Education, 

academical department, to establish 68, 71, 448, 452 

annual meeting of board , . .66, 445 

bonding district 67, 446 

borrowing money 67, 446 

by-laws, to pass 68, 447 

changing number of members of board 98, 324 

clerk, appointment by 65, 443 

collector, appointment by 65, 443, 444 

committees to visit schools 70, 451 

constitute a board of education 64, 440 - 442 

Board of Education, 

created bodies corporate 65, 442 

division into classes 63, 440 - 442 

election of 63,440-442 

fuel, furniture, apparatus, etc., to provide 68, 448 

grade and classify schools 68, 447 

management of schools 68, 448 

may contract to teach children of an adjoining district 99 

meetings of 70, 451 

moneys, how applied by .70, 71, 451 

moneys (public) apportioned districts, custody, use, etc. .71, 451, 452 

not to exceed expenditures 70, 451 

number of 63, 440, 441 

power to exclude from school children not vaccinated 87 

president thereof 65, 442, 443 

removal of member , 69, 449 

removal of member by Superintendent 72 

report of 72, 453 

rules of order and discipline 68, 447 

same powers and duties as trustees of common school districts . 69, 449 

school -houses, sites and other property, to have charge of 68, 447 

special meetings called by 69, 450 

statement of expenditures presented to municipal authorities . 66, 444 

statement of estimated expenses to meeting 69, 450 

taxes assessed by 67, 446 

taxes levied without vote of meeting 69, 450 

teachers, to contract with ". 69, 448 

teachers' wages, how raised by . 66, 445 

terms of office in new district 63, 69, 440 - 442, 449 

text-books, to prescribe 68, 447 

to adopt -. 100 

how to change 100 

treasurer, appointed by 65,443, 444 

trust funds, held by 68, 447 

tuition fees of non-residents, to regulate ^ 68, 448 

vacancy in board, to fill 69, 449 

vaccination of poor children, to provide for 87, 88 

Clerk, 

appointment of 65, 443 

dutiesof 65, 443 

salary of 65, 443 



Index. 1073 

Union Free Schools — {Continued). 

Collector, 

appointment of. .65, 443, 444 

bond of t)5, 443, 444 

Decisions of the courts 460, 461 

Dissolved districts, 

academy in, transferred to former board 105, 454 

division of property 105, 455 

how dissolved.. 104 - 106, 453 - 455 

meeting for dissolution, how called, etc 104, 453 

moneys belonging to, division of 105, 455 

proceedings to be laid before supervisors 104, 454 

supervisors approval of proceedings 105, 455 

territory divided into districts 105, 454 

vote required 104, 454 

Drawing to be taught in schools under special act 98 

Formation of -. 62, 437 - 441 

adjournment of meeting 63, 440 

call for meeting 62, 437, 438 

expense of publication of notice 63, 439, 440 

form of call 438 

form of notice 438 

meeting, how organized .63, 440 

notice of.. 62, 437 - 439 

numbering district , 64, 441, 442 

order of proceedings at meeting 441 

place of meeting 63, 439 

proceedings of meeting, where filed 64, 441, 442 

when two or more districts unite in call 63, 439, 440 

Meetings, for dissolution of district. 104, 453 

rescinding vote to raise money 67, 446 

salary of clerk, fixed by .65, 443, 444 

taxes voted by 66, 67, 69, 117, 445, 446, 450 

Ordinary contingent expenses, what are ., 70, 450 

Schools for colored children in 73, 221 

State school moneys, payment by supervisor to 24, 308, 309 

State superintendent to have supervision over 71, 452 

Taxes, assessment and collection of 67, 446 

bonds to be issued in certain cases for 67, 446 

how raised in districts corresponding with incorporated village 

or city 66, 444 

installments 67, 445, 446 

levied without vote of meeting 69, 450 

moneys raised by tax not rate-bill 67, 447 

notice of certain taxes must be given 67, 445, 446 

rescinding vote to raise money 67, 446 

voted by district whose limits do not correspond with an incor- 
porated village or city ,...66,67,69,445,446, 450 

Teachers' classes in 110, 111, 456 - 460 

Treasurer, appointment of 65, 443, 444 

bond of 65, 443, 444 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Academical department, abolishing 771 

Alteration of districts, school commissioner has power to alter 780 

Board of education, appointment of member , 766 

appointment of collector or treasurer can be made at any time. . . 770 

collector appointed by 769, 771 

contingent expenses of 776 

135 ■ 



1074 Index. 

Union Free Schools — {Continued). 

costs and expenses of, while defending suit 771 

election of, manner of voting 779 

expulsion of pupil by 770 

member cannot be treasurer or collector 769 

power to employ architect , 773 

removal of member 768, 770 

report of, to school commissioners 769 

rules of, relating to hiring teachers 774 

successors of former trustees 768 

term of office in new district 769 

treasurer appointed by , . 769, 771 

vacancies cannot be filled by the voters 770 

Clerk, election and duties 776 

Formation of district, department cannot order that district be formed. 779 

duty of trustees to call meeting for; 776 

notice of meeting for, contents, service of, etc 777, 778 

should be within the limits of a single town 780 

Taxes in, no power to rise tax for services in affecting legislation. . . . 783 

power of district to raise tax 783 

tax for school-house 783 

tax for teacher's wages 783 

tax to pay architect 773 

Uniform Ballot Act, construed 784 

United States Deposit Fund, 

Appropriations from 169, 292, 293 

Deficiency in, supplied 107 

How constituted 332, 323, 388 

University of the State of New York, 

State Superintendent ex officio Regent of 3, 315 

Utica, 

Special School Act 968 

Vacancy. 

[The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] ■ 

Collector vacates office by refusal to serve 786 

by inability to perform duties 786 

Legal' appointment by supervisor to fill vacancy cannot be set aside 

by Superintendent 787 

Supervisor cannot fill until after one month 786 

Trustee vacates office by leaving State 787 

by accepting incompatible office ' 785, 786 

Vacancy on account of ineligibility of trustee must be declared by 

the Department 786 

Vacate office where set oflE from district 785 

Vaccination, 

Children not vaccinated to be excluded from school 87 

Physician to examine and vaccinate 87 

Report of trustees as to children vaccinated and not vaccinated 88 

Tax for expenses of vaccination .-. 88 

Trustees to furnish vaccination to poor children 87 

Villages, 

May contract in certain case to teach children of adjoining district.. . 99 

Schools for colored children 73, 331 

State school moneys apportioned to > 14, 391, 398 



Index. 1075 

Votes, 

Challenge to 33, 102, 189, 190 

Declaration of 33, 102, 189, 190 

Penalty for false declaration 33, 190 

illegal voting 33, 190 

Who are legal voters at school meetings 32, 33, 186 - 189 

[^The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] 

Alien, when entitled to vote * 789, 790 

Alien voter may hold district ofloice 788 

Chairman of school meeting can vote upon all questions 788 

Constitutionality of the act conferring upon women the right to vote 

at school meetings 791 

Not a voter by reason of real estate owned by his wife 791 

Proceedings carried by illegal votes will be set aside on appeal 788 

Quantity of real estate to entitle a person to vote, not fixed 789 

Right to vote does not depend upon fact of having been taxed 790 

What hiring of real estate is essential to qualify voter 791 

Warrant, 

Annexed to tax list 44, 424 

Contents of, etc 55, 360, 361 

Delivery to collector, when , 55, 362 

Form of 331, 332 

How executed 55, 360, 361 

Renewal of 57, 366 - 368 

Warsaw, 

SpecialAct 972 

Waterford, 

SpecialAct 972 

W^aterloo, 

Special School Act 972 

Watertown, 

Special School Act 973 

Wat kins. 

Special School Act 976 

Weedsport, 

Special School Act 979 

Western New York, 

Institution for Deaf Mutes 156 

Women, 

Eligible to serve as school officers 103 

Year, 

School year defined 38 

Yonkers, 

Special School Act 980 



tS.'^^Y OF CONGRESS 



020 312 168 4 



